washed the car recently, happened to wipe underside of rocker molding with wash mit, and a head of a screw falls onto the ground, so I have a look under there, there'* supposed to be 8 screws per side along the underside of the molding to hold it in place, on one side 2 are missing, on the other side 4 are missing.

It'* not that they've fallen out, it looks like the screws have rotted away at the head, and the heads have fallen off, anyone else have this problem?

got some replacement retaining screws, went to install them this last weekend, tried to drill out the part of the old screw that'* still in the rocker, but it'* impossible, so just drilled new mounting holes right beside the original ