As With Most Repairs Of This Magnitude, It Takes A Lot Of Patients & Elbow Grease To Achieve The Final Goal.
Do Not Become
Disillusioned When The Actual Deterioration Is Surprisingly More Than Was Anticipated.
With All "B" Models, If You Start To See Signs Of Rust On The Outside, You Can Rest Assured The Inside Is Ten Times Worse.
Obviously, Poor Repairs Only Enhance The Damage By Covering It Up For Additional Deterioration To Take Place.
As Far As Where To
Start, I Would Suggest Removing Your Front Bumper Assembly. Then The
Windshield, The Windshield Prevents Both Front Fenders From Being Removed.
Remove Both Front Fenders. Remove The Doors By Loosing The Hinge Bolts In The
Door Not The Jamb. Remove The Lower Door Hinge From The Car As This Will Aid
In The Installation Of The New Rockers. Do Not Loosen Or Remove The Upper
Hinge As This Helps Relocating The Doors When Done. A Temp Brace Should Be Installed At The Top Of The Door
Opening. With A Little Planning You Can Fasten A Metal Brace On The Hinge &
Strike Of The Door. This Will Help Keep Your Door Opening At The Correct
Dimension.
Now You Have Access
To All Parts Of The Rocker Assembly. Start By Drilling Out All Of The Spot
Welds That You Can Possibly Find.
Assuming You Have Already Removed The Interior
Seats & Carpet. See If The Inner Panel Has Any Damage, If So This Is The First
Piece To Replace Or Patch As The Rest Of The Rocker Panels Attach To It.
The Rear Door Panel Fender
Is A Tough Spot, Most People Get The Smaller Dog Leg Replacement Panel. This
Makes For Poor Access To The Hidden Spot Welds Holding The Inner Truss Ect. I
Suggest Getting The Quarter Panel That Patches In At The Chrome Molding Line.
Once You Have All Of
The Rusted Panels Removed, You Can Start Fitting The New Truss Panel & Rocker
Face. Pay Attention To Location Front & Back...Also Where The Door Post Is
Located. It Should Fit Perfectly Without Forcing The Rocker Into Place. If Not
Something Is Wrong.
"MAKE SURE YOU CHECK YOUR DOOR FIT
BEFORE PROCEEDING"
"Never
Assume That Nothing Has Changed."
First Align The Outer Edge Of The Castle Piece With The
Face Of The Inner Sill Face. This Should Be Welded Thoroughly To The Inner Sill
As It Is Not Accessible After The Main Truss Is Set. Next Fit The Main Truss
Piece And Mark The Bottom Where The Castle Piece Makes Contact. About 1/4 to 3/8
Inch Above This Line Is Where You Drill Your Spot Weld Holes Keeping Them No
More Than An Inch Apart. The Upper Part Will Be Welded Thru The Original Drill
Holes Made When Taking Apart The Old Panels. Weld The Panel In Place..."Bottom
Only". Grind All Welds & Fit Outer Rocker. This Needs To Have Both Top & Bottom
Drilled For Spot Welds. It Is Better To Mark The Same Locations As The Old Spot
Welds Along The Top. This Insures A Full Depth Weld From Inside Sill To Outer
Rocker. Weld The Outer Rocker Top & Bottom Making Sure That The Door Post Is In
Position & The Rear Door Well Flange Looks Fairly Square Assuming The Dog Leg
Will Take Up Some Room Once Installed. Careful You Don't Overheat The Panel As
At This Stage You Could Get A Heat Buckle...."Not Good". The Front Wall Panel
Should Be Dealt With Separately After The Main Top & Bottom Have Been Done.
After The Front Wall Panel Outside Has Been Welded You Should Spot Weld The
Inner Sill To The Assembly Along With The Inner Wall Panel. Finally It's Time To
Fit The Dogleg, Drill For The Spot Welds & Finish Assembly. As Each Layer Is
Applied, I like To Use A Cold Galvanizing Paint To Help Prevent Rust. Now Try
The Door. If You Did Everything Right It Should Fit Like New. Use Auto Body
Caulk To Seal Along The Castle Piece To The Floor Pan Under The Car.
Almost Always There Is Some Damage To The Rear Inner Fenders.
This Should Be Removed & Prepped, But Do Not Install Repair. It Makes It Easier
To Fit The Rocker Assembly Without This In The Way. You Should Do This Repair
While Fitting Your Dog Leg Panel.
