Tabco rocker panel gap help

[Strat067]

I am working on replacing my rocker panel and i cannot change the gap shown in the images attached. The driver's door and fender meet up nicely like they did previously, but the rocker panel is inset of both. Its like it's diving inward towards the trans tunnel along the length of the rocker. Anyone seen this? My only thought is to cut along the top of the rocker along it's length and pull it out to meet the door/fender and then reweld it up. Thoughts?

[grannyknot]

10 hours ago, Strat067 said:

Its like it's diving inward towards the trans tunnel along the length of the rocker. Anyone seen this?

It is, that is one of the problems with Tabco rocker replacements, it's also why you find a 1/4" of Bondo/filler on those rockers replacments to take up the room.

10 hours ago, Strat067 said:

My only thought is to cut along the top of the rocker along it's length and pull it out to meet the door/fender and then reweld it up. Thoughts?

That is probably the best way to fix it for real.  That's looking good, don't just tease us lets see the rest of the car

[rturbo 930]

Are you ****ing kidding me? I test fit the rocker I got years ago, no doors or fender mind you, and you're telling me it has even MORE problems than I thought? WTF is the point of making them at all if they're such poor quality? Ugh. Someone needs to come up with some competition for them.

[grannyknot]

4 hours ago, rturbo 930 said:

Are you ****ing kidding me? I test fit the rocker I got years ago, no doors or fender mind you, and you're telling me it has even MORE problems than I thought? WTF is the point of making them at all if they're such poor quality? Ugh. Someone needs to come up with some competition for them.

If you bought it yrs ago then maybe it's from another batch,  the rockers they have been producing in the last few yrs tend to have this problem.

[Strat067]

12 hours ago, grannyknot said:

It is, that is one of the problems with Tabco rocker replacements, it's also why you find a 1/4" of Bondo/filler on those rockers replacments to take up the room.

That is probably the best way to fix it for real.  That's looking good, don't just tease us lets see the rest of the car

Oh good thank you. It sucks, but I'm so relieved this isn't my ineptitude causing the panel gap :). Ill have to do some cutting to get it right, but I should be able to get it close enough to reduce the amount of Bondo needed. My pictures are all over the place, but here's a few random a#$ shots of the progress.

[gundee]

8 hours ago, Strat067 said:

Oh good thank you. It sucks, but I'm so relieved this isn't my ineptitude causing the panel gap :). Ill have to do some cutting to get it right, but I should be able to get it close enough to reduce the amount of Bondo needed. My pictures are all over the place, but here's a few random a#$ shots of the progress.

Your work is looking really good. It will all pay off when finished. I was at a vintage race and there was a restoration shop there. In his tent was a Mustang, a Camero, a Chevelle and a Dodge Charger I think it was, displayed. I asked him how the replacement panels they use are for fitment. He said not very good. They have to cut, weld, etc just to get all the gaps correct.

So the Imports are not alone in this issue. Another thing is the car itself. That rocker may just fit fairly good on another 240Z.

A good reason restoration shop work is so expensive. Just think what it would cost if you had to pay a shop to do all that you have done so far.

Edited July 3, 2018 by Lumens

[Patcon]

15 hours ago, rturbo 930 said:

Are you ****ing kidding me? I test fit the rocker I got years ago, no doors or fender mind you, and you're telling me it has even MORE problems than I thought? WTF is the point of making them at all if they're such poor quality? Ugh. Someone needs to come up with some competition for them.

It is unfortunate they aren't closer to the original stamping, but we probably aught to be glad we have any new stampings at all. It is quite expensive to make dies and I am quite positive there is no room in the market for two vendors making these parts.

On a separate note, I wonder with variations in manufacturing if there are any cars that these fit correctly right out of the box?

[grannyknot]

10 hours ago, Strat067 said:

but I'm so relieved this isn't my ineptitude

I'm not seeing much ineptitude in those pics, the dogleg patch is perfect.

[240260280]

24 minutes ago, grannyknot said:

I'm not seeing much ineptitude in those pics, the dogleg patch is perfect.

How do you know? I can't see his legs?

[Strat067]

41 minutes ago, 240260280 said:

How do you know? I can't see his legs?

41 minutes ago, 240260280 said:

How do you know? I can't see his legs?

Haha well played

[Strat067]

Thanks you guys for kind words of encouragement, unexpected and greatly appreciated. Some much needed motivation. I will work on getting the rocker fixed over the next few weeks and will post some pics of the progress/results for anyone that's interested.

[240260280]

I am about to do some body panel work so it is appreciated!