After Market Sheetmetal

[mstuhler]

Hi guys .. I have a 1955 Chevy pickup that I was looking to restore. It has some rust coming through on the doors, front fenders and hood. I was wondering what the majority position was on repairing vs. replacing with after market. I did not strip it down yet but suspect that it's worse than it looks (always is). I'm just concerned that the after market stuff will not fit as well. I'm looking at Brothers Truck parts if I go the replacement route. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[Apachemike]

Watching this one......

[1project2many]

I'm just concerned that the after market stuff will not fit as well.

OEM did not fit as well. My original hood stamping was 1/4" off centerline. Door gaps are rarely consistent. The body lines on the cab rarely match the lines on the door. The problem you may find is that aftermarket panels match OE specified dimensions, not OE stamped panels.

[dwcsr]

First rule is replace only whats rotted, don't replace the entire corner just because you bought a whole corner if it only needs a few inches done. Fix rather than replace.

ALL panel need fitting regardless of maker or seller. If you cut out a panel on one 55 it may not fit another 55 so using Used panels doesn't always get you good fitting panels.

Some panels are better than others. Steps and corners for 55-59 from Dynacorn are better in my opinion but cost more.

There are vendors here that actually install what they sell so ask them.

[MARTINSR]

I will do ANYTHING before I use a reproduction part. I don't care if it's sheet metal or chrome or what ever, I am going to do ANYTHING before I use reproduction.

And if you sit back and wait, if you start searching like on Ebay for instance. Go to ebay and next to the "search" button you will see "advanced". Click on that and you will see this. http://www.ebay.com/sch/ebayadvsearch/?rt=nc

Put your key words in, let's say you are looking for a fender. Put in 1955 Chevy fender. You will get 727 items, including a bunch of junk. Put "quotes" around the "Chevy" and you will ONLY get items with Chevy in the title. Now it drops all the junk off and leaves you with 263. You can of course add truck or pickup but that narrows it down too much because people use both so I like leaving the search a little broader, you never know what may show up.

But here is the best trick, you go to the bottom of the page and leave everything empty, don't add limits to price or location or anything like that. Go to the bottom and click on the "Sort By" and put it on "Time, Newly listed". It will give you the auctions in order from last to first so you will see the one that was just posted a minute ago then five minutes then ten minutes, you get the idea. Now, click on "Search" And then save that page that comes up to your favorites. You now will have at one click every day you can click on it any time and instantly see the latest posts and snatch things up that are "Buy it now" before anyone sees them.

I have found the most amazing stuff this way. I search using the term "NOS" all the time. This is "New Old Stock" meaning it's old stock that is still new because it's never been used. I have for my truck, NOS door ORIGINAL GM door latches and handles for my truck. I have an NOS distributor for the 235, an NOS Corvette side draft intake, I could go on an on, an NOS hood moulding, this stuff is still out there! My '59 Rambler I drive every day, I got an NOS steering wheel for $75 and an NOS horn button for $15! NO KIDDING! These are brand new parts made by AMC 55 years ago!

The stuff is out there, you don't have to by "similar, can be used if nothing else is available" reproduction parts.

Brian

[Highsider]

My panel sustained hood and fender "irregularities". (that is deer poo on the hood, not rust) I bought new parts from http://www.lmctruck.com/chevrolet/ and had them shipped to my body shop and who said installation went well. See my photo collection for step-by-step, if you are bored.