LD50 1st gen Rusty rocker panel bodywork - rockerpanel replacement

Hello fellow explorer enthusiasts!

Got some questions asked while doing my driver`s side rocker panel repair so I decided to write-up the other side. Hope I can help anyone out..

FIRST:

-Disconnect your battery, do not do any welding with your battery connected. Yes you might get away with it, but some components in your electrical system can be damaged by welding voltages. (plus you avoid any battery drain) Some people also disconnect their ECU and Alternator, I have never done this myself and have done quite a bit of welding on the Ex (You make the call)
-Take your doors off, they need to be well out of the way.
-Remove the trim from the lower areas of your door openings and pull the door seals out of the way
-Get some poly (plastic sheet) or your interior will get dirty. Tuck it in your trim where ya can, tape it in, whatever you decide is best.
-Throw a tarp at least over your front window to avoid getting sparks burns on it!

If you got your mojo goin` and you are following along, about an hour has passed and you should now see something like this in your garage:

 

[ld50]

Welding

Using vice grips to hold in place, I begin tacking on the forward-most part of the piece, for no particular reason.

 

[ld50]

Welding

You need to use the stitch method, because burn through can easily happen. Weld a tack about every .5" or so.

The outside, (pictured) is easier to tack than the backside, simply start your weld just below the seam and count to four. Spend a two count, (about 1 second) under the seam and run it up. At the 3 count you will be mid seam, at the 4 count you will be slightly above it. This takes about 4 seconds a tack. If you have a completely different welder, try and adjust till this goal is accomplished.
These little weldboxes aren`t known for their strength so if you have one move the ground closer to your work as you go.



After the outside is stitched get under and do the backside. You will notice you can somewhat see where the outer welds went. I like to aim to put the inner welds between the outers.
The back side is a little different method, since the seam now is reversed, and it`s tight for room. I ran each tack horizontaly, to try and fuse along the seam as opposed to across.
Up to you really, just remember to pace yourself and don`t burn through or it`ll upset you deeply and you`ll have to pour more snot in the hole to try and fix it. Once it blows through, it has a habit of wanting to keep burning away, so take it easy.

 

[ld50]

More Cutting

Now we can cut the rear out. I`m taking out 18". It`s important you don`t go too high on the dog-leg because there is a boxed in cavity up there.

 

[ld50]

Cut as much out as you need to, make sure for the inner metal you leave room to overlap the backside, or overlap from the outside if you have to go higher, but if it`s that bad, you probably opted to replace everything anyway.

-If you end up tearing some inner metal from the spot welds, get a little chunk of spare metal and weld it in there, then grind smooth. Happened to me on the other side as well.

 

[ld50]

Notice I didn`t cut all the way to the line on the upper dog-leg. Now, if you cut carefully, you can take out the dog-leg metal and leave some of the fender-well material.

This part of the dog-leg will be but-welded, so that little bit of metal helps out when we get to that part. I suppose you could overlap here as well, but it won`t fit-up as well.

 

[ld50]

Be careful to find where the body mount subframe is. Don`t cut into it if you don`t have to. I would suggest that if yours is rusted out, you should be doing a full replacement.

Notice the replaced piece now assists me in lining up the next replacement piece. By the way, the inner metal is now about 6.5 inches from door seal lip to bottom, at both the front and rear doors. (you want to be long rather than short)

 

[allout]

This is awesome. I am looking to buy a 2dr and it has rusted rockers also. Subscribed.

 

[cculter]

I did this on my 2-door. Subscribing.

 

[ld50]

Wanted to work on it all day sunday but we had a winter storm and the power was out all day, bummer.

Anyway, have the replacement inner for other side cut out and primed:

 

[ld50]

After you have all the rust buffed away, it`s time to kill the rust you can`t get at. For me, I could get it all off the inner metal, but there was some mild surface rust up the dog leg, some worse under the door jamb, and in the cavity up front -that I told you not to spray primer into.

There is quite a few products out there to arrest/kill rust. I am using something I`ve used before with good results. Plasti Kote rust converter. It stops the rust and changes it into a paintable surface:

You need to get as much surface rust off as you can, then blow it off with compressed air. the product needs a little bit of rust to adhere to.
Apply liberally so it can get everywhere it needs to go. After it dries hit it with some primer.

 

[ld50]

Now I`m ready to weld on the 2nd inner metal:

 

[allout]

Hey ld50, where in BC are you. I am on the Island.

 

[ld50]

Hope BC. One of my favorite trails to run EVER is on the island, but I haven`t gone there in a few years now. It`s called Boston Main, and it`s closer to Courtenay than Nanaimo. Anyway, Hi.

 

[allout]

Boston Main has become too popular if you know what I mean. Logging in the area has made it hard to get to due to gates and security. There are lots more trails in Nanaimo south that make Boston Main look like a 2wd hiway. If you ever get back to the Island we will have to go wheeling. Keep up the good work on your Ex.

 

[cculter]

I also have used that rust convertor before and also had great results.

 

[ld50]

Allout, I`ll keep that in mind, however I used to visit a friend in Courtenay which made the trip more likely. He`s moved to the mainland now, but ya never know.

Got my rear-ward metal on now. Gotta clean up the welds with my dremel buffer and re-primer, next the trickiest part is cutting and mounting the dog-leg.

It looks a little wavy in the pic, and it is, but the rocker pieces will straighten it out:

 

[ld50]

Dogleg

Okay, lets get the dogleg on, but first get the rear door on, cuz no one can fit a dogleg free-hand!

 

[ld50]

Place the intact dogleg replacement part in it`s place. Remember the old saying, measure twice, cut once? Well forget it! We got too many variables to be trying to measure anything. What you want to do is cut the lower dogleg (rocker) section exactly how long you want it. I did both sides approximately to where the interior trim piece ends, or, just behind the rear seat pivots (see pics). Just remember to not cut too short that the rocker section isn`t long enough to overlap it by 1/4- 1/2 an inch.

The upper section we will zipcut around an inch long, to be safe..

 

[ld50]

Now put it back in place again.
Close the door.
manipulate the dogleg until it looks proper. Don`t forget the lap weld you will do onto the lower section. i.e. don`t make it too tight along the door!

You should still have some trimming to do to the upper side right?

 

[ld50]

Want to cheat a little?
Now that it`s exactly where you would like it, grab your primer and spray the inside through the conveient gap in your fenderwall, trying to mark the cutline.