Rudy!! Q about outer rocker panels

[village idiot]

Is there any significant difference between the outer on an SC vs. an early(69-73) car?

I'm having trouble fitting the one I got from Stoddards. I beleive I may have gotten an early part by mistake as it has a 1/2" gap on the bottom where it joins to the tub.

Pics to follow

Thanks

[Axiom]

Hey Tom: the outer skin should be the same, but I'll wait for the photos to see, and I will compare them to some of the cars I have here.

[village idiot]

gimme a couple seconds.............

[village idiot]

view from underneath

top view

[village idiot]

it was a tight fit under the lip of the original door sill.

fits nice in the front near the fender area

[Axiom]

Some reproduction parts are not that accurate, this one looks a little flat at the bottom, I would make the top as tight as possible, tack it or put some screws there, and work my way down to make it fit, because it does not have a lot of bends, it will give and you'll be able to tuck it under to make it fit. or you can lightly tap the bottom, the fender area and where the door seals go are the most important, the rest of it is just cosmetics. I you can show me a picture at eye level showing the whole thing, would help me see more.

[village idiot]

It's hard to see in the pics but the lower edge of the door barely kisses the top of the rocker.

I may make a small cut at the rear of the rocker in order to let it "stretch " a little more so I can tack the bottom. I have clecos holding the top in place for now while I figure this out.

Thanks for your time Rudy:beer:

[village idiot]

here's another pic with the door in place:


Rear door edge gap

I may make a small cut at the rear in order to let me "stretch" the rocker enough to tack the bottom. We'll see....

Thanks for taking the time Rudy

[village idiot]

Found out what the problem was. I was so engrossed in trying to the rocker to fit that I never took a step back to look at the big picture, literally.

When I did step back I saw that the bottom of the rocker as bowed downward noticeably.
(illustrated poorly here cuz I forgot to take a pic)


So, I took an exhaust stand and threw a block of wood on top to push the bowed area upward until it was basically straight across and viola, the bottom of the rocker is now flush against the tub.

Now that it fits on the bottom, I have a small issue where the top edge just below the door is a bit off. But I'm going to shim the rocker a bit so it should be fine.
(here's another poor illustration)


Any way, here's a couple photos showing the progress.


fender to door gap needs work

another view

[rennch]

My rockers from Restoration Design had just the opposite problem...they were too stretched out, and I had to make a tighter "C" out of them to get them to fit.

Looking good though. Check my thread for the filler panel between the rear quarter and the rocker.

[village idiot]

Thanks Mike! It's good to see both our cars coming along. I have a couple of spots to patch then it's on to the chore of stripping the 10 or so layers of paint and primer

I'll be doing the quarter panel patch next weekend, right after I shim, treat and weld the rocker in. I'll be sure to post pictures of that as well.

[Axiom]

Glad to see both of you have tacked the problem with the reproduction parts, trust me, it is getting worse, you should see the set of flares we just received.

Tom, how are you gonna handle the gap issue?

[village idiot]

To this point I've tried adjusting the door about as much as I can, bu there is still a a mis-match. I may try opening up the adjusting holes on the door hinge but I don't think theres much more left there without creating a similar mis-match between the door and the quarter panel.

The only other thing I could think of is to weld a narrow strip into the channel where the rocker top is attached in order to "push " it out to make it level with the door.

The shim is represented by the red line, blue is the tub, green is the rocker

[Axiom]

That looks like a good idea, don't forget that you need room for your door seal.

[rennch]

I had really good luck with the aircraft stripper method posted on the sticky thread at the top of the B & P forums...

[village idiot]

Originally Posted by Axiom

That looks like a good idea, don't forget that you need room for your door seal.

I don't think that will be a problem as it's only an 1/8" off.

[village idiot]

Mike, I'd like to do the aircraft stripper thing but I'm doing this on a military base and they very strict about chemical use, especially caustic ones.

And as I don't allow the customers to use it at our shop it would be hypocritical for me to do so.

I'll be fine using my trusty d/a and 40 grit. It'll just take a bit longer

[Axiom]

How did the rocker turn out ?
If you use a small torch and warm the area, you should be able to take off some layers with a scraper.

I got my micro clamps from the Snap On guy, but I think I saw them on an Eastwood catalog.

[village idiot]

I should finish welding the rocker this weekend. I would have gotten it done sooner but I had some work to do on the 914 that precluded my finishing it.

I'm real hesitant to use any heat for fear of warping a panel. I'll take more pictures as I make progress this weekend

[Axiom]

I use one of those plummers propane torches, they are very low heat. sometimes I use it to take off all the extra fillers that has been on.