50 key cycles goes pretty quickly. you start and stop your rig more than you think. i hit 50 after 4 days.

funny to see this thread is still active.

my temporary solution for the winter is currently POR15 and fiberglass. I still need to add a few coats of the stuff since I can see the rusty water coming through tiny holes of the fiberglass.

next year hopefully I will get a welder and eventually enough skills to attempt this on my own.

Cane - If you're planning to replace your rockers in the next 6 months or so I'd just spray what you have now with a product such as Krown T40. It won't cure the rust but it will stop it from spreading. I spray my XJ every year with a simple shutz gun . It's simple and relatively inexpensive.


BTW - I replaced my rockers with 2"x6" steel tubing and it was a pretty straight forward job. IMO it was much easier to do than using replacement rockers and it's much stronger too of course.

Thank you for that info! Never heard of it before your post, but I did some research on it and it does come highly recommended. I'm going to give it a shot myself.

Yeah maybe I said replacing the rockers, but my plan is actually 2x6 tubing. Did you follow a write-up or figured it out as you went? I have no welding experience so I probably have to practice a lot before I can attempt this.

I'll look into this stuff and if I can find any around here, but right now I patched the holes with fiberglass so I wont be able to spray inside the rocker, so is it worth it more than the POR-15 that's already on there?
Thanks!

I looked at various posts of how others had done the job but in the end I just started to cut away the rusted areas, split some spot welds and size things up. I cut a 6" long piece of the 2"x6" tubing and used it as a test template. It was a lot easier to hold a small, light piece in place to mark cut lines and get an idea of how the final rocker would fit in place.


I have restored several cars and replaced a lot of metal panels over the last 35 years or so. Welding in panels to match the original design can be daunting and a fair bit of work. Welding the rockers on my XJ allowed for some "creativity" and was relatively easy.


Here are a few pics of how mine turned out ...
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/p...ictureid=43614


http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/p...ictureid=43615


http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/p...ictureid=43618

many thanks for this, I'll save the pics for when I'm able to attempt the job.

it seems you have to cut some bits off the rear fender flares, do you have to reattach the end somehow or they hold alright? right now when the screw is loose and there's a little gap, debris tend to get in there pretty good

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...89d44bed5d.png

I cut a few inches off of the front bottom of the flare. The pic below shows the final fit. The flare fits fairly tight and I figured if it becomes a problem I can easily ad a tab to the back and fasten it to the rocker. My plan is to eventually fabricate metal flat flares all around ... but first things first.


On the above pic the rusty/crusty areas were cut out and replaced wit new sheet metal before the I welded the new rockers in.


http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/p...ictureid=55455

Don't know how many of you have this option in your areas but in the small town I live close to they have a full service drive through Car Wash. In this one the "Best" wash/wax BS is like 9-$10 but it has the option with of a high pressure undercarriage wash that works as you pull in very slowly, it will run from the time the ft. bumper hits the sensor till the rear does so.


I am very lucky my XJ as it sits now with the 4 1/2" lift still clears the wash and if it is not clean they will pay for it to go through till it is, much to their dismay at times when it is filthy dirty.


In the winter I take any of my cars or trucks if driven in any salt there to clean the under sides of them, its a good option if you have it to help prevent the rust problem.