Rocker panel repair/painting

[Warpigg]

I plan to do a bunch of stuff on my cruiser here soon when the ground firms up including iron Man lift, Bilstein shocks, all new brake soft lines, new rear control arm bushings, fixing the rust on my rocker panels, and cleaning all the salt off and under coating.

So the 12" area in front of the rear wheels on both sides that is the outer rocker panel needs to be replaced. I have no problem doing this but I need help with the painting side. I'd like to use a 2 part epoxy primer with like two coats or so to do the inside of the panel. I have a couple different spray guns I have access to, one may need a rebuild but anyway. How would I spray inside the rocker panel? I found online these spray gun extension tips that use a 360 degree spray nozzle they are made by Binks I believe. My problem is I couldn't find a price for the tip or the extension only price I found was for the whole gun and $1000 is absurd for something I won't use more then a couple times...

I figured I could put the extension through the plug holes on the inside rocker panel to achieve my goals but I can't achieve them without the extension and tip. So what have you guys seen or used to spray paint on the inside of confined spaces like this? I don't necessarily need to paint the whole inside of the panel but it would probably benefit from it. I'd just have to figure out how to not plug up the drain slits.

Thanks for any and all replys,

Jeremy

 

[gummycarbs]

Googling "how to paint inside of frame rails" turns up some results that might be helpful. Several of them refer to using tools intended for rocker panels.

Painting Technique For Inside Frame Rail

 

[Warpigg]

I wasn't finding much on Google except for the garden sprayers ive seen many mention, and they aren't 360 degree nozzles from what I've seen and used

 

[Malleus]

This is a problem area by design. The inner and outer panels are painted and then glued together (there are spot welds, but the glue provides the seam seal). This is due to the sunroof drain design.

You'll need to get the Collision repair info. PM me and we can discuss.

 

[Red Merle]

I bought one of these to shoot bar chain oil into my rockers and frame rails, doors, and pretty much everything on the underside of the truck. The wands aren't perfect, but they work if you get the oil warmed up. I am not sure if they would work for paint, but they would work with other types of rustproofing products. I choose the oil method and it works as long as you reapply a couple times of year and rinse the salty crud off often in the winter. You could probably just get a rattle can made of the matching paint code made up for you rather than getting into full blown booth style painting since the rockers have a rustproofing under the paint and they have a very rough surface compared to the rest of the paint on the truck. I do spot touch-ups on my rig with rattle can clear coat and you can't even tell unless you really crawl under the truck and shine a light directly on it. I have some lower fender issues that I want to tackle this year, but I am having a tough time finding someone that just wants to sell me the lower foot or so off of a wrecked fender.

TP Tools® Rustproofing Gun with Wand

 

[Red Merle]

This is a problem area by design. The inner and outer panels are painted and then glued together (there are spot welds, but the glue provides the seam seal). This is due to the sunroof drain design.

You'll need to get the Collision repair info. PM me and we can discuss.

I would love to get my hands on that info if you can email it to me. If you lost my address, PM me.

 

[Warpigg]

I'm not really concerned about the paint color on mine since the clear is pretty thin in some spots and full of scratch's. My ps quarter is all ready a funky shade of green and black from rust repair I did in the fall. I sprayed rubberized undercoating over green spray paint and the undercoating never stuck or hardened to the paint....

When I get the rockers fixed I'm planning on two coats of summit epoxy primer on the outside and (hopefully)inside then sem flat black gravel gaurd on top. I do oil undercoat mine, I use something similar to fluid film. It's called protection first class or pfc by berkebile. So I have a gun to shoot it already, with a flex inside panel wand. I put a full gallon on last year and Im gonna buy two more gallons. I apply it pretty liberally since they use alot salt and salt spray here in Vermont.

I would just leave the inside unpainted and spray the pfc inside but I want as much protection as I can get.

 

[Red Merle]

I'm not really concerned about the paint color on mine since the clear is pretty thin in some spots and full of scratch's. My ps quarter is all ready a funky shade of green and black from rust repair I did in the fall. I sprayed rubberized undercoating over green spray paint and the undercoating never stuck or hardened to the paint....

When I get the rockers fixed I'm planning on two coats of summit epoxy primer on the outside and (hopefully)inside then sem flat black gravel gaurd on top. I do oil undercoat mine, I use something similar to fluid film. It's called protection first class or pfc by berkebile. So I have a gun to shoot it already, with a flex inside panel wand. I put a full gallon on last year and Im gonna buy two more gallons. I apply it pretty liberally since they use alot salt and salt spray here in Vermont.

I would just leave the inside unpainted and spray the pfc inside but I want as much protection as I can get.

Honestly, I have done a lot of epoxy work on boats and other applications and it's really hard to spray. None of the companies really want to share data as far as spraying it because the number of chemicals involved are really not supposed to be mixed with air and breathed in by people. You are better off brushing it somehow or painting and then oiling. Also be concerned with UV protection additives in the epoxy if you plan on leaving them without a top coat.

How do you like that product you mentioned compared to Fluid Film? I used to buy gallons of FF but I decided bar chain oil was just as effective and it is 1/10 the price of FF.

 

[Warpigg]

I've just used it once so far and I was very pleased, it lasted all winter exspiecally on the ps. The ds sees all the salt so it gets hit harder but it was still on there. Only thing I don't like is I have a greasy black film on everything now that I have to power wash off before I reapply, but its better than rust... I thought about using some high tack bar and chain oil I have access to through work for free but this pfc stuff sticks alot better imo.

I have zero experience with epoxy primer but I did read about the uv thing. Only top coat I planned was the gravel guard stuff. I'm probably ethier going to try to spray it with a garden sprayer or brush it on. The spray gun I have is my father's and I've never seen it used since I've been alive and I'm 25 so probably not gonna try that lol. on a side note, apparently the gravel guard stuff is paintable since I'm sure it doesn't have uv protection ethier. So if need be I can paint over it with clear coat or actual paint

 

[Red Merle]

I've just used it once so far and I was very pleased, it lasted all winter exspiecally on the ps. The ds sees all the salt so it gets hit harder but it was still on there. Only thing I don't like is I have a greasy black film on everything now that I have to power wash off before I reapply, but its better than rust... I thought about using some high tack bar and chain oil I have access to through work for free but this pfc stuff sticks alot better imo.

I have zero experience with epoxy primer but I did read about the uv thing. Only top coat I planned was the gravel guard stuff. I'm probably ethier going to try to spray it with a garden sprayer or brush it on. The spray gun I have is my father's and I've never seen it used since I've been alive and I'm 25 so probably not gonna try that lol. on a side note, apparently the gravel guard stuff is paintable since I'm sure it doesn't have uv protection ethier. So if need be I can paint over it with clear coat or actual paint

Bar chain oil is tacky enough, but yeah, stuff sticks to it. It's better than more rust though and it works. I have a rust free, Arizona Tacoma that I have been spraying for five northern WI winters and it is still completely rust free. I just use a cheap HF spray gun and give the whole underside a heavy coat twice per year. If I have to work on stuff, everything is much easier to loosen because the oil soaks in and loosens up the grip the rusty stuff might have temporarily seized due to the way the chemical process of oxidizing happens.

Sounds like you have a pretty good plan. How are you planning on repairing the rockers? Weld them?

 

[Warpigg]

Yup cut out all the bad and weld in new metal. I plan to weld it as air tight as possible, I also put seam sealer on top to cover pin holes and such