Sheet Metal Mayhem

I had to take a few days off due to a nasty sheet metal cut.  It is healing nicely, so I'm back to the 'ol grind(er).

The driver's side is in much worse shape than the rest of the car.  The car was in a collision on this side, which destroyed the rear door pillar  (which was replaced - poorly) and bent other portions of the body, primarily the rear wheel well.  When the pillar was replaced, the remaining bent sections were not straightened or reattached to it, so


in wet weather, the wheel would throw water through the gap.  The gap drained directly into the rocker panel, which held the water like a bathtub.  This not only destroyed the rocker, but because the gap also allowed water penetration to the interior of the cabin, the floor boards were frequently wet, with the carpet retaining that moisture for long                                                                                                     periods of time.

It took a lot of measuring, straining and persuasion, but I finally got the wheel well back to something close to the correct shape and reattached it to the door pillar.  Note that the flange at far right that closes to the fiberglass body was trimmed back because it was not fitted properly.  I still need to recreate the proper flange shape.  The remaining rust-holed areas have been removed in preparation for the outer rocker panel replacement.

The front wheel well, has similarly been prepped.

A strip of floor board the entire length of the rocker panel had to be replaced , as well as a larger portion at the confluence of the floor panels at the center of the car.  The old rocker assembly has been completely  removed (inner and outer panels and both end caps).

I received the replacement rocker pieces yesterday (Thanks RG!) and have installed the inner half.  I still need to do a little more patchwork at the front wheel well before I can install the outer half and end caps.