side beam under rockerpanel

[twotone]

Hello brothers im restoring a 59 coup and didnt exspect the rot that was under the left rocker ounce i removed the two that were on it the side beam is heavily roted.And these being a unibody i dont see how to get to the beam at the front and back were the front bottum fender and the quarter panel front cover it.Is there anyone that has repaired this beam could help me out thanks for any help

[jopizz]

A lot of members have used rectangular steel tubing to repair their inner rocker panels. Check this thread out. It has a few pictures that may help.

http://squarebirds.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=11811&highlight=rocker+panel&page=5

[lawyercalif]

Definitely look at the post about my repair that Jopizz suggested.
Lots of information on how I did I it. If your car is a driver this is a good way to repair those rusted out inner rocker panels. In answer to your question about how to get the "beam" into the area in the rear of the front fender and the front of the rear quarter panel, unfortunately you have to cut them away then weld them back in after the repair (see posts 9 & 5 in the thread Jopizz suggested). It is very important that your new rectangular tubing extend past the edge of the door and into the fore mentioned areas.

If you are building a bone stock show car, then you need to cut replacement inner rockers from a rust free parts car and weld them onto your car. These are getting very hard to find and cutting up a good car is not something any of us would want to do if there is an alternative. It just so happens that I have a solid parts car with the passenger side in great shape and the driver side also in great shape but needing about a three inch repair toward the rear where the guys at the body shop got a little agressive with the torch when cutting out the wheel housings for my car. I would be willing to sell them, but they might be a little expensive because I would have to pay someone to cut them out.

If you have any questions on this repair just ask. Good luck.

[twotone]

inner rockers

Thankyou both for the help i am building it to drive but would like to put original back what kind of price would you be talking.

[lawyercalif]

I will have to check to see what I can get them cut out of the car for and what shipping to Canada would cost, but I imagine I would have to charge around $1000.00 for the pair. Just an estimate at this point. Since your car is a Coupe and you just want a driver, I would not go this route. I had intended to hold onto these for someone that needs bone stock and money is secondary. However as we always say here, it's your car build it to what you like. Let me know if you are still interested.

[twotone]

inner rocker rails

Ya its a driver so it realy could get buy with the tube steel thanks for your advice if we lived close i would buy them but with shipping its out of my budget were taxed to **** up here.

[simplyconnected]

Rectangular channel is the way to go. Ford would have used it but it is cheaper to use thin, spot welded, sheet metal stampings. Since this is a unibody construction, (and even for convertibles) I recommend installing this channel the whole length of both rockers, and covering with new rocker panels:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/EXTENDED-ROCKER-PANELS-THUNDERBIRD-1958-59-60-NEW-PAIR-/200692618951?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Year%3A1959%7CModel%3AThunderbird&vxp=mtr&hash=item2eba3656c7

They're only $50 per PAIR, right here in Detroit.

Go Wings! - Dave

[twotone]

rockers in detroit

Rectangular channel is the way to go. Ford would have used it but it is cheaper to use thin, spot welded, sheet metal stampings. Since this is a unibody construction, (and even for convertibles) I recommend installing this channel the whole length of both rockers, and covering with new rocker panels:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/EXTENDED-ROCKER-PANELS-THUNDERBIRD-1958-59-60-NEW-PAIR-/200692618951?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Year%3A1959%7CModel%3AThunderbird&vxp=mtr&hash=item2eba3656c7

They're only $50 per PAIR, right here in Detroit.

Go Wings! - Dave

Thanks brother i always buy my stuff from the country i love.

[simplyconnected]

Happy 2012 to all our Squarebirds family. I have great expectations for this year.

I don't mean to hijack your thread Ron, but please understand, I live outside Detroit, 12 miles NORTH of Windsor, ON Canada (which makes Windsor almost Canadian because we Detroiters claim it.) Our boys find hockey is easy to join and play because nearly every school around has an ice arena (Royal Oak High School has two).

