Technical Enhancing EMS patch panels

I like your suggestion of wheee to cut, you can gring your weld to match that radius and use no filler but hes going to likely blow through there with it being so thin and rusty down there..
My rules for patch panels in no particular order are..
*cut at the thinnest spot (through a c pillar instead of in the rear quarter for example) to minimise the possibility of creating more work for yourself, even if youre cutting out more good original steel
*cut, fit panels and weld on outside radiuses not inside because you can grind them better warp free easier, metal on an inside radius will pull further in, outside will generally prevent warpage spreading
*always patch where you can get behind it to planish
*hide the cuts behind where trim goes if possible
*never ever use sharp corners or 90 degree cuts..

i will always cut through a 4” spot before cutting through a 6” spot even if the 6” spot leaves me more original steel

 

I try to avoid 90* cuts as well.
For an OE part, cutting in the narrowest section works. That’s how I do collision repair. For an aftermarket part, it depends on the piece. The last 2 aftermarket qtrs I used I wish I had cut them at the belt line.
Access is easy when you remove the part. I’ve removed qtr panels and welded the repair panels off the vehicle. Makes a clean repair. Then install like a new part.

 

So I experimented with my bead roller in trying to make a feature line patch. I spent a few hours experimenting and it was worth the effort. Feel I learned some metal shaping skills understanding more about how metal moves and how to correct for it. While I'm confident I can achieve my goal I decided not to spend more time making my own but to tweak the EMS panel. Used my bead roller to sharpen and square up the feature line. Looks much better to my eye so I'll make the lower part and weld it in. Then on to fabricating a rear window tray.

 

Your username is very appropriate. The reworked panel looks much improved.

 

AT LEAST GET OUR NAME CORRECT WHEN YOU COMPLAIN. IT IS -EMS_. NOT -emt-
this panels cost $86 a pair high quality chevy panels are $ 287 pair.

we get complaints because we are the only panel company that puts a label with our name with our name and phone number. guess it makes it easy.

if Henry Ford came out of the grave made the parts himself and gave them to you free, you would still complain about the quality and price.

I am tired of the whining

its time to retire

see ya

the ems guy

 

While I'd be in hurt feelings agreement on the name, the get it right in the title part, I missed it. So don't get your panties in too tight a twist, it was identified as a EMS panel every where else it was mentioned by name. And what do they say about advertising...?
As I see it, it's constructive to get some feed back. Supposed to lead to improvements? That being said, close works in a lot of cases. Most would hope however for made in America accuracy.
I'm hearing the complaint in profile/fitment? What I'm not hearing is why? But if it came to justifying new tooling, I couldn't see a sound business move there either?
Good luck, it could be time.

 

Popcorn time.
The OP only had issues cause the phone number was on the label.

I guess the smart move would be to remove the label, then the part would fit

 

I'm no body man but my -54 Ranch Wagon will need patch panels in the near future. That said, most everything I've heard about EMS panels has been positive. And they're aren't a boat load of sources for '54 Ford stuff. I'm sure the panels aren't a simple bolt in job but then again what repro parts are? If they were so easy to make then everyone would be doing it. JMO

 

Just tossing my 2 cents in. This little car has EMS panels all the way around and they were fantastic.

 

You obviously pulled off the labels

 

I used EMS panels in my 53. I had to wait until they came out, and I talked to the EMS guy weekly checking on a release date. I was one of the first to use them. While they needed a little tweak, they worked well. And as you can see, the sticker is still on....

 

I never met a patch panel that didn’t need a little help to make things right, some more than others, EMS have been among the best.
ems cs: Don’t retire! You’ll be busier than ever and the old carcass starts falling apart even faster. Just sayin’

 

Wow, you have always been professional here. I am disappointed. Yes, your panels always had a so so fit. Some better than others. I was a dealer and sold many when I worked in the business.

With a few exceptions, repair panels from almost all the companies need to be tweaked. It's a shame but the truth.

Instead of acting like a child maybe you could explain why the OP had panels that were so far off?

 

After reading this, the threads that got shut down with folks complaining the EMS customer service being bad has validation.

but I guess removing the sticker helps

 

I do a lot of bodywork, and the overwhelming majority of what I work on is older vehicles, therefore I buy a lot of patch panels. But I can honestly say that I have never bought a patch panel from any vendor that was perfect, they all needed a little work.

 

I have a few EMS panels in the Ranch Wagon and would have used more had they been available at the time and as with any replacement panel regardless who makes it there is some tweaking needs to be done for a perfect fit and some panels do fit better than others.

I have used patch panels from several manufactures in the past and I don't recall any fitting perfectly out of the box but it was much better than the hours I spent fabricating the inner and outer rocker panels and quarter panels.

I'm thankfully EMS is making panels for Fords redheaded stepchildren 52-54 Fords. HRP

 

Worst patch panel I ever saw was a lower right rear front fender patch from Sherman. One of our guys ordered it in for his own 70 El Camino. Thing looked like some Chinese farmer hammered it out on a worn out stump with a potato.

 

"looked like some Chinese farmer hammered it out on a worn out stump with a potato."

Now that is one heck of a analogy! HRP

 

I thought so! It was BAD It wasn't EMS either, the sticker on the back was in Chinese and not their phone #

 

One of the most used homemade tools i have! I also have a straight 3/4", and one with a piece of half ass sharpened 5/16" flat bar on it. Throw it in the vice and start hammering. "It was an attitude adjustment, and everything will be just fine "

 

One of the first things I made when I got this book as a teen, Ron shows you how.

 

When teaching students, once we confirm the part is correct, we remove the stickers. I always thought that was because they look bad. Now I know otherwise.

 

That's cool, I have one very similar that I picked up at a swap meet years ago, turns out it was a VW nerf bar. HRP

 

if you have the skills to make an EMS panel fit correctly you also have the skills to make one from scratch. they are mostly garbage. you especially do not want to buy one if you are not doing the work yourself. I have had more than one person show up with these panels to weld in and did not use them.

 

Maybe it's me, but... those panels either solve your problems, or they force you to improve your skills and tooling allowing you to figure out a different solution.

 

I always say…it’s a Ford, not a Duesenberg. Having a coronary is easy enough as is!

 

I'm going to need some patch panels for my '51 Ford coupe. Mainly, I need stuff that is not visible (basically, the floor braces). I am just glad someone is making these. In my case "close is good enough" is just fine. I may need some others but since the "shoeboxes" don't have reveal lines like the earlier cars, I'm sure those will be fine as well.

 

I have had to split the metal to get the correct shape myself.. HRP

 

I recall taking in a pickup to a body shop to see about getting the cab corners fixed. This late 80’s? Or so. The body man I happened to know from earlier I recall him telling me “they make panels for those now”, then went on to say “they all need a little work though”.
I envy you all that can build it from scratch. I repaired a ‘36 Ford PU grill years back, was torn at the bottom, rusted, etc. I got it done, but took me 2 days of cut/bang/fit/check, rinse and repeat. Lol

 

Patch panels are funny as sometimes you get a good one and other times it’s just close. So you have to rework it a bit or a lot more lol.
I can completely understand what’s going on with the panels . The first ones are close to perfect then the close ones as the forming dies wear and need to be repaired or adjusted to meet original specs. I am not sure what the dies are made of but I don’t think hardened tool steel very expensive. They are more likely hot rolled or cold rolled or even aluminum all of them can be hardened but how many stamping can you get before retooling. It’s not a cheap process to make a male and female die then add the press to stamp them. Let’s not even talk about the layout or design.. I have a little benchmaster OBI punch press that stamp little things with and it’s crazy how fast shit wears especially sharp edges.