These on the 72 142e are rusting from inside out, coming through in several spots, replacement seems the best option. Has anyone any advice or warnings of calamity to offer, I will be buying new ones from Millsupply in Ohio. Thanks.

I just went to their website, and although they didn't show pics of the Volvo parts, what they do show for other cars looks pretty good... that is to say, they look like exact reproductions of the same sheetmetal pieces that Volvo used.

If that is the case, you are looking at a hell of a project. I don't have a 142...mine is a wagon. Looks to me like that panel starts halfway down the door jam right at teh door catch thingie. Goes under the pillar behind the doors, and in your case, quite possibly under the rear quarter panel to the rear fender.

Thats a LOT of welds to grind loose, and a LOT of room for error in getting everything aligned properly again. Definitely a job for someone who really knows what they are doing.

My opinion... a 142e ain't worth the effort. I'd just grind out the rust, spray lots of rust inhibitor in the rust holes after grinding and thoroughly cleaning the insides, and make some patch panels out of flat stock and weld (or rivet) in. Then bondo it up and re-paint. If you're careful, you shouldn't need more than about 1/16" thick of filler, and if done right, it'll last as long as a new set of rockers.

Just my opinion of course. Replacing the entire panel would be the *proper* fix, but man... that ain't a job for the faint of heart.

Best of luck!

You make a very noteworthy point, enough to prompt me to go out and take out the plugs that access the rocker panels from inside, and what you advise seems not only expediant but a better option for the sake of the car's originality and fitment. The rockers are still mostly intact, as a matter of fact I carefully tapped random points on the rockers with a pointed chisel and hammer and it's only going through in the areas where the rust is obvious . I may have to cut some more access holes from the inside to get to all areas hhhmmmm, strangely the rust seems to have more effect on the sides than on the bottom of the rockers, seems to be the work of the debris that collected in them over the years. I'll try to devise a way to get a complete coating of the POR 15 over the entire insides of the rockers. That should be an adventure worth posting.