Tom, Brent, et al,
I'd be careful about doing a bandaid job on the rockers. A three layer
construction, the outer layer is the visible rocker and the inner layer is the
(mostly) visible vertical piece that both front and rear floors weld to
laterally (also visible under the car where it meets the outer rocker at
bottom edge. But sandwiched in between them is the middle rocker piece which
is far and away the most structural of the bunch (and not visible). This
triplicate sandwich can be seen end on from the top (stripped of trim and
rugs) or the bottom if you look closely. In addition to being gauge(s)
thicker, the middle piece also has a double bend near the bottom that neatly
offsets it (making up for it's lack of curvature) to mate with the other two
pieces at the lower edge as well as providing much more rigidity. Cross
section, like so...
I
I
I
I___
I
I
(I'm sure that sketch will never survive browser translation)
It can be seen through front or rear wheel well access, but that access
has often been provided by rot. The rot begins when the car is driven off the
dock in 64 to67 and the sealer between the inner and outer fender in the wheel
well immediately falls off. This allows centripetally flung water from the
wheel to force feed into the rocker behind the fenders for a few years (known
as Cornwallis' revenge). The ultimate effect is that you see the usual rust
breakthrough in the three places that Tom specified. However, the middle
rocker piece is equally exposed to this chemical Mardi Gras. But since it's
thicker, when the outer rocker has broken through, the middle piece may not
be. This is not to say it is not necessarily weakened or compromised and that
may not be evident from one of the wheel wells unless real care is taken in
inspection (all the grit cleaned out, alot of light, good mirrors on long
poles). It would be a shame to do one rocker and preserve the other outer,
paint the car, then a year later meet Lord Oxide again. Or even worse, have
the doors start pinching as the car sags. My favorite phrase with a
Tiger....do your homework now !
Chris Hill
Chris Hill
----- Original Message -----
From: Tom Witt
To: tigers@autox.team.net
Sent: Monday, July 16, 2001 10:14 AM
Subject: RE: Rocker panels (and more rocker?'s)
Excellent question Brent. I am at that exact point also. Last year at the
CAT swapmeet I got two rockers, two rear lower front fender panels and two
front lower rear quarter panels (I hope those terms don't confuse you just
think of all the lower panels between the two wheels on each side). These
looked like they had been screwed on in places and welded on in others then
removed. They are for the square door, but I was going to do what I could.
The panels all look correct except the rockers. From the top down they
strangely go straight for about 1-1/2" and then start the slow curve (this
results in a shallow, but still noticable crease). Also, the original panel
when viewed from the bottom does not go straight, but angles in somewhat
and
then back out about 2/3rds of the way to the front. The ones I have go
straight. I only paid $40 for the whole set so even if I can't (or at least
shouldn't ) used the rockers I think I still made out ok.
However, I am still debating whether to pull the driver side rocker. There
is rust, but not in the exreme destructive sense. I think if I spend some
time running a wire brush through (currently I have access to all the
rocker
internals through the front and rear wheel wells) and used that can and
nozzle think I wrote you about before to spray in POR-15 I won't have to
pull that rocker. The delema then for me is I then need to find a rocker
that will match the original.
It's that rock and a hard place thing. I use the unusual panels which is
both cheap and they match, but at the labor of doing both sides and a not
so
stock look, or I hunt up a correct panel and hope the other side still has
enough metal to justify the Laperscopic like surgery to dink out the rust
with the wire brush and POR-15 application. Keep me posted as I have great
interest in your outcome. Please feel free to comment anyone, I would
really
appreciate any advise. Tom Witt (a man of limited mig welding skills)
B9470101
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