'59 F100 panel

B

Baraga79

Junior Member
Hi I'm new here, first post. I've been searching for the right '50s or early '60s project truck for a couple years. When I was a kid, a neighbor had a '60 F100 short box step side for sale. It had typical Michigan rust and a swapped-in 351, but I loved the look...the dual headlight grille, the wrap around windshield, etc. My folks wouldn't go for it and it slipped away, but I never forgot it.

Fast forward 20+ years. I recently went to look at a '59 F-100 panel. I fell in love with it immediately, but it raised some concerns. Again, lots of Michigan rust. Some of the 'typical' areas like the lower front fenders, step boards, and floors I'm not that worried about because repros are available. The worrisome area is the rear wheelwells and quarter panels. They're pretty bad on this one, and it doesn't appear as though anyone offers patch panels.

Does anyone know if, shy of cannibalizing a solid western example, there are new quarter patch panels available for these? I really dig this panel. Thanks! -Marc.
 
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I've seen some panel trucks on eBay lately, one is a '53 that has rust, but there are some nice specimens around a '57 to '60. It may pay to wait until a better project pops up.
 
I really wish I could afford to take a trip west and pick up a rust free, or close to it, example. Unfortunately I'm stuck shopping local. I agree though, the more I think about this one, the better it sounds to let it go and look for better.

I've been a fabricator on and off for twenty years, so patching up the fenders and the door sills (and the bottoms of the doors) doesn't scare me, but having to create new wheel openings from scratch, especially considering the shape they're in now, seems daunting. One thing I considered was trying to find a couple of front fenders and 'stealing' the opening. They look like the same arches as the front, but then I'm trying to find decent front fenders for a '59!

Probably going to keep looking. The cruddy part? There's a '61 uni custom cab short box for sale in my town for the same money as the panel. It's in need of rust repair too, but it seems there is twice as much available for that year. I thought about that one too, but I just dig the panel more.

Thanks guys! -Marc.
 
Body parts for the UNI bodies are about as rare as the '57-60 panels.. A friend of mine has been work on a Uni-body for a couple of years.. The one thing nice about the Uni-bodies is that the front sheet metal, '61 to 66 is pretty much interchangeable.
The body parts for the '57-60 panels are in very limited supply. Front doors and front clip are the same as any F100-250, etc. You could harvest the rear wheel wells from a pickup bed.
I have a lot of body parts and accessories for the '58-60 F100-250's, have parted three of them out through the years.. Have a couple of very nice chrome grilles, '59 & 60, and windshields..
 

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Stop telling yourself you don't have the resources to get a good western body. Think of it this way, How long would it take you to make an extra $1500 for the shipping compared to the amount of time you spend doing cancer surgery.
 
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