Whitney Rocker Panels

[62rebelP23]

i have gone ahead and ordered a pair from JC Whitney; i've tried to make my own and the results were say less than satisfactory. i spent the weekend sanding down and priming the body; amazing how tough brushed on rustoleum gets. used at least 18 sanding discs....

anybody got any warnings on the Whitney parts? i know somebody here has to have used them.

while i'm waiting i'll patch up the front fenders and apron; the grillework is really good at holding crap behind it to create rust traps.

[55 Fargo]

Rustoleum Enamel is brutally tough, once it's cured and adhering well to a surface.

Thsi stuff is great for a base, ie the Rusto primer, then all your bodyfiller, primer/surfacer, topcoats can over this. It makes an excellent substrate primer, and has a great anit-corrosion properties, and the best part is it's darn cheap to buy,

Removing the grill and all of the trim is a good idea, then you can sand strip, prime and paint, this not only makes for a btter job, it will also look better as a finished product............Fred

[oldmopar]

I had used a set a few years ago on a 49 they were just the outer but no complaints I think I may have had to make a few minor adjusts but all things considered I would use them again

[Frank Blackstone]

I order a pair of rocker panels and rear quarters for my Pontiac and got parts that did not fit. I called them to request they confirm the measurements before reshipping. Whitney said they were shipped from the warehouse/manufacturer in Canada and could not be measured. They insisted the parts were for the correct model and offered no solution other than refund. I keep them and reworked them to make them fit. Got delt lemons and made lemonade. Culinary, Frank

[55 Fargo]

I order a pair of rocker panels and rear quarters for my Pontiac and got parts that did not fit. I called them to request they confirm the measurements before reshipping. Whitney said they were shipped from the warehouse/manufacturer in Canada and could not be measured. They insisted the parts were for the correct model and offered no solution other than refund. I keep them and reworked them to make them fit. Got delt lemons and made lemonade. Culinary, Frank

This is interesting, I wonder where in Canada thaty are making these replacement panels......Fred

[62rebelP23]

yeah, for forty bucks each i'm not expecting perfection, i'm willing to tweak a bit. its the compound curvature of the original piece that eludes me making my own, besides not having real metal working equipment. the steel i have will do nicely for the inner straight pieces.

the rustoleum is so tough that in some places i settled for getting it smooth!

and that multi-piece grille is not only great at catching dirt, black widows seem to love hiding up in the recesses. i expected wasps, having lived in rural Va most of my life; but down heyah we get black widows instead. ugh.

[oldmopar]

and that multi-piece grille is not only great at catching dirt, black widows seem to love hiding up in the recesses. i expected wasps, having lived in rural Va most of my life; but down heyah we get black widows instead. ugh.

You never know what you find in a old vehicle. A few years ago I had purchased a 79 GMC I had it in the garage and saw what I thought were some leaves hanging off the bumper when I went to knock them off they flew away. It was a bat taking a nap he made a few circles around the garage then flew outside

Ed

[62rebelP23]

Dad had an old Dodge pilothouse he got from his granddad, he fiddled around with it some after he had his three A Model Fords stolen. anyway; he had taken the bench seat out for some reason and was bringing the truck out of the barn after (years?) it had sat for a long time...

old truck starts up, dad gets it in gear and going across the yard...

then hollers and leaps out of the still running truck followed fast by several snakes of unknown type!

this got me in the habit of carrying a piece of rubber hose when checking out old cars... give a fender a whack with a heater hose; it won't damage the fender but will tend to drive any sleeping critters off! or rouse wasps up for a fight....

[Plymouthy Adams]

these Whitney rockers are excellent given the cost...actually they are superior to a set of rockers from a so called Plynmouth expert in the field..I know..was a hassle getting and even more a hassle to return for my money...ALL will need tweaking if you are not fortunate enough to get a set of factory stamped NORS rockers (j-curve at threshold and length of top metal)..I have also seen the Whitney panels resold for I found them on a mans site with his sticker over the Whitney sticker and he was making a profit...so short story is..go with Whitney...

