Trying to find parts for some of our older cars is becoming a real challenge and a lot of times they are just unavailable anymore.
So after trying to find replacement rocker panels for the Hornet with no luck it was time to just make my own.
My car unfortunately had full width factory stainless steel rocker panel trim on it.
Beautiful on the outside, but contained all the dirt and moisture on the inside for decades and rotted them out.
The car is from the mountains in Northwestern North Carolina so it's a really nice body except the rocker panels.
Luckily there was one section on the passenger side that had enough integrity left to use as a pattern.
I got a sheet of 18 gauge steel and sheared it down to size a few months ago. Finally today I got around to making the first two bends.
Will have to change out both the upper and lower dies to make the next bend and then another upper and lower die change to get the curve pressed in.
I am posting this project on here so others can see how it's done. I really couldn't figure out where to post it, so I just dropped it here for now,
Just changing out the dies and realigning them can take a significant amount of time. Add in the material, bending time, and your are getting up there on the piece cost.
So here we go on this project.
Of course the first thing I had to do was change out both dies to get a set in there that will allow over bending at a very sharp angle.
Got the first two of the four bends required done on 3 pieces and now I have to change the dies again to proceed. More to come.
Tom
So after trying to find replacement rocker panels for the Hornet with no luck it was time to just make my own.
My car unfortunately had full width factory stainless steel rocker panel trim on it.
Beautiful on the outside, but contained all the dirt and moisture on the inside for decades and rotted them out.
The car is from the mountains in Northwestern North Carolina so it's a really nice body except the rocker panels.
Luckily there was one section on the passenger side that had enough integrity left to use as a pattern.
I got a sheet of 18 gauge steel and sheared it down to size a few months ago. Finally today I got around to making the first two bends.
Will have to change out both the upper and lower dies to make the next bend and then another upper and lower die change to get the curve pressed in.
I am posting this project on here so others can see how it's done. I really couldn't figure out where to post it, so I just dropped it here for now,
Just changing out the dies and realigning them can take a significant amount of time. Add in the material, bending time, and your are getting up there on the piece cost.
So here we go on this project.
Of course the first thing I had to do was change out both dies to get a set in there that will allow over bending at a very sharp angle.
Got the first two of the four bends required done on 3 pieces and now I have to change the dies again to proceed. More to come.
Tom
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