Picked up a used 2001 extended cab for my son, his first vehicle and he wanted the F150


The panels under the doors are pretty much gone, I think we could handle this on our own and make it a project for him.


any suggestions where to start or purchase a new panel to place in or do we need someone to help us weld in the new panel


It is basically the under panel, the side panel is not in bad shape.


Any info is appreciated

 

I'm glad to see this question as I have the same issue. I'm looking forward to the answer. Is yours a standard or extended cab? How are your cab corners?

 

You are looking for new rockers? Sounds like a great project. Make sure you get all the rust cut out or it will come back.
http://www.jcwhitney.com/replacement.../p3068030.jcwx

 

good read on rust repair
https://www.f150forum.com/f6/project...der-way-60210/

 

No need to hire it out, it's mostly spot welding. Anyone can do that if they can point and count to two. SC and 4doors require one butt weld but that's not even real welding per-say. Thin metal, so that's done by spot welding. You hit it, let cool, hit again, let cool until the weld is complete. Welding machines for that job are cheap, around 90-100 bucks at harbor freight. Just swap out the wire when you get one with Lincoln Flux core from home depot and your set. They run off regular household current. Just keep the machine close to the receptacle.

The biggest challenge is removing ALL the rust safely. There's no such thing as converters. The ONLY two ways are to chemically dip (which really isn't feasible) or blast. It's the rust you can't see that will come back to haunt you. That's why it's critical to use the methods I mentioned. If you half *** it, it will last a little while, perhaps even a year or little more.

I get the good stuff from Raybucks. Price is right and you'll get at least 18 gauge from that supplier. Fix my rust is good as well.

Ironhead did a good job, so did another user named chinaclipper. Here's Jays, -

https://www.f150forum.com/f6/fed-up-rot-231217/

 

This^^^. I have a cheap HF welder I paid $79 for and its perfect for body panels, even exhaust. Definetly swap the wire as the cheap stuff spatters like crazy!

Don't leave a speck of rust behind or it will come back with a vengeance. I found this out in my younger dumber years

 

I got all my panels from fixmyrust.com! Wasn't too bad, me and a buddy did both rockers and cab corners and a bed hole with painting in about 3 days

 

Also recommend fixmyrust.com ^^ really strong and good quality panels.

 

3 days! I see, that's not panting. Guys throw that stuff on to hide the rust and slow it down. You used it to hide your work lol.

Takes much more time to do that job right, don't let posts like the one I quoted fool yuh OP.

 

it seems like to much of a process to be completed in that time but that's just me...