I'll begin this by stating that I may be a jack-of-all-trades, but I'm surely a master of none. That said the following is another peek into my home shop and at how I am going about redoing my '57 Chevy pickup cab. Now, those readers who are actual accomplished body repair techs may not completely agree with my techniques but this is how I've taught myself to accomplish minor body repair and patch panel installation, and I'm hoping it'll at least serve as a primer for those considering tackling similar repairs on their own.
Rust repair is one of those phases of classic truck rodstoration that has a rather high intimidation factor with most of us. But these days companies like LMC Truck offer preshaped replacement panels that relieve the home shop restorer of the need to be an accomplished metal shaper. LMC's catalog (and website) offers the do-it-yourselfer nearly every component needed to restore your pride and joy.
Speaking of patch panels (and/or restoration components in general) I've chosen to utilize those offered by LMC Truck Parts. To be totally honest, the components I've purchased and used so far have been about the highest quality and most affordable priced replacement parts I've used in years-well-deserved kudos to the folks at LMC.
The body rot I'd found on my truck cab was pretty typical for GM products of the era. The worst was in the cab corner areas, and more but less extensive rot was on the cab floor, rockers, and door steps. Luckily, though, the common rust and rot in the door hinge pockets were miraculously missing so I dodged a bullet in that respect. I'll start out by replacing the driver-side door step assembly and the left cab corner; I'll tackle the other rust-damaged areas in future installments.
