Do the Twist!

Actually, I'm trying to undo the twist in the right side rocker panels. After checking everything with the information and tools available, I've decided that the approximately 1/4" misalignment was not due to an accident or rust weakened floors and rockers, but is the way it came out of the factory. No lasers, robots, and computer designed assembly jigs in the factories in those days, so there was a lot of hand manipulation to make things fit. I've found other places on the body with copious amounts of brazing to fill gaps and level the mating surfaces of joined panels, so I guess it's make do with what I have.

The goal was to first finish welding the floors and rockers so I could move the car outside to do all the  grinding, but now I first have to install the patch panel so I can tweak the parts to match, and fit check the door before I weld them in permanently. Sort of throws my plan off, but that's okay as it gives me a break by doing something different for a while. I've been a little nervous about this step, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Old sheet metal removed, surface rust killed, and difficult to reach surfaces painted with Rust-Oleum. The little Dremel rotary cutter worked slick for this job, but the abrasive discs are expensive and it took two of them to make these cuts.

New panel fit checked and adjusted to eliminate the rocker misalignment.  The bend radius of the outer rocker cap and the patch panel did not match and required some subtle massaging with a hammer.

As noted in an earlier post, the outer rockers are designed to be a cap that fits over the old sheet metal, so when installing them under the patch panel, some modification is required. It may be a few days before I weld this panel in place, as my wife's honey-do list keeps getting longer and the recent rains have the grass growing again.