[JerseyHarold]

This thread jogged my memory. The company that makes the rockers (and a lot of other parts) is 'Cross Canada'.

Click on 'guest' and it takes you to their online parts catalog.

http://www.crosscanadaparts.com/cgi-bin/crosscanada/index.htm

[knuckleharley]

62rebelP23 wrote:

>>this got me in the habit of carrying a piece of rubber hose when checking out old cars... give a fender a whack with a heater hose; it won't damage the fender but will tend to drive any sleeping critters off! or rouse wasps up for a fight...<<

After getting upside down and with my feet in the headliner to pull a radio from a 49 Ford,what do I see when I stick my head under the dash and look? A shed skin from a cottonmouth moccasin snake. That cured me forever of sticking my head up under a dash without taking precautions.

Now I go to the store and buy a flea/tick "bomb",roll up all the windows in the car,and throw it inside like a grenade and slam the door. I don't car what kind of critter is in there,it has to breathe,and the bug bomb will get it coming out of the car.

Of course,the down side of this is that you have to open the windows and let it air out a while before you can get in there,but this is a small price to pay.

[Normspeed]

these Whitney rockers are excellent given the cost...actually they are superior to a set of rockers from a so called Plynmouth expert in the field..I know..was a hassle getting and even more a hassle to return for my money...ALL will need tweaking if you are not fortunate enough to get a set of factory stamped NORS rockers (j-curve at threshold and length of top metal)..I have also seen the Whitney panels resold for I found them on a mans site with his sticker over the Whitney sticker and he was making a profit...so short story is..go with Whitney...

Glad to hear some good words about the JCWs. Some day I'll need to fix mine, just the outers have a couple bubbled up spots. I imagine the 2 door rockers will be adaptable to my wagon.

[Plymouthy Adams]

I have welded a set of these onto my 51 Suburban...

[Normspeed]

My son doesn't know it but he is getting a mig welder for his birthday...

[Frank Blackstone]

A tour of Cross Canada showed me only warehouse and offices. No stamping plant or other manufacturing. I had to wait 2 months to get my panels from Whitney who acted like they were being made and that was the delay. Seems like they might have been on a slow boat from China. I think I can make a song out of that, Frank

[Normspeed]

I'd say that's probably pretty accurate Frank.

[kdog1157]

if you have someone local that can break metal,cut out a small section,they can do it usually cheaper,had a pair of inner rockers made cheaper than i could order 1 for,just a thought.

[Plymouthy Adams]

inner panels are just a 90 degree bend...the little step on the bottom is really not needed...

[62rebelP23]

wife called me at work today telling me FedEx had just dropped off my rocker panels. couldn't wait to get home and have a good look at them; they ain't perfect replacements but for 40 bucks they'll do just fine. i think Whitney did pretty good getting them to me in 5 days!

can't actually do any work on the car until Thursday, though... new job, new schedule to get used to.

[Normspeed]

Always good to have a project to look forward to. Hope you can post some updates as you go.

[Don Coatney]

I bought some Whitney rocker panels for an old furd pickup I had a few years ago. They looked good but my kid crashed the truck before I had a chance to install them.

[62rebelP23]

spent the day Thursday putting in the driver's side; i expected to have to do a lot of tweaking but all in all it wasn't that bad a job. they're apparently designed to just rivet or screw on over top of whatever problem you already have (WHAT?) and are cut a little "loose" fitting IMHO. i trimmed the top back to align with the existing seam and wleded them in after cutting out the frilly original metal. the rear section is a little weird looking at the bottom as i was gettinf tired and wasn't seeing the whole picture. once they're painted it won't be so noticeable, and i'm happy to have solid rocker panel at least. going to tackle the passenger side today, need to see how much welding wire i have left..... and get some more primer!

OH! because i wanted to get the door jamb crease a little tighter radius, i had to fabricate a tool to bump the metal with. it is a domed head mag wheel lug nut, welded to a main cap bolt. with judicious hammering, it will make the jamb radius tighter and look more like the original part. learning all the time!