Chevrolet Cab Repair - Save-A-Cab

After setting the door gaps perfectly, Chris takes a close look at the profile of the door skin to be certain it aligns perfectly with the new cowl panel and the rear portion of the cab.

Satisfied that the new cowl panel and door are both perfectly located, Chris wields the MIG welder and spot-welds the panel in place. All the time spent making seemingly minor adjustments to the panels now will save a lot of work later.

After spot-welding a little work with the grinder is in order to smooth out the seams.

If it wasn’t for the black coating on the new panel one might think this was a factory panel with the lead melted out. We cannot overstate how impressed we were with the fit and quality of these pieces.

After repairing the cowl section, replacing the rear cab corners would be a relatively simple operation. The top tape line is the top of the patch panel, while the lower tape line is where Chris will make his cut.

Chris cuts well above the rusted areas to solid metal, but prefers not to use the entire patch panel. He also cuts his line on a contour, saying it seems to help minimize warping during the welding process. If there is structural rust inside the cab corner, now is the time to repair it with replacement panels.

After cutting the corner of the cab the patch panel is held in place and marked from inside the cab. Once again, note the perfect contours of the replacement panel.

The patch panel is now cut to match the opening in the cab corner using a cut-off wheel and die grinder.

A test fit show the initial cut is very close to perfect, a small bit of grinding where the patch panel wraps around the doorjamb will close the gap perfectly.