Here is a set of rockers I had to make for a 54 Chevy. The inner rocker was fairly easy. I simply put the metal through the brake and ran a couple of beads to strengthen it. For the outer rocker I started with a piece of steel that I ran through the brake twice to create the bottom portion that you weld to the inner rocker underneath the car. After that portion was completed I ran it through a set of dies made for the reciprocating hammer to create the curve needed. At this point the rocker needed to be sent through the brake 3 more times, but as you know that is impossible with a clamp style manual brake because the bends are 3/4" of an inch apart and the top clamp that holds it down is much larger than that. So I had to make the first bend in the brake and create next two manually by chasing or "swaging" along a bar tacked welded to the bench with a rounded chisel and BFH. The last bend was made by tipping the edge over the dolly with a hammer, and then a spoon (flipper) to planish it. Here is a pic of the new inner and outer on the car.
After making this tech I decided it takes too darn long to create a 90 degree with a dolly so I made these 90 degree Edge Setting Dies for the reciprocating machine..
I realize that the tech article ended above, but I am going to keep adding to it in case someone gets into a little more than just rockers. This 54 Chevy as you can see is in VERY bad shape. The a pillar was not connected whatsoever after I took the bottom 6" of rusted firewall, some of the floor and a good portion of the A pillar. Here is is about an hour later after fabricating some panels. I will keep documenting as I work on it.
Ok now I see where you were going with that second 90°. I was a bit lost when I saw the pics of just the dies ¬ the whole rocker.
The Jalopy Journal
