Duster rocker panel welds

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awg329

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I got my duster back from the body shop last October. They removed the crappy rocker panels (not stamped) that I installed about 15 years ago and installed new AMD rockers. They also finished the body work and painted it Rallye Red. I was building new 3/8 fuel lines tonight and I noticed that a lot of the lower rocker panel spot welds don't hold. I have areas where 12" of the seam are loose ! When I originally replaced the rocker panels, I had spot welds every 2 inches. . Now I'm worried about the structural integrity since a unibody relies heavily on the rocker panels for rigidity. Can the rocker panel be welded without hurting the paint ? Any insight will be greatly appreciated !
 
And you should be. Yes it it a structural component of the car. Technically when replacing a panel you should actually put more spot welds then factory. At least that's how I've been trained as per I-Car. You have to clean the paint off to weld it so....., but I would be back up there. Maybe they can get it done and only have to touch up the pinch weld.
 
Long story short... You got screwed. It needs to be re-welded by someone that can weld. You have a bunch of shops and techs out there that only care about the amount of hours they push through, not the repair quality.
 
If you or they do it right you can weld the rockers up & keep the paint work just to the rockers. Red can easily be blended. Good luck & keep us posted
 
If no one in GI that you are comfortable with I have someone here in Omaha
 
I have a spot welder and I know that both sides of both panels have to be clean, very clean or the spot is not as strong and can pot apart. Did they use a actual spot welder or a mig.
 
Also I would find a professional restoration shop and have them give you a estimate.
Have a layer wright them a letter and see if they are willing to pay for the repair sense they couldn't do it and charged you for it.
 
If they didn't weld it correctly they probably didn't use any corrosion protection inside the rocker after welding.

Wherever you take it, make sure they get inside with some cavity wax, at least.

 
brian6pac said:
I have a spot welder and I know that both sides of both panels have to be clean, very clean or the spot is not as strong and can pot apart. Did they use a actual spot welder or a mig.
Click to expand...
They were mig welded. Not sure if they drilled a hole to make a plug weld or what they did.
 
I think the hole needs to be 5/16", so the weld should be 3/8 - 1/2" diam.
 
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