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Quote:
Originally Posted by TOM B1
did you guys correct the wrong 70-77 rocker panels.
still waiting on correct ones that fit.
What did you put on the vette that your restoring, remember you said
that you pulled some from stock and they didnt fit.
Who is having these made, I need to know so I can go dirrect.

For those who think Im bashing Willcox Im not, they are helping to correct a faulty product thats made wrong.
Thank you Willcox.

Tom,

While it may not be your intentions, I’ve received three messages from friends on the forum asking me what was up with the rocker panels. I know you are not upset with us, but for some reason others assume this.

So, for those not understanding.…

There is a problem with Rocker Panel Moldings 1970-1977 from a particular manufacturer.

What got me involved in this rocker molding issue? I posted in Tom’s thread about the rocker dilemma because I was going to install a set in our shop. After finding out the rockers could not be installed properly, I pulled them from our site. I did not sell the rocker moldings to Tom, another vendor did!

Now the update is that there are two manufacturers making the rockers. The vendor we use was buying the rockers from the other one when they ran out! This explains why the rockers I had in stock were ill-fitting to some degree!

We have a pair scheduled to come in for testing, and if they do fit I will post up a thread with pictures. I thought they would be here this week, but I checked today and it will be the first of the coming week pending inspection.

Ernie

 

Thanks for the update. I've been waiting until this problem was solved before buying new rockers.

 

Nothing has changed since our last post... They still have not been corrected...

 

Well, Darn

 

And are still being sold as correct parts

 

I guess I'll just wait until someone, somewhere gets the correct part. It's good that I'm not in a big hurry.

 

Alan,

Well I have been contemplating restoring the ones on my car but it will take some metal work as the previous owner drilled extra mounting holes and of course, the scratches will need to be "buffed out". It is actually nice that this problem is currently at the bottom of my list of things to do.

 

This is just not true, I have a pair of these none fitting panels and paid 300.00 for the trash. I tried them on friends cars and they just dont fit because its molded wrong.
Heck Willcox said on this site that they dont fit .
Knowingly selling a defective part is FRAUD, period
CORRECT IT.

 

I have to agree with Alan on this. The cost of producing new tooling, for something that's already being made, is quite prohibitive. There are thousands of sets of the (bad) rockers, on cars all over the country, that people have bought and are living with.

Though the current ones are being distributed through 2 or 3 companies, I'm pretty sure that they're all coming from the same maker in China. I've talked to the distributors of these rockers, and there doesn't seem to be much interest or perceived need for correcting them.

I can't imagine anyone wanting to invest the time and money in making a whole new part, when many Corvette owners don't know the difference, and probably never will.

I don't think you can call selling them fraud. They are a replacement part. They may differ from the original part, but they will work, and do serve as a usable "replacement". Even GM sells a lot of parts that don't look anything like the original part, but are considered an acceptable service replacement part.

I'm not looking to start an argument, but I'm very familiar with the situation. I'm in the parts business. I know where the rockers come from, and have been aware of the problems with them, for many years. Someday someone may step up and make a better rocker, but I'm not holding my breath.

I hope I'm wrong about this, but from conversations I've had with the wholesalers, it doesn't appear that anyone is currently working on fixing the problems with them.

 

For those considering 'restoration' of their original rocker panels, you need to be very careful of what you actually do to them. Those panels are soft, aluminum stampings which have a layer of anodizing on the surface. That anodized layer provides a much harder surface than the soft aluminum; it protects the rockers from "road rash".

If you sand the surface to get a nice, bright finish, the anodizing will be completely removed...and the surface will be nicked-up in short order, if you actually drive the car.

My suggestions for a temporary fix (until better rocker panels become available) are:

1. If the panels are not in BAD condition, just strip any paint from the panel (chemical stripper) then use #0000 steel wool [moving in lengthwise direction only] to buff off any surface 'scum' and smooth the surface, then do any repaint to factory condition.

2. Clean, then paint the panels [either with aluminum color paint and black stripe or completely black with unpainted aluminum stripe] and clearcoat them.

3. If you have a "show" car only, that will not be driven much, you might go ahead and sand through the anodizing. Then buff to a high luster. BUT, you will have to handle these panels with more care, as they will be much more fragile without the anodizing on them.

 

I DISAGREE. These panels are made so wrong that the bolt holes dont even come close and there is no metal at where the hole is, so you cant drill another hole. And the fact is true about tooling, BUT that only applies to the USA, that why everyone went to CHINA,
Tooling is cheap in China and most of the products that come out of there are wrong even with the correct tolling.
I made the mistake of not opening and pre fitting the part until I was ready to install it, my dumb fault as It would have went right back.
I restored a 68 vette and I know that there is a lot of parts that are just wrong look alikes but they still bolt up.
But on the rocker panels they are not even close and dont bolt up so fix the darn problem.

I stand by my comment.
Knowingly selling a defective part is FRAUD, period

 

TOM B1, Are there two manufacturers of the 70-77 rocker panels or only the one. Are they both made in china? I worked in maintenance for 34 years in the original MTD ( modern tool & die company ) in Cleveland (Parma), OH. plant, until it was sold to SHILOH and then they closed it, and my wife and I moved to MyrtleBeach. They are the world's largest maker of outdoor power equipment, like lawn mowers,riding tractors,ect. They changed us to only make car parts.
We made car parts, including corvette parts. Dies are made of SECTIONS. These die sections can be removed and reworked. You do not need a whole new die! If people would return the bad ones to the vendors, maybe it would send a message to the manufacturer to fix the product. Lou.

 

I agree it should not that hard to repair these dies. With the CNC machines it is so much easier then it was years ago. They don't repair the dies because they don't have to, people are still buying the junk they produce.

 

Repairing dies costs money. When nearly all buyers of those panels don't really care that they are not exactly like the originals, the vendors sell plenty of them, as it is. A vendor like Willcox cares about what they sell; most of the others don't.

You can wait around for these turkeys [the part manufacturers] to make it right....but don't hold your breath on this one.

P.S. The "vendors" don't make these parts; nor do they have any real influence on the "manufacturers"...unless most of them choose not to buy a part. Then, "money talks".

 

I was just on the Willcox sit and they still list the panels, so maybe they are corrected or they really dont care just like the others.

I am handing out some good cash for the right parts so dont tell me thats just the way it is, stand up and grow a pair, I dont exept 2 left shoes do you.

Thanks to the people who agree with me that wrong parts that just dont fit is, well wrong.

 

Willcox has a disclaimer with the description.

http://willcoxcorvette.com/product_i...ducts_id=26081

 

A few owners who care about having "perfect" fit on aftermarket parts are not going to cause this system to change, unfortunately. When sales of these parts drop significantly because of this problem, a "fix" will be ordered. I don't like it either, but "supply and demand" is the prime-directive of capitalism. You will have to stifle demand to get any useful change to happen.

Good luck with that.

 

Word !