Gym Van

The large gaping hole.










The step plate installed.












The rocker panel tacked together.








Almost done.






I spent the last couple of days working on the van for the gym, among other things. The van is a big Dodge and like all of the uni-body vehicles that have spent their days in the Midwest, the bottom 10 inches of the body has suffered some major rust damage as a result of all the road salt that's used in the winter. This one has been repaired once already but what wasn't fixed plus some that was is in need of some major sheet metal work.

I worked on the step and rocker panel on the passenger side. As you can see from the photos, it was pretty much a matter of cutting everything out and starting fresh. The actual step part was a piece of cake. Just cut the old out and make a new panel. A little measuring, cutting and bending and there you go. I also put a couple of beads in the panel to match the factory one. I then made up a couple of small pieces to fill in the door post area.

The rocker panel below the step was the hard part. The piece tapers out about two-thirds of the way back. I made the piece in three parts and then welded them together. The piece has a flange on the back side to fasten the bottom edge to the van. I still have to weld or maybe just rivet the flange in place yet but everything else is welded up and ground down. Lots of work for a vehicle that's not worth much even if it was 100 percent.

I priced paint and patch panels today from the local auto parts store and that wasn't too encouraging. The only replacement rocker that they could find a listing for was for the right side and it's $160.00. The left side is the one that needs it the most, of course. I'll look into it a little deeper but I'll probably just end up buying a sheet of 20 gauge and making everything my self. A little more work maybe, but it will cost less and if I can save us a little money it will be worth it in the long run. Plus, if I make the parts myself, I'll get a chance to improve my skills with the English wheel. That ought to be worth something.