Replacement Inner Rocker Panels

[disepyon]

Thought I would post because I had some interest from some people asking if I would make these.  Due to the amount of time and labor involved, it wasnt worth my while to make these for a those that asked. After all I have a project to work on of my own and other things I could be doing besides work .

These inner rocker panels are replacements for a 240z as the pictures attached are those of my car.  I am unsure about the 260z and 280z whether these would fit them or not. Please chime in if your certain to let others know.

If enough people are seriously interested in getting these from me then please post up or send me a PM, if not then I guess this thread will be closed down.

The inner rocker panels are constructed from 18g cold rolled sheet (CRS) metal which is just a tad thicker than the factory material (at least on my 240z).  I use cold rolled as it is supposed to be a bit stronger than hot rolled and cold rolled has a smoother finish.  These are not an exact match to the factory panels but close enough. The seat belt mounting plate is made from 1/8" (CRS) and the nut for the seat belt bolt is a harden Nut.  

If your Z suffers from rotted out rusted inner rockers then these panels would be great, save you the hassle of trying to do a questionable patch job...

Price wise as of now looking at $380.00 shipped anywhere in the USA (out of Country may be subject to higher shipping rate) mainly because shipping a long box (60") like this is a bit pricey, but this is based on estimated shipping cost with Fedex, actual cost may differ which means if its lower then I can knock the price down. boxes and packaging material will be at my expense to ensure the panels arrive safely.

Please note I do not have any already made except the ones pictured which are for my car.

Let me know what you think and feel free to ask questions.

I will keep this updated when it comes time to submit an order, if it gets this far.

Thanks for Look!

Edited August 19, 2016 by disepyon

[Namerow]

Very impressive metal-forming work, esp. considering the gauge and CR material.  Price seems more than reasonable, considering the hours I expect you put into fabricating a pair.  For a Z with rot in the dogleg area, the chance to put fresh, heavy-gauge sheet metal into the area where the safety belt mounts might be worth the price of admission all on its own.

[disepyon]

4 hours ago, Namerow said:

Very impressive metal-forming work, esp. considering the gauge and CR material.  Price seems more than reasonable, considering the hours I expect you put into fabricating a pair.  For a Z with rot in the dogleg area, the chance to put fresh, heavy-gauge sheet metal into the area where the safety belt mounts might be worth the price of admission all on its own.

Thanks Namerow

Yeah working with 18G and CR is definitely a bit tougher than HR, but after a while get used to it, though it does take more time to shape depending on what your doing. 

[Patcon]

If I needed some currently I would order a couple of pairs but at the moment I don't have the need or the extra cash to hoard parts for future projects...

They look great!

[grannyknot]

disepyon, I just found your build thread on Hybridz a couple of days ago, haven't had a chance to go through the whole thing, but holy schmoly you are doing some outstanding bodywork on that car! You could go into business making brand new vintage 240Zs. I'm thinking about jumping in on this deal just because I know I will never see them again for sale.

There are a few of us here that really love Uni-body porn and your thread is a gold mine, the dismantling starts in post# 42  http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/103797-2-4-0-z-l-s-1/page-3   

Don't know if you are looking for work but over the years I have heard many Z rebuilders complain about not being able to find rear quarter panels that extend more then 4" up from the lip of the wheel arch, or the sheet metal that make up the layers of the dogleg. Just a thought.

Thanks,

Chris

 

[disepyon]

6 hours ago, Patcon said:

If I needed some currently I would order a couple of pairs but at the moment I don't have the need or the extra cash to hoard parts for future projects...

They look great!

Thanks, I know what you mean with having to many parts that may not be used. Biggest set back is having enough storage space, for me anyways.

4 hours ago, grannyknot said:

disepyon, I just found your build thread on Hybridz a couple of days ago, haven't had a chance to go through the whole thing, but holy schmoly you are doing some outstanding bodywork on that car! You could go into business making brand new vintage 240Zs. I'm thinking about jumping in on this deal just because I know I will never see them again for sale.

There are a few of us here that really love Uni-body porn and your thread is a gold mine, the dismantling starts in post# 42  http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/103797-2-4-0-z-l-s-1/page-3   

Don't know if you are looking for work but over the years I have heard many Z rebuilders complain about not being able to find rear quarter panels that extend more then 4" up from the lip of the wheel arch, or the sheet metal that make up the layers of the dogleg. Just a thought.

