Here I am removing the driver's side rocker from the Panel van. As you can see below, the picture with the weld slug on the lip (B), I was trying to keep the original rocker. I patched in some of the rust spot, but a replacement rocker from AutoCraft was pretty affordable and near original, I decided to replace it so that rust wouldn't catch me later.
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| A: Spot welds |
To remove the inner rocker, I cut off the bottom lip to be able to remove the spot welds that held it to the cargo floor. The angle is pretty hard since it is easier to be perpendicular to the welds when drilling. I basically found all the spot welds by separating the metal in the
places that didn't have spot welds and bending them downwards.
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| B: Rocker first cutout |
I was not think about saving the rocker since I tried to weld in some of the lips in certain spots because it was rusted or cut when I removed the panel area that needed repair. The hardest part is removing this from the spot welds in the top and bottom hats that run horizontally to support the cargo floor.
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| C: Removed Rocker |
This is the rockers completely removed. I have a replacement that I will weld in after I deal with some of the surface rust on the hats. I'm still waiting to buy my compressor, as this electrical cut-off wheel stops every 10 seconds due to the fear of overheating.
As you can see, I cut part of the wheel well, which I am planning to replace as well.
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| D: Scrap metal |
Here is the metal that I cutoff. It doesn't look pretty. Removing this stuff is a mixture of cutting, pulling and twisting. Because the area is so low, one tends to become impatient and just want to cut the van in half. I do have a plasma cutter, but it was in my storage place. I have it in my possession now, but once I get my compressor, this would be easier as well. It needs high PSI of air to run the plasma cutter.
Here is an update of the new inner rocker test fit. I realized that I might have to remove part of the D pillar to get the rocker to fit under. I will try to pull it back or hammer it in later after I clean up some of
the rust.
I removed half of the wheel well in preparations for a replacement panel that I have. The original one was too rusty and also, over cut when I removed the side panel. I want to start off clean keeping the bus from rusting again after painting. I only have a small lip to remove on the inside. Once that is done, I will strip down the paint and primer and spot weld the new one into place.
Here is a view from another angle, where shows the small lip inside that needs to be removed on my next visit.
