Body part questions doors cab corners bed sides. Please help

[87silverado]

Just picked up a 87 half ton truck the other day cheap bought mainly for something to mess around with. Truck needs some rust repair need some help on what to do i need cab corners ROCKERS and maybe door or just bottom door skins what is better to go with? Any aftermarket doors fit good? Any good websites to get these parts from. Also needs a little bed work done over the wheel wells. Again sould i go with new bed sides or just patch panels and where is the best place to get these parts from? Thanks

 

[Swims350]

bedsides are like $300 a piece, patches are cheap.

clasicpartsofamerica,

jcwhitney

lmctruck

raybuck auto

tons of places with 73-87 parts.

 

[Mishri]

Sorry to hi-jack the thread somewhat but I have a very similiar question, how is the quality on those replacement doors/panels? are they like original?

I had heard that those at lmctruck.com and rockauto.com are flimsy and made in china, not nearly as good as grabbing doors/panels off of the proper year range truck (73-87 for doors) that is in good shape and just sanding/re-painting.

Does anyone have first hand experience with replacement fenders/doors?

to me i'd almost rather order brand new pre-primered doors ready for paint than deal with an older one that I have to disassemble sand, primer and paint.

 

[smurph20]

Ive gotten a rollpan and cab repair panels from LMC and they are good quaility. The rollpan is on my S10 and hasnt been painted and has yet to show any signs of rust and its been on there for a lil over 4 years now and is still only in the electroplate stuff they ship them in.

 

[Swims350]

none that I have ever seen are as thick as old factory gm sheetmetal, thing is finding good thick sheetmetal aint easy, so might as well use the thin crap, at least it's thicker then most new cars metal.

 

[bucket]

The aftermarket doors, fenders, etc are thinner metal than original. The patch panels however are often good thick metal. Notice I said "often". I always buy my patch panels from local aftermarket parts companies since it's cheap and they deliver to my shop for free. Usually the patch panels are think, but sometimes a shipment will have a couple panels that are a different brand and much thinner.

 

[Driver4r]

Ok, i got a goodmark passenger door with my truck, how good are these?

 

[Gordyg]

Okay here’s the deal, after 45 years in restoration and owning a77 since new with over a million miles on it I feel qualified to give my opinion. Rule of thumb always is spend more on the part saves more on the labour. When ever you get the chance to buy OEM , do it. Rust free original parts especially US made trump all. Mexico built for GM is lower quality but still way better than off shore made. My truck is all GM and you can roll a marble down the gaps. Take your time and find the right parts, you will have a way more fun and rewarding experience

 

[yepyep]

Okay here’s the deal, after 45 years in restoration and owning a77 since new with over a million miles on it I feel qualified to give my opinion. Rule of thumb always is spend more on the part saves more on the labour. When ever you get the chance to buy OEM , do it. Rust free original parts especially US made trump all. Mexico built for GM is lower quality but still way better than off shore made. My truck is all GM and you can roll a marble down the gaps. Take your time and find the right parts, you will have a way more fun and rewarding experience

im restoring a k20 with aftermarket panels.....hes right they ****** suck i cant even figure out why one of my new bedsides pulls away at the top making tailgate difficult to close at least it doesnt fall down i guess

 

[ali_c20]

Sorry to hi-jack the thread somewhat but I have a very similiar question, how is the quality on those replacement doors/panels? are they like original?

I had heard that those at lmctruck.com and rockauto.com are flimsy and made in china, not nearly as good as grabbing doors/panels off of the proper year range truck (73-87 for doors) that is in good shape and just sanding/re-painting.

Does anyone have first hand experience with replacement fenders/doors?

to me i'd almost rather order brand new pre-primered doors ready for paint than deal with an older one that I have to disassemble sand, primer and paint.

I have mixed experiences with aftermarket parts. It takes some time to make them fit, they never fit as they come. They are all made in China or Taiwan. LMC has premium fenders and doors, I have not used them but they may they are worth a try. I had passenger and driver side fenders from one company, driver was ok, passenger was off in shape ( curve on the top) needed 1 inch shims and the side marker hole needed welding. On one door we had to cut the frame off the door to get the angle right so that it would close and the weather strip would seal. The damage was not from shipping. I prefer good used parts fix them if I can get them.

 

[Ken B]

I bought a donor truck for my project.
All GM parts. I have always been short on patience but if I know how something is supposed to fit and it doesn't...tools probably flying across the garage at some point

 

[fast 99]

Patch panels [especially over the wheel well] can be a lot of work. That's a straight long area. Any warpage shows.

I have installed some aftermarket sheet metal. At best it can be made to fit. One time on a 78 the side marker wouldn't fit in the opening. Didn't try a fit until after painting. Another time [after pre-painting the inside] tried to close the hood. The pinch weld on the top seam split along its entire length. Any offshore door was horrible.

Not sure what GM makes today but if available it's worth the extra money. Another option is used. A repairable GM panel is better than offshore.

It's been a while since I have installed replacement body panels but doesn't sound like it has improved much.