rotten rockers

[80' bu]

My rockers are badly rusted mainly on the inside surface, its the section that runs up to the floor pan beside the frame rails. I was wondering if the rocker panels that body shops offer are just the outer shell or include the inside part. Any suggestions on fixing.....how much to cut out etc. Thanks.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

What to do all depends on what it looks like and how far the damage extends. If the rockers are shot, chances are something else is shot too. Check the frame, etc before investing any money in this repair. If it turns out to be just the rockers, you will need to determine if it is just the outer rockers or if it extends to the inner rockers as well. The inner rockers do complicate things quite a bit and will likely have to be sourced from a rust free donor car as they may not be reproduced as of yet. Happily, on a full frame car the rocker is not a structural part like it is on a unibody car. If you need to change them you may be able to do it without bracing the car if the frame is good enough to tie it together. I'd remove the door before cutting anything to remove the weight from the area to be removed. Next, measure the opening with a tape measure and mark the measurement points with a pencil or marker so you can reference them again later. You will also want to measure the interior width between the doors accross the firewall to be sure to keep that measurement the same too. If you take your time and have a good replacement panel or 4 it should go well. It's not a weekend job, but as long as it is not your only car and you have a MIG welder, it is a DIY job.

 

[srercrcr]

Reproduced inner rockers are on ebay regularly.

 

[80' bu]

frame is good, there's some other minor rust but nothing too bad. The inner and outer rocker is the worst of it. Finding a donor car with mint rockers in canada is kinda like finding a tim hortons in the US....i'd like to put new metal in there. I was thinking of just having the parts made up at a local fab shop if I can't find what I want, laser cut and forming is fairly resonable around here.
So does the inner rocker extend up to the floor pan? welded? Without cutting out the outer rocker its hard to see whats going on up beside the frame.