gornish_hick
New member
Hey Folks, Thought I would share my latest big repair that has been consuming all my free time the past few weeks. Last summer I removed my running boards and discovered all the cancer that was collected over the past 14 years of my Runners life. It wasn't good, the harsh Canadian winters pretty much ate them off :canada:
So I went a few months and my eyes couldn't handle looking at these horrid rusty rockers and rust bubbles/holes around my rear wheel wells. After shopping around and discovering what body shops were charging, I decided to tackle this problem myself. I started out by visiting a good buddy of mine who works at a local welding shop. we made template of the old rockers (shape and lengths). My inner rockers were rusted as well so we measured them too. He then cut and pressed me some new rockers for both sides! only cost me a case of beer!!
So then I went at the dirty work. I cut the old rockers completely off and made sure all rust was grinded and completely removed.
(left Rocker Panel Gone!!)
Then I grinded the rust bubbles and small holes back to good metal.
(Note grinding in this picture wasnt complete I removed a little more later on)
(left side hole)
Once all my prep work was done to my liking, I welded my rocker panels on. Both sides Inner/outers. with some help from a good buddy of mine, we welded them as tight and sealed as possible.
(right side rocker Panel)
The front corner of my right wheel well was patched up with body fill by the previous owner so I decided to just grind it all off and weld on and reshape a entire new piece.
(right side patch up)
After the welding and grinding got all wrapped up I pulled out the body fill for some finishing touches. I took my time sanding and getting it just perfect to my liking.
(mid way finished!)
Final came the priming and painting. For the body part of my repair I used 2 cans black sandable primer with duplicolor perfect match paint and a few good coats of clear-coat. Which to my surprise came out well and matched up to the original paint pretty good. I then proceeded to spray my rocker panels with primer and then Rocker Guard. laid about 4 good coats on both outer and inner panels. I then applied an undercoat spray to the inner rockers underneath the body and in the wheel wells.
After all said and done I saved myself a crap load of money and was pretty happy with the outcome!
.
So I went a few months and my eyes couldn't handle looking at these horrid rusty rockers and rust bubbles/holes around my rear wheel wells. After shopping around and discovering what body shops were charging, I decided to tackle this problem myself. I started out by visiting a good buddy of mine who works at a local welding shop. we made template of the old rockers (shape and lengths). My inner rockers were rusted as well so we measured them too. He then cut and pressed me some new rockers for both sides! only cost me a case of beer!!
So then I went at the dirty work. I cut the old rockers completely off and made sure all rust was grinded and completely removed.
(left Rocker Panel Gone!!)
Then I grinded the rust bubbles and small holes back to good metal.
(Note grinding in this picture wasnt complete I removed a little more later on)
(left side hole)
Once all my prep work was done to my liking, I welded my rocker panels on. Both sides Inner/outers. with some help from a good buddy of mine, we welded them as tight and sealed as possible.
(right side rocker Panel)
The front corner of my right wheel well was patched up with body fill by the previous owner so I decided to just grind it all off and weld on and reshape a entire new piece.
(right side patch up)
After the welding and grinding got all wrapped up I pulled out the body fill for some finishing touches. I took my time sanding and getting it just perfect to my liking.
(mid way finished!)
Final came the priming and painting. For the body part of my repair I used 2 cans black sandable primer with duplicolor perfect match paint and a few good coats of clear-coat. Which to my surprise came out well and matched up to the original paint pretty good. I then proceeded to spray my rocker panels with primer and then Rocker Guard. laid about 4 good coats on both outer and inner panels. I then applied an undercoat spray to the inner rockers underneath the body and in the wheel wells.
After all said and done I saved myself a crap load of money and was pretty happy with the outcome!
.
