The rocker panel was the biggest obstacle in performing this makeover. It was badly damaged to the point that both of the pinch welds were pushed in. Another key member of our body-shop posse, Rob Baldwin, jumped in to handle the repair. With a little help from his father, Gary, Rob had the rocker finished in about five hours. Given the time we had to do the entire car, replacing the entire rocker the correct way wasn't an option, but we did it to where most people won't notice it, and it's structurally safe and strong.
To do the job alone is a long and laborious effort, and a fairly boring one at that. Having friends to share the workload and hang out with while toiling on such an endeavor makes it far more enjoyable, and given that three of us didn't really know a whole lot about painting a car, we all came out a bit smarter--we think. We owe big thanks to Mark Johnson, Brian Bohnsack, and Rob Baldwin, who all played pivotal roles in getting our Recession Special looking great. We are no longer embarrassed about driving it in public, and although it still retains beater status, we keep a bottle of spray detailer in the car now.
 Our front and rear bumper...  Our front and rear bumper covers were straight but riddled with pockmarks, gouges, and pits from the plastic deteriorating. Getting new covers was out of the budget, so we sanded them down with 120-grit paper using the DA and various blocks. We then used the Rage body filler over a large portion of each cover, sanded it down with 80-grit, and then primed them. With the primer dry, we sanded them with 180 paper and touched up any missed spots with spot putty. We then reprimed and sanded again with 400-grit paper before applying paint. |  There was really no reason...  There was really no reason to save the trunk lid that was on the car. It had dents pointing in and out, not to mention the rust that someone tried to fix with fiberglass at some point. Our new piece (PN LRS-40110A) retails for $144. |  We removed the passenger-side...  We removed the passenger-side front fender to pop out the dent in its front section. To pull it off the car, remove the bolts along the engine bay, as well as the two at the bottom rear of the fender. You can pull the fender liner out and leave it attached to the fender as we did, or you can leave it on the car. It's just a couple of Phillips-head screws and some plastic push-in fasteners. |
 When one of the 12 previous...  When one of the 12 previous owners had the new/used door installed, he evidently had it too far forward, and opening the door bent in the back edge of the fender. There's a tool called a "spoon" that is used to straighten out an edge like this, but our man Johnson made do with a small prybar and a body hammer. What took him about 5 minutes would have taken us several hours. |  The passenger-side rocker...  The passenger-side rocker panel was by far the worst part on the car, and probably the most labor intensive to fix. Normally the entire rocker would be cut out and replaced. Though only the bottom looks pushed in from this angle, the pinch weld at the door seal was pushed in a decent amount, which made replacing the entire rocker a long and labor-intensive job. We opted to cut a few corners, and most people won't be able to tell the difference. |  Our friend Rob Baldwin volunteered...  Our friend Rob Baldwin volunteered to perform the rocker panel repair, as he was the most confident (and most willing) to tackle the job. Here Baldwin uses a dent puller to yank a good portion of the rocker panel outwards. |
 The section that was the most...  The section that was the most crumpled was cut out using an angle grinder with a cutting wheel. |  The previously mentioned angle...  The previously mentioned angle grinder subsequently fried itself, as you can see here. This wasn't the most dramatic part, though, as right after this photo was taken, the grinder erupted in green and yellow flames. Luckily we had a backup. |  When we bought Recession Special,...  When we bought Recession Special, it came with an extra door, front fender, and a good rocker panel. Rob Baldwin and his father, Gary, separated the rocker at the pinch weld, and then cut it to fit our rocker. The pinch weld at the top and bottom of the panel was then rewelded to the car. |
 After grinding the welds smooth,...  After grinding the welds smooth, we applied the Rage body filler. If you're overlapping the new panel on top of the old one as we did, use a hammer to push in the old metal at the forward end of the panel. This will make it easier for the body filler to fill the joint between the new and old sections. |  Summit Racing supplied us...  Summit Racing supplied us with two rolls of 80- and 120-grit paper for our sanding blocks. The Dura-Blocks, also from Summit, worked great, and we used all but one of the blocks that came in the six-piece kit (PN ARD-TAI-AF44L). |  Mark Johnson supplied some...  Mark Johnson supplied some epoxy seam sealer for the joints at the back of the rocker. These joints are able to move and flex, so you don't want to use body filler here or it will crack. If you ever forget your dual-shaft caulking gun, two Fox-body front sway-bar endlinks and a bit of elbow grease will get the job done. |