'48 vs '49 rockers

[Lisa P]

Hi all, the '48 Kaiser I am working on needs replacement outer rocker panels.  I see the company C2C fabrication has them for model year '49 and up.  I have read that the difference between the '48 and the '49 includes a longer wheelbase on the '49.  Despite that, are the outer rocker panels used on the '49's vastly different from those on the '48?  I was thinking about getting a set and just shortening them if they weren't different in any other dimension than length.  Thanks again for the advice!

[superk226]

The 48 rocker panels are different enough from the 49 panels that it would not be practical to inter change. I think the company that you mentioned also makes rocker panels for the 48. They usually have metal replacement parts on eBay daily for KF cars.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

1947 and 1948 model year rocker panels are interchangeable or should be depending on how they are re-manufactured.

[ben-tex]

Not sure about the supplier you mention but if it is the same one doing floor panels forget it. The floor panels have been widely panned as poor quality. I know for a fact that 47-48 floor pans for the front are different from 49.

[Lisa P]

Thanks again for the replies.  I ordered a set that fits '47-48 from an Ebay vendor, a different one from the place I originally mentioned.  The reviews of this person were 98% positive.  I will let you know how they fit when I get them.  

[Gordie]

That guy near Detroit that offers sheet metal has lots of negative feedback.  His illustrations for '51-'55 floorpans are quite different than the parts book illustration.  I had a bad experience with him and had to go thru Paypal to get my money back.

[joefrazer]

You can put 49 rockers on a 47-8 but you can't put 47-8 rockers on a 49 unless you cut the back down. The 49 units are twice the height so the back half of the rocker is longer. Using 49 rockers on a 47-8 will result in a gap of an inch or more behind the rocker. Best to use the  right parts.

[Jim B PEI]

Now this is getting interesting! About a Michigan vendor near Detroit--I see C2C (Classic to Current Fabrication) when I Google, and when I go on Ebay, I find a different name Classicparts4U. Now, both have an address of 24536 Capitol St. Redford, MI 48239. How do I know, because on one of my several peripatetic trips last year from PEI to wherever, I dropped in there to pick up some Studebaker sedan front floor panels L&R for both a 57 and the 63, just to have in case. I bought them via Ebay, but then picked them up because I was within 80 miles of there anyway, and west and a bit north of where I was going in roundaboutish way which was south west.  (saved a fortune in shipping) They were not expensive, and at for one car at least they are a very close match indeed--haven't checked the other car yet, because I'm not ready to rip out the carpet quite yet. But, I've never bought anything Kaiser from them. Their feedback is 99%+

I picked up some rocker panels for my 49K from a place in Vermont-which in its other life is a plumbing supply sort of place, several years ago. I wasn't that impressed, and my body man was even less impressed, and said he could have made better ones himself from scratch. Metal too thin, among other considerations.

I see another vendor of Kaiser rocker panels on Ebay at this moment, name starts with J. He is also 98 or 99%+   So, based on what was posted, who is the "bad one"?   Or is it someone else again?