rocker panel drilling for side skirts
 

Is it true that the Rocker panel where it has that textured paint is made of plastic and not metal? I’ve drilled into the bottom of it to put on some bottom line side skirts. Do I need to worry about rust now?

you drilled it. what kind of shavings came out?

POR15

You couldn't tell by the shavings like soundman98 stated? Maybe you meant to say that you had someone else do the drilling?
In any case, it's metal.
https://youtu.be/m3AyCXISNSs?t=615

oh cool a used quarter panel replacement, god i hate these YouTube rebuilders.

What's the issue here? Them being on Youtube doesn't change that recycling used parts has been a thing. I've had used doors and other parts on my cars in the past

recycled doors and most other parts are bolt on parts, you will destroy the used quarter panel separating it to get it off the used clip. once you drill out those spot welds you no longer have material to resistance weld or rivet (depending on the manufacturers procedure) the used panel to the vehicle. Used structural parts are not an approved repair procedure and if a shop is doing it they are not doing a proper repair.

Makes sense enough. Thank you for the info, I'll keep that in mind should I have some rotten panels I need to replace in 10-15 years

I have to wonder if there is a difference between acceptable practices between states.

Procedure taught at one of the main autobody training schools in West Michigan in regards to the reuse of structural components was in fact to drill spot welds and reattach using MIG (GMAW) to fill the holes (admittedly this was over twenty years ago; I have no first hand knowledge of current instruction/practice; I did not remain in the field). However, given the fickle nature of resistance spot welding, I have no reason to doubt MIG filled holes with adequate penetration are equal (possibly superior) to the original spot welded union.

(I paid for college working as the quality control department for a Tier 1 automotive supplier to GM, Chrysler, and Honda (that I remember). Part of my position was performing destructive tests on spot welded sub-assemblies to certify the structures would remain intact up to defined loads. We were constantly adjusting the robotic resistance welders; one hour the assemblies might only pass because the sheer quantity of marginal welds held just well enough, the next hour the parts would be covered in 3” metal spikes from molten steel ejected from the weld pools. Minor variances in stamping tolerance, the roll of steel the stamping came from, wear on the welding tips, pre-weld component temps, etc. all contributed to the inconsistency.)

What I’m getting at is: I don’t understand why reusing a structural component would not be an acceptable repair if done well.

FWIW at least for the guy from the Youtube video, he's not professionally trained in auto work. He was a software engineer and then turned his side hobby of "fixing" cars into the Youtube job.

you do not have to understand it but OEM repair standards are OEM repair standards in any state and country they don't change based on state lines, and if you are an actual shop and go against the repair procedures you are responsible for what happens if the vehicle is in another collision.


https://www.repairerdrivennews.com/2...o-body-repair/

From the article you linked:

I haven’t watched the “B is for Build” series to know how he reassembled his vehicle, but the autobody program I mentioned previously was teaching how to use parts from an auto recycler using a procedure that roughly corresponds to the quoted Honda procedure. In the case of the linked article the shop panel bonded the structural roof instead of welding it, but nothing in the article appears to detail whether the parts were oem replacements (often from recyclers, not overstock) or from aftermarket duplications. Recycling structural components was totally a thing, I can’t say for sure that it still is, but the availability of various structural cuts from my local recyclers leads me to believe it’s still a common and acceptable practice.

I can assure you no OEM procedure supports recycling structural components and you cannot follow OEM procedure with it. The article had nothing to do with recycled parts but to show if you don’t follow procedure as a shop big things can happen. Using recycled structural parts might still be done but by no means is it an acceptable practice.

home depot sells home renovation supplies to anyone with a credit card--even if it's not theirs. to draw a parallel, would this mean that any home renovation done via components procured through home depot inherently meet all applicable building codes?

to draw the accurate parallel, if a trained and licensed contractor procured components from my local building supply recycler and performed a flawless install of those components in accordance with codes, i’d be confused if someone came along and told me it’s not permissible for a contractor to do that and no one should trust a contractor that does, because the original home builder doesn’t approve.

Most of it comes down to insurance regulations and requirements. Insurance says the oems method is the only acceptable method.

I just worked is house today that had work obviously done by a contractor. On the surface, it was correct, but once the wall was opened, fittings were missing, and they hodge podged connections to make everything appear to work.

You're making a lot of assumptions that the person doing the work is qualified enough to make alterations to the repair process. In that previous body shop link, someone died in large part because of what could easily be considered a simple change in installation procedure. But it had serious ramifications in the structural integrity of the vehicle chassis that they didn't account for.

I’m not assuming the repair process is being altered, I am confused by the blanket statement that structural components can’t be reused even if they are installed according to the procedure outlined by the OEM for maintaining structural integrity.

I know from experience that as recently as 20 years ago (yes it may have changed in the intervening years) that at least one i-car collision repair training program included how to section salvage parts into a wrecked vehicle during a collision repair.

I read the link presented as evidence that shops must follow procedure or be liable, but the process the shop in the link followed was wildly different from the required procedure. Although, the required process was not different from the procedure taught in the training program.

I also find it surprising the entire auto recycling industry would continue to exist if insurance companies required vehicles to be repaired using only new parts and refused to pay for repairs using recycled parts.

If I’m wrong about the whether recycled components can be used to repair a vehicle, neat I learned something new today and am better informed for the next time I need to have a shop repair a vehicle and can challenge their operational methodology if necessary. However, this discussion has intrigued me, so I read the Toyota Techstream Collision Repair Guide For Our Cars and found absolutely no mention of part sourcing. Procedure for attaching parts during repair, yes, but no mention of whether the parts can be OEM recycled, OEM backstock/overstock, or aftermarket reproductions.

I’m also just having the “philosophical” thought: Is rebuilding a salvage vehicle in opposition to OEM procedures?
An undamaged and reused portion of a salvage rebuild is technically equivalent to an undamaged and reused component used to repair a clean title car. Both are structures from vehicles that were previously salvaged. If it is unacceptable in one instance, logically it should be unacceptable in the other as well, but isn’t, is it?

long and short of it is that you cannot follow any OEM quarter panel replacement procedure with a used panel. The panel will be damaged and drilled where you need to glue or spot weld, plus most modern cars now use a hem seem in the wheelhouse and that would have to be ground off of the wheelhouse where the structural adhesive is. just because shops do it does not mean you should, I would bet a lot of money there are a lot of shops in my area doing repairs on the same cars as we do and not doing them properly, this is something I take very seriously after doing many many re repairs that were done at the giant insurance backed chain shops.