1961 econoline van patch panels

hi folks,
I just picked up a 61 econoline van, it is in need of some rust repair. it needs the rear lower corners,rear fender wells, and side panels (lower area).was looking for advice on who makes the best fitting patch panels, and certain basic info on diving in and cutting up my van. i have strong welding and fab skills just looking for tips from people who have already tackled it.
thank you

They all come from the same stamping place no matter where you buy them. Find out who can get them to you for the lowest price. Check out macs or millsupply.com

HOWS THE FIT?

The dies are pretty much wore out. The bad part is the 90 degree angles where the seams are. The bends are not sharp at all. To use the replacement panels you need to keep the factory seams and about an inch of metal so you can cut the replacement panels and butt weld them together. It's a ton more work. Better off finding good used panels if you can.

Duane in Tennessee.

Lucky for me I got them Last year when they averaged $100 a piece, I see them priced @ an average of $200 now. You can always "make them fit". Good luck

econopoor wrote:The dies are pretty much wore out. The bad part is the 90 degree angles where the seams are. The bends are not sharp at all. To use the replacement panels you need to keep the factory seams and about an inch of metal so you can cut the replacement panels and butt weld them together. It's a ton more work. Better off finding good used panels if you can.

Duane in Tennessee.

agree on that butting up and keeping the original seem if possible. when i got my cab corner pieces i was so pissed at how badly the lower edge was krinkled that i drove to the place in akron ohio that stamps them to bitch directly to them and try to grab one in better shape. the dude showed me a huge pallet of them, mangled exactly like mine, and said "what do you want dude....the molds are 50 years old?"

Those molds were bought and paid for by the phono company when our trucks were new so the would have a source for their fleet. They've stamped the life totally out of them.

Unfortunately there are not enough econos getting restored to justify new tooling.

Duane in Tennessee.

well going by what you all are saying, if anyone has older patch panels for sale please message me. older as in maybe they came of he presses before the tooling wore out. i need lower rear corners right and left wheel wells and right and left mid body lower panels. thank you for your help and advice.

The Air Force and Navy kept a lot of NOS Ford stuff for their fleet and sometimes a batch will be discovered in an old surplus lot. A few years ago several toe boards showed up this way. They sold quickly on e-bay. It's a hit and miss deal to find just what your looking for.

Looking for panels that were stamped before the dies wore out would be even harder. We don't know when the dies went bad. Having to pick out good ones would be impossible. Not many sellers would admit to having bad panels.

I still believe your best bet is some good used panels. Ky Tim, Tim Brogan. a member on this site as well as Old Econolines yahoo group is always finding good parts trucks. He can help you find what you need. Rear corners are always hard to find. You will probably need to fix yours. The outter frame is usually in good shape. It's just the compound curve that gets rust thru. You can find sheet metal with a compound curve in old motorcycle gas tanks. That's how I would go. Hope this helps.

Duane in Tennessee.

I have an original NOS Ford right side panel for sale. Unlike the patch panels it includes the door post and hinge brackets, outer edge of the floor and goes all the way to the top.
Fred