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Replacing Rocker Panels


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Has anyone had their rocker panels replaced on a R50? I am hoping to get mine done this year sometime because the passanger side is pretty rotted by ther rear wheel. That's what you get when buying a Maine car ;)

 

I found a place online, hopefully still in business, that sells replacement rockers for Nissans. Here's the link. Is this something that a good body shop can tackle without it costing me a fortune?

 

Anyone have experience with this?

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I was looking at having a shop repair a rocker rust hole on my WD and they said it would be about $400. That kind of thing is pretty labor intensive and at ~$70/hr it really starts to add up, so I did it myself.

The first time I formed some sheet metal and welded it in, but I didn't cut all the rust out so it came back. The next time, I got all the rust and used fiberglass. Then I taped off a line above the rockers and sprayed them with bedliner to cover the repair which saved a trip to the paint shop.

I saw the guys on "Trucks" repair a rocker on an S-10 using a replacement panel and some special adhesive - no welding. Seems pretty straight forward if you have a replacement piece already formed and all you'd have to do is a little light Bondo to smooth it all in. Then have the shop color match and spray the area if you want.

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Unlike the WD21, the R50 is a unibody, with the entire body acting as the frame (it has no separate frame) so when major structural work has to be done, it needs to be done right to ensure the integrity of the structure. I would think that rocker panels would qualify as "major" so just make sure they are done well.

 

I have no experience so can not offer any cost ideas.

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I had an 18 section of my drivers side rocker replaced when i crushed it in 2001. Last season ('06) it has started to bubble with some rust. I had a local bodyshop do it, paid cash - didn't want to put it on my insurance record - and they knew I prefered utility to cosmetics. So they cut out the crushed section and fabbed a piece of heavier (18g I think) steel as a patch of sorts. They feathered out the welds but it was a visible patch, since it sat on top of the original rocker. The paint match was perfect.

 

This season I'll sand it down and put some kind of rust sealant on it, I believe all I'm seeing is surface rust, and then use hurculiner or some such goop. It's not too visible now that I have sliders.

 

m.

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