Rocker repair

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love2fly

love2fly

Flying the Mountains of the NW
Joined
Sep 7, 2004
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I am now to the point were I want to start working on a minor repair of the upper rocker door seal area (see photo). This truck sat for a bit and looks as water was trapped along with high humidity between the door seal and panel were it caused surface blistering/pitting on both left and right doors bottom areas. As you can see a few soiled not flaky holes have developed and need addressing. I have been looking at using POR-15 paste in the tube to fill the voids after a good blasting prep. They have a few other products that sound promising but being a none-auto-body repair person I sure would like some experienced input before I attempt the repair.
Thanks
 
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I would weld up the pin holes and since you are blasting regular body filler will work and paint. The blasting will remove the rust.
 
You probably want to give the holes a good poke with a screwdriver or drill bit before you blast. I suspect that the steel around them is thin. If you are going to weld or POR-15 putty them you should get out to good solid metal. It is not any more work to fix a pencil sized hole.

If you are looking to take the short way out then just use the putty or bondo.
 
Give it a go

Well folks today I gave it a try with the POR 15 products. I decided to test out the products on the top of the apron instead of the rocker area. If this works out I will complete the rocker work the same way. I stated out using a stripper call "Aircraft Stripper" to remove the paint and primer for the work area. This stuff will burn so wear your protection from face to hands and arms. When the paint was remove I cleaned all of the work area with POR 15 "Marine Clean" to remove the residue's and contaminants and then wiped dry with a clean towel. Then I prepared the area with "Metal Prep" to get the surface to etch a bit more to help adhesive the POR 15 paste I am going to use to stop the rust.
I used a cotton swab to get under the work area and in and around the holes. This process take 10-15 minutes so be patient. When that was done the area of rust will of turned darker, that's a good thing. Rinse with water and completely dry. Do not put your fingers on the work area as you will be putting contaminants (body oils) from you to the surface and possibly jeopardizing the work. You should be wearing gloves anyway. I put small amounts of POR 15 paste from the tube onto the work surface and with a razor blade moved the POR 15 into the pits and around the holes. I did this on both side of the work area using what ever it took to get it were I needed it keeping it with a low profile (no high areas). I than let it dry for three hours (says dry to touch) then I applied the PRO 15 filler epoxy clay. This stuff is easy to work with but you must not fool around once you mix it as you have about 5-10 min of time until it starts to set . You will feel its warmth as it starts a chemical reaction when mixed. You can use your ungloved hands for this but do make sure you wash them right away. I put it on both sides of the work area and intend only to sand the top side. I used water on my fingers to smooth the putty as I worked with it and it does help. Four hours later it was rock hard and ready for a small bit of sanding, not allot just enough see how good of a job I did, and will finish the rest a day or two latter. Its all about patients. As of now I have saved on having the metal filled (I prefer that) but this was cheaper and seems to be a very good candidate for a long term fix. I have a big challenge on the other apron as it has more holes and I am looking forward to see how that works. I hope you folks find this a bit handy information especially for you folks like me without a welder.
 
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POR 15

More pictures
 
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POR 15 End result Pictures

And a few more pictures
 
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The End POR

Sorry I meant to post the last photos but work got in the way. As you can see the area now looks like new. I did use a very small amount of body filler (not the cheap stuff) to smooth out the work surface area before applying some etching primer then let it sit for a day or two and wet sand. I do not think I will be having any troubles in this area for a long while. Lots of sanding but better than Bondo. Do not get me wrong I really believe that metal filling or welding is the real way to go on most repairs but such small repairs I am inclined to give this a try pus as I said I do not have a MIG welder at my side. The POR epoxy putty and paste is worth the try. In the photo you can see the very small areas that I went back to and surface filled with a good body filler. No pictures but it now is perfect to look at and when I am done stripping the rest of the truck and painted you will never no, well if you look on the underside were I did no sand.
Thanks
DW
 
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Looks to me like you're doing a pretty good job, and I like your attention to detail.

I've use the POR15 products a little and I think they have their place in repairing these old rust covered trucks. The only thing I question in your process is the use of that 2-part putty on the open hole areas. In those situations I think I would just clean up the area on both sides, use the POR15 as a temporary fix and come back at some point when you (or someone) can cut out the bad stuff and patch. I used that putty on an old, cracked steering wheel once. I would think it would not "seal" the moisture out that well. Again - my limited experience.

I've got the same "dotted" corrosion on the door/weather rubber area of my 78's rockers too, and I'm still kicking around what to do about it. But I don't have anything that is rusted all the way through. Maybe some light blasting and a little filler might make the most sense. The POR15 people also say you can put filler over the POR15 paint (much like some say you can use filler over epoxy primer) but I'm not sure that would be a good way to go.

With welding it's important to remember that later you'll still need to get to the inside somehow for prep/finish to protect that newly created burned-paint, rust prone area on the weld backside. :)
 
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More

Thanks for the reply. I to believe in doing it right and I am a big believer in replacing rusted out areas with new medal. Being this was so small of an area and no real pressures put on the area I thought that I would give it a go from all the rave i have heard about the POR 15 supplies.
I did forget to mention that I built for both undersides a metal backing strip made from light steel to fortify the repairs. I drilled holes in the strips to allow the putty to squeeze though and at the same time make a good base for the putty to adhere to from the top into the open rust hole areas. When applied I put clamps onto the work area to put pressure on top and bottom while drying. Prior to all this I did strip and remove all paint from both sides and the etched with the meadle prep. When dry I sanded the underside with a Dremel tool and etched primed both sides. I was looking at the work area today and decided to give the area a good tug to see if the putty will crack, hard as a rock and definitely in place for a long time -I hope.

Thanks
 
What does poor 15 do to the rust spots? Looks like it fills them in and binds to the spots.
 
POR 15

The white paste POR 15 is nothing more that a thick POR paint that stops the rust. In the photo were you see the white paste applied (both sides) and them let dry for the night then I light sand then applied the putty. Should not rust from within and will not attract water as bondo does.
Cheers
:)
 
mtman86 said:
Maybe it's just me, but there are no pics on this thread. I have a similiar rust condition, and would like to see your results. Checked your 'garage', but no pics of your repairs either. Thanks:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

It's not just you. I can't see them either :-(
 
i'm going to add another request for pictures as well
 
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