Rocker Panel Rust

The rocker panels can suggest further problems. The structural door pillars at the front and back of the door opening terminate down inside the rockers.

I had some fairly minor rust bubbles begining at the front of the drivers side rocker. When we cut it out we found that there were no weep holes in the bottom of the front door pillar and it had filled with fine dust to a depth of 3". This dust served as a moisture trap. We cut out the rusted metal and made sure there were large weep holes at the bottom of the repaired pillar. Then, even though the remaining 3 pillar areas showed no signs of rust, we opened them up to look. Sure enough, they had gathered this dust and were deteriorating as well. So we fixed them all up nicely.

Remember, there was no sign of rust on the rocker in three out of four of these places.
I guess the point is...one thing will lead to another. No estimate will be able to anticipate what you might find. What appears as minor damage can lead to many thousands in repairs.

The car should be a "smokin deal" or you should just keep looking.

Mooos

quote:

Cost for total body strip and stock color paint job?

$40,000 minimum.

Daytona, I'm not far from there. If you want me to take a look let me know. My e-mail is mgreen (at) adelphia.net

The rocker panels themselves are probably the easiest sheet metal to replace on the car.
The question is always how much rust is there internally that I can't see or find without cutting up the car?
The only way to know would be if you could do something like an MRI on it.
My personal opinion is that vertually all cars, including ground up restorations have some rust remaining.
All steel vehicles will desolve into iron oxide at some point. The question is really when?

If it tests solid to your banging and probing buy it.
Virtually all of the panels on the car can be repaired.

Repairing and replacing rocker and floor panels is no big deal. There is a great amount of worry about rust on these cars. But it's more stress than fact.

There are certainly some rust buckets, but I haven't met any. I have owned Panteras since the 70s and have many friends with P cars that are daily drivers.

Both my cars had some rust when I got them. And try as I may, they still paid their dues on wet roads and spent many a night outside in the rain (and even some snowy and salty roads!) over the next 25 years.

And honestly, they didn't get much worse. I'm sure if I cut them open I would find some rust, but keeping surface rust underneath the car at bay is no big deal. I have posted lots of pics of my car on this BB and I'm sure others will agree that my original paint still looks damn good 25 years later!

quote:

When we cut it out we found that there were no weep holes in the bottom of the front door pillar and it had filled with fine dust to a depth of 3". This dust served as a moisture trap. We cut out the rusted metal and made sure there were large weep holes at the bottom of the repaired pillar.

This was a known problem and it was common practice to drill drain holes in the rockers under the pillars deep enough so that they would also leave a hole in the bottoms of the pillars.

If there is rust in the floorboards, as well, I'm guessing that there is rust in the lower rear wheel well bracing and in the engine compartment next to the ZF. Need to look there too.

Caveat emptor.

What are the local papers saying about the future of Rex Grossman?

Jeff (disappointed Bears fan)

quote:

Originally posted by Daytona_Rick:
I'm looking at a car around Louisville KY, Anyone from there can help inspect a car for me? It has group 4 metal flairs but rust in rocker panels and passenger side floor. Any cost estimates and difficulty level to replace rocker panals? Cost for total body strip and stock color paint job?

Dave, Email me

gow2@rc-tech.net
Gary Walker
Evansville, IN

Mr. Deeb, while what you say is true, imagine the rust you would find on a 1973 Mustang Mach one. Vettes may look nice but put a 1973 up on the rack and look underneath.
Any car made of steel will eventualy rust. If it is made of plastic it gets hard and cracks, if it is made of rubber, it gets gooey and splits, if it is made of flesh and blood it dies and rots in the grave.
It is the second law of thermodynamics. The universe is slowing down and will eventualy go cold and cease to exist. All is dark and futile.

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Originally posted by DeTom:
...It is the second law of thermodynamics. The universe is slowing down ...

DeTom, time for a refresher course in astronomy. With all the satellite based telescopes we now have in outerspace, astronomers are collecting more accurate data faster than ever before. They're calling it the golden age of astronomy.

The universe is not slowing down, it is in fact still accelerating.

The universe is not a dark cold empty place. The visible universe is only a small percentage of what is out there. The universe is teeming with dark matter and dark energy.

Some think Einstein is in trouble.

George

We're probably all alone and DT is probably right.
The closest galaxies are 10's of millions of light years away.
We see them by light that left there 10's of millions of years ago.
There is no proof that those galaxies are still there. That was 10's of millions of years ago.

Yes 90% of the universe is dark matter, "Luke, come over to the dark side!",
Indeed. Rust is inevitable.

DeT is right. We all rot eventually. And if you are paying attention, you will notice that we are also getting older even faster every day. Just like the growth of the universe continues at an ever increasing speed.

So we have less time left and it's getting worse by the day. Therefore, add more horsepower - rust, rules and radar be damned.

And yes, hot PI covers do keep aging in check.

George the universe is accelerating but as it does the atomic activity deaccelerates. At absolute zero elctrons cease to orbit and atoms convert break apart. We are all doomed.
But on the other hand, who cares?? As long as I can drive my car I will be ok.

If our cars would do the speed of light, time would reverse and the cars might heal themselves! So cut out the old metal, bend and shape the new metal, weld, grind, fill, prime, paint and enjoy the heck out of your P car!!!!