66 Continental Convertible Rocker Panels

[Dan Szwarc]

I know what John Cashman would say: “Junk it! It’s unsafe!”

None of our classic Lincoln’s meet the definition of safe by modern terms. They’re all death traps in a crash.

[1Bad55Chevy]

It would probably be easier patch up what's accessible and run frame connectors front to back. That should make up for the inner structure of the rockers being rotted.
Need to see what the rest of it looks like.

Have you done this before? Do you have a pic of how it would look like? Would you just weld them together along the way?
The rest looks ok, rust is only in the hidden spots. The floors look great, and the other side I also opened a little window on the rocker panel and looked good.

He is talking about subframe connectors. I highly doubt anyone has done this to a Lincoln. I have done a bunch of through floor installs on Fox body Mustangs and it's pretty easy. Just Google "subframe connectors" and "through floor subframe connectors" and get an idea of how they build them. The through floor setup will be the strongest.

[Mike]

Same thing different name. If youre staying more or less stock with this car simpler ones installed underneath is all you really need and saves on working the interior around them.

[Mike]

Although looking at this under body of a 67 convertible it looks like either way is a bit of a challenge when the front half of the floor is higher and the bottom of the rear frame rails are flush with the floor. It'll be some fabrication work no matter what is done.

[TonyC]

Well...I've refuted Mr. Cashman before; and, well, my stubbornness is almost legendary when it comes to trying to prove a point. I've been in three crashes with Frankenstein, and we survived, which kind of lends credence to Lincolns being labeled in '55 as the safest cars made in America.

The safety standards of today are bound to be considered debatable at least by me, judging from some footage I've seen...not totally refutable, I must stress, just debatable. Plus, I do have to admit, I have cheated a bit in making Frankenstein safer than other 1966 cars, so that has to be factored in.

---Tony

[frasern]

I hope we weren't too harsh on our first round of answers, some of us jaded old guys just hate rust! To be fair, it looks worse with the rocker cut away like that, and I think there are a lot of people who would have just slathered bondo over top and called it "Restored".
I have the same '61 exploded view that Mike posted, I once saw one for a '67, or I think I did, and it showed a rib inside there with "74 only", I have seen it in my conv., and it was not present in my 66, but I'll look closer at all the parts cars next spring.
The '61 press data claimed no extra bracing was required for the convertible, but that is clearly incorrect, as convertibles had bracing under and above the engine, anyway, I think that extra piece in the rocker was added when they stretched the wheelbase in '64.

[LithiumCobalt]

From what I recall, it was more than just an extra brace. I also remember seeing that there were additional gussets for rigidity and some of the metal was of thicker gauge

[Mike]

On the exploded view that middle piece looks to be 10461 which they call "reinforcement (floor side member) inner".

I thought I did see a reference to those under hood braces being convertible only before, and we know they are, but don't know where I saw that now.

[daniplee]

Thanks for that exploded view, it does look very similar (if not identical) to mine. It also checks out with what I'm seeing.
We are still gathering ideas, but i do think we will move forward with a repair, i'll keep you guys posted with the progress!

[daniplee]

just a quick update on progress:

On a separate note, this morning one of the pipe fittings on end of the hydraulic pipe into the cylinder broke, releasing fluid everywhere. So cant close it now! Ordered the part, just love how your attention keeps getting diverted from what you really need to do.