The message to which you are about to reply is shown first. GO TO REPLY FORM



 VIEW    REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE    PRINT   SAVE 

Can rotted out rocker panels / floor be fixed? 200 1982

I've done this a few times, Halifax is not kind to Volvos (or anything else that's not plastic, for that matter). I purchased replacement rocker panels through UAP/NAPA for about $38/side, as they're made to fit either 2 or 4 door you'll have to notch them out around the B-pillars. I did rivet a set in prior to having access to a welder, didn't look too bad when hammered down & skimmed with fill but welding is much easier & cleaner. Get all your sheet metal cut & fitted - you'll need to build up the edges of the floor & into the inner rockers with L-shaped pieces of metal beaten into submission/shape. You want to be into thick, rust-free metal, overlapping slightly (unless you are one of the skilled few who can butt-weld metal properly). I used 20-gauge, a bit heavy to work into shape but manageable. Fit everything & grind away old paint/fill/rust/undercoating around the edges of the existing metal. Use just enough rivets to secure things in place. Then rent yourself a mig welder for a Saturday & learn to weld. It'll go really quickly if you've got everything fitted & cleaned up properly. Be sure to get enough penetration with the welds, though - it sucks to have to do a lot of grinding down afterward, and it sucks more when the welds start popping apart a month later. You'll know when you've got the right combination of wire speed & power - sounds like eggs frying, doesn't spatter, weld is nice & even/flush, and you're not burning through. A continuous welded seam is ideal but unlikely. Solid spot welds a few inches apart are fine, sealed up with seam sealer (like caulking, also available at NAPA, pretty cheap). Then some POR-15 if you want to make the repair really permanent, and undercoat the repaired floor area. This'll help with sound insulation as well as protecting the repaired area. Use a decent quality undercoating product though, the cheap stuff ends up peeling off & holding water against the metal - worse than leaving it bare.
Good luck! It's manageable! Just be patient & expect to have to do more work than you first think.
-Chris






USERNAME
Use "claim to be" below if you don't want to log in.
PASSWORD
I don't have an account. Sign me up.
CLAIM TO BE
Use only if you don't want to login (post anonymously).
ENTER CAPTCHA CODE
This is required for posting anonymously.
OPTIONS notify by email
Available only to user accounts.
SUBJECT
MODEL/YEAR
MESSAGE

DICTIONARY
LABEL(S) +
IMAGE URL *
[IMAGE LIBRARY (UPLOAD/SELECT)]

* = Field is optional.

+ = Enter space delimited labels for this post. An example entry: 240 muffler


©Jarrod Stenberg 1997-2022. All material except where indicated.


All participants agree to these terms.

Brickboard.com is not affiliated with nor sponsored by AB Volvo, Volvo Car Corporation, Volvo Cars of North America, Inc. or Ford Motor Company. Brickboard.com is a Volvo owner/enthusiast site, similar to a club, and does not intend to pose as an official Volvo site. The official Volvo site can be found here.