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TR2/3/3A New rocker panel fit?

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J

John_Progess

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I need to install new rocker panels on my 60 TR 3 project. A set came with the car but the front section was to tall and left me with no bottom door gap. The back section was fine. I purchased a set if Kilmartin panels and the front is great but the back end sits too proud of the rear dog leg by about 3/16" on both left and right panels. There does not appear to ever had been any damage to the rear dog legs and they look original. All I can see to do is either have the panels re-bent or cut the entire length of the panel, adjust the dimension and re-weld. Has anyone else had this problem and what did you do to correct this? Thanks and have a good day!
 
If you lower the front to set your door gap forward, do you have room to lower the front wing to match? The rear is not easy to fix, since the dog leg is welded, as you see, but the front of the door can be raised and the wing adjusted. If it absolutely won't match up, 3/16" is not too much to remove from the bottom of the door...and much easier than trying to cut and re-weld the length of the rocker.

You are experiencing the fun of working on a 50 year old hand built body. Sometimes you have to just grab a bear and stare at it for a day or two till you envision the easiest way to line it all up. Often a big hammer is the solution...or a grinder.
 
I have a pre-60k car, and found the Moss replacement rockers needed "tweaked" a little (as expected since they are made flat for a post 60k car). For where the rocker meets the front fender, I cut a pie shaped section out of the top of the new rocker and welded it back together, as well as a slit off the bottom. The rear of the rocker where it meets the dog leg, was hammered flat, and reformed where/how I wanted it. The left and right sides were modified differently, but I think the left side was done by re-shaping without welding. -which caused a little more filler at a later date...
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Hi John P.

I bought my outer sills off EBay. They were supposedly NOS. Not so sure that was true, other than they were rusty, under the red primer. I ultimately had to shorten them and then make them more narrow, so that they fit up to the quarter panel without protruding outward from the car. Here's a few photos of the welding that was required and a photo of the final product (in progress). And a photo of where I started WRT rust.

Pat









 
Nice Gaps Pat. Cheers Tush
 
Pat, am I seeing right...that you were able to cut a lengthwise slit and curve the sill to match the original? In other words, you were able to eliminate the need for a bit of glaze to contour to the door?
 
Hi John
Not sure that I eliminated too much body filler, but I did indeed make a cut with a die grinder wheel and then was able to push the sill inward a bit and match the flush vertical surface of the sill to the flush vertical surface of the quarter panel. It worked well and the rocker covers are easy to patch and sand, being fairly flat. I don't think I matched the "bow" all that well. I added just a little filler and contoured the rocker, after all the metal work was done. The key thing I was trying to achieve was keeping the front wing skirt, the sill, and the sill cover all in the same plane (except for the bow).

pat
 
I purchased Kilmartin panels because they were bowed as per original panels. After more fitting this week I find that the front is proud also in that once fit the bottom flange of the wing will not touch the bottom flange of the outer sill where the three attachment bolts connect. It is out about 1/8". So it looks like the entire panel is proud of the body from about 1/8" to 3/16". Looks like I either re-bend it or cut and weld to bring it in closer to the body. Any other suggestions? Thanks and have a good day!
 
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