first truck, same old questions
 

I'll probably be asking questions you've all heard a million times, but I'd appreciate some answers.

The rocker panels are rusted (duh!) on my '69 Chevy. I'd like to replace them myself. Which type of panel replacement is best? There seems to be more than a few different sizes. The rocker panels are bad and the rust extends onto the door sill and the edge of the cab floor. Will there be enough metal on the replacement rocker panel to extend to the door sill and floor edge? My plan is to try the new "weldless" system that Eastwood has. So there needs to be enough material on the new panels edge to flange and rivet. Will I have to cut out the cab supports and re-attatch them once I'm done with the replacement?

Also, I love the look of the 67-68 GMC front end. If I can find a decent used one, it should just bolt-up, shouldn't it?

Thank you for your ideas,

sixnine

You don't have to remove the cab corner to replace the rockers. And the front clip will not bolt up unless you get the rad support. 67/68 were the same and 69-72 were the same. So for the swap, you will need the fenders, grill, hood and rad support for it to bolt right up.
Good luck with your project and feel free to ask any question, no matter how big or small.

I did my rockers and used the cheapy ones from J.C Whitney. These don't go as far as an OEM type but are alot less money. In my case I welded mine in and just used some scrap sheetmetal from an old hood to make up for any shortages of the rocker panel on each end. Not sure how you could do this with the Eastwood product.

Depending on the amount of rust, even the OEM type rockers might not go far enough in this area.

Most times, a portion of the floor will also be rotted. I bought a patch panel for this but this part can easily be made with some scrap from an old hood or door.

Thanks for the ideas guys. I guess I'll just jump right in and get my hands dirty. That's usually the best way to get experience anyway.

sixnine

Using a '67 hood
 

I used '69 GMC fenders and grill (I like the double headlights), a '67 Hood latch and '67-'68 Grill top bar to put the '67 hood on. Didn't need to do any changes to the radiator support except add the correct headlight buckets.