So, we are very close with our best neighbor, ever. Our vending machines have warnings about using yankee-only coins and I bet if I reached in my pocket, I could find a couple toonies:


In his youth, Henry Ford had a girlfriend who lived in Windsor. He built his own gasoline-powered boat to speed one mile across the Detroit River to see her. Anyone familiar with Canadian women automatically understand why Henry sped over there. Henry loved Canadians so much, he built more plants in Canada than any other country in the world, aside from the States. Ontario alone has or had, Windsor Engine and Foundry Plants, Oakville Assembly and St Thomas Assembly plants, and there are more. Even today, Ford of Canada works closer with the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW), than all of Ford's competitors.

Niagara Falls is a leisurely four hour drive through Canada for Detroiters. Robin & I were there a few weekends ago. The highlight of our trip was the wonderful visit we had with Jean and Howard Prout in St. Catharines, ON (right next to the Falls).

One of my favorite classic auto parts stores is Mac's, located 35 minutes from Howard's house, in Lockport, NY (right on the Erie Canal). I'm jealous because Howard shops there a few times a year.

Sorry for ranting, but I love the Great Lakes area and the change of seasons. My wife is half Ojibwa Indian, and like the wildlife surrounding us, they don't make much distinction between the US and Canada. We are truly blessed by God to have one fifth of the world's fresh water teeming with fish, and lush green land filled with trophy wildlife. - Dave Dare

[twotone]

I know the area i have spent many years traviling america in a truck and i may sound a bit like a american. but thats what happens when you spend most of your life there.good people like i said i love america.

[twotone]

heavy Rot

Hello brothers i have bought the steel rectangle six foot 2x4s.And started to cut away the inner rocker on the drivers side and the rust damage is huge.It starts at the front at wheel well and goes to the rear wheel well theres not much left of inner rocker except the top that is good from one end to the other. But the floor pan sides are rotted away.It will need to be rebuilt from there out if possible.I was just wondering if you guys that have already replaced inner rockers started with rebuilding the floor sides and were did you weld the new beam to.Is it the top of the old inner rocker. need some advise as to wear to begin any advise would be appreciated.

[partsetal]

I haven't used the rectangular tubing but have had a metal shop fabricate 3 lengths of 14 ga, bent so that they could be installed individually and welded in place to resemble the factory box structure with the stiffener strip in the center. With this method, I drilled 1/2" holes in the top surface and then plug welded my structure to it. I haven't had to deal with missing floor support surfaces as mine were still sound. You might consider having some pieces bent that resemble the inner surface angles and place them before you add the tubing.
Bracing of the door opening was important to prevent sag and insure that the doors would fit when the job was finished.
Carl

[twotone]

inner rockers

Thanks carl for your help i pretty much have to rebuild from the floor wall out torx boxes are still in good shape.so i hope i have somthing to work with thanks again Bro.

[lawyercalif]

Good luck on your repair. Having just gone through it here is how we did it. First repair the floors both sides for strength. You can get floor panels cheap on ebay.

Next repair the inner rockers one side at a time and like Partsetal said brace the doors so they do not sag. To install the 2x4 rectangular tubing you must cut away all of the bottom of the old inner rockers. Also you might want to cut away the old inner brace the one with the big holes in if it is too rusty to offer any extra support, this will make more room to get your rectangular tubing in. Cut the rust out of the outer side of the inner rocker saving as much as you can. You have to cut away the part of the bottom of the front fender and part of the bottom of the rear quarter panel to expose the work area.

You then position the tubing into what is left of the old inner rocker and weld it through the top by drilling holes and welding through, welding the sides that are left to the tubing and welding along the bottom flange that should still be intact. Take a close look at the attached pictures, if you have any further questions please let me know. By the way I hope you got tubing that was at least .125 or 1/8" thick.

[twotone]

inner rockers

The steel i bought is .125 thick thanks brother for all your help through all this.