Spray foam rocker panel repair?

[Elkins45]

How to FIX a Rust Hole in a Rocker Panel (fast, Low-cost Method)

How to FIX a Rust Hole in a Rocker Panel (fast, Low-cost Method): Fixing a rust hole on the rocker panel can be expensive. I've done body work on cars for a lot of years, and have developed some techniques to make the job fast, easy and cheap. If you're trying to get a car through inspection and...

www.instructables.com

My old Scion has a couple of holes in the rocker panels on one side. It has too many other cosmetic flaws and too many miles to repair correctly. I’m going to give this a try since it’s cheap and easy. Can’t hurt.

 

[SHOZ]

Have a buddy who buys a lot of cars and trucks. Goes over each one with a magnet before buying..

 

[Rand]

Its a hack to pass inspection. Do you have inspection?

 

[Elkins45]

Its a hack to pass inspection. Do you have inspection?

No, just trying to hide the ugly holes.

 

[TCL]

Flat black duct tape! Do both sides and it'll look original!

 

[Trav]

Another reason the German TÜV is so good, that is one of the first things they look for when looking for corrosion with the little pointed hammer. It is not a good repair or even a good hack, rocker panels on uni body cars are structural and must be replaced or at least welded just to maintain integrity of the body structure in a crash.

 

[TCL]

Another reason the German TÜV is so good, that is one of the first things they look for when looking for corrosion with the little pointed hammer. It is not a good repair or even a good hack, rocker panels on uni body cars are structural and must be replaced or at least welded just to maintain integrity of the body structure in a crash.

Three ply duct tape...If that don't hold it the car is junk. I think you better look real good underneath. That's four ply area.
FYI use a crisscross pattern for more strength on the four ply.

 

[eljefino]

Foam traps moisture and will accelerate the demise of what you have remaining. It depends on the car of course but outer rockers are mostly cosmetic while the inner ones, and the parts that go down to the pinch weld, are structural. So you want to protect them but let them breathe. Better to get some "tin" and self tapping screws or Pop_Rivets and patch from the outside if you want to half-bake it.

 

[Owen Lucas]

To fix it correctly a body shop will charge you thousands. To get it by for another year or 2 foam it up or cover it with tape, at this point it’s not a restoration job.

 

[Kira]

"It's not like here", was the way a pal compared German automobile inspection to ours.

Re TCL's post: The rust repair for salted pickups I will always love features a flat black lower reaches; 6" - 18" up.
The flat paint obscures amateurish / affordable work.

The magnet has always been the car buyers' friend. Ever see a paint depth gauge?

 

[SwampSurvivor]

It's definitely going to make the problem worse. That's just a trick to pass inspection if your state cares or a way to make it look okay to trade it.

 

[Marcozi]

Another reason the German TÜV is so good, that is one of the first things they look for when looking for corrosion with the little pointed hammer. It is not a good repair or even a good hack, rocker panels on uni body cars are structural and must be replaced or at least welded just to maintain integrity of the body structure in a crash.

That's why US service personnel stationed in Germany can pick up a 3 or 4 y/o MB or bimmer for cheap.

 

[Trav]

That's why US service personnel stationed in Germany can pick up a 3 or 4 y/o MB or bimmer for cheap.

Not so much anymore, 3-4 yr old BMW and MB cars still sell well on the economy, back in the days of DM 3+ to the $ cars were very inexpensive for American servicemen, then you had the Affes new car sales. BMW still has a US military sales program, the plus side is no conversions needed.

https://www.bmw-special-sales.com/en/topics/military-sales/overview.html

 

[Marcozi]

Not so much anymore, 3-4 yr old BMW and MB cars still sell well on the economy, back in the days of DM 3+ to the $ cars were very inexpensive for American servicemen, then you had the Affes new car sales. BMW still has a US military sales program, the plus side is no conversions needed.

https://www.bmw-special-sales.com/en/topics/military-sales/overview.html

Good to know. Thanks.

 

[supton]

Not sure on the quality but last couple times I took aluminum flashing and JB Weld to patch holes. Grind to bare metal as much as I could, slather on, put patch on. Make sure to overlap on weld around, as the flashing doesn’t have any surface roughness for it to stick to.

Not really structural though… but no worse than the hole.

Could hardly tell on a silver car. Lasted a couple years, and off it went.

 

[Elkins45]

From a distance it doesn’t look terrible.

 

[odie]

About 30 years ago used the spray foam for the rocker panel of an older car . Put clear plastic over area to fill , tape it to the body to keep plastic in place and then poke a small hole for the nozzle to spray into . Trimmed down the hardened foam with a adjustable razor blade knife to match the shape of the rocker panel and then sprayed the whole rocker panel ( foam included ) with a few layers of undercoating . Did last for quite awhile . The foam actually reached the interior of car . Trimmed that down and the rest was hidden by the inside plastic panel and carpet . Wear plastic gloves so not to get it on your hands . Also , you want warm dry weather for foam to cure . The engine gave out ( 260,000+ miles ) before the body .