Aftermarket reproduction sheet metal fit

[s55mercury66]

I am going to start a thread, showing some of the things I have run into when working with reproduction parts. It is not a complaint thread, just some things I have run across that may be helpful to some folks down the road.
First, here are the areas on the front fenders that I had problems with, the yellow tape identifies them. On the reinforcement at the upper rear, where it bolts to the cowl, I had to notch it at the very rear. The forward flange on the reinforcement also needed to be trimmed a bit, and the bolt holes had to be reamed to allow enough adjustment. At the lower rear, the reinforcement needed to be cut loose, the fender realigned and rewelded, to allow the lower part to swing out at the wheel opening. Where the fender mounts to the radiator support, I had to ream those holes also, to get the bolt holes to line up. It is also a good idea to chase all of the threads before installation, as they can be kinda screwy. The truck I am working on was almost completely repro, which would have worked out well, had they checked this stuff before painting it. There will be more to follow.

[s55mercury66]

Hopefully here is the pic

[AU Doc]

This will be a good thread! In for the updates!

[HO455]

Great idea. Can you tell us the year of the part you are talking about. I know that 67-68 fenders have different problems than the later versions.
Thank you.

[pickupman]

Also could you tell us the brand of products and where purchased

[randy500]

Those mods are typical of the fenders i have fit too.
Dont forget to fit the grill with both fenders installed before paint work. 69-72 chev fenders require massaging where the grill fits. Especially very top front by the hood.

[s55mercury66]

Here are the facts as I know them; the truck that most of this will be about is a 1970 GMC, and all of the parts came from LMC. I am also installing rockers on a '72 Chevy shortbed, and will post what I had to to with those to make them fit like I wanted. Today, I messed with the tailgate on the GMC, and found some things I will share, and hopefully the pictures will makes sense. First, the bedsides at the ends where everything meets, are in too far in relation to the tailgate, and the tail light moldings. Unfortunately, I would have to destroy the paint in that area to make it all really fit correctly, so this is just a warning to check the fit of all of the parts BEFORE painting. The flange, or edge, needed to be flattened out a little, to avoid hitting the tailgate. The stake pockets at the rear need to be cut loose at the spot welds, and flattened out a little before rewelding, so they do not sit higher than the tailgateThe tailgate itself needed the alignment tabs at the top bent in a little, and to get it up high enough in relation to the bed, I had to open up the trunnion bolt holes. The trunnions themselves also hit the little flange, and the previous folks cut that away with a mini belt sander, I believe. Since the tailgate did not fit properly due to the trunnion interference, they also used that belt sander open up the latch holes on the strap assembly. The bolts that were used on the strap assembly had washers that were too large, causing issues when trying to adjust them. I had to stop for the day at that point, so I will post more as soon as I get back on it.

[s55mercury66]

Hmmm, funny, I didn't lay on my side when I took those, I'll try to straighten them out later. Lookin at the first pic, you can see how the rear bedside flange needs to come out in relation to the tail light molding. The last pic shows how it affects the tailgate fit. The gate itself is out only far enough to clear the rear sill, which was another interference issue that they left unsolved. The middle pic shows where the alignment tab on the tailgate needed bent in to clear. Another thing that is really helpful is to center the tailgate so it doesn't move from side to side, that alone would have probably saved the paint gouge shown. You can either shim the trunnions where they bolt on, or install a spacer between the trunnion(s) and the tailgate. The trunnion pockets on the gate can also be worked on a little to tighten the up and down slop that most have. With enough patience, these old style gates can be made to operate smoothly, and not rattle around. I am sure that my descriptions are confusing, so if anyone has questions I will do my best to answer them.

[franken]

Originally Posted by pickupman

Also could you tell us the brand of products and where purchased

There are very few who make parts. Different sellers put their stickers on them or in a box and people think there are many manufacturers.

[davischevy]

Take your pics holding your phone landscape (Horizontal). I know if I take a pic on mine verticle, the pictures cannot be flipped here.

[randy500]

Seems every week someone is trying to fit parts after they have been painted......i cant understand why.

[s55mercury66]

Originally Posted by franken

There are very few who make parts. Different sellers put their stickers on them or in a box and people think there are many manufacturers.

Yes, you are 100% correct on this.

[s55mercury66]

Originally Posted by davischevy

Take your pics holding your phone landscape (Horizontal). I know if I take a pic on mine verticle, the pictures cannot be flipped here.

Thanks, I did shoot these verically, trying to fit it all in.

[s55mercury66]

Originally Posted by randy500

Seems every week someone is trying to fit parts after they have been painted......i cant understand why.

