Door, rocker and cab corner fit problems

[gearhead]

I've rebuilt the inner and outer lower door portions on my '87 SWB. I'm trying to install the new OEM style rocker and full size cab corner, but I'm having trouble getting a consistant gap along the rocker and door bottom. When I get a consistant gap the rocker won't fit properly.
My door bottom to the belt line measures 22 3/16" to 22 1/4".    Can someone verify if this is correct? (The doors were previosly rebuilt and rotten too badly to measure...) This is my first project and I want it to turn out like a pro did it. Is ther an order of operations I should be following to keep me from going in circles trying to line up too many things at once?

Thanks in advance.

Gear

[jveik]

so did you weld in new floorboards already?  if you did, it might be off a little unless you had the rockers in still when you put the new floors in.  if you cut the rockers out you should have put braces in to maintain proper dimensions, which im assuming you know lol.  but i would play around with it a while and if the door doesnt line up no matter how hard, just shape the door to fit the cab.  

i am restoring a 73 just like yours but with round headlights and a different front end.  my rockers were bare metal but didnt even have surface rust somehow so i kept those and didn't need to brace anything.  i just cut the cab corners out and the floorboards and painted the new ones and tacked em in.  with a little elbow grease, everything pretty much looks original and i can prime the cab soon.  

by the way, if you are planning on stripping the paint, now is the best time to do it. i was an idiot and put the bondo on and finished that up then realized the stripper would mess it all up so i had to mask it all off... big trouble...


i know this is long, but heres another key thing to do... the reason the cab corners rusted so easily is that they are bare metal inside from the factory.  when you replace them, use a paint called "POR-15" to coat the inside before welding them back in.  the welding will melt some of the paint off, but there will be a huge benefit still in that almost all of it will still be sealed, especially towards the bottom of the panel.  Trust me, the paint is expensive but is worth every penny

[SUX2BU99]

^ That's good advice.  My truck was restored 5 years ago but now I have some bubbling in both cab corners and a bit at the rear 1/4 behind the wheelwell. Before taking them to my paint guy, I will coat both sides of the replacement cab corners and rear 1/4 sections with Por15.

I had suggested to me to fill the pockets behind the rear tires where the body curves under with expanding foam and then coat over with rockerguard to prevent stuff from collecting in there. Good idea?

[roundedline]

Quote:I had suggested to me to fill the pockets behind the rear tires where the body curves under with expanding foam and then coat over with rockerguard to prevent stuff from collecting in there. Good idea?

DO NOT do that.  It will trap moisture in there and make it rust worse than before.

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

[SUX2BU99]

Wouldn't the rockerguard seal out moisture? Sounded plausible to me but I guess if they are double-walled and moisture found it's way underneath then yeah that's bad.

[roundedline]

You can't possibly fill the entire rocker with expandable foam, there will be places that water can get to.  The big problem is the cowl drains down to there also.  If dirt and water can get in there, it will rust.  

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

[gearhead]

I looked at it long and hard. I finally decided to carefully cut off the new cab corner and replace the rocker. While off I tweaked the floor (Also new) and the curved area in the corner where the raised seat pan drops to meet the rocker near the cab corner. (Also replaced - scratch built) This allowed the new rocker to settle down a little lower thus making the door gap along the bottom consistant. After I replaced the cab corner it looked pretty good.

I fabbed up a new inner rocker that goes all the way back to the cab corner (Intsead of falling short like the factory one did) I was planning to caulk the vertical edge at the rear, but allow the bottom edge to have a slight gap to allow any moisture out. I too painted the inside of rockers etc... I will be under-oiling this truck (As well as inside hidden areas like rockers)  upon completion and storing it for the winter. This way I figured I may never have to replace cab corners again. Am I daft?