2001 toyota solara rocker panels replace.

"Did anyone here cut and replaced them? If so how hard is it to cut it?"


Not on a Solara, but on a Camry. Grinder / cutter........... youll need a ton of batteries or if its air, the yard needs a long air line. I only use the saw

Really depends on your tools..and situation... If the car is on the ground good luck. Have them put it on a stand (our yard has a stand they put cars on) or have them lift it for you.




Absolutely inspect and check your car first and see what point the rust goes too so you know "how much" you need to cut. Always cut more than what you need. You can trim the cut piece. but if you cut too short, you'll need to go back and grab another piece or fab / do excess welding....

Shandias86 said:

rest of the car looks fine. Specially frame is in very good shape. I am hoping to get 2-3 years out of it. I am sure it will run much longer than that but rust will kill that car before engine or tranny gives up. I had this car for 6 years most reliable car I ever own and I am not ready to let her go.

Click to expand...

2-3?

How bad is the rust?


maybe you could just leave it as is.... maybe remove some of the most prominent flaky rusk and cover the rest with some rust encapsulator.

Removing and having someone install some rockers is a bit of work... and cost.... for only 2 - 3 years of service life IMO


As long as its not structurally an issue id drive it as is. .

Sorry, rust stinks, MN Salt / Winter is taking over my 1994 Tercel...... so feel your pain

I have the passenger side 2006 Solara Rocker Panel Silver... already removed and in my spare parts. These are plastic. The rust rocker in Canada, could be cut front & back so the area is flat.

I would spary the rusty area with POR15.... this is a rust convertor that holds up well.

NO UV protection with POR15 so good for bottom of car, but needs to be spayed while still wet with a paint with UV block if any area is sun exposed. The bottom of auto is a good place for POR15. WE use it a lot in the classic 4x4 restor work. It is a black finnish.

Then use a body pannel adhesive to attach the 2006 plastic rocker pannel to the cut off , POR15 covered, area and will be a good repair. Rocks and debree get flug at the rocker pannel, chips the paint, and that is where the rust process starts.

My 2006 Plastic Rocker is not perfect, but in decent shape..... I would be happy with 100
Spay all the bottom with POR15, mask off the areas for maint, the rubber boots, etc
I have used HF Paint sprayer with can on top, used brass fittings so can tilt can so can spray upwards...
This worked well

Also from my research before you get rusty.... Thin Flim or similar product, there are 3 major ones, can be sprayed on bottom of car, the holes, the frames, and will keep the auto from rusting out. I purchased a FL Solara that is rust free..... will be using the Thin Film Spray oil coating on my ride. Needs to be done yearly or everyother year. The grandma car had been curb run over on passenger side.... had car avail that had decent plastic rocker replacement. I had not seen the car in person, so purchased the passenger rocker, passenger door, passenger fender, just because it may be needed and had access to a very nice solara that was rust free to pull these parts.

The rocker is long, but should be less likely to damage in ship vs a metal rocker would. This pannel was put in with plastic clips, the body pannel adhesive would be a great way to attach. Just will need few small jacks or similar. Could also pop rivet, screw. Could also have a body shop do it for your.

I think this would be good cost effective plan.
I am about 4 hrs south of border in twin city area.

fjguercio said:

Sorry, rust stinks, MN Salt / Winter is taking over my 1994 Tercel...... so feel your pain

I have the passenger side 2006 Solara Rocker Panel Silver... already removed and in my spare parts. These are plastic. The rust rocker in Canada, could be cut front & back so the area is flat.

I would spary the rusty area with POR15.... this is a rust convertor that holds up well.

NO UV protection with POR15 so good for bottom of car, but needs to be spayed while still wet with a paint with UV block if any area is sun exposed. The bottom of auto is a good place for POR15. WE use it a lot in the classic 4x4 restor work. It is a black finnish.

Then use a body pannel adhesive to attach the 2006 plastic rocker pannel to the cut off , POR15 covered, area and will be a good repair. Rocks and debree get flug at the rocker pannel, chips the paint, and that is where the rust process starts.

My 2006 Plastic Rocker is not perfect, but in decent shape..... I would be happy with 100
Spay all the bottom with POR15, mask off the areas for maint, the rubber boots, etc
I have used HF Paint sprayer with can on top, used brass fittings so can tilt can so can spray upwards...
This worked well

Also from my research before you get rusty.... Thin Flim or similar product, there are 3 major ones, can be sprayed on bottom of car, the holes, the frames, and will keep the auto from rusting out. I purchased a FL Solara that is rust free..... will be using the Thin Film Spray oil coating on my ride. Needs to be done yearly or everyother year. The grandma car had been curb run over on passenger side.... had car avail that had decent plastic rocker replacement. I had not seen the car in person, so purchased the passenger rocker, passenger door, passenger fender, just because it may be needed and had access to a very nice solara that was rust free to pull these parts.

