New/old 244 driver
 

Just scored a 88 244 well used. Wondering about rocker panel rust. Obviously not ideal but how concerning is it? Rust through on both front door rocker. Hoping for the best.be gentle
also wondering best course of action to reattach bumper. Currently being bungeed in place.

Rocker panel that are totally rusted out is usually a sign that rust runs deep in the car - at least it was for my last 240. For the bumpers usually the problem is that where the steel bumper mount bolts to the aluminum bumper gets all rotted out. The aluminum just crumbles due to the galvanic reaction of two unlike metals. If you disassemble the bumper and remove the plastic cover you see that there is a U shaped channel through the center of the bumper that I was able to fit a steel bar and bolted the mounts to that. The plastic cover covers it up so you won't see any of this. I was able to rig that up on my car and it was solid for the remainder of the life of the car.

Great info thx! I’m wondering if large washers would work on the aluminum. Also with the noted rust on the rockers how concerned should I be with structural stability?

I doubt the large washers will work but you'll have to pull the plastic cover off of the bumper to check. I found the corroded aluminum to be a bit too extensive for washers to work - at least in my case.

Act1292 thx so much for your response. You’re probably right, we had a better look at the holes and it will take a little more engineering than washers. The bigger concern right now is the inoperative windshield wipers. My son says he can move the wipers indicating a lack of connection to the motor? I don’t know if that makes it a simple reattachment or some thing more involved. I’m guessing it’s the latter. We are also finding it hard to find someone with any degree of experience to look at or work on it. Any recommendations in the twin cities (Mn) area? Thanks again