# rusty rocker panels a hoist hazard? please advise low budget boy



## WayOutCat (Aug 31, 2004)

hi,
i have been advised by a friend i trust that my 92 SE-R has just enough rust that it could become hard to put on a hoist sometime in the next three years, and he said that if it was his car, he wouldn't put money into performance mods. but it's what i can afford, and i was lucky to find it! so... i'm looking for second opinions. does anyone know of anyone repairing the panels with new metal so that a rusted car became hoistable again? or are there other ways such a car can still get by? i know some shops have pits you drive a car over instead of hoists...


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## BikerFry (Jul 31, 2003)

You mean a lift? Hoists are for engines and you should never pick up the whole car with an engine hoist. 

Unless your car is really rotted out to the point that frame integrity comes into question I doubt that you have to worry much. Haha just don't lift it by the rocker panels! If you're still worried, there are plenty of performance mods that can be done without putting the car up on a lift.

Just wave to your friend as you blow his doors off after you mod your car. Haha hell, even before you mod it... :thumbup:


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## Scott (Apr 15, 2002)

The only real repair is to cut out the rusted rockers and weld in replacements. I was able to get a car to pass inspection by riveting steel over the rusted out sections of the rocker panels & floor. I still wouldn't have trusted supporting the car on the original jack points. Putting the car on a lift was never a problem, but then I never watched.


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## Tavel (Aug 21, 2004)

have you looked at how thin the rocker panels are??? there is no way they were even meant to support weight, not even on a lift, its just a body panel. a lift uses the frame that is just inside/behind the rocker panel, not the panel itself. so as long as the frame is in good condition, go ahead and repair the panels. 

mine were rusted away almost completely(from the rear tires to the doors), but seeing as the frame behind the panel was in good working order with no rust, i just fixed the panels. i rebuilt them using lots and lots of fiberglass

i cut away the rust[duh] and then i used an expanding foam like greatstuff to fill in all the space, then applied bondoglass over the foam to make it stronger and build it up a bit; then i classic bondoed it to make it look good. and after a fun little spray paint job no one can tell i repaired the panels. took about 2 days of work(now how you count that depends, thats two days with 2 weeks inbetween and lots of breaks during work time)

oh BTW: IF the rocker panel supports the weight, then it would've colapsed already because rust has no structural strength at all.


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