rocker panel rust repair

[cmcfaul]

Having my car painted and, of course, found rust in the rocker panels.

is there a difference between a cosmetic fix and a stronger structural fix?

Once it's painted who knows what was done. Should I pay particular attention to make sure the right gage steel etc is used? Any advantage to beefing up the repair to make it stronger then new?

Thanks,

Chris

73 911 E

[hemeoncdoc]

What are your goals? Generally when rusted, people will replace the rockers. Not that difficult. You can get the parts from many suppliers. The inner rockers provide structural support. Pictures would be most helpful.

[DaddyGlenn]

+1 on pictures. What you do depends on how bad it is.

[962porsche]

inner , center and outter rocker panel all work together as structural strainght with a unibody car . it also works in conjunction with the QTR. panels , rails and every other welded part of a unibodied car .
you should alway match the gage materials used when the car was built .
if the rusted area is effecting the structural rigidity of the chasses then it would be wise to repair it the right way . when it comes down to repairs it's always best to do it once and the right way .

[cmcfaul]

The paint and body guy is supposed to send me pics today, I will post hopefully later today.

Rockers were rust proofed in the early 70's with a process called Zbart. Drilled a bunch of holes and injected rust proofing inside the rockers and other places so am hoping it's not too bad.

My question was more about repairing better then stock. Is it advisable to make the repaired areas stronger than original. Are the replacement parts galvanized?

Chris

[962porsche]

the only way to make the rocker stronger is to build all new outter , center and inner rockers from front to back out of 16 gage . not worth the money and time there are much cheapper and better ways to build ridigity into a car that would be lighter .
99% of the replacement panels are not galvanized . you would want to use an E type primer on any bare metal the car will have on it .

[cmcfaul]

Thanks 962. bummer the replacment parts are not galvanized. Would be nice to know that a repaired part will not rust again. Will do what I can on that front.

Chris

[962porsche]

even galvanized panels rust . what you need is to use on any bare metal is a chromated primer . then you go over the top of that with a filler type primer .
if it's repair the right way it should last with out any trubbles . just as long as you keep the car clean and take care of it . no car will last if you treat it like a pig !
so just be sure that an E-primer is used . e primes are one of two types of primers . it could be an etching primer or a epoxy primer . just make sure it's a chromated primer . most filler type primers are not chromated also most filler primers do not stick very well to bare metals .
if the filler primer is not a DTM primer don't even think about spraying on to bare metal . DTM stands for Direct To Metal .

[cmcfaul]

Thanks again 962. Your advice and knowledge is right on. I am visiting the car on Sat to asses damage and progress. Will take some pics and post.

Chirs

73 911 E

[cmcfaul]

This is the only rust I was able to find. Painter said he found significanlty more on the other side. Will check it out tomorrow and upload pics

[DaddyGlenn]

I would be concerned about the kidney bowls and the top side of the rocker where the door lock post meets the outer rocker. Looks like it has been patched before. Might be more hiding elsewhere.

Don't mean to scare you but take a look at my rust experience. There is some good guidance on where to look here:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/paint-bodywork-discussion-forum/565023-talk-me-through-rust-repair-please.html

[962porsche]

once you remove all the body filler i'm sure what your seeing now will be 3 times that bad .
also remove the rear wheel and look at the ends of the rockers from inside the wheel house .
there is a good chance that the area there is also rusted out .

[cmcfaul]

Just ordered inner and outer rocker panels for left and right side ("outer and inner frame panels"). Also ordered right rear door jam panel. $500 in parts. I believe the parts I ordered are galvanized so hopefully another layer of rust protection.

Chris

73 911 E

[DaddyGlenn]

You will want to check the lower corners of the windshield, the top of the bumper shock mount brackets and the area near the windshield where the fenders meet the body.

[cmcfaul]

I ordered inner and outer rocker panels for both sides and right rear door jam. Should take of it for good.

Strangely I had rust bubbles on the corners of the windshield and rear window. Tuned out to be minimal surface rust. Take the good with the bad news I guess.

Chris

73 911 E