Where can I get body work done on my 26tt c-cab.needs a lot of work new panels etc.in the ct.area or close.
I recommend taking an auto body class at your local community college. You should be able to weld in patch panels and finish them in a semester. Trying to find a body shop to do it will likely only frustrate you. They are geared towards insurance work and when most of them take a project like yours it will be on their schedule and not yours. The cost however will still be top rate even though you get treated second rate.
If taking a class on the subject isn't something you can do, place an ad in your local paper. There will likely be some retired guy that wants to be in his garage a few hours a day instead of watching TV with the wife.
I wish you were closer to topeka Kansas. Easy work and my home shop will be free of my 1926 ford I just did all that on. If you know how to do it right it is fast and easy with the right tools. I wish you luck and hope you find a guy who knows what he is doing.
Be SURE they put weld through primer behind any welded patches or they will rust right out again. WATCH THEM TO BE SURE!!! DO NOT LET THEM BRAZE ANYTHING!!! It will
Corrode right out in a year or so. Also after welding its a good idea to use caswleds internal frame primer - a can with a 2' hose on it, you stick it into areas you can not get paint too like inside doors and lower cowel patches, even up behind the seat back. It seals everything with zinc and will never rust out.
FYI
The panel should cut out and then be spot blasted inside, dusted clean, then weld through primed anywhere you won't be able to get back too, then the new panel also sprayed with weld through primer, mig spot weld in place every 1" down the panels. Then ground smooth with a 36 grit sander wheel, then all seams filled with Kevlar bondo, sanded smooth 36 grit, coated with regular bondo and finished from there.
Do it once, do it right.
Travis E Towle
Topeka Kansas
785-408-3409
When doing work on a C cab there are a couple of things that you need to keep in mind. Make sure that whoever does the work takes very close measurements of things like door opening widths, distance of the cowl to the back panel, etc. Also, check the squareness from corner to corner to make sure the cab doesn't get twisted. If or when the cowl panels get replaced and particularly when the main support rails are repaired it is very easy to twist and distort the cab out of dimension and fitting everything back up like the doors and windshield will be a nightmare. Keep in mind that the only thing connecting the front cowl of the cab to the rest of it are the two ralis below the doors. Good luck. I'm sorry I can't help you find someone to do the work.
thanks.
Kenny, there is (or was) a good body shop in East Windsor called Labrecque Autocraft. They specialized in Mopars, but handled all sorts of stuff. They did a great job repairing some quarter panel damage on my 1971 Plymouth GTX years ago when I lived in CT. Here is their info:
Labrecque Autocraft L.L.C.
63 Newberry Road
East Windsor, CT 06088
860-623-3122
still looking.
still nobody.