55 Chevy Upper cab A pillar alignment problem - The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network

wilberweb · 01-30-2011, 01:58 AM

Hi, guys
I am working on a 55 Chevy second series upper cab corner I am having some alignment problems. Are the 55 Chevy's on some cab parts off at the factory?
I have a cab top that I am using to fix the upper drivers side cab corner, just above the drivers side window.
My cab was rusted real bad as you can see. (the A pillar section) I was measuring the part of the upper corner of the donor cab, when I noticed the part that makes up the windshield portion of the cab was 1/8" narrower than the part that came off of my 55 cab. Here is a picture of what I am talking about. Here is the cab before I patched it, the corner piece where the two pieces come together where the upper piece folds around to meet the lower half of the windshield frame, as you can see from the picture. It seems that the donor piece was 1/8th of an inch smaller then my cab. I had to remove the spot welds and spread the new piece apart and re-weld it so it would match up correctly, I also had to adjust the door frame portion just to make things line up properly. my question, Is this normal. I know that back in 55 they didn't have the technology like they do today. I have read some post that hint that this is normal but was trying to get some feed back on similar problems, and what did you do to correct it. I know they make body filler for this kind of situation, my guess is the less filler the better.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

-Larry

OrrieG · 01-30-2011, 02:44 AM

Three things, in my opinion, contributed to the poor (in todays terms) quality and fitment on these truck. The first was that they were a work truck. All the farmers, appliance repairmen and painters wanted was a truck that started, could take abuse and the door stayed shut. In the factory manual they have pretty liberal tolerances. Second was that over time the dies would wear and parts would not be the same shape, have as sharp as definition or fit as well. Finally, these were but together by people. Back then it was said you did not want a Monday morning or Friday afternoon assembled truck. Hangovers and wanting to get out the door for the weekend were the cause. In the case of the windshield the gaskets have a pretty generous overlap to take into account assembly tolerances.

wilberweb · 01-30-2011, 02:59 AM

OrrieG,
Thanks for the reply That's what I was thinking as well the gasket matches great. It lines up real good I can always use some body filler to make the gaps line up as well, it sure is different today as all the cars have robotic welding and computer controlled punch-press Lazar guided assembly possess. I will just need to work the metal and filler. Your right the gasket will cover most of that flaw.

-Larry

dicer · 01-30-2011, 06:09 AM

So are you talking about the distance the inner pannel sticks out past your newly installed patch at the pinch weld? Well the patch is rusted pretty badly there too. And as far as a perfect match, in an area like that on any car or truck would be impossible. The factory guys could have trimed to fit in that area as well during assembly, sheet metal forming is still not an exact manufacturing process, especially on something like a car or truck body.
Even the reproduction outfits like dynacorn say its not a perfect fit for everything. And probably a good idea to mock up before painting it all. Yours too, put the windshield in to test everything, I would.
http://www.dynacornclassicbodies.com/classic2.html

wilberweb · 01-30-2011, 02:41 PM

Dicer,
It is where the pinch welds come together at the seams, the patch panel was rusted but not as bad as the my cab, I treated the back with Ospho and some rust treatment,
that panel was surface rust on the back side I wire brushed it off. just on the front lip edge is where it got worse. I figured that it was a good piece, so I welded it in, I figured I can fix the lower edge with all-metal, also the factory donor piece has at the bottom edge, some brazing weld it was a ruff puddle of goo, it wasn't clean. I can see where the factory has been unable to make pieces fit correctly.It's good to know that its not just me.

