Right Bedside Replacement Panel - My Experience

[scottladdy]

OK, so strong disclaimer. This is my experience with one and only one sample. This may or may not represent what you will experience. I and others have purchased many other items from LMC with satisfaction.

Moderators: If this does not belong in this forum please feel free to move it. I started this thread in the CUCV main forum since this applies specifically to CUCV's and is not a customization or hot rodding related item.

I wanted to document and share my experience in replacing the right bed side of my M1008 with an LMC replacement panel. I ordered the bed side with the square fuel filler door as I installed a second fuel tank to increase my operating range.The panel arrived within a few weeks of being ordered, truck freight. It was very well packaged and on initial inspection looked good. No obvious dents, and while the stamping didn't match the quality of any of the OE panels I have used in the past the "pretty" surfaces looked very servicable. I fully expected to have to perform some work on the panel, as even the OE panels I have used have all required a little body work. I also expected the steel to be of a thinner gauge than stock, which it was but still a LOT thicker than modern cars heavy foil .

The issues arose when I began to install the panel on the bed. I had removed the entire bed and had it supported on heavy duty saw horses which gave me full access to the bed.

List of issues I discovered:

1. The bedside bowed outwards, it was not straight and did not align well with the bed floor.
2. The top rail was spot welded too high on the inside and canted heavily outboard.
3. The mounting positions for the tailgate bumpers were not properly aligned.
4. The front did not have proper clearance around the embossing in the header panel.
5. The upper front of the panel was not properly cut back to clear the header.
6. The taillight recess was malformed. Tail light would not fit flush.
7. Due to #2 the side was significantly higher than the tailgate.
8. The rear of the panel stood very proud of the tailgate when properly closed.
9. The beauty lines did not match (off slightly and for a work truck not a big deal but providing full transparency).
10. The tailgate made contact with the panel at the bottom when closed.
11. The spot welds at the bottom rear of the panel were highly unfinished.
12. The fuel door outer surface was concave, not slightly convex like OE, and heavily rippled.
13. The fuel door opening was approximately 11/16" too high, preventing mounting of the fuel filler.
14. A number of mounting locations were off enough to require significant work.

That is as far as I took it before I decided to punt and weld a fuel door into the OE panel and perform the necessary body work I was hoping my more than $400 investment would preclude.In short, for a quick replacement on a work or mud/off road truck that just needs to function it could be made to work with the exception of the fuel filler opening. However, if you are looking for a decent replacement, at least this sample would not pass muster. Your mileage may vary.

 

[scottladdy]

 

[Drock]

How bad is your original? It might be easier to just cut & fit the fuel door into the original.

 

[scottladdy]

How bad is your original? It might be easier to just cut & fit the fuel door into the original.

Thanks, that is exactly what I ended up doing.



And the final product:

 

[scottladdy]

What I started from:

 

[Drock]

Well it turned out beautiful. It just sucks you had to spend all that money, and waste all that time just to get a fuel door. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[cucvrus]

News Flash. LMC front fenders, tailgates and doors fit the same way. Good Luck with the Chikon body parts. I would rather have used originals then the knock off stuff. Don't even consider an M1009 K5 blazer gate from them. Even the ones they say/list are licensed GM products are the same poor quality. Remember new GM vehicles have off shore stampings on them now. Small world/world economy.

 

[scottladdy]

News Flash. LMC front fenders, tailgates and doors fit the same way. Good Luck with the Chikon body parts. I would rather have used originals then the knock off stuff. Don't even consider an M1009 K5 blazer gate from them. Even the ones they say/list are licensed GM products are the same poor quality. Remember new GM vehicles have off shore stampings on them now. Small world/world economy.

Thanks Rick,

That is what I was expecting to hear. Does anyone know of sources for good replacement steel? Any of us in this hobby will likely require some parts at some time or another, especially those of us who live in the rust belt where they are putting down more and more corrosive chemicals to clear the roads of Mother Nature in the winter.

Personally I am getting ready to do some resto work on our M1009 and could use some good sources.

So let's hear it folks. Who has had good luck with replacement panels? Where and what? Any known sources of OE sheet metal? Your experience will assist others ...

 

[Chaski]

Honestly I have never thought of repop sheetmetal for my square box. There are so many in the scrapyards and on Craigslist that I would just find good used metal. The pick-n-pull self service wrecking yard that is 100 miles away from me always has between 5 and 20 73-87 rigs with reasonably priced parts. Sometimes a catalog isn't the best place for parts.

