Rocker panel replacement

I crossed my fingers (and everything else I could cross), said a prayer to the car gods, then did the dirty deed.  Today I took out the passenger side rocker panel (what was left of it anyway) as one peice.  The front and rear sections were rotted out already so the only thing still holding it in was the center post and the rear floor support.  





I took this out as one peice so that I can rebuild the raised areas under the front (pillar A), center (pillar B), and rear (pillar C) posts.  You can see how the section under the center post (pillar B) is rotted out...



And this pic shows how the same section is raised under the pillar B

I mentioned elsewhere that I'd post a picture of the cross section of the 3 peices that make up the rocker panel but I don't have a section where everything is still there!  LOL

So pardon my lacking artistic skils but I drew a diagram that will show you better than any pic I could post.

Thank you for this scheme.

The middle purple available in reproduction?

Bravo for this resurrection.

Coupe,

Sorry but no, the middle is not reproduced that I know of.  

I have seen the inner sold on ebay but I'm not sure of the quality.

I fabricated both of these myself.

The outer "repair panel" can be bought from many sources.  But be aware that the "repair panel" is not a complete replacement for the origonal.  I can send you detailed pics of the outer panel if you need them.

I've updated my diagram to show measurements (in inches) for both the inner and middle peices.  These are both 16 gauge sheet metal.  Hope that helps!

Michael

All right Michael, all this information will be useful to me.

Here are the inner's on ebay... they 'look' correct but hard to say.  The seller does say they are made from 18 gauge sheet metal and I'm positive my origonals are 16 gauge sheet metal.

I made mine out of 16 gauge sheet metal.  But I had to make them in 2 peices (front & back) because the sheet metal brake I was using to bend it was only 4 feet long.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/INNER-ROCKER-PANELS-CHEVROLET-PONTIAC-1959-60-NEW-PAIR-FREE-SHIPPING-/400599923314?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item5d459dba72&vxp=mtr

I still have some trimming to do for it all to fit together just right but here are all the pieces I'll be using for the passenger side rocker panels.  I fabricated all but the outter rocker panel.  I have a repair panel for the inner rocker panel but rather than welding another strip all the way across the top I bent 2 new pieces and welded them together in the middle.  Starting from the top of the picture you will see...

- the inner rocker panel
- the door sill on the left... which continues on the right where you see the lower fender mount already attached to the section that will go under the front pillar A
- two pieces that will go under the center pillar B and the rear pillar C
- the triangle piece that fits between the doors
- the outter rocker panel
- the center rocker panel



Here is a cross section of the door sill.  The U shaped channel is very important as it provides additional support for the center rocker panel that will be welded between the bottom of the U channel and the bottom section of the outter rocker panel.  I haven't seen any replacement rocker panels that include this U shaped channel.



Here you can see how I'm making up for the raised areas under the pillars.  This piece will be welded in place to duplicate the origonal raised area under pillar B



and another for the rear pillar C



which brings us to the front section with the lower fender mount already attached



and a quick test fit of the door sill and the outter rocker panel



and here is why I call the outter rocker panel incomplete.  The area around the bottom of the pillars is left out.  Every outter rocker panel I've seen is like this.  They are probably meant to be repair panels not full replacements.

Working in an unheated and uninsulated garage is slowing me down.    I do have a small propane heater but it takes too long to warm up the garage so I can only do painting on the weekends.

I made a little progress today on the door sill panel under the pillars.  This is the rear fender mount under the front pillar A.



This is the section under the middle pillar B



And this will be under the rear pillar C by the wheel well

Yes I'm finally back at it.  My job still keeps me busy but I have a couple hours here and there to work on the car.  This past weekend I was a busy little beaver.

I clamped both the door sill portion which includes the lower fender mount under the front pillar A and the inner rocker panel in place.  Then welded the door sill in place and tack welded the top of the inner rocker panel to the inner edge of the U channel on the door sill.

Before I can start working on the rest of the rocker panel I need to get the fender back on and I probably should have both doors on as well to line up the rocker panel correctly.

Here is the door sill area for the rear door



Here you can see the inner rocker panel in place as it runs into the rear wheel well



Here is the inner rocker panel and the door sill as it passes under the center pillar B



Here the door sill goes under the front pillar A where it ends.  Note the way the U channel closes off before the door sill goes under the pillar.  I noticed this on the driver's side when I was trying to determine just how the door sill was made.



And finally the inner rocker panel as it connects to the rear lower fender mount under the front pillar A.  Coupe, yours looks so much nicer!