1956 Chevrolet Pickup Patch Job - Do-It-Yourself Corrosion Cures

The inner panel was checked for fit. Note how the body lines match up.

Satisfied with the fit, Jason tack welded the panel in place. Widely spaced tacks are made, then additional tacks are made in-between those. The trick is to weld a little at a time to prevent warping the area.

Brothers’ inner patch panel overlaps the floor just as the original sheet metal did. Look closely and the locations of the original spot welds can be seen.

The rear cab corner patch panel was held in place , the body was marked and then carefully cut.

After welding and grinding the rear corner was good as new.

The lower hinge posts are often in need of repair. Again Jason clamped the repair panel in place and marked the body for cutting.

After making a horizontal cut the spot welds were drilled out.

The lower front portion of the hinge post was marked and cut.

With the new pocket panel clamped in place the hinge was temporarily installed.

Viewed from the front, the attachment hole in the front of the hinge assembly is visible.

The front hinge post repair panel was positioned by bolting it to the hinge.

Properly positioned, the front and rear hinge post repair panels welded in place with the Tech Center’s Lincoln wire feeder.

After removing a section of the floor damage the floor support could be seen. Sheetmetal patches were fashioned and welded in place.

After repairing the floor support the step/rocker assembly was put in place and tack welded.

A short chunk of 2x4 lumber and a heavy hammer were used to align the rocker panel portion of the step assembly with the edges of the door opening .

To check the alignment of the rocker portion of the panel, the door was installed. Pleased with the fit the welding was completed.

The floor and toe board replacement panel was trimmed and welded in place. A body mount bolt goes through the repaired floor support.

The right side of the cab underwent the same procedures as the left. Here the repairs are complete with new inner and outer posts and the step assembly installed. This is the way repairs are supposed to be made.