Thursday, November 22, 2012

Rocker panel removal

Edit:
I had to remove some pictures as I submitted a replacement procedure for the rocker to CJ Pony Parts.  You can see them and my write up there. Complete Rocker Installation

So we had our big storm, and must have dropped about a foot of snow.  I thought for sure I would not be able to do much work outside on the car after that.  Fortunately, it warmed up and the snow melted over the next week.  This week the temps made it into the high 50's and even hit 60 on one day, so I decided to try and get the driver's side rocker panel out.  It took me a couple of days to get it out as I had yard work to do as well.  The trees in my front yard dropped ALL of their leaves with the storm.  Took a while to get that taken care of.

Anyway, I did put time in and got the rocker removed.  I am glad I decided to replace the whole thing as it was in bad shape.  After I had pulled it off, I dumped out quite a bit of dirt, and a mouse nest.  I am beginning to wonder if this car had been parked in a pond or something on the one side.


Um, wow.  Look at the huge chunks of bondo.

Better pic of the misuse of bondo.

Here you can see what was being hidden by the crud.


The empty hole.



Here is where there should be a wheel well, but bondo helped take care of that.  I have an inner  and outer wheel well from Dynacorn.  Haven'e decided if I am going to replace it all or just try to patch it.

Upward shot of A pillar.  I am going to have to do some repair to flanges before I weld the new rocker in.  Some were perished with rust.

Looking into the rear torque box.  It will be replaced as most of the front side of it is rusted out.  Also you can't see the great big rust hole on the other side of the frame rail.

Looking down at the quarter flange.  I am going to try and fix this as I have a quarter panel patch I am trying to utilize.  If it doesn't work out, I still have the option of doing a full quarter.

Inside shot of the A pillar.  There is damage to the cowl panel near the bottom.  It will be fixed before the rocker goes in.

Just kind of an artistic shot of the old rocker through the empty hole.

6 comments:

  1. Youch! No doubt a good thing you made the decision to replace that rocker, but MAN what a job! Are you going with an OE rocker assembly or a new Dynacorn, etc. part?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I picked up the full rocker assembly from CJP. As far as I can tell everything matches up perfectly. I havene't yet done any test fitting, I ran out of time after getting it out. Have to work the rest of the week, so if the weather stays good, I will probably fit it then. It actually isn't going to be that bad putting it back as it will be attached to the new torque box, repaired A and B pillars, new side cowl panel and after finding what was hidden by bondo, a new rear floor piece. Seems like a lot of work, but with the rocker out I have really good access to everything.

      Delete
  2. Unbelievable that there was that much bondo in a structural part of the car. It looks like you're going at it the right way. As far as wheel well replacement, you may want to evaluate how much needs to be replaced and keep as much of the original as possible. You're definitely going to end up with a solid body. Keep up the great work.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It looks like I will need to do a full outer wheel well as the quarter lip is pretty bad. I may only do patches on the inner as it only looks bad near the front and back sides. It might actually be easier to replace the whole thing. I'm still looking into my options on that as I'm not ready to tackle it yet. One thing is for sure, I have a much better idea now of what to look for when checking out old cars.

      Delete
  3. Wow Grant, that's some serious work you've done there. Sorry all that bondo was covering up so much damage but you do good work and will have it straightened out in no time. It WILL pay off man, keep at it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks Alex. I know it will pay off, but sometimes I get a little impatient. New pieces going on that look awesome does help keep me going. So does this blog and those blogs I follow. I will get this car "straightened out" (that's kind of a bad pun Alex) at some point. That sense of accomplishment from working on the car keeps me sane. As for the bondo, that isn't even the worst of it, but that's another story.

    ReplyDelete