Rock(er) On

[marquisman]

Its hard to give physical dimensions of the panels because, the factory stamped pieces have lots of bends and angles. A decent body man will usually cut out the bad metal pieces and replicate them. This way, they fit properly. Best would be to talk to a body shop, to see if repops can be bought and call around some wrecking yards. You might get lucky and get a pair of rust free ones from a scrap car. The stuff is out there but, have to search for it.

[Steveh66]

Yup.. my wagon is the same. And it looks like other have had the same problem too. There was a 86 out at the junk yard that someone too the rockers out of before it was scraped.

I was lucky to find a low mileage rust free one in the yard... about 20 min later i cut the rockers out. I will use these in the wagon some time this summer.

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[Mike_Windsor]

I'd like to see pics, NFW is it clean everywhere else aside from the rockers. We looked at a Town Car back in early February that looked clean aside from a spot on the driver's side dog leg... Got my flash light out and looked at the frame, rust spots everywhere. Guess that's solid to some people but not me. Don't make me upload a pic of my Townie or Ashley's old one lol. I'd also like to see the area where the front door hinges bolt to the A pillar, that's a common area for rot too.

Well, here's mud in your eye. Just got off the phone with the guy, and he reiterated that the car's underside is solid.

And I'll take pictures of the car once it's all done, of course.

And geeze, Derek, it almost sounds like you want my car to not be fixable. Phooey.

[DerekTheGreat]

I'm trying to save you money and grief here! I work in the corrosion industry and am highly critical of body work, paint work and corrosion. Unless of course the car has some sentimental value to it I'd just find one that has no rust and begin to oil it annually. Anything that is going to humid/salty conditions will just rot again, and fast once repaired. No refinish job will beat what the factory put on in those days, trust me on that. Even now, the stuff I'm seeing gets worse and worse due to environmental concerns. So yeah, it's better for the world and such but not for your bottom line.

[Mike_Windsor]

I was just being lighthearted in my reply before...

Sentimental value? Yep. Irrationally so. You aren't the first and hopefully won't be the last to give my car the "pfft that thing treatment".

And there is no grief that you're saving me from here. The car HAZ TEH G00D ST33L D00D.

It's gonna be alright, I promise.

Now, as for the environment, I, uh, must have misplaced the catalytic convertors someplace...yeahhhhh... that's the ticket...

[87gtVIC]

Like what was said above...its too difficult to give you dimensions of the rocker panels as it varies due to all of the different contours it takes.

Cut out the old and weld in the new. It is a big project! Good luck.

[Mike_Windsor]

Like what was said above...its too difficult to give you dimensions of the rocker panels as it varies due to all of the different contours it takes.

Cut out the old and weld in the new. It is a big project! Good luck.

That's fair, and the mechanic is in the process of fabrication as he got the dimensions anyhow.

I'm excited for this, it's been a long time coming.

[Tiggie]

For the record, Panthers hold together quite well with very rusty rocker panels! Unibody cars will fold up but not a panther.

Full replacement from a cut out car is the only way I'd go if they are bad enough to need attention.

[HiFiMerc]

Yup.. my wagon is the same. And it looks like other have had the same problem too. There was a 86 out at the junk yard that someone too the rockers out of before it was scraped.

I was lucky to find a low mileage rust free one in the yard... about 20 min later i cut the rockers out. I will use these in the wagon some time this summer.

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Rust free doors. I wish I could get those.

[Brown_Muscle]

I would be interested in pictures as well. Geez, at $2,700 for rocker panels, the work i've done on my one car is probably $20,000 by your mechanics standards. I'm not sure why he wouldn't try to find some from a donor car, really would have saved him a lot of time and effort, and you money. I also agree, I have no idea why he would get dimensions, when he can just cut your old one off and use it as a template. However, In his defense I will say, if he does a spot on job, with no filler needed, the cost is worth every penny if the car contains sentimental value to you.

[Mike_Windsor]

There hasn't been very many 1983-1987 Mercury Grand Marquis made for quite awhile, and so they seem to be something of a rare car.


But nevertheless, we're rocking along with the intended plan. Now if the axles come in soon, we'll also be rolling...

[jaywish]

Just to go on a bit of a tangent, do you know the 88-91 rockers are different? I know the nose changed.

[Mike_Windsor]

Dude, 3 days ago if you had asked me if I knew what a rocker panel was I would have straight up said something to do with infant care.




...Stop staring at me...:ninja:

[DerekTheGreat]

I would be interested in pictures as well. Geez, at $2,700 for rocker panels, the work i've done on my one car is probably $20,000 by your mechanics standards. I'm not sure why he wouldn't try to find some from a donor car, really would have saved him a lot of time and effort, and you money. I also agree, I have no idea why he would get dimensions, when he can just cut your old one off and use it as a template. However, In his defense I will say, if he does a spot on job, with no filler needed, the cost is worth every penny if the car contains sentimental value to you.

There's no way he's fabricating rocker panels without using a ton of mud to get 'em to look right, unless of course he has access to the factory tooling. It's a money grab by said 'mechanic.' It's not my money so to each his own.

[Mike_Windsor]

There's no way he's fabricating rocker panels without using a ton of mud to get 'em to look right, unless of course he has access to the factory tooling. It's a money grab by said 'mechanic.' It's not my money so to each his own.

Have you ever fabricated rocker panels? Maybe you could do better for less?