Thanks
-Larry

01-30-2011, 01:58 AM	#1
wilberweb Registered User Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Eugene Or Posts: 175	55 Chevy Upper cab A pillar alignment problem Hi, guys I am working on a 55 Chevy second series upper cab corner I am having some alignment problems. Are the 55 Chevy's on some cab parts off at the factory? I have a cab top that I am using to fix the upper drivers side cab corner, just above the drivers side window. My cab was rusted real bad as you can see. (the A pillar section) I was measuring the part of the upper corner of the donor cab, when I noticed the part that makes up the windshield portion of the cab was 1/8" narrower than the part that came off of my 55 cab. Here is a picture of what I am talking about. Here is the cab before I patched it, the corner piece where the two pieces come together where the upper piece folds around to meet the lower half of the windshield frame, as you can see from the picture. It seems that the donor piece was 1/8th of an inch smaller then my cab. I had to remove the spot welds and spread the new piece apart and re-weld it so it would match up correctly, I also had to adjust the door frame portion just to make things line up properly. my question, Is this normal. I know that back in 55 they didn't have the technology like they do today. I have read some post that hint that this is normal but was trying to get some feed back on similar problems, and what did you do to correct it. I know they make body filler for this kind of situation, my guess is the less filler the better. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. -Larry Attached Images Last edited by wilberweb; 01-30-2011 at 02:46 AM.

01-30-2011, 02:44 AM	#2
OrrieG Registered User Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Idaho Posts: 8,800	Re: 55 Chevy Upper cab A pillar alignment problem Three things, in my opinion, contributed to the poor (in todays terms) quality and fitment on these truck. The first was that they were a work truck. All the farmers, appliance repairmen and painters wanted was a truck that started, could take abuse and the door stayed shut. In the factory manual they have pretty liberal tolerances. Second was that over time the dies would wear and parts would not be the same shape, have as sharp as definition or fit as well. Finally, these were but together by people. Back then it was said you did not want a Monday morning or Friday afternoon assembled truck. Hangovers and wanting to get out the door for the weekend were the cause. In the case of the windshield the gaskets have a pretty generous overlap to take into account assembly tolerances. __________________ 1959 Chevy Short Fleetside w/ 74 4WD drive train (current project) OrrieG Build Thread 1964 Chevelle Malibu w/ 355-350TH (daily driver) Helpful AD and TF Manual Site Old Car Manual Project Last edited by OrrieG; 01-30-2011 at 02:44 AM.

01-30-2011, 02:59 AM	#3
wilberweb Registered User Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Eugene Or Posts: 175	Re: 55 Chevy Upper cab A pillar alignment problem OrrieG, Thanks for the reply That's what I was thinking as well the gasket matches great. It lines up real good I can always use some body filler to make the gaps line up as well, it sure is different today as all the cars have robotic welding and computer controlled punch-press Lazar guided assembly possess. I will just need to work the metal and filler. Your right the gasket will cover most of that flaw. -Larry

01-30-2011, 06:09 AM	#4
dicer Registered User Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: seattle, wa Posts: 529	Re: 55 Chevy Upper cab A pillar alignment problem So are you talking about the distance the inner pannel sticks out past your newly installed patch at the pinch weld? Well the patch is rusted pretty badly there too. And as far as a perfect match, in an area like that on any car or truck would be impossible. The factory guys could have trimed to fit in that area as well during assembly, sheet metal forming is still not an exact manufacturing process, especially on something like a car or truck body. Even the reproduction outfits like dynacorn say its not a perfect fit for everything. And probably a good idea to mock up before painting it all. Yours too, put the windshield in to test everything, I would. http://www.dynacornclassicbodies.com/classic2.html Last edited by dicer; 01-30-2011 at 06:10 AM.

01-30-2011, 02:41 PM	#5
wilberweb Registered User Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Eugene Or Posts: 175	Re: 55 Chevy Upper cab A pillar alignment problem Dicer, It is where the pinch welds come together at the seams, the patch panel was rusted but not as bad as the my cab, I treated the back with Ospho and some rust treatment, that panel was surface rust on the back side I wire brushed it off. just on the front lip edge is where it got worse. I figured that it was a good piece, so I welded it in, I figured I can fix the lower edge with all-metal, also the factory donor piece has at the bottom edge, some brazing weld it was a ruff puddle of goo, it wasn't clean. I can see where the factory has been unable to make pieces fit correctly.It's good to know that its not just me. Thanks -Larry



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