cab front door frame...

[arbo]

On my drivers side, I have a nice ding that is along the door edge. This is part of the cab. Just wondering 'best fix' sort of thing. Cut it out and bend some metal into shape and weld in and go from there?

[Art]

That part of the cab is very hard to get to the backside of - your only access is the left vent and the upper door hinge opening. Neither one gets you unobstructed access.

First I would try a stud welder. If you are unfamiliar with these, they spot weld a stud to the metal that you can then pull on with a lever or slide hammer. When you are done, you grind the studs off flush. Kind of like the old-school dent puller, but without the screw hole. I borrowed one to fix a F250 door and it worked so well that I bought one for myself.

That metal there is pretty strong and if the stud welder does not work, then I would cut out the bent section and weld a section in from a donor cab. Being that you are in Western Colorado, I think these trucks should still be pretty easy to get parts for yet. I haven't been out that way in a while, but the last time I was in Grand Junction there these trucks were plentiful on the roads and wrecking yards - and all had little or no rust When welding patches: fit the piece so the gap to be welded is small and uniform, tack it in place with many small tack welds, and then finish weld it in very small incremental steps to minimize heat and the resulting warpage.

I prefer to straighten (pull and hammer) sheet metal over welding in patch panels.