Cutting up the drivers side.

Today I started with cutting the bad parts out of the drivers side.
After dismounting the rear leaf spring  from the rocker box we started here.

 Taking some measurements.

 Here the double layers of metal are removed from the floor. This is whats left of the original floor.

 Here the rocker box and the inner rocker are removed.

 The front of the outer rocker is rotted and need replacing.

 Here you can see that the rear rocker box is removed.

 A view of the inner rocker. I already started on the top flange spot welds.

 The pile of scrap that cam e out after a few hours of work.

Right hand rocker finished

The first thing i did today was taking some measurements. Then I started with cutting some piece of the rear frame rail to fit the rear rocker box. Fitting and cutting several times until everything was in place like it should.
Next I prepare the surfaces for welding the rear rocker box in place.

 Next my attention went to the front rocker box. Some sheet metal was cut and welded in place.

 The gaps that where still open are now filled.

 This means that the right hand rocker is completely in place.
Up to the next side.

Rocker in place

Yesterday I wrote that the rocker was wrong. This morning at work they told me that I could alter it and so I did.
I marked the spot where the door sill is and started drilling out the spot welds.  Then I made a cut from 0 - 2 cm as long as the door sill is. The small part was bend down.

 Then it was welded enterly and the welds were ground down. Below the result.

So the next thing I did was putting the rocker together with the rocker box in place. I made sure that everything was lined up the way it should. And started welding.

 After a while of welding this is the result. The rocker and rocker box are welded in place.

 Around the rocker box are some gaps that need to be filled with some sheet metal.

I now can turn my attention to the rear rocker box.

Troubled.

Today I started with the trial fitting of the rocker box. It fitted and then I started drilling the holes for spot welding.
So next I tried to mount it in place together with the rocker and noticed that in the door opening the flange would rise above the door sill .
So I started made some measurements and the rocker is 152 mm high The outer rocker that is still in place is about 140 mm high. That is a difference of 12 mm (1/2").

I looked in the catalog to see if there was a clear picture in it of how it should be. It was not but I did see that there are 2 different rockers one for pré 69 cars and one for above 69.
Tomorrow I will ask the dealer if they have other rockers that have a better fit. The ones I got now do not.

The first welds

Today I started with the frame rail that was cut out. I cut a piece of steel  3 mm thick and bend it at 90°.
After fitting I welded it in place.

 After welding I grinded the weld to flush with the surrounding metal.

 Next the other side of the frame rail was cut out and a new plate welded in place. and ground flush.

 The front of the rocker was severely rotted. There was barely any metal left. so I cut out a piece and bend a new piece.

 That was then welded from the inside of the rocker. The fender is in the way to weld it from the outside.

 Next the weld are also ground flush. After welding in the floor is complete I will take of the fenders to repaire the rocker from the outside.

 After drilling the holes in the frame rail  I welded it in place with spot welds.

 Then the inner rocker was drilled and trial fitted. I clamped it in place with a set of vice grips.

 The way it is looking now it needs some more fitting.

 The underside of the inner rocker is below the flange of the rocker.

I will need to fit the rocker box in place and look how the fit is. But that's for an other day.

Cutting and grinding

 Continued where I stopped yesterday. Cleaning  the inner rocker flange so it will be easier to weld the new rocker in place.

 I then measured the distance of the cross member relative to the floor so I can position it later at its original place.

 Next the frame rail was cut. At a previous repair they welded a new frame rail over the old one. 

 A piece of the frame is cut away and will be replaced with a new piece.

 Here you can see that the frame that's coming down from the engine compartment is rusted away, this will also be replaced.

 In this picture you can see that some pieces are already cut away.

 A look from the inside of the fender and the passenger side. The place where the rocker box is fitted is clean of old welds and debris. I also did a trial fitting of the new rocker and it should fit with some minor adjustments and some more cleaning up.

 As you can see this is the scrap that came out this week. There is not much left.

First Inner Rocker Panel

Today I first started with the removal of the inner Rocker panel  or what's left of it. I also decided that from now I will work on the right side only. As soon the inner rocker panels and rocker boxes are in place agin I will turn my attention to the left side.

 Next I disconnected the leaf spring from the rear axle

 Then the front frame is cut in order to be able to remove the tube connecting front and rear.

 Then the rear rocker box is cut out.

 The next picture was taken to show that the previous repairs were badly made. If you look closely you're able to see that the rocker panel at the rear is slightly bent.
It is however not to bad and can be repaired.

 Then the last part of the inner rocker is cut out.

 And then I started with grinding the edge of the rocker clean.

And that's it for today.

Cutting out the floor.

Today I started where I ended yesterday. Removing more floor parts.
I started at the passengers side by cutting out the last section of the floor that is going to be replaced.

Next I started removing the piece between the 2 frame rails.

And then the drivers side was cut out.

Next came the cross member. The last piece of the floor was removed.

Next I started with the removing of the front rocker-box on the passenger side.
There I noticed that there was severe rotted parts.

 If you look closely you can see that in the corner there are holes. They were covered with Bondo to camouflage it.

 Then the rocker box is cut out.

And the pile of scrap is getting bigger.