I am just starting a frame off restoration, do not have the body off yet and I have no previous experience with vettes. When removing the rocker panel trim on the driver's side there were a lot of rust particles in behind the body. Obviously there is a metal attached to the body at the rocker panel. How can I replace this and how much will it cost?

:banghead:

 

The rocker channels are heavy steel behind the fiberglass. These channels
are part of the integral steel body reinforcement that surrounds the cockpit.
It is commonly referred to as the "birdcage".

The rocker channel edge is the area that is intended to lift the body by.
My 75 channels were rotted so bad that I needed to cradle the body with
nylon strapping to lift it up. Check out my website (in sig)- and see all the rot that
was in the 75. YUK !! Reach under the edge and try to move the
edge of the channel in and out. If it moves anywhere, you will most likely
have some major repairs in order. ZIP sells a channel sleeve repair piece,
but it only fixes the center section, not the areas around the pillars.

The most susceptible (and most important) area is where the door pillars
come down and meet the channels. This is one of the areas most prone to rot,
and one of the most difficult to fix. These corners can be viewed with relative
ease. To view the fron t area, remove the kick panels. This exposes the inside
of the door hinge pillar - and #2 body mount. In the back, take off the rear
tire and remove the access panel in front of the rear tire. Looking in here,
one can examine the rear section of the rocker channel and the #3 body mount.
All of my #2 and #3 mounts were rotted right through.

I don't want to scare you, but it is scary to find what I did in the 75.


Good Luck. :seeya