Fabrication Advice

I need to replace the inner rockers on my 50 Dodge Wayfarer convertible. The inner rocker is basically a huge, four-sided tube that sits on the body suppports on the frame and is welded to the braces on the body. The box is 72 inches long and tapers from 7 to 4 inches on the top and 41/2 to 31/2 on the side.

Here is the very rusty inner rocker in place on the frame.



Here is is so you can see where in attaches to the body supports on the frame.



The actual rockers on the car are worse than this one (taken from my parts car. I don't have a brake to bend anything this large, but a local sheetmetal firm says they can make up the two pieces necessary to make one of these. It's made of what looks like 16 guage steel - hard to tell since most of it is rust.



The rocker is made up of two pieces. The top and front side is a single piece with a simple 90 degree bend. The bottom and inside is a stamping that has obviously been designed to add stiffness to the rocker.

You can kind of see the stamping pattern in this shot of the bottom of the rocker, its not real clear but there are domes where the rocker meets the frame supports. -



This is what the two pieces look like from the end.




I don't have the fab skills to form these domes in metal that thick. I could just keep the bottom of Part A flat, but I'm not sure the assembly would have the required stiffness to support the open convertible body. The factory obviously stamped the A section for a reason,

I thought about simply making up an assembly out of 2 inch square 1/8 thick tubing. Something like this, but with cross bracing -





Sorry about the crude drawing. Or many I could weld in two 2 inch tubes along the inside of Part A along the bottom. Any suggestions would be most welcome.

 

I have parts like that made at the sheet metal shop if I can't do them myself. That looks pretty simple. The taper makes it a little more complicated, but you have enough to make patterns if needed. Take cross sections to the shop. Most places will do one off stuff. Not too expensive. Usually worth the cost. The formed areas can be done with real simple forms and hammered in before you assemble it.

 

I guess, since this isn't an accurate restoration, I'm trying to avoid pounding out those formed area since they can't really be seen. Would square tubing along the bottom work just as well?

 

lot's of things will work. I just always try to duplicate whats there (or was there). In the long run it's easier and works better. Try a little metal forming. It's not that hard. post some better pictures of the formed area. It's only metal.