Off my Rocker

[Joe Flanagan]

One of the toughest parts of my project so far:

Finished passenger side:

[62rebelP23]

mine look like something from Victorias Secret compared to that.....

but I am not afraid, Bridgekeeper!

[Johnny S]

Joe, what did you use for the inner rocker? Did you put any drain holes in the new rocker?

[Normspeed]

Wow, that's a huge improvement Joe. Nice work.

[eric wissing]

Joe, you do excellent work. Eric

[mackster]

Excellent Work!

[woodscavenger]

Nice work! Looks like a shorter vesion of what that guy was doing to his entire Impala.

[Guest rockabillybassman]

Looking good man! The rockers were the hardest part of my project, especially the inner panels.

[Joe Flanagan]

Johnny S:

I brought a section of the inner rocker to a sheet metal shop and they bent new ones for me out of 18 gauge metal. It was really straightforward for them and dirt cheap. The outer rockers were a real problem. I tried to have the same shop fabricate them and they did an amazing job, BUT . . . when I went to install them, their profile was just a tad different from the originals, and since I was mating to original surfaces, they wouldn't work. I wound up getting replacements from JC Whitney, which are much lighter gauge than the original but an exact match. Even still, there was a lot of cut-and-paste and improvising, etc. And yes, I did put drain holes in the bottoms of the rockers, larger ones than the originals. I also painted the insides before I installed them, though the heat from welding bakes the paint right off. Just did the best I could.

[Johnny S]

Joe, were the JC Whitney versions something you could take to the metal fabricators and have them make a knock off set with heavier gauge metal? I guess I'm more curious about the quality of the JC Whitney set. I've had them in my "shopping basket" a couple of times and just never pushed the "buy" button yet. I just need to get at it and do the deed.

Also, I wonder if after you painted the insides surfaces (and then burnt off some of the paint via the welding process) if you couldn't inject some POR15 or similar product inside, through an appropriately placed hole of course, to recoat those damaged surfaces? It seems that as long as you get good coverage and don't plug the drain holes you should have a solid, long lived, new rocker.

[Plymouthy Adams]

while the JC Whitney rockers are very nice and priced very affordable..they are not true to form. The lower indent for the door seal is at best a angle bend and not a true J-curve only stamping will provide. JC's product is by far the better renditions than some very high priced items some fabricators try too pass for rocker panels. Even if JC's are light metal..keep in mind how long these cars have been on the road with over 50% of the rocker rusted away both inner and outer and still maintain the door opening and preventing the roof from buckling. I have installed both factory stamped replacements and JC's brand..I have had to return to other shops their so called perfect rockers due to extremely poor fit..just because a shop charges more money does not mean you are getting a better product..they are just getting a better profit...I have some very good pics of these "exact copies" that I saved just so I can get a laugh now and then. For the money..JC is the better deal (as all shops bend metal) unless you luck up on stamped units from the original die with the threshold holes and rectangular rocker clip hole stamped in.

[Joe Flanagan]

Tim is right. The bend where the seal on the bottom of the door makes contact is not a perfect match. I left part of the original rockers in place at the B-post between the front and rear doors. This is a T where the front and rear rockers meet. So the shape had to be correct at that intersection. I had to really manhandle the Whitney rockers to get them where I wanted them. I actually used a bottle jack to force the bottom of the outer rocker up and into place before I tack welded it in. The Whitney metal is much lighter than the original but when it's welded to everything else, it's very solid. It's a short run anyway, from door post to door post.

Yes, I think you can shoot rust inhibitor in through the drain holes that you make in the bottoms of the rockers.

The way I look at is this car has been around for nearly 60 years. The insides of the rockers were never painted, nor was the underside of the floor, etc. They didn't seal much of anything at the factory. There was overlapped sheet metal where water could seep between, and this was all over the car and it came out of the factory like that. When I cut it apart some of it was really quite solid. So I'm going back with new, painted, sealed metal. If some spots don't get the absolute best coverage they can get, this car will probably be in great shape for a very long time. I hope I can say the same for myself.

[55 Fargo]

Hey Joe, the way I look at it with mine is this, like your car, there was plenty of factory overlaps, no paint inside of certain areas, even the rusty stuff I cut out was still not that bad.

The chances of your car being driven in snow, salt, slush, filthy gravel roads, left outside, parked in the field or bush and having the tires go flat are not going to happen. As long as water and moisture do not collect in your repair areas, the metal will probably last another 60 years.........Fred

[62rebelP23]

going by modern standards, the overlap i encountered would be totally unsat for restoration, yet it was fine for Chryco 55 years ago. so when i went in to repair it, the only major departure i made was seam welding each patch piece in and slowly bridging gaps before removing more damaged material. very thin sheet metal, welded together and formed, can withstand a great deal before crumpling. i'm still amazed and impressed with the heavy gauge metal used in these cars, they're truly built like tanks.

