Replacing kick panels without removing door pillars

[Akjoatmon]

I have spent days on this forum trying to determine if I could replace my kick panels without removing my door pillars. While I did find some statements that it is was possible, I was not able to find any specifics as to how it was done. I have a 1967 bronco. The rockers, inner rockers and door (A) pillars are in good shape, but the kick panel is not. I removed the outer rocker, hoping I could reinstall it. However the front of it is sandwiched between the door pillar. I guess my question is how do I remove the spot welds on the the front of the rocker without separating the door pillar? The body brace appears to be in the way to remove them from the backside. My second question would be how do you mount the outer rocker if you were to purchase a door pillar that is not in two pieces?

Thanks in advance for any advice. I am new to this so forgive me if this is a stupid question.

 

[AZ73]

Welcome! You can't replace the kick panel without removing the door pillars as the door pillars are welded to the kick panel. if the damage isn't too bad you can try to patch it. Take a look at these links which document when I did mind to give you an idea of how it goes together.

https://classicbroncos.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2277249&postcount=66
https://classicbroncos.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2284396&postcount=67
https://classicbroncos.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2286267&postcount=68
https://classicbroncos.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2292212&postcount=69
https://classicbroncos.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2303666&postcount=71

 

[DC_Gearhead]

Attach some pictures. I did some creative kick panel patching on my passenger side and didn’t replace the pillar. Maybe it is the same. Take some pics.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Akjoatmon]

I'm sorry, it appears I can't easily attach photos as I am not a contributor.

I realized I would need to remove the spot welds between the door pillar and the kick panel, but I was hoping I would not need to remove it at the top where it is welded to the cowl/window ledge, Unfortunately at least on a 67 bronco there are spot welds inside the door pillar that can not be reached unless the two pieces of the door pillar were separated. Which brought me to my second question, how could such a the door pillar be installed if the two pieces where preassembled as most are sold? I now see the 66-67 door pillars are sold as separate halfs. The piece facing the door would need to be installed first with the lower portion's tab (which faces the front of the bronco) spot welded to the kick panel and floor brace and then the front half could be installed.

 

[Akjoatmon]

Thought I would follow up on this issue now that I have purchased replacement parts and removed the kick panel/door pillar. It would be difficult to remove the kick panel without completely removing the door post. The problem, at least with the 66-67 door post, is that access to the lower flange of the original door post that is spot welded to the kick panel is blocked from the inside by the floor brace, so you cannot reach those welds from the backside. They also cannot be reached from the front without splitting open the door post. The attached link shows original 66-67 door pillar/post next to the cheaper replacement door post that are said to fit all years. Notice that the lower flange faces forward in between the two halves of the the door post. There are also spot welds on the braces that house the door hinge bolt plates, but these can be removed from the backside. I ended up removing the kick panel and door post as a unit. Luckily the portion that was blocked by the brace was not welded to the brace or inner rocker, just the kick panel. Once the kick panel is out you can easily access the remaining spot welds.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/5a6y8thu4axuy38/AACN3IzoJviTFwtgtKoAB2wja?dl=0[/IMG]