Cargo door sill/rocker - repair or replace?

[Mr Margaret Scratcher]

Seems solid apart from the lip/flange as rusted away from both the sill and the inner strengthener, trying to figure out if repairing rather than spending £56 on the two replacement panels makes sense in terms of saving time.

The bottom of the rocker seems solid, from where I've had a quick investigate...

[pondoras box]

I would remove the outer rocker at the spot welds and make your decision on what you find. You can clean and prep the inner surfaces of the rockers because if the lip is rusted I can guarantee you at least have surface rust starting. Plus that flange will be easier to fix on a table.
_________________
Looking for anything from Hal Casey Motors out of Hamburg New York, from license plate surrounds to matchbooks.

1961 23 Window (Bobo)
1965 11 Window (Zelda). https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=563183
1965 13 Window (Lucas)
1957 Oval ragtop
1960 hardtop
1964 hardtop
1965 hardtop
1988 Cabriolet VR6 conversion
Plus a lot of other rusty junk

[Mr Margaret Scratcher]

Makes sense - so it's just attached along the bottom seam, right?

[pondoras box]

It’s going to be a bit more complicated than that. It’s got an inner structure that’s attached to the inner rocker as well check out classic steel body’s website and check out the picture of the cargo door rocker and you’ll get the idea.
_________________
Looking for anything from Hal Casey Motors out of Hamburg New York, from license plate surrounds to matchbooks.

1961 23 Window (Bobo)
1965 11 Window (Zelda). https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=563183
1965 13 Window (Lucas)
1957 Oval ragtop
1960 hardtop
1964 hardtop
1965 hardtop
1988 Cabriolet VR6 conversion
Plus a lot of other rusty junk

[Mr Margaret Scratcher]

Yeah, I see it's got the inner strengthener, too. I guess the question is, is it going to be easier to remove both of them if I'm not being precious about keeping them intact...

[pondoras box]

I’ve never removed one intact before. I live in the rust belt of America and if there is anything left I usually just cut it out in chunks. But I have put several of them in.

Your other option is fix the upper flange and before you weld it hose the insides down with something like FluidFilm. Then weld the top flange back on. It won’t last forever but maybe it will buy you a few years.
_________________
Looking for anything from Hal Casey Motors out of Hamburg New York, from license plate surrounds to matchbooks.

1961 23 Window (Bobo)
1965 11 Window (Zelda). https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=563183
1965 13 Window (Lucas)
1957 Oval ragtop
1960 hardtop
1964 hardtop
1965 hardtop
1988 Cabriolet VR6 conversion
Plus a lot of other rusty junk

[Mr Margaret Scratcher]

Ah, yeah, that pretty much answers my question I reckon!

I might attempt to remove the rocker and inner strengthener intact as a training exercise, we shall see!

[pondoras box]

Worst case scenario is you know how the new one will go on. Post your progress.
_________________
Looking for anything from Hal Casey Motors out of Hamburg New York, from license plate surrounds to matchbooks.

1961 23 Window (Bobo)
1965 11 Window (Zelda). https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=563183
1965 13 Window (Lucas)
1957 Oval ragtop
1960 hardtop
1964 hardtop
1965 hardtop
1988 Cabriolet VR6 conversion
Plus a lot of other rusty junk

[Mr Margaret Scratcher]

Soooo, after drilling out a load of spotwelds with various degrees of success, I think I'm going to cut it out anyway:

Trying to separate it from the inner rocker has pretty much destroyed the flange:

So I guess I need to brace the door and chop it all out...