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Rocker Panel #2

Just a repeat of the drivers side.

I still need to trim the excess sheet metal from the bottom. That's where the inner panel extends below the outer panel.

I'll be going back to grind down the welds later. It's a nice activity for when you want to let the mind wander.

I also patched a hole in the floor that I didn't take a picture of. It was right where the rear seat locating tab was located on the drivers side. I'll have to remember to put that tab back.

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Thats a very common place for the 51-56 Bodies to rust out. My car has the came problem there.

Working on the rot issues with the front door posts. This is the passenger side. By far the worst of the two needing repair.

Started with a paper template and cut a patch from some sheet. Got it tacked in a couple of places and just worked it into shape with some body hammers and some heat from the torch where necessary. It was easy to use clamps through the door hinge openings as well.

Hopefully you'll never notice it once the doors and fenders are back on. I still need to do some additional welding and blending but it's mostly there.

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It doesn't look like it, but I was curious as to whether you needed to weld supports for removing the body(to keep it from bending), or do 4 doors not need them. Thanks.

Keegan,

Maybe you need to tell the folks about the trick rotisserie you built. It's very impressive.

(And I first thought you cooked chicken on a rotisserie--not Packards. Was I wrong!)

I would think if you were removing the body from the frame, and then going to cut significant portions of the floor away you would want to have the body braced in someway to keep it everything in place. I believe that Keegan welded the body to a jig before he started the floor work.

'sup Keegan?

Haven't posted in a while. My shop has been really busy for the last month. I haven't touched the Clipper since my last post.


In regards to bracing the body... if you were to mount the body on a typical rotisserie where it basically holds the body on the firewall and the trunk area, then yes, you would probably need some bracing when you took the doors out and cut out the floor.

My set up is a little different. The body actually sits on it like the frame of the car. I can add more or less support as needed under the car as I'm working on different sections.

Also, I never cut the entire floor out. I attacked it one section at a time. This (I hope) helps keep the integrity of the body shell while still allowing me to repair the areas that need it.

I guess we'll see how it fits when the body meets the frame again. At the pace I'm moving, we may never know.

Keegan,

Glad to hear your business is going strong. What else can you do unless someone starts paying you to pound on vintage tin?

Maybe at "the pace" you're moving now it'll take a while longer, but you can't keep up the kind of breakneck speed you going at forever. Life intervenes. It would be cool to see a few shots of how your Packard is hooked up to your purpose-built... exoskeleton? The rotisserie is an intricate piece of workmanship in itself.