So the floor is done and time to replace the rockers. I basically didn't know what to expect but looking at the photos posted by Swede62 in the CT forum was very helpful. However, once I had my rockers opened up....I still had to stare at the remaining material for quite some time to figure out what I was looking at.
I am going to ask for ideas and advice at the end of this post but before I do, I would like to rename the part that I was previously calling a 'baffle' because that isn't what it is at all. Swede62 referred to it as a 'reinforcement' piece and that is a more accurate description. For the sake of my situation....let's call it a 'sill beam'. That piece is made of 14ga sheet metal (2mm) so it's very rigid and strong. The sill beam runs virtually the entire length from wheel to wheel (see attached photo). When the car is fully assembled, no part of the sill beam is visible but the forward 20% can be seen when the front fender is removed (lower cowl area). If the beam was separated into quarters (lengthwise) the 1st quarter would be at the cowl/A-pillar area, 2nd and 3rd quarter would be at the door opening and the 4th qtr would be at the forward quarter panel area (where the rear door would be on 4 door models...). On our car, the 2nd quarter was completely rusted away. In my attached photo, I cut out the 3rd quarter even though it wasn't rusted because I am pretty sure I am going to need to fabricate a new sill beam section that runs the entire length of the outer rocker. I then cut out a section of the quarter panel ahead of the rear wheel to expose the remaining 4th quarter of the sill beam so I can have access to weld later on. The quarter panel was rusted anyway so nothing lost there....
As I expected, there was also a Joiner plate....or what is left of one. The joiner plate is what ties the cowl to the inner and outer rockers in many cars. It's basically the inside cover of the A-pillar right behind the kick panel and slips down between the inner rocker and A-pillar and extends all the way down to the bottom flange of the rockers. Many times the upper section of the joiner plate is OK but the lower portion inside the rockers are rusted away and our car didn't disappoint. It looks like there just enough good metal left to take a weld so I might get by with just replacing the rotted lower piece so I think I have that part handled. My question comes with the sill beam item. Did you guys install that first and then try and fit the rocker over it somehow? Or do you install the sill beam section inside the rocker first and then put it on the car as an assembly? If the latter, how did you ensure the profile of the rocker was correct prior to welding in the sill beam section and how were you able to re-attach the sill beam to the remaining good portions? As near as I can tell, if only replacing a center section of the sill beam, then it has to be welded in first and then the outer rocker gets fitted over it somehow. Is that even possible? I can open up the base of the A-pillar quite a bit so it might be possible. ????
So, my thoughts are that I fab up a new section of sill beam out of 14ga material, tack weld it in between the 1st and 4th sections that remained in the car and use some sort of clips or spacers to keep the sill beam located in the proper location. Keep in mind that without the outer rocker in place....the section of the sill beam at the door opening will be completely self supporting without anything to attach do. I did find two 'baffles' inside the door area. One at the forward floor brace and located in between the inner rocker and sill beam and the second towards the rear of the door opening located between the sill beam and outer rocker. (see attached photo). The baffle section was made like an Oreo cookie....two pieces of sheet metal stapled together with a layer of heavy bodied sealer sandwiched in between. Each baffle was just glued in place with some more seam sealer at a right angle to the rockers....so those pieces really are 'baffles'. I could probably use one of the baffles as a template to make some solid metal duplicates that can be used to hold the sill beam in position prior to fitting the outer rocker. If I am able to install the rocker over the repaired sill beam section and everything lines up nice then I'll can blow it apart and weld up the sill beam solid and then refit the outer rocker and do the same. (having the body on a rotisserie would be super nice right about now...)
Do you think this plan could work? I know it would be much easier to weld the sill beam section into the rocker on the bench and then install it as an assembly but then the profile of the rocker would be locked and might not fit the car correctly. Even if I was able to get the profile correct while on the bench....I don't see any reasonable way to weld the new sill beam section back to the remaining good forward section. Any ideas?