VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 41 rocker panel replacement.

I need to replace the passenger side rocker panel, front floor pan, and the floor braces. I order the parts from Chevy of the 40s and before I started cutting things out I was checking on how well things would fit. It seems that the braces are not a good fit. Everything was produced by EMS in Ohio.

The profile on the braces is not the same as on my 41 so the angle at the rocker panel is not steep enough, and the brace is about 1/2 of an inch to long before the pad that the floor bolt goes threw. Are there any Northerners out there that have dealt with this problem? Is there a better source than those manufactured by EMS? Help!

I got the interior out, door off, and front clip off. The 41 is looking pretty helpless. What should be my plan?
Thanks, Mike

Dear Mike,

I can speak from the experience of having used some EMS panels on my 38 coupe. I have done a couple floor panels and two quarter panels; I had also purchased rockers for a 37, but didn't end up doing them. In all cases, the EMS panels were close, but not exact. I looked around and it seems that EMS is about the only game in town--or at least the closest game in town. I have been impressed by the sturdiness of their replacement panels. I was able to fit them in pretty well and, in fact, needed very little body putty to make the quarters look really nice. I can't speak from experience about the 41 panels--maybe they're not as close as the 38s were. On the 37 rockers, I did notice again that the curve and certain angles were not 100% precise; but I thought that they, too, could be fitted with some creative imagination.

That's about the best I can offer. Perhaps someone who has used EMS for a 41 could chime in and offer a more precise analysis.

Good luck!

Jim

Ditto to Jim's statement. I bought the tailpan inner and outer as well as the passenger side rocker from EMS. The only one that wasn't close was the inner tailpan piece but we were able to make it work. Again that was for my 38. It might be worth a call to EMS to advise them of the issue. If they're not making good parts they need to know about it. They may not be aware. I'd also make Chevs aware of it.

Hey Mike!

Sorry I don't have an answer either. I, too, bought the EMS rocker panels for my project, including all three braces for each side, as that is probably the worst area on my entire car...one brace on each side is nearly non-existant due to rust. I'll warn my body guy about the fitment problem so he's prepared.

It appears that EMS may be the best source, but has anyone used Bitchen rocker panels and braces for their repair? I can not believe that I have not received more feedback on this. Lots of Northerners should find this repair as pretty normal???
Thanks, Mike

yes. i`m using bitchin sheet metal parts for the 48 hot rod i`m building now. i spent over 1K with them. i had no problem with anything. but i did have to cut up some of the pieces for a good fit. i bought rocker panels, fire wall, trunk and floor pieces. plus some end and ends.

In my 38 I used EMS for my rockers and tailpan and Bitchin for the floors and braces all fit very well.

Is this what you got for the 41?

http://www.hotrodssheetmetal.com/19chropakit.html

From my experience replacement parts/patch panels are just what the title implies. They are far from what a fender or door replacement entails. Each one takes trimming and fitting and are labor intensive to get a good result. With some basic metal working skills and patience you can make most of them do the job. I remember before all these replacement parts were made we would go to a junk yard and cut and section out own repair panels or go to my Dads sheetmetal shop and use his shear and brakes they used for furnace ductwork to make our own replacement panels. Don

Hi Doug and all, I have the EMS package that Doug has posted. Today I will meet with a welder with lots of experience with car structural welding, tomorrow I have another man to meet with the same background. Both will do the welding as I need it in my garage, allowing me to do a lot of the prep work, and get a good idea of the quality (quality of their work and condition of the car) and steps in the repair.

It has already been a real I opener to see the extent of some of the rust problems. Yesterday, I took off the upholstery on the back window passenger side, and the window control was a mess. Extreme rust, the cover to the window mechanism was rusted out along the bottom with a piece of aluminum riveted to it, and another patch panel was riveted under this (where the 3 bottom window control screws are screwed into the side inner sheetmetal).

Fortunately, I had just parted out a parts car and had a good extra shield. I also had the parts to rebuild the entire regulator, especially the friction spring inside the regulator handle assembly, which I have never seen available for sale in the part catalogs, but is a common problem and keeps the window from rolling down. I will sand blast everything and then give it all a coat of Por15.

I just bought a parts car about 2 months ago for $300 dollars and about the same in travel expenses. It is awesome to have a lot of backup parts that are not readily available for sale to choose from. I highly recommend picking up an extra car and engine if you are doing a restoration.

Remember, I am restoring my car as a daily driver. I have had it 5 years and work on it winters and drive it the rest of the year. I also have limited myself (by my wife's fine influence) to about 1 to 2 thousand dollars a year as my budget. Having an old car, and friends like all of you to help, is awesome!!!

Hi Mike;

Just to give you an idea of where to look for rust here are pictures of the repairs necessary on my car. I truly hope you don't find anything like I found. After all this on both sides I have brought back to as strong as the original factory car but boy has it been allot of work. Fortunately some patch panels are available others you have to make. My body is on a rotisserie and this is the drivers side. I had it Dip Striped to get it to clean metal so I could repair it.

Photo Bucket scrambled the order but I think you can follow

http://s204.photobucket.com/albums/bb124/nickeltree95/Patches/?start=0

Doug, Thanks for the pictures. I will never know the extent of my rust since I do not intend to dip strip the body. I do know that 90% of my problems are in the floor and am dealing with them in a variety of ways. Which brings us to each members individual preferences for returning there vehicle to the condition they can afford and there long term goal. My goal is to have a reliable daily driver that I have invested 10 to 20 thousand in, and will be worth about 8. I have had the car 5 years and hope to work on it another 5, working on it winters and driving it the rest of the year. On this repair I will hire a welder to work with me but do as much of the work as I can.

Mike;

Sounds like a very enjoyable way to do a project. I wish my rust hadn't been so bad. Enjoy