Picked up a cab, now what.

[biketopia]

So my cab on my 71 is really rough, needs a lot of metal work. It's nothing that can't be fixed though, after probably 300 hours of my body work but if I had a big home shop with room to work on things and then walk away for a week I'd tackle this one but at the moment I don't. But I digress, I picked up a cab this weekend that only needs rockers, a small floor patch at the drivers footwell and the two front cab mounts. Much more manageable for me and will tremendously help get this project back on track. So my real two questions are, what order should I do these repairs in, and where should I pick up those patches from. I've heard gmc Paul's is awesome, but then read keystone rockers fit the best..soo what do y'all think. None of these patches are super expensive so paying 20 bucks for a cab support vs 12 bucks for one isn't a big deal obviously. I'll post pics tomorrow so y'all can see what I'm working with. I also plan to have the cab blasted first, I'm a mechanic by trade and my brother builds custom cars and manages a local hot rod shop(not the body shop side though) so none of this is a question of ability on our part, just looking for some advice from the guys that have done it. Thanks so much in advance.

[hugger6933]

A lot of people think that they need outers when they take it apart they need inners and outers A and B pillars and footwell extensions as well as the floor part attached to the inners. Those cab "kits" that are at some of the suppliers are good [except they don't have footwells and you need those to change the other parts.] and save some time looking for parts. i have recently installed 4 of the rockers you mentioned I have to "adjust " them ever so lightly by making some pie cuts to make it fit better. But then again your might work I just wasn't satisfied.
With the cab support being changed make sure you brace up the front as well as the back before welding in the mounts, I didn't brace the front on one of the cabs I just did and it walked ever so slightly on me after between measurements and causing a back track to set everything right. Also if using new aftermarket doors make sure they fit and aren't too tall for the door opening. Mine was and I had to cut the top hoop off and lower it into the door and reweld it to make the darn thing fit. One was like 3/4 of an inch too tall. Things like that can drive you batty. Jim

[nightrider388]

Keystone is an aftermarket crash parts company. Keyparts is not the same thing. Keyparts. Triplus will be a popular brand of sheet metal. There are plenty of board venders who all sell quality parts. Door alignment is critical in putting on the rockers. I would do all the other metal work first and rockers last, but I'm no body man. The reason I said that is once you blast that metal, you are likely to find more . Make sure they use a safe media such as walnut to keep from stretching your metals. Don't blast it unless you are ready to epoxy prime or the rust will be everywhere.

[biketopia]

Thanks guys, I knew I'd mess up the parts supplier. I have one perfect OE door and like 3 others I can make a good one out of if I don't get another great one. When the cab gets blasted it will go right into the booth to get epoxy primer shot on it. Thanks for the heads up on the "kits" I'll check em out. Open to other suggestions as well.

[GR8-68]

Coopers restoration has great prices on their patch panels

[special-K]

Key Parts sells to Keystone. One makes the stuff and the other sells it. Key Parts = Tri-Plus. So, easy to get it all crossed up. Have you checked with Bill Athey in Front Royal?

[nightrider388]

Originally Posted by special-K

Key Parts sells to Keystone. One makes the stuff and the other sells it. Key Parts = Tri-Plus. So, easy to get it all crossed up. Have you checked with Bill Athey in Front Royal?

What I don't understand is the whole all new zinc tooling like the fenders they say fit. I called a.m.d and they say theirs is triplus. Some places sell keyparts ( new tooling) but say they are triplus as well. I can't believe triplus makes all these different grades, but maybe they do.

[biketopia]

Originally Posted by special-K

Key Parts sells to Keystone. One makes the stuff and the other sells it. Key Parts = Tri-Plus. So, easy to get it all crossed up. Have you checked with Bill Athey in Front Royal?

Nope sure haven't, I'll check into it. Is he a supplier or what? Just googled him and I'm pretty sure it's not the English Cricket player you were referring to.

[biketopia]

Originally Posted by GR8-68

Coopers restoration has great prices on their patch panels

Do coopers parts fit well? Also read on an old thread that Tabco was good for pretty much everything but their rockers were thin and didn't fit worth a damn.

[GR8-68]

All the ones I have purchased have fit very well, I just bought a set of door skins from them.

[randy500]

Here is what I would do and order....

Order from Summit using goodmark or AMD part numbers from this list.
Summit or jegs should have this stuff, free shipping and they have it in stock. Parts sometimes arrive with Key parts numbers on them.
Get
Footwells, 402-4067-R
Outer cab floor, 406-4067-1R
Rocker, 450-4067-R
Front pillar patch, 4143-472-67R
Cab corner if needed. 480-4067-R

Use a sharpie and write measurements and measurement points on the truck.
Roof drip rail to floor where door sill plate mounts, do this front and back.
Door opening dimension at weatherstrip lip by rocker panel.

Cut through the front pillar and footwell with a .040 6" cutoff wheel on a 4.5" hand grinder
Then cut the floor and rear cab corner (if needed).
Test fit the outer floor section and trim your floor to fit.
Trim front pillar and don't use the fender mount its the wrong shape
Trim footwell
Drill holes for outer floor to cab supports and mount floor and tack weld.
Install pillar and footwell
Install cab corner.
Verify nothing has moved with your measurements, it shouldn't have moved measurably
Install door to test fit rocker to door relationship
Remove door and weld it all up. Install door test fit rocker, then weld rocker.

If it needs the floor pan, do it last. You didn't do it first because it was holding the cab together, the new rocker, outer floor and pillar now support the cab so you can do the floor.
And the floor pan with the inner rocker structure attached doesn't fit very well all by itself so don't try doing that.

[randy500]

And buy this tool, it works much better than any disc type sander, its precise, the belts are cheap and they last 3x longer than 4.5" sanding discs.

https://www.amazon.com/Astro-3035-Be.../dp/B007QV7VGC

Use it on the trimmed parts and to grind down your welds, use 60 grit belts.