Fixed the passenger side rocker panel today. While trying to decide the best way to tackle this job, I decided to call my neighbor Gary over for some advice since he has some experience with this sort of thing. He advised that I not even replace the panel, but repair the original instead. The reproduction panel has pretty vague bends to it, so instead of the sharp 90 degree bend of the original, its more like the radius of a pencil… kinda ugly!
BEFORE
The original panel had several holes in it up high, but no rust damage at all down low. After vacuuming and blowing all the dirt and debris out of the rocker, it appeared to be pretty nice inside. Gary suggested that I just ream the holes out good with a screwdriver until I get to some solid metal around it then mig weld them closed. I poked around real good all over the panel to find all the weak spots then welded them up. Toward the front of the panel there were too many holes in a row, so I cut out a rectangular section and welded in a new piece. I also made sure to spray Picklex-20 rust converter all over inside everywhere I could… through the access holes in the top, through the rust holes before I welded them shut, etc and then sprayed in some Zero-Rust to seal it up. This should help prevent further rusting. Before I call it done though, I will give the panel a good cleaning with the portable sand blaster to reveal any soft spots I may have missed. Before any primer goes on I will skim coat the whole panel with some fiberglass reinforced filler… Duraglass or something similar. This type of filler is moisture resistant and is good insurance against moisture possibly getting through any pinholes in the welds and bubbling the paint job after its done. After inspecting the drivers side rocker panel I think it can receive the same treatment rather than being completely replaced.
AFTER