Has anyone here replaced their rocker panels at a body shop? If so, how much did it cost you with paint and how many days did you have to leave the car with them for?

I'm debating on just getting mine done and would welcome any input in terms of whether it's worth doing, or whether there would be any issues relating to the body stucture. Do shops typically just cut off the old panels and then weld on a new one and finish off the junctions?

 

THe shop will cut back until good metal, and then weld new panels in, then grind down the welds, fiberglass the joints, body fill, primer, paint. How far they cut is dependent on how much rust is there. Usually rust goes a lot deeper than the visable. Mine was creeping into the door frame and up the dog leg.

Problem is that there is no aftermarket rockers (like there are for more common cars) so they would have to be fabricated or purchased from nissan (if available) and I imagine would be quite costly.

I have pictures of my "backyard" repair on my car domain page...

 

4-5 DAY REPAIR. 1000-2000 repair depending on extent of rust.