'65 rocker trim question

[RIVNIK]

I am attempting to refurbish my ribbed rocker moldings. My plan is to try to polish the outer surfaces of the ribs with decreasing degrees of abrasive & then mask the ribs & spray the "valleys"w semigloss enamel. My question is:   should all 3 surfaces of each rib be bare aluminum, & just the bottom of the valley painted, or should only the outermost rib surfaces be polished, & the entire valley painted?. The former would seem to be the way to go, since from a normal viewpoint the sides of the lower ribs on the door & below are actually what you're looking at, as the rocker plates are mounted at such an angle that the outer surface is aimed somewhat downward. Hope this makes sense,& thanks for any additional tips you might offer.     Drew

[Turbinator]

drew, I take the entire ribbed rocker panel to bare metal. Polish your raised ribs if  you want. Tape off the top of the raised ribs. remove debris in the part you are going to paint with wax remover or acetone. Spray the whole panel with your paint, BEFORE the paint dries remove the 1/8" wide tape strip protecting the raised rib. Don't forget to the fix the pulled out screw holes on the bottom of the panel. Not all that hard, but it's always that way until you try it.

Turbinate

[RIVNIK]

Thanks T.   sounds like a plan. I'll follow your 'structions in the a.m. 

[Seafoam65]

Also, note that the paint on these rocker moldings is charcoal, not black......same as the paint

on the clamshells.

[71GS]

Rivnik, 

I did mine last winter, this was my process.

 I stripped them completely, straightened any dings, sanded the top face of the ribs all the way to 2000 grit to make the polishing easier. Polished to a mirror shine with a wheel mounted in my cordless drill and Mother’s aluminum polish. Cleaned, taped with fine line, used a self etch primer and paint.

As turbinator stated, I pulled the tape when still wet.  They were a lot of work and turned out beautiful.

That said, your correct, they do face downward and you don’t see them that much. Haha. But I know they’re right and kept me busy last winter 😁

good luck and have fun, hope this helps.

Brian

[DrownedRiv]

12 hours ago, Turbinator said:

drew, I take the entire ribbed rocker panel to bare metal. Polish your raised ribs if  you want. Tape off the top of the raised ribs. remove debris in the part you are going to paint with wax remover or acetone. Spray the whole panel with your paint, BEFORE the paint dries remove the 1/8" wide tape strip protecting the raised rib. Don't forget to the fix the pulled out screw holes on the bottom of the panel. Not all that hard, but it's always that way until you try it.

Turbinate

Bob, how did you "fix" the screw holes?

[RIVNIK]

Very funny Brian!   Taking your NOS moldings out of the box & posing them as refurbished ones! I like it, but I'm being serious here.

I kid, those rockers rock!

[Turbinator]

5 hours ago, DrownedRiv said:

Bob, how did you "fix" the screw holes?

Cut a thin piece of sheet metal the width of metal where where the screw hole is pulled out. Lay your “ scab”sheet metal on the inside of the screw hole. Clamp the scab metal with vise grips and rivit on both sides of thr hole. File excess rivit piece down. Flatten rivit excess with hammer on anvil. Drill your new screw hole. Pretty, not at all . It is out of sight. Another way is lay a thin flat washer over the ripped out hole and screw it down. It is not custom but effective. Now I’m sure critics will have their opinions. That’s ok. Who can see it?

Turbinator

 

 

[Turbinator]

8 hours ago, 71GS said:

But I know they’re right and kept me busy last winter 😁

 MAJOR LEAGUE. First rate quality work.

 Turbinator 

[DrownedRiv]

2 hours ago, Turbinator said:

Cut a thin piece of sheet metal the width of metal where where the screw hole is pulled out. Lay your “ scab”sheet metal on the inside of the screw hole. Clamp the scab metal with vise grips and rivit on both sides of thr hole. File excess rivit piece down. Flatten rivit excess with hammer on anvil. Drill your new screw hole. Pretty, not at all . It is out of sight. Another way is lay a thin flat washer over the ripped out hole and screw it down. It is not custom but effective. Now I’m sure critics will have their opinions. That’s ok. Who can see it?

Turbinator

 

 

Sounds like a plan!

Thanks!!

[Turbinator]

1 hour ago, DrownedRiv said:

Sounds like a plan!

rivets are a plan, not sure how good for you, BUT they hold for me. No rivets gun?

Use small flat head screws with a nut on the end on the outside. I"m good at patching stuff.

Another thought is cut a long piece of metal that fits on the ledge, real long piece of flat metal. Clean the patch metal and the ledge the patch metal sits on with acetone. Apply ALL METAL on both the ledge surface and the sheet metal- than coats for each. Lay the scab piece on the ledge can clamp. The longer the patch of sheet metal the stronger the piece. Again, no apology for farm hand style fix, but who is going to see it?

 

[kreed]

15 hours ago, 71GS said:

Rivnik, 

I did mine last winter, this was my process.

 I stripped them completely, straightened any dings, sanded the top face of the ribs all the way to 2000 grit to make the polishing easier. Polished to a mirror shine with a wheel mounted in my cordless drill and Mother’s aluminum polish. Cleaned, taped with fine line, used a self etch primer and paint.

As turbinator stated, I pulled the tape when still wet.  They were a lot of work and turned out beautiful.

That said, your correct, they do face downward and you don’t see them that much. Haha. But I know they’re right and kept me busy last winter 😁

good luck and have fun, hope this helps.

Brian

Agree with Brian. - stripped mine with lacquer thinner , polished the ribs ,primed and painted mine black as my car is silver and I wanted some contrast ( fully realizing it’s “not correct “  ) . Somewhat labor intensive but worth it . 
KReed
ROA 14549 

[Turbinator]

Gents, What is most important is you are satisfied with your work and personalization of your zRiviera.

Every rocker panel I see is truly top notch.

Turbinator

Edited August 11, 2021 by Turbinator (see edit history)

[71GS]

Had the riv on the lift and could actually see the rocker moldings 😁

[Seafoam65]

Looking good!

[RIVNIK]

better than gnu