[Joe Flanagan]

They're amazing compared to what's built today. Welding 18 gauge sheet metal is no problem unless it's been compromised by rust, which is often the case with my car. Then the metal just melts away as soon as the weld arcs and you have a real challenge on your hands. I often think I've cut back to good material only to find that what seems solid can't really handle the heat of the MIG.

[Plymouthy Adams]

Joe..that is the experince most people have with old metal and new metal welding on the bodies..the mig is fantastic if both are same guage..nice smoot butt and no contaminats on the metal..but with a torch..you will see this before you blow a hole..plus the fact that the mig hardens the metal, not so with the oxy/acetelyne. I cannot even remember when I last fired up my mig..

[rockerbillykat]

Hey Joe! how did you get that panel so clean lookin, i have to do the exact same thing to my "48" Dodge. Did you have the panel made in one peice or two, inner and outer?Nice clean lines......great job!

[55 Fargo]

Tim, that is something I intend to get and learn to use is an oxy/acetelyne welding kit. A friend offered me his once as he doesn't use it anymore, maybe I should take him up on the offer.

[Plymouthy Adams]

by all means, get the torch....if you have never set up a torch for welding I will more than happy give you some pointers if you want..it is all in pressure (keep low but not so low as it spits) and tip size and proper flame in flame burn. Send PM if you get this setup...I still prefer my torch and with the correct tip I weld tin cans without problems..just flat hard to beat...!

If you intend to go go out and buy a setup..please lok at the HENROB series..you can gas weld steel, aluminum. stainless and cast iron with this torch and it operates on about 1/2 the pressure of the standard torch plug it cuts metal like a plasma cutter..there are films that you can view on their website...Ihave one of these..only drawback is weght..kinda heavy and you will need the extension for the tip for car panel repair...

[Jeff.P_46]

Tim,

What filler rod do you use?

Jeff

[Plymouthy Adams]

for steel..auto body..3/32 copper clad steel..smooth flow..no splatter..and for thinner metal I use 1/16 copper clad steel..I don't do coat hangers...some people do though..IF yu decide to braze with the flux coated brass rod...be super sure you got the flux totally removed form the pores of the braze and surrounding metal..it will grow whiskers later..even with primer..not my media for joining metal..this is ideal if you have to fix a hole in a zinc coated bucket or oil drain pan...

In areas like the bottom seam of the rocker joining to the inner rocker..I cut the inner a tad longer than the outer..as the outer is prefabbed from JC or other supplier..then I just clamp along the seam and butt weld without rod needed..

for super thin stuff..OOO tip and roll some wire off the mig wire feeder roll........

[Joe Flanagan]

Rockerbilly,

My rockers are not absolutely perfect. I know where the mistakes are. What I did was make sure I eyeballed everything before I made it permanent. I first clamped them in and sighted down their lengths, closed the doors to make sure the lines were right, and looked at them from different angles to make sure everything was right. Where the old outer piece joined the new, I just worked it a bit at a time, matching the two pieces and tacking it in place and then moving around that curved shape until the two were together and reasonably flush. I used Ultra-Glass fiberglass filler to take care of seams and minor imperfections.

By the way, they are in two pieces, inner rocker and outer. In one of the following pictures you can see the inners before I tack welded them in. The other picture shows a cross section of the original rocker where you can see both the inner and outer pieces.

[Jeff.P_46]

Tim,

Should have asked you this in the other post with filler rod but what tip sizes do you typically use for 18ga thru 22ga?

Jeff

[Plymouthy Adams]

most all sheetmetal on the average car can be done with 00 tip...thinkker metal can use 000 but should youfindyourself wanting to tac some metal to the blody cross member..you be gonna needmore heat..00 will handle it..you could use a 0 if you hve experience withthe torch but really just too hot/large area flame. Don't try sheetmetal with a larger tip..overall the 00 will get you through 90% of your work..I run 12psi on oxy and 6 psi on the acetylene..using 000 tip..if you go to the 00 or 0 and it spit and pops..up the pressure couple more pounds both equally..say 16/8 or 20/10 find what best works for you..I dolike the torch cause you can instantly see if you are coming up on thinner steel and adjust before you hole out..

[Allan Faust]

Something like these Tim???

Got these off the bay a while back... guy said he may have others at the time..... weren't cheap, but weren't expensive either.... can't wait to see em on my car.... as for the inners, purchased a set of inners, and had I known, I wouldn't have... only a bend and a flange on a thick peice of sheet....

Gonna do the other side myself.....

Allan