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2001 GP SE Rocker Panel Rust Repair

A

AJ1G

New member
Just got my 2001 GP SE back from insurance work to repair the left front fender, hood and headlight damage from a deer literally running into the car (NOT the other way around). That part of the car now looks great, and the body shop is also gong to replace an old damage right front door on my nickel for not a lot of money.

That leaves the right side rocker panel - it really bad from about 1/3 of the way back all the way to the rear wheel. Inner rocker seems solid, lots of the outer totally gone. The body shop is willing to weld on new metal so I can do the rest to keep the cost down. Been looking around and i think I might go with Sherman 84404 series repair panel, not too expensive at RockAuto. They are stated as being as "slip-on", what does that mean can they be laid over the existing solid remaining original rocker? I would think you would need to cut out the old and weld in the new.

Until I can get the new rocker on, whats the best way to prevent further rusting of the exposed inner panel? The car is my daily driver and I need to keep it on the road even on wet days. I'm thinking I should try to clean it out , wirebrush/sand, and apply something like POR-15. Will that stuff complicate the subsequent welding? I'm thinking that stuff should be in there to prevent new rusting even after the outer panel is replaced.

The left side rocker is just starting to go, at this point I am going to just do a small sheet metal /bondo fill on the one small bad section until I can get the section properly done with a section of the Sherman rocker.

Any advice/lessons learned from anyone whose BTDT? Especially on using the Sherman panels.
 


Now that I have gotten past some major mechanical issues - coolant leak fixed, new cat, fuel filter, pump/fuel tank sending unit, front wheel bearing( 2nd right side one in 20K miles), new plugs, wires, and MAF sensor, and the car is running REALLY well, I want to get after the rocker panel repairs. My local body shop who did the deer damage repair and replaced the right door on my nickel, will repair the rockers, but it up to me to come up with the replacements for him to put on.

Over Christmas, I cut out all of the rot on both sides. A very large part of the right side external rocker and the internal stiffeners are gone, the inner structural part is still very solid. I cleaned out all the cavities and road grit, and put on some heavy coats of black rustproofing primer on the exposed inner rocker and whats left of the external on the right side. There was a bit more rot on the rear of the left side external than I expected that I took out as well, sprayed several coats of the rustproofing primer into the rocker internals there also.

Still looking for suggestions from someone who hads gone through this already on what repair sections I should be getting. Still thinking of the Sherman 84404 for the right side, can probably use something like an external side only repair section on the left rear.

Standing water must have gotten into the right side, when I was clearing out the rot, the vertical internal stiffener plates were completely gone to about half way up, the upper halves of the plates were still solid.

Other than the external rocker rot, the underbody was remarkably solid. It looks like the car was never aftermarket or dealer undercoated, the underside of the floor pans must have been powder coated or painted with some sort of very durable gray epoxy paint at the factory, they look like new under there.
 
Was hoping to get some feedback on repair rocker panels others may have used - so far what seem to be the best ones are the Sherman 844-04s, but the pictures of them don't show much. Are they a good fit? What has anyone else used, good or bad?
 
i wish i could help you but at least i can give you a reply. there was someone on here that did the whole job themselves on both sides--not a body man or mechanic--just a regular guy. his grand prix was a red 4 door. i think he had a pretty detailed write up on what he did with pics. its been a while since ive seen it so i dont remember all the details, but he cut it out and welded the new rockers in and painted it all himself in his garage. check in the members rides section. i think that is where i saw it. you can maybe message him if you come across it to see where he got his rockers. it looked really good when he was done. in fact, i think he did the pinch welds too. i remember pics of the car sitting on cinder blocks or jack stands in his garage.

im deciding how much i am going to care about this on my car. the body molding covers it up and it seems to still be structurally intact.
 
^^^ i think that thread was on gpona i remember seeing it to. I think the reason there's not many responses is because a lot of people don't bother fixing them.
 


Well, my car is otherwise too good to run around with raggedy-ass looking rockers. Mine is an SE and I cant hide the bad rockers with the plastic GT/GTP trim, which I personally don't particularly care for anyway. What I really am looking for an answer for is what replacement rockers panels work well and which ones don't. I think I can get by with just the outside sections, the inner sections are still solid with generally good inner side pinch welds. I am set with with a body shop to help me get this done, but he wants me to come up with the repair rockers. Again, so far the Sherman 844-04s may be the way to go.
 
Did you check rockauto.com? I know they have a few to choose from when I was looking on there. A couple have pictures too if that'd help you out at all.
 
Rockauto for some reason only shows availability for one side for the 4 door 844-04 items. The picture probably does not match the actual item, site says that may not be the actual item, but they offer a good warranty and seem to be pretty well known in the body repair industry. Lot of places besides rockauto have them listed.

Did not find ANY reviews doing a google on Pontiac Sherman rocker panel 844 04 reviews...

Probably going to order the Shermans, if they don't look like they will fit right I'll return them and keep looking.
 


I'll be "patching" my rockers soon. Their not rotted out like most are, so i think i've caught it soon enough to only hav to do minor repairs
 
AJ1G said:
Rockauto for some reason only shows availability for one side for the 4 door 844-04 items. The picture probably does not match the actual item, site says that may not be the actual item, but they offer a good warranty and seem to be pretty well known in the body repair industry. Lot of places besides rockauto have them listed.

Did not find ANY reviews doing a google on Pontiac Sherman rocker panel 844 04 reviews...

Probably going to order the Shermans, if they don't look like they will fit right I'll return them and keep looking.
Click to expand...

When you do do them try to take a lot of pictures. Might help someone out in the future.
 
I may finally be able to have some time to do the rockers on the 2001 GP SE, I do not want to go through another winter with them the way they are. Rock Auto lists the Sherman 8404 4 door panels at about 41 bucks per side. They are described as slip on panels which I would think are easier to install. Would be interested in hearing from anyone who has worked with these specific panels or similar slip on panels.

BTW, the car has been running extremely well for nearly a year now since I had all of the major mechanical work completed (cat, fuel pump, coolant pump, lower intake manifold gaskets, front rotors and pads, plugs and wires), runs strong and getting 23-25 mpg on average.
 
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