I need some help please

[chaw5634]

Hi all,
I'm sure some one can help me out with this.
After fitting new LH and RH rocker panels to a 50 mercury, how do you stop the water and dirt/mud from rotting it out again? Put drain holes in??

Thanks for any help

Carl

[Hnstray]

Yes, that helps. However, I would have the rockers sprayed internally with one of the "rustproofing" products that are on the market. Especially the parrafin (sp?) , a waxy material that seals the surface and remains flexible, unlike some asphalt/tar types.

Ray

[Mike51Merc]

OEM rockers have weep holes in the bottom. Considering that you'll never get your side windows watertight, I think you should add some.

A good coating of something--- undercoat, lizard skin, epoxy paint, marine paint, whatever, is also a good idea.

[pumpman]

Brush paint the insides with POR 15. Wear rubber gloves, that shit won't wear off ya for weeks. Don't ask how I know.

[rotorwrench]

I've seen a few folks make there own tools to punch the drain holes back in where they belong on the 49/51 Mercs. A phosphoric treatment works the best on rust to convert it to iron phosphate followed by any number of primers. FoMoCo didn't do a good job of priming in there so the winter or coastal salt treatments ate them up pretty quick. POR-15 has a phos etch in the material so it gives a 1-2 punch. A lot of folks swear by it in the entrapment areas like the rockers & inner door panels. Nothing lasts forever but this is likely one of the best deals going. Clean the crustys up the best you can then paint it in with a small brush for a good thick coat. If you have to do plug welds with it inside just scrape the dried POR-15 off through the hole before you weld and it works just fine.

[Dane]

I use Miracle Paint on the insides of panels and doors. Gotta have a drain hole too.

[chaw5634]

Drain holes and coating of some sort sounds like the way to go.
Someone has already changed my rockers and living in Australia it's hard to find another merc where I can check what they have done, I'm not even sure how they have been put on is correct. I took off the rear skirt and I can see partially into the rocker panel, this area is open to the rear fender well so it can allow alot of water and dirt from the wheel in there. So I think I will add some drain holes and then try and coat it inside but I will have to spray it, I'm not able to get in with a brush.

[rotorwrench]

From your description, it seems you have a 2-door coupe model but that's only a guess on my part. The actual rocker panel itself starts just under the front door hinge panel A-pillar and has a bull nose cap that is suposed to keep the crud out of the inside. On a 4-door model the rear of the rocker butts up against the rear door hinge panel C-pillar that walls off the wheelhouse & acts as a bulkhead to keep the crud out. The coupe models B-pillar or door jam acts as the bulkhead for the rocker but the rear quarter panel is longer and continues on for a bit before it reaches the wheel house. Just in front of the wheel house they used a filler panel that is supposed to keep out the crud from the short portion of cavity between there and the door jam. Any or all of these panels have been known to rust out and leave the areas wide open to the ravages of corrosion. It seems like the repair job wasn't quite finished if you have an opening in that area of the rear wheel house. Either the filler is missing or part of it is gone.

Both the coupe & sport sedan 4-door rockers originally had oval shaped lightening holes in the top flat section under the door sill plates. These holes allow a fair amount of access into the rocker cavity. The problem is, many of the replacement rocker panels don't have these holes punched in there. this makes access impossible unless you add the holes yourself. Some folks have made special dies to form the edges of these lightening slots but there are different lengths of slot too so its a matter of how original a person wants to get in order to strengthen the edges of holes by forming the bent over reinforcement. Plain round lightening hole dies are available for the aviation industry and can be used for this if yours has no holes and your not picky about originality.

The original drain holes in the rockers are a lot like a mini louvres. The opening of the louvre faces toward the rear. These are easiest to form before installation of the panel but I've seen people insert a long punch into a drilled hole and carefully pull the punch toward the rear of the car to form a similar shaped drain hole. It depends on how much you are going to end up driving in the rain with this car as to whether you want to get too crazy with this stuff.

[Ole don]

This product is wonderfull, but I dont know if they sell to the public, or have an outlet in OZ.

http://www.ziebart.com/protection/