The rocker is long, but should be less likely to damage in ship vs a metal rocker would. This pannel was put in with plastic clips, the body pannel adhesive would be a great way to attach. Just will need few small jacks or similar. Could also pop rivet, screw. Could also have a body shop do it for your.

I think this would be good cost effective plan.
I am about 4 hrs south of border in twin city area.

Click to expand...

Do you mean "Fluid Film"? It is a very good protectant, and is lanolin based so it is also safe around rubber suspension bushings, fuel lines, parking brake cables, etc.

There are several products like it: Fluid Film, Boeshield (developed by Boeing), Wool Wax, etc.

Note that although these are easy to work with and they do a decent job of protecting metal, they are also rather thin and tend to rinse off throughout the winter. Being thin they penetrate well, and are self-healing, but I was finding rust blooms every spring even when I did avoid snow/salt periods.

Also, applying anything over the top of red, bubbling rust, is not very effective. Iron when it rusts expands tremendously and that creates microscopic pores with huge amounts of surface area for water and oxygen to get in contact in spite of what you'd tried to protect it with.

Optimal strategy (this is what I use):
1) wire brush / needle scale / sand blast off as much red as possible. Cut out badly rusted and weld in new.
2) use a phosphate rinse to convert any remaining minor surface rust to iron phosphate (Ospho is readily available at Ace (pints) and Sherwin Williams (gallons).
3) let that sit and convert for at least 24 hours, then clean real well with a good quality paining surface prep until your micro fiber cloth comes back clean
4) apply 2 heavy coats of the paint of your choice, POR15 is excellent, but as noted above it is not UV stable so you want to apply a top coat over it
5) after the paint has fully dried (at least 24~48 hours) then apply 3 heavy coats of Cavity Wax. There are several brands and all are good. Amsoil HDMP is good, but their applicator nozzle sucks, 3M Cavity wax comes with awesome nozzles, up to 36" long with 360deg spray nozzles for coating inside cavities, Cosmoline also makes tried and true cavity wax. Apply 3 heavy coats if working with aerosol. If using brush on, like Waxoyl, apply it heavy. Note that these waxes are petroleum distillates so they will eat rubber. Be careful not to get them on suspension bushings, wiring, hoses, etc.
6) let the wax dry to a tack free finish. It will hold up for many, many years, but is not self healing and does not penetrate into fissures all that well. So...
7) apply a heavy coat of FF (or the lanolin coating of your choice) over the top of the wax. Plan to touch it up each fall.

I apply the wax and FF outside and let mother nature clean up the overspray from the driveway (saves a ton of masking and cleaning in the garage).

Corrosion prevention is a matter of layers. Each layer protecting the one below, and providing a bonding surface for the one above. They will all fail over time, so more layers gives you more time, especially when working with old metal you can't get perfectly rust free.

Norm "I hate rust" Kerr

norm356 said:

Do you mean "Fluid Film"? It is a very good protectant, and is lanolin based so it is also safe around rubber suspension bushings, fuel lines, parking brake cables, etc.

POR15 is excellent, but as noted above it is not UV stable so you want to apply a top coat over it

Click to expand...

Norm356,
Thanks on the Fluid Film help..... I did not go back and look it up.
That is quite a list for a older rusty car 20 yrs old..... Maybe we can slow the rust down some???

The POR15 is great for the underside of auto.... and the sun does not shine there
Also on the back side of the quarter pannel with the rust hole (s) showing some

The POR15 likes...... LIKES.... rust and needs some rust to stick to the metal pannels

I would use a 4 or 4.5 inch grinder with a cup wire wheel, not twisted wire, HF has them for $5
Borrow a grinder if you do not have one.... will be 20 min of work at most..... do not go crazy.... just knock off
Pay for a lift location or have it done for you.
Make the cheap gun so it can point up and still have the paint can gravity feed.... ie brass fitting from hdw store
Then go to town and spray what you can see that is metal
It will slow down the rust.....

Before it dries and still tacky..... that is when the POR15 can be rattle can sprayed for a top coat
.................. NOT needed on bottom underside of car..... sun does not shine there
Apply the plastic SOLAR rocker pannels with a auto body adhesive with ouside rim of plastic rocker
Clamp in place or / and use some jack type devices..... let cure

This should get you the 4-5 more years out of the auto

Cost
2 Plastic Solara Rockers $50 local -250 mine shipped, POR15 & Wire Wheel $50, Auto Body Adhesive $40
If you want my rocker.... can take a pic and post here..... will not need to replace my rocker

NOTE
The Fluid Film was for other readers about rust control and help
Once this rusty the Fluid Film type product is waste of time IMO vs the POR15

Here are two videos.... the half hr watching can show much more that I or anyone can write on a forum

Best Car Undercoating? Let's find out! Is Flex Seal the Best Rust & Salt Protection?


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Best Rust Converter? POR-15, Eastwood, Rust-oleum Rust Reformer, Gempler's

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