I can tell you why in this instance, since I worked there when they tore this truck down. It was done at a plain old body shop, and they thought they could just replace everything, and then reassemble it like we would do a 2020 model vehicle. The end result was a decent paint job, and absolutely nothing fit. For those who do not know, expect this, because it is how it is. Do not expect anything to fit out of the box, but we should prolly be happy that we have this stuff to work with at all.

[Knight72]

I'll be watching this one closely. I've got to fit an inner cowl panel, inner rockers with floor extensions, outer rockers, fenders, and cab corners at the least. Prob bed header panel too

[s55mercury66]

Ok, back after it this morning, still messing around with the bedside/tailgate area. The flange shown here was really wide, and to get the tailgate on at all, they put big notches where the trunnions hit the bedsides. With the tailgate installed, it kinda hides that, but I have gone ahead and started cleaning up, and narrowing the flanges down. Also, the flanges were bent outward some, so a hammer and dolly will flatten those out.

[s55mercury66]

Originally Posted by Knight72

I'll be watching this one closely. I've got to fit an inner cowl panel, inner rockers with floor extensions, outer rockers, fenders, and cab corners at the least. Prob bed header panel too

Coming from Ohio to Wyomimg about 20 years ago, I feel for you, mister. We are fortunate out here to have relatively rust-free stuff to work on, and in that regard, I do not miss my Ohio home too much. I will be doing some cab corner/rocker panel work later this week, and will post that when I do.

[sick472]

I hope it's OK that I add my resent sheet metal fitting issue to your thread. I think it's a great thread topic and wanted to add to it.

Preface: I ordered 67-71 steel inner door panels to put on my 72 doors from Classic Parts of America. The fact that the doors are 72 may have been that actual problem, but I think these panels should fit nicely in the door recess just the same. These did not fit in the recess and needed a little tweeking. I expected the mounting holes in the door to be different due to the fact that the 72's used xmas tree fasteners instead of screws, but that's not why I'm posting this.

Disclaimer: Don't think I'm complaining about the supplier, manufacturer,or the parts...every single aftermarket panel I have purchased (near 10 total between a few projects) has needed some adjustments.

Problem: The panels where too tall by about an 1/8", but the width (front to back) was spot on. The actual problem with them being too tall is that the upper trim piece is supposed to set inside the recess and there was no way that was going to happen. I decided to use a sanding disk and my angle grinder to buzz off that 1/8" from the top of the panel for a few reasons: the upper edge is hidden by the door trim at the top, removing the 1/8" from the bottom would show my buzz work if you looked close enough, and the existing holes in the door at the bottom would become miss-matched.

The first photo shows the untouched panel on the bottom and the shortened panel on the top. I took off just a bit more than needed but managed to stay just above the break in the panel as to not compromise the strength added by the break. It worked out that that was enough removed otherwise I would have had to shave the bottom too in order to keep the break. You decide if the break gives much strength in the big picture.

Side Note: I though it funny that two of the stickers on packaging said it was for 67-72, but the other identifying stickers and markings said 67-71.

[s55mercury66]

Moving forward from the rear of the bed, we run into the splash shields. Now, this 1970 GMC has a wooden floor, so there may some things I have to do here that will not be needed for a bed with a metal floor. There is a serious issue with the flanges at the wheel opening, and the length of the splash shield. Some hammmer and dolly work will close up the flanges at the wheel opening, and I will have to cut the bottom flange off of the splash shield, trim about 5/8" from the bottom, and weld the flange back on. You guys with metal bed floors may not have to do that. More pics when I have it completed.

[s55mercury66]

I hope it's OK that I add my resent sheet metal fitting issue to your thread.

Absolutely, add all you can, and hopefully some folks will avoid surprises in the future.

[OL SKOOL]

Thanks for starting this thread some people go new just bolt on and go. Not always the outcome. I think this will help a lot of people.

[GASoline71]

Cab corners give me nightmares.

The outer floor pan with inner rocker is the best weld in sheet metal piece out there for repair right now. Saves a lot of time to not have to weld up 3 separate panels to do one job.

Gary

[Snake72]

I bought new repop bedsides and tailgate and had the exact same issues you're having. I had to do quite a bit of cutting, hammering, re-welding, enlarging bolt holes to get things fitting decent. The worst section for me was the rear cross sill for wood bed...was not even close to fitting into the bedsides. But, I would still rather deal with fitting new panels than patching my cancer ridden bed any day.

[HO455]

Link to a thread on aftermarket battery trays.

https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...84#post8681584