I have a mustang that I used a Dynacorn brand repop cowl to cut a patch panel out of and it wasn't bad. I don't know if Dynacorn does squarebox sheetmetal, but they are usually the best repop (can still be marginal)

 

[scottladdy]

Honestly I have never thought of repop sheetmetal for my square box. There are so many in the scrapyards and on Craigslist that I would just find good used metal. The pick-n-pull self service wrecking yard that is 100 miles away from me always has between 5 and 20 73-87 rigs with reasonably priced parts. Sometimes a catalog isn't the best place for parts.

I have a mustang that I used a Dynacorn brand repop cowl to cut a patch panel out of and it wasn't bad. I don't know if Dynacorn does squarebox sheetmetal, but they are usually the best repop (can still be marginal)

If only we had that option up here in the Northeast. Anything in yards up here has far more cancer than what I am repairing. Know any yards in your area that would ship cross country?

 

[cucvrus]

Scottladdy. What is it that you need. A rust free cab? I also have many other nice sheet metal parts. Anything specific?

 

[FrankenCub]

Thanks for the post! I was considering going with a complete bed side to take care of a rust issue on the driver side of my M1008 to save the time of messing with a patch. I didn't really care if I got one that had dents or gouges seems the Marines did a decent job of customizing this one lol. Only concerned about a decent fit. Guess I'll buy a repair patch and fix it that way. Best part, I can retain all the dents I hate body work!

 

[iacucv]

Best repro sheet metal I've used in my bodywork days was made by Goodmark. That said its still repro metal and takes some fitting but usually far better than others. That said I heard they got bought out and their quality has dropped but I cannot verify that.

 

[eme411]

what he said , there are different grades of repop sheet metal and it shows , I always ask for the better quality stuff and I am happy with that , what you showed us here was real poor quality , I have purchased some items from them that were complete crap, ie. signal wiper handle in GM box not assembled properly , headlight switch knobs that would not lock into the switch,

 

[scottladdy]

what he said , there are different grades of repop sheet metal and it shows , I always ask for the better quality stuff and I am happy with that , what you showed us here was real poor quality , I have purchased some items from them that were complete crap, ie. signal wiper handle in GM box not assembled properly , headlight switch knobs that would not lock into the switch,

Thanks eme411. Can you help us all out by specifying who supplies/manufactures the higher quality? Goodmark, at least a few years ago, is on the short list. We may be able to save people a lot of time and/or $ if we share our experiences. It may also help to drive quality higher.

Appreciate the post!

 

[scottladdy]

Scottladdy. What is it that you need. A rust free cab? I also have many other nice sheet metal parts. Anything specific?

Thanks Rick, I'll PM you when I have my list together to see what we can make happen. I'm also hoping that we can start sharing our good and bad experiences on re-pops since that may be the only viable option for some.

 

[Drock]

Yeah I still need that fuel door & flange we talked about cucvrus.

 

[fitz]

As others have said, whenever possible, we are better off searching for used GM sheet metal.
That being said, I have seen some decent fitting aftermarket sheet metal on some of the parts trucks that I parted out.
One 85 k20 had front fenders made by Gordon Autobody parts that fit good.
A 86 k30 had doors from a company called Certifit that also fit good.
I would like to point out that that these parts were installed on these trucks at a Body shop years before I bought them and parted them out. I don't know how much work when into fitting these panels, but I was happy with the fit.
I have also used the Certifit front fenderwells. I have lined them up side by side with GM fenderwells and the quality & thickness seemed the same.

 

[cucvrus]

Yeah I still need that fuel door & flange we talked about cucvrus.

When I seen how inexpensive the knock off parts (fuel Door) I was thinking it was not worth my while to remove and ship.

Click to Enlarge

(1 Reviews)
Action Crash GM1759101
Fuel Door
Close
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Product List Price:
$55.21 Our List Price: $12.98
Quantity:

Select Year 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986​

(12) In Stock​

Availability: (12) In Stock
Condition: New
Quality: Premium - High quality new replacement part.
Shipping Options: Ground
Part Number: GM1759101
Brand: Action Crash
Notes: FUEL DOOR

 

[Drock]

When I seen how inexpensive the knock off parts (fuel Door) I was thinking it was not worth my while to remove and ship.

Click to Enlarge

(1 Reviews)
Action Crash GM1759101
Fuel Door
Close
Loading Reviews...




Product List Price:
$55.21 Our List Price: $12.98
Quantity:

Select Year 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986​

(12) In Stock​

Availability: (12) In Stock
Condition: New
Quality: Premium - High quality new replacement part.
Shipping Options: Ground
Part Number: GM1759101
Brand: Action Crash
Notes: FUEL DOOR

The problem isn't the door itself, like you said, you can find them all day for next to nothing. It's the body flange for the door that nobody's making...