Panel Replacement

[JJSZABO]

Hello all!  I have a 86 Chev. C-10 pickup I am trying to "restore" for my son (sort of a father and son project) and I have some questions.

I am getting ready to replace the left side rocker (both the inner and outer), floor pan, cab corner and cab support bracket.  I got the kit from this site.  My questions are:

where do I start?  

Which panel do I replace first?

Then which panel should I do next?

I am leaving the drivers door on so I have a good reference point.  The cab is off the frame right now.

Any help from those that have done these is GREATLY appreciated.  Thanks in advance.

Jeff

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It really depends on how the floor/rocker looks on where to start, but  I would start with the truck on the frame bolted down and cut the rocker out and replace.  Reason being this is where you will have to reference your floor and door opening from.  I would also brace the door opening before cutting it out.  Then move to the inner then the floor pan, the support and then the corner.  

Chris Lucas
www.73-87chevytrucks.com
www.captkaoscustoms.com
Project Su
Jimmy 2WD Project

[JJSZABO]

Thanks for the reply Chris.  Here is what it looks like:

new.photos.yahoo.com/jjsz...6841869/29

new.photos.yahoo.com/jjsz...6841357/28

new.photos.yahoo.com/jjsz...6841027/27

new.photos.yahoo.com/jjsz...6839213/22

How do I brace the door?  

Sorry for the stupid questions, but I am learning alot.  I have a Hobart 140 mig welder to weld with and plenty of air tools to cut, grind and sand with.

Thanks again

Jeff

Edited by: JJSZABO at: 1/17/07 5:21 pm

[Blazin]

Jeff,
This is a long one!
You mention tools and a welder. Do you have a set of body hammers and dollies? As chris said for a beginer the cab would be better on the frame, bolted down. Remove the fenders, doors, etc. I can't strees enough to not cut the whole rocker out at once. The inner rocker if its not rotted away is not inline with the gasket lip. It is toward the outside about a quater of the way under the door sill. If your inner is in good shape you can plug weld the new rocker to it once you clean the outer off it. From the factory the inner rocker is part of the floor pan. It drops down from the floor to make the troth behind the gasket. That troth is only a troth because the outer rocker has the gasket lip. It is actually a small flat then turns down 90 degrees to make the inner rocker.
I cut out the floor and rocker suport suport. i leave the cab moutn if its not rotted. The top of the cab mount has a plate that is under the floor, I try and leave it if its not rotted. Then I lay the new floor panel in and trim it to fit. I overlap the new metal about a 1/4" over the old metal. Once its in I cut the rocker suport to fit. I clamp it in place, maybe even tack a couple welds if I realy like the way it fits.Mark around it, along the floor suport that runs back toward the seat rise on the bottom side of the floor. Pull the floor pan out and drill 3/8' holes along the lines so they can be used to weld the floor down to the rocker suport, and floor suport. Once the holes are drilled and its trimed to fit I screw it down with self tapping hex head screws and a drill.
I cut the outer rocker off but leave the bolt hole for the fender. The outer rocker goes behind the outer cab corner. I cut the outer cab corner off just a bit above the rocker. Just cut off the rust, then trim the new panels down. You dont need to use the whole thing. After everything is cut out I sand blast all surface rust. Next I bolt the door back on, line the top & back up with the cab. Don't worry about the front except that the gap cant be huge were the gasket goes. I just eyeball that gap.The fender will get adjusted to the door. Next I trim the rocker, not all at once. I trim it several times to get the best fit. about a 1/4" overlap of the old metal. Once its trimmed I drill 3/8 holes in the door sill were it lines up with the inner roccker / floor. If some of the old gasket lip is left drill the holes in the new panel were it overlays. Drill holes about 2 to 3 inches apart along the whole bottom edge, these are your plug weld holes. Don't depend on the bottom of the rocker to the old inner rocker line it up. I start in the door jamb and work my way out. I screw the new rocker in place with self tapping hex head screws and a drill. This way you can move it to fit the door up, down, in, out. If the gasket lip dosn't line up perfect its O.K. you can adjust that with a body hammer and dolly. Then I Trim the cab corner down and screw it in place. I start with the edge against the door. The edge that goes in the jamb might need to be trimed for the outside to fit flush. Also were the corner goes over the rocker might need to be trimed to get them to fit flat with each other. Once the cab corner is trimed I drill a few holes in the door jamb edge, just don't drill to low as it is a pain to grind the weld down close to the rocker in the corner. I drill a few holes in the back over where the factory welds the back cab skin to the floor. I drill a few holes in the bottom edge were the outer cab corner goes over the inner cab corner. Get the top edge of the corner screwed down tight, work your way around so its a snug fit. Now get the bottom of the cab corner, outer rocker lined up, also the inner rocker. Clamp them together with visegrips. Double check the door fit all the way around and it dosn't hurt to test fit the fender too. Keep in mind you might need to adjust the door hinges a little bit. Keep in mind you might adjust everything a few times. Once you are happy triple check eveything. Tack weld everything again check everything. then weld away. Do not weld the seam between the rocker and cab corner. it get filled with seam sealer.
I have some pics of this process if you e-mail me I can send them to you. my address is  hknottwelldanbury@yahoo.com
                                                                  Harold

Edited by: Blazin at: 1/17/07 10:07 pm

[JJSZABO]

Harold,

Thanks!  That was GREAT!  I do have a set of body hammers and dollies - not a great set (set made in China), but one that will work for one truck.  

I sent you an email for the pictures.  That should be a huge help.

I have gone through about a years worth of searching threads on this site and I am still trying to learn the basics.  I will start slow and go slow.  I am sure I will have more questions as this project progresses.

I removed the cab so I can work on cleaning up the frame and then eventually replace the cab mount and bushings.  I will take the advice received here and wait until I remount the cab to do the cab restoration.

I started taking an evening class on automotive painting at our local Votech center.  So hopefully I can try and paint this thing when I am done.  I missed the auto body portion of the series that was offered in the fall - that's why I have all the stupid questions.  I find the way we restored and fixed rust when I was a teenager - early 80's (justing getting my first car - by the way a 1968 Buick Skylark with a 454 and a hydroglyde transmission - wish I still had it) was just to sand and patch with fiberglass - WRONG, WRONG, and WRONG.  So I want to start my son out the right way.

If you are interested, I can post pictures as the restoration process progresses.  This is intended to be a daily driver for my son and in no way a show truck, but we still want it to be nice.

Thanks again for the help

Jeff

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Harold, if you send me the pictures I can create a page for them and post them on the tech pages on the main website and post them in the forum also.  

If you send them to me I will copy this post and link the pics in also.

Chris Lucas
www.73-87chevytrucks.com
www.captkaoscustoms.com
Project Su
Jimmy 2WD Project

[Blazin]

Chris, I planned on contacting you when I am done scaning them and learning how to resize them smaller to do a tech page on it. The detail rocker cab corner pics are form one truck, they are all scanned as of last night. The floor work is from another but I haven't scanned them yet.

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I can resize them, so you can just send me what you got.  I have been want to do this, but I haven't had the need for the repair... yet...

Chris Lucas
www.73-87chevytrucks.com
www.captkaoscustoms.com
Project Su
Jimmy 2WD Project

[Blazin]

I need to resize them. I can only fit two sometimes three in an e-mail. The rocker panel cab corner set is over 20 pictures long. I would like to be able to send them all in one e-mail.

[roundedline]

No problem.

Chris Lucas
www.73-87chevytrucks.com
www.captkaoscustoms.com
Project Su
Jimmy 2WD Project

[amr952]

Any news on this writeup? I will be getting ready to work on the same problems in the near future, It would be great to have some pictures.

Thanks.