Reproduction Cab Corners?!!?

[TimE]

I was in the process of stripping my truck down and decided to take a little break and check out some of the parts that I have been accumulating for it. I pulled out my cab corner patches and held them by the cab and... What the!?!?!?! They don't even come CLOSE to matching the factory contours. I think I'll just make my own patches and not even hassle with these crappy things. It's just frustrating buying "replacement" parts that shouldn't be sold as such. Maybe they should be listed as "enough sheetmetal to cover the area and look better than rust" instead. /rant off

[joe231]

that sucks!
where did you get the corners?

[TimE]

I bought them from the sponsor of another board that I frequent. It's not their fault on the quality, these same brand panels are sold by numerous vendors. The panel looked good to me until I placed it beside the actual cab corner.
I don't recall the manufacturer but will look tomorrow.

[joe231]

classic parts?
i would appreciate the manufactures name.
i need corners, but don't want unusable junk
thanks for posting!

[TimE]

The brand is TriPlus. I have searched the boards and it appears there are only a few places that actually make the patches and almost all are imported. Also, most people are happy enough with the quality of the parts that they purchase.

I understand that patch panels are not perfect replacements as I have used numerous panels in the past on other projects. I guess if your corners were completely shot, these would be a viable starting point but would need a good bit of modifying to make them match the body lines.

The issue that would have to be addressed with the corner patches that I have is the lower indention that matches the curve of the rockers is almost nonexistant and the seam on the bottom of the rear is 'different' and would need to be worked out. With time and patience, I guess these panels could be made to work okay. I was just frustrated yesterday when I initially posted.

And, yes, it was Classic that I got the parts from but as stated earlier, it's not their fault. I have had many good dealings with them and wouldn't fault them for this in the least. Unfortunately, I guess it is just the nature of the beast in buying repro parts for a 40+ year old vehicle.

Fortunately, in my case, I am just going to build my own patches as my corners are in repairable condition. I just bought the corners b/c I thought it would be easier.

[TimE]

BTW, I just pulled out my full rockers (also TriPlus) and they look like a better part than the corner. They will probably need some massageing to be perfect but look nice as a whole.

[suicide 63]

yea i ditched my corners from classic and went over to lmc and got a set they were a little better but they were not perfect by any means.All my other patch parts from classic fit decent.

[62 short step]

Any reproduction part will need a little work to get them anywhere near stock, if thats even possible. I bought 2 repro front fenders and a grille support and it also needed a little " massaging" to get them to fit correctly. Like you said TimE its just the nature of the beast working on these old trucks! At least there are some repro parts out there. Good luck fitting them, and post some pics when your done. I need to replace a cab corner on my truck too!!

[muddpile]

My 72 is made up of almost all Triplus/Goodmark parts. They fit really well after a fair bit of massaging/tweaking, but again there was a fair bit of work involved.

[scotts62]

I got my corners from LMC truck. they were ok... I think i could have done better bending them with a basketball and a mallet But made them work out ok.

[Captainfab]

Has anyone installed any parts from Tabco? I haven't, but I have seen and handled a couple of their parts and I liked them. Their home page says "Made In USA".....I don't know if that means all parts or just some of them.

http://www.tabcobodyparts.com

[kdrodworks316]

Just a little somthing to think about when we but repop parts, they are NOT made on the original GM tooling. That tooling is long gone and who knows who built it in the first place. Body work is all about "massaging" that panel the right way. just remember, Its only metal. Dont be afraid to whack, twist, tweek, bend, weld, heat or anything else. its very forgiving and it dont take long to learn how to work it. I just ordered all the repops to repair the burban floor, I'll keep ya all posted

[Tomsriv]

Luckily my cab corners were not to far gone. I just fiberglassed my cab corners from the back side and put 1/16" of bondo on the outside to make it smooth.

My friends truck had totally wasted cab corners and when he stripped it to paint it he found a solid chunk of bondo the size of a baseball that was making up the cab corner!

[ClassicAutoResto]

Originally Posted by Tomsriv

Luckily my cab corners were not to far gone. I just fiberglassed my cab corners from the back side and put 1/16" of bondo on the outside to make it smooth.

My friends truck had totally wasted cab corners and when he stripped it to paint it he found a solid chunk of bondo the size of a baseball that was making up the cab corner!

nuff said

[jonathan-m]

Sorry for the dummy question here, but is bondo not acceptable to use at all?
I've been doing some minor body work to my truck, first the tailgate, then one back fender and now I'm working on my cab corners as well. I stripped them down to bare metal, and coated them with por-15, and there were some places that were still a little rough after all that sanding. especially around the cab courners (no holes in the corners,the metals just rough- kind of pitted) I had planned to use Bondo to smooth these areas out before I primed it....is that a bad idea?

oops sorry to jack your thread a bit here TimE

[62 short step]

Originally Posted by jonathan-m

Sorry for the dummy question here, but is bondo not acceptable to use at all?
I've been doing some minor body work to my truck, first the tailgate, then one back fender and now I'm working on my cab corners as well. I stripped them down to bare metal, and coated them with por-15, and there were some places that were still a little rough after all that sanding. especially around the cab courners (no holes in the corners,the metals just rough- kind of pitted) I had planned to use Bondo to smooth these areas out before I primed it....is that a bad idea?

oops sorry to jack your thread a bit here TimE

No not at all, sometimes you have to use it. I have some in my truck. For skim coating it does a good job. Just don't fill in big dents. A lot of people say no more than a 1/8 inch thick. Hope this helps.

[TimE]

No problem jonathan. I agree with what 62 shortstep said. Don't use it at a "fix-all" and you should be fine. Bondo was designed to smooth out imperfections, not repair larger dents or holes. There will be plenty of thin areas of bondo on my truck before I get through with it.

[mbgmike]

Originally Posted by TimE

No problem jonathan. I agree with what 62 shortstep said. Don't use it at a "fix-all" and you should be fine. Bondo was designed to smooth out imperfections, not repair larger dents or holes. There will be plenty of thin areas of bondo on my truck before I get through with it.

Thats exactly why the OEM's used bondo before that they used lead. Now they don't need to. You should see some of the seam sealer that the new cars have in them. Some toyotas look like they just pored it in. Some people would be suprised to find the bondo under the factory paint covering up gouges and stuff like that.

[Captainfab]

An additional note about 'bondo'. The body fillers that are on the market today are of higher quality and better formulated than what was available years ago when 'bondo' earned a bad rep. Nonetheless as already stated, body filler is not a 'fix all' and should be used wisely.