Rocker Panel Moulding

[Michael S.]

Can Rocker Panel Moulding be reconditioned ? I have a '70 with the original panels. They have the usually chips, dinks, from 38 years and would like to keep them. New panels don't have the tab at the front.
Thanks, Michael

[Bob R.]

Re: Rocker Panel Moulding

A friend of mine tried to put the reproduction panels on his 72 and found they do not fit well. He ended up sanding down the finish on the old ones. They came out very nice but he removed the factory anodized finish. I would think he could send it out to get anodized again.

[Terry M.]

Re: Rocker Panel Moulding

The clear anodizing is sometimes called "hard anodizing," and for good reason. Try to find an anodizing shop that will remove the material -- it is like plating, but in this case you want reverse plating. Then you can refinish as you wish, and bring the moldings back to them for re-anodizing. Photograph the painted stripe before you remove it. We have had some questions here about the details of that stripe from folks who failed to record them before removal.

BTW: I know someone who was able to add the tabs to a reproduction molding without disturbing the exterior finish. An extremely skilled welder put them on. I suspect he had some real good equipment as well.

[Lyndon S.]

Re: Rocker Panel Moulding

And who was that masked welder, was it you Terry?

[Terry M.]

[Lyndon S.]

Re: Rocker Panel Moulding

[Terry M.]

Re: Rocker Panel Moulding

The last design of the rocker moldings (later '70s) didn't have the tabs. They reproduced THAT design -- it's not wrong; it's just not for us early C3 guys. Of course it is marketed to fit 1970 and newer. I would bet the vast majority of their purchasers couldn't care less about that tab. We purists are not the large market we would like to think we are.

[Bill C.]

Re: Rocker Panel Moulding

I had mine stripped, cleaned up and re-anondized.
Ran around $500 or so to get the set done.

I think they came out VG - look pretty darn original.

The guy I used is in Bunnell Florida. Great guy, great work and honest too.

[D S.]

Re: Rocker Panel Moulding

I was waiting for someone to post a cost for having them re-finished. That is in line with a quote I got three years ago on an extra set of tabbed rocker panel moldings I have. It was $400 back then. I began to like those character blemishes on both my sets after that quote. Matches my Corvette.

[Bob D.]

Re: Rocker Panel Moulding

There's also a shop in California that can do your rocker moldings. I had mine done and they look great . They removed scratches, dents and dings. Look better than new.

[Jack H.]

Re: Rocker Panel Moulding

Yes, the job CAN be done, but it's not typically cost effective. One of the biggest barriers is finding a plater that does annodizing AND has tanks large enough to immerse these rocker panels. Most who do this kind of work generally deal with smaller parts and don't have the facilities to handle these big/long parts...