Inner Rocker inspection?

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red73mustang

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New Jersey
My Car
1973 Mustang Convertable
So because my doors "sag" and no longer line up with the rear quarters I suspect I have rusted inner rockers.  (When I sit in the drivers seat I'm unable to open the door from the inside).   My question is should I remove the seats and carpet to view the extent or the damage or can I tell from looking at the underside of the car?

Not looking forward to paying for this fix, but it will likely come to that as it's not within my skill set .

Chet

 
Red73mustang,

I would recommend yes. Especially since there are inside braces , run from front to back, that are added to the rocker for extra strength.



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It may be best to carry it to a body shop to see if they can inspect the rocker interior areas.

mustang7173

 
I thought hinges as well but the thing with richer panels is that they rust from the inside outward. The dann look like new outside and be completely rotten inside.

Ask me how I know. :(

So an endoscope is your best friend here.

 
I am sure someone will correct me. Were the rocker boxes the only pieces that had zinc coating or NOT?

One of the cheap cameras to look inside will also tell you. I need one to look in a gas tank right now.

There is not a 71 - 73 out there that does not have rust. If you washed them they rusted and only one has came up for sale that had never been washed last year and kept in huge plastic bag. I bet it still had surface rust on all that bare metal.

 
Yes. Afaik they are zinc coated and that's why they will rot from the inside outwards while looking pristine on the outside. Treacherous bastards! :)

 
Im not opposed to trying hinges 1st but I just wanted some guidence as to what Im looking for.

 
I'm almost positive you need to pull the carpet to inspect the inner rockers. Also, with both doors open , pull up on both doors at once and look for body flex. Such a lousy design

 
I am sure someone will correct me. Were the rocker boxes the only pieces that had zinc coating or NOT?

One of the cheap cameras to look inside will also tell you. I need one to look in a gas tank right now.

There is not a 71 - 73 out there that does not have rust. If you washed them they rusted and only one has came up for sale that had never been washed last year and kept in huge plastic bag. I bet it still had surface rust on all that bare metal.
 David, while NOT claiming to have a totally rust free car, mine would be close. There is absolutely no structural rust and the only rust ever found was just light surface stuff. Is there hidden rust lurking somewhere unknown? Maybe, but it won't show up in my lifetime.

If you read my post on replacing the fuel tank and lines, it was not the tank that was the problem, but the lines themselves. They were completely rusty inside, but looked great on the outside. We have read here that some have replaced their gas tanks but NOT the lines. Big mistake!! In my case I believe the gas tank had been replaced at sometime as it was rust free inside. ( want to buy a good used tank??) Could have saved buying a new one if I'd used a camera first!! Talking of buying a new tank, my recommendation is to buy the Spectra Premium from Rock Auto. They are made in Canada with Ni-Tern steel and won't rust and are ethanol resistant. The lines I used were stainless steel from Classic Tube, but needed work to get them to fit as they should especially the tank end, so beware.

My apologies if this topic is out of line with the original poster's subject.

 
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Im not opposed to trying hinges 1st but I just wanted some guidence as to what Im looking for.
 It's easy to see if the hinges are the issue, just open the door(s) and lift on the door and watch the hinges for movement. If no movement, them move on to the more serious problem, structural. Hope it's just the hinges!

 
Even if you pull the carpet there's no guarantee. Mine looked pristine from beneath, from outside and where they meet the floor pans. I was so happy. Mine had its original floor pans and I was relieved there was no rust anywhere.

Complete resto, lots of cutting, lots of new custom made sheet metal, new paint job, yay!

16 months later when I took the car in for inspection the inspector asks me to come join him underneath the car and lightly taps the rear of the driver side rocker and the thing burst open, puking out rusty flakes like if you flipped over a box of cereals. Turns out both rockers were completely rotten. I pulled the carpet and they looked just as pristine as they had looked before in the three locations I mentioned above.

My body shop then decided to leave them in place and rebuild them inside from the bottom such as to not ruin the new paint job.

The car still has its original floor pans (plus the contact area with the rockers) and outer rocker sheet metal and it still looks good as new but on the inside they have been completely rebuilt. It's especially bad as the rockers are the only parts that hold the front and rear of the car together on a convertible.

So please: if you suspect rust, look at the inside!!

They don't rust on the outside.

 
I am sure someone will correct me. Were the rocker boxes the only pieces that had zinc coating or NOT?

One of the cheap cameras to look inside will also tell you. I need one to look in a gas tank right now.

There is not a 71 - 73 out there that does not have rust. If you washed them they rusted and only one has came up for sale that had never been washed last year and kept in huge plastic bag. I bet it still had surface rust on all that bare metal.
 David, while NOT claiming to have a totally rust free car, mine would be close. There is absolutely no structural rust and the only rust ever found was just light surface stuff. Is there hidden rust lurking somewhere unknown? Maybe, but it won't show up in my lifetime.

If you read my post on replacing the fuel tank and lines, it was not the tank that was the problem, but the lines themselves. They were completely rusty inside, but looked great on the outside. We have read here that some have replaced their gas tanks but NOT the lines. Big mistake!! In my case I believe the gas tank had been replaced at sometime as it was rust free inside. ( want to buy a good used tank??) Could have save buying a new one if I'd used a camera first!! Talking of buying a new tank, my recommendation is to buy the Spectra Premium from Rock Auto. They are made in Canada with Ni-Tern steel and won't rust and are ethanol resistant. The lines I used were stainless steel from Classic Tube, but needed work to get them to fit as they should especially the tank end, so beware.

Thanks for the info. Did you not have rust around the tail light gaskets? That is just a bad design holds the water from rain or washing. There was little primer and paint either.
 
There was a few typical pin-holes above the lights, so I guess you could claim it NOT to be totally rust free!! The tail light panel was replaced because it had been damaged at some point ( probably why the gas tank had been replaced, minor rear end hit). It was easier to replace the taillight panel rather than fix it. That panel is the only part of the car not to be original other than I do have a fender with no date code, so yes, no, maybe!

 
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