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Rocker panel - replace all, or just what is needed?


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I bought a Tabco rocker panel, thinking originally that I would just replace the whole thing.  But now I'm thinking I'll have less work, and do a better job, if I just replace the sections that need it (sill area), using the Tabco part as donor.

  20180602_162817.thumb.jpg.a653dd10a5335a05606b6bdc3e96e75c.jpg

Thanks in advance

 

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Is that all the rust there is, just on the top? Have you checked other areas inside the rocker to see if there is other rust? If that's all there is, I would just bend up some sheet metal to patch with and sell the rocker. The top of mine is kinda wavy, really not a great piece.

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1 hour ago, Roberts280Z said:

Thanks for that.  Yeah, the rocker bottom looks good.  If I hadn't already bought the panel, I would just make some patches like you say.  I'm new to this kind of work, and sometimes the obvious isn't so obvious to me.

Do you have welding and fab experience? I wouldn't consider replacing the rocker to be easy, probably not a good first job, but doable if you're smart. Look really hard at the inside of the rocker, especially at the front and rear, you might find something that is not visible from the outside, or from a quick inspection. Additionally, if you do go through with a full rocker replacement, be aware that the replacement panel, due to how it is formed and what I imagine is a less than perfect die, tends to have a split at the crease in the rocker where the front fender meets the rocker, and this will need to be welded up.

 

Tabco panels aren't very good, so as a general rule of thumb, if you don't need to use it, don't.

Edited by rturbo 930
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Ha!  My welding and fab experience has been gained solely from this Datsun!  So far I've fab'ed and welded in patches for the top fronts of both front fenders, and a couple of other places, and welded in the driver's side floor and rail.  I think I'll just continue with the passenger side floor while I ponder more on the rocker.  I'm not in any big hurry - I've been at it on this car for over a year, and I just retired totally a couple of months ago so I have even more time now.  This Z might not be worth restoring, but I bought it new in '76, and feel guilty about letting it turn to crap.

 

It is a bit concerning that the tim.d photos don't show much worse damage in the rocker sill area than mine.  I'll cut away more of the sill with the initial thought that I can just patch that area, which will also give me a better look at what's beneath.  But so far what I see looks good.  BTW thanks tim.d for those photos - I've seen plenty of floor pan videos and photos, but hadn't seen your rocker photos before.

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  • 4 months later...

Robert280Z:  Keep us posted with pics! - I'm about to embark on my rockers too and am dreading what I'l find.  So far I've done my Slam Panel (using a Tabco replacement panel) and replaced my spare tire well with a donor part.  I'll be watching/contributing to this thread I go too.  Hoping to get & provide moral support from my fellow Z freaks!

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Thanks for the interest, Jughead.  This is where I am now.  I cut out the green-outlined section from the Tabco rocker and welded in.  I fabricated the blue-outlined 'armpit' section and welded in.  Then I covered the rear, pink-outlined, section with the lower part of a Tabco patch panel.  I've spent the last few weeks on another car, but will come back to this after I get another bottle of shielding gas.  I've still got the door bottoms and tailgate bottom to do, plus join up the floor bottom frame rails to the remaining front frame rails. 

 

20181019_121435.jpg

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  • 3 months later...

@Roberts280z:

 

Here's what I found when I removed mine. You see alot like this, and more a lot worse.  Suggestion: Buy an Endoscope.  They're about $35 on Amazon.  You can feed it through the inside.  It will light up the insife and lt you see everything.  It might help you decide upon your strategy. 

 

I'm  few steps ahead of you.  I'm almost done with the repairs and have trial fit the panels a few times.  Keep me posted and I'll do the same.  I've taken lots of pics which might be helpful to you.  Let me know what you need to see.

 

Front 1 - Copy.JPG

Front 3 - Copy.JPG

Dogleg with Arrows.png

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Fortunately, mine wasn't nearly that bad.  Yours looks a lot like the photos from tim.d, mentioned in his earlier post.

 

I've moved on to my doors and liftgate, which are rusted in their lower areas.  I'll be starting another thread concerning how best to fix the rusted lip surrounding the liftgate opening.

 

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