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Thread: Rocker Panels
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rotormunky
Redlining
Orlando, Florida
Posts: 424
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posted December 06, 2003 06:23 PM |
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Rocker Panels
You know, I'm wondering if I can cut the rockers off 78-84 b-series trucks and make them work on my truck. I took the windows, assemblies and other door hardware off an '82 and they all match fine. I was going to sawzall the floorpan out too but it got crushed before I could go back.
Anyone have an opinion on this? I haven't had the two trucks side-by-side to be able to tell myself.
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-Martin
Orlando, Florida
http://www.themonkeyhouse.org/REPU
'77 REPU (Some assembly required :)
'91 Cabrio (Battered and bruised, but she's still my baby.)
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Fd3BOOST
Hauling
Posts: 114
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posted December 16, 2003 09:36 PM |
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I am picking up my repu this weekend and my brother inlaw has a B series.
I will look into it.
I will be in need of the rocker panels as well.
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nwaco
Redlining
Posts: 407
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posted December 16, 2003 10:18 PM |
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I am in the process or replacing some floor panels...
in one of my trucks. I just cut out the rusted parts, and just had the sheets bent in which I am making the replacement panels. I will weld them in, and have to make a couple of patch panels for the lower door pillars as well.
For rockers, I would just roll (or have rolled) some sheet stock, cut out the rusted sections, and weld it in at the bends. Usually it is the outside sheet that is trashed, so just snip out that piece if you can, and replace only it.
It is the compound curves on the door sill corners that take the hammering and shrinking. Just get some 20 guage, and give it a whirl.
I got lucky on this one, cause the rockers are good, it is the floor panels along the door that rusted.
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Fd3BOOST
Hauling
Posts: 114
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posted December 16, 2003 10:24 PM |
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I know I can do that but I am curious to see if I could just steal some rockers of something else and weld those into place after cutting out the old.
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rotormunky
Redlining
Orlando, Florida
Posts: 424
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posted December 16, 2003 11:24 PM |
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I've got my eye on a nice little sheet metal brake/roll/shear for about $280 at Harbor Freight, and I think that little baby will be very helpful for uniformly curved surfaces like rockers, tho I still prefer to be able to just weld a good replacement panel up if I can.
I am *NOT* looking forward having to rebuild areas around the gas cap on the bed and some other compound curves.
My approach is going to be welding up small pieces at a time and getting the shape as close as I can. It'll be patchwork, and I'll have to grind down a lot of bead, but the last thing I want to do is just weld in a flat plate and try to shape it with 1/2" of body filler :)
The truck will likely end up with a skimcoat anyway, so I'm not anti-body-filler or anything, just prefer to use it as sparingly as possible.
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-Martin
Orlando, Florida
http://www.themonkeyhouse.org/REPU
'77 REPU (Some assembly required :)
'91 Cabrio (Battered and bruised, but she's still my baby.)
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nwaco
Redlining
Posts: 407
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posted December 17, 2003 03:12 AM |
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As we all know......
There are no replacement panels, so I guess the Brake/roller/shear is in the cards for you eh, Martin?.
Just measure the rockers and make sure the roller is wide enough for you. I myself found that a decent sheet metal shop is easier than buying all that shop equipment. It's not that I don't want it, it's just that I get darn tired of having it in my way most of the time, and like I took 10 sheets of 16G to the metal shop and had the 1" edge bent 90 for only $15.00. I only needed two, but I just bend in bulk so to speak, so I only have them do it once.
I also live at a private airport and many of my neighbors are building airplanes in their hangars and several have English wheels, brakes, rollers, etc. So the compound curves are not too far out of reach. We have no shortage of shop tools around here. I am the poor guy with all the Mazda's in a sea of Cessna's, Grumman's, Pipers, Yak's, and RV's. You can imagine how many have asked me to build them engines. Nah, I don't want to be responsible for a failure in midair.
Anyway, try hammering out the metal, you'll be surprised how close you can get it with a few simple hand tools and a good wood stump. Try to keep the filler to minimum.
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Fd3BOOST
Hauling
Posts: 114
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posted December 17, 2003 08:37 PM |
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So what type of metal should one use and where to get that stuff at?
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brad
Rotorhead
Posts: 1672
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posted December 17, 2003 09:07 PM |
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i bet jesse james
@ west coast choppers in long beach could fab a fender or rockerpanel. he is one of the few people left with old fashoned metal working wheels and hammers.
of course he'd probablly have to turn a repu into an airplane or street sweeper in order to work on one :) :)
____________
-brad-
74 REPU Lawn Green
81 Rx-7 racecar. 12a J-
Bridge
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nwaco
Redlining
Posts: 407
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posted December 17, 2003 09:09 PM |
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Well, I work at sheet metal ground zero.....
and we have scrap yards, surplus facilities, suppliers and machine shops out the ying yang. Any mild weldable steel will work. Guage depends on how much reinforcement you cut out, which pieces they are and what function they are to perform. I use 16 - 18 guage sheet stock for my floors, because I have a ton of it, and it was free. It is a bit thicker, but since I cut out stiffening beads, I replace it with strength.
I would check the yellows for a sheet fabricator, steel or sheet metal dealer or surplus or supply outlet, or just look up sheet metal. Hell, you can use darn near anthing.
Home Depot or Lowe's even sells small sheets.
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Fd3BOOST
Hauling
Posts: 114
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posted December 18, 2003 03:52 PM |
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Thanks I will follow up on that.
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Klaus43
Rotorhead
Posts: 1259
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posted December 19, 2003 11:10 AM |
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I'd rather give Ken my business...
...instead of Jesse... not to 'dis Jesse's skills, which I admire, but the guy's got less than zero respect for/clue about rotary anything, as evidenced by that stupid and senseless waste of the monster sandrail project.
I just think we could do better with our time and money.
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admin
Administrator
Posts: 446
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posted December 19, 2003 11:46 AM |
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Jesse James is an freaking a**hole p**sy... Did you see that monster garage where he turned a 90 RX-7 Vert into a "sand rail"?? and when it didn't win against a purpose build rail, he took a freaking machine gun to it?!
Bah.
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Klaus43
Rotorhead
Posts: 1259
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posted December 19, 2003 11:54 AM |
Edited By: klaus42 on 19 Dec 2003 11:58
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Yeah, I try not to get too bent
about that shit... though I commisserate! Did ya catch the more recent one about the Peterbilt chopper trike? Randy Grubb, the artist who built the 'blastolene special' monster V-12 that Jay Leno bought for his collection, is a glass artist as well, and someone I like and respect, whom I've taken a glass class from... he definitely got the 'Jesse treatment' as well...
Nothing like 'rock star' ego, attitude, and hype--nevermind the ridiculous build timetable--to limit the results on those projects...
Go check out www.blastolene.com for a peek at the world of larger-than-life piston insanity... kinda the opposite of our rotor world...
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rotormunky
Redlining
Orlando, Florida
Posts: 424
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posted December 19, 2003 04:21 PM |
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Jesse James is hardly the last of his kind
Jesse James is just famous and has an instinct for PR.
He appears to be a decent metal worker, and certainly people with these skills aren't really common (no market for it) but every decent sized town's got a guy who can do work like that. There's a couple guys here in Orlando that blow my mind with from-scratch sheet metal fabrication.
Course true craftsmanship costs big bucks, which is why as repu-resto biz would never work out, as loathe as I am to admit it.
Ppl buy disposable products for a reason. Razors, diapers, Hondas... Its just more cost effective (at least in the short term).
If I develop any metal working skills I'll have to do it for the self-satisfaction alone, because the biz just isn't lining up around the block for that sort of work and no one wants to pick up the tab that a lack of demand creates.
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-Martin
Orlando, Florida
http://www.themonkeyhouse.org/REPU
'77 REPU (Some assembly required :)
'91 Cabrio (Battered and bruised, but she's still my baby.)
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Kick
Hauling
Posts: 149
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posted December 19, 2003 04:34 PM |
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My father is this type of person too. Always enjoys working with his hands, and it also would like to make copys of his 34 olds.
Just at this point in time, somethings need to be put on hold do to somethings. Klaus knows what one of those things are. But Their is a lot of people out their that is getting in to the old way of making body parts.
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