Thanks,

Chris

 

Thanks, yeah the build thread starts out slow with the l24 engine and doing some maintenance. Its a slow progress but seems like its getting there, just have to keep attacking at it.  Dont want to be one of those people who gave up on their project and also tackle on multiple projects.

I can post up detailed pictures later to guide those that havent done this type of work before when installing these. Ill wait until these start to sell, if it they do...

The rear quarter panels may be something I can think about making, however making those would require me to have more experience to make them sellable.  I havent attempted making any yet. If I am able to make them sellabe, I may even offer them in stock or wide option for those with larger wheels and offset. But that is far from now 

Edited August 20, 2016 by disepyon

[Patcon]

Have you thought about offering them wholesale to MSA, Zedd Saver, Zedd Findings? That's what Zsondabrain did to create enough demand to justify making quantities of parts

[Namerow]

11 hours ago, disepyon said:

or the sheet metal that make up the layers of the dogleg

A 'Dogleg Rebuild Panels Kit' might be a winner.  Not all these cars need the full inner rocker/sill panel treatment, but the majority seem to have rot in the dogleg.  And, as Chris points out, that's a multi-layer construction and not easy to figure out for someone faced with doing it the first time.  If the car's owner is hoping to end up with a $15K - $20K car at the end of his/her restoration or refresh project, I would expect that laying out 2 x $300 for a LHS/RHS dogleg panel kit would be a justifiable outlay.  Of course, your pricing would need to make sense relative to what Tabco, Zeddfindings and others ask for their types of panels.

[disepyon]

3 hours ago, Patcon said:

Have you thought about offering them wholesale to MSA, Zedd Saver, Zedd Findings? That's what Zsondabrain did to create enough demand to justify making quantities of parts

Kind of thought of it but not sure they would be interested in something like this. I've never sold anything to a business, though I guess I might could ask just to see what they say.

1 hour ago, Namerow said:

A 'Dogleg Rebuild Panels Kit' might be a winner.  Not all these cars need the full inner rocker/sill panel treatment, but the majority seem to have rot in the dogleg.  And, as Chris points out, that's a multi-layer construction and not easy to figure out for someone faced with doing it the first time.  If the car's owner is hoping to end up with a $15K - $20K car at the end of his/her restoration or refresh project, I would expect that laying out 2 x $300 for a LHS/RHS dogleg panel kit would be a justifiable outlay.  Of course, your pricing would need to make sense relative to what Tabco, Zeddfindings and others ask for their types of panels.

I see, so a kit consisting of the front lower section of the quarter panel, the rear sections of the inner and outer rockers, the rear tie in plate sandwiched between the rear section of the rockers ( not sure what its called), and possibly the lower part of the door jam, also perhaps the lower front part of the wheel well.  

I'll have to think about that, it would indeed be a nice repair kit for the dogleg area.

[disepyon]

Hey Z members,

Just wanted to let you all know that I have 1 set of inner rocker panels available.

made two sets for two customers, decided to make an extra, below are pictures of the general process that goes into making these. The parts at the end get coated with Bloxide rust preventative weldable primer to keep from rusting during shipping and before installation.

You have the option to purchase the panels with what I call tie in plates/support plates. There is a front end plate and a rear end plate on each passenger and driver side.  The front plates I am selling for $25 each and the rear plates for $10 each, so a total of $70 for all four corners. The fronts are more pricey due to it being larger and containing more dimple holes and beads.  These are what the outer and inner rocker panels mostly weld on to. I Do not have any pictures to show of it, but will post some up later of what they look like. chances are that if your replacing your rocker panels, the tie in plates will be rotter as well, great chance to weld in some new ones.

[wheee!]

Excellent fabrication!

[disepyon]

On 9/26/2016 at 3:16 PM, wheee! said:

Excellent fabrication!

Thanks Wheee!

UPDATE: unable to update my main post so this post is the most up to date information regarding pricing and purchasing.

Attached are pictures of the tie in/support plates I was talking about previously.  They show what they look like and where they go on the car.  These plates are what the rockers mainly weld onto so it is important that these are in good shape when you are doing a repair of the rockers.

These plates are made from 20g CRS and is similar in thickness to the factory material.

Pricing:

$380.00 shipped for a set of Rockers (as of this post date, I have a pair ready to ship out, send me a pm for details if interested)

$450 shipped for a set of Rockers + set of front end tie in plates + set of rear end tie in plates.

Please let me know if your interested. I am now making these upon request, allow me about one week to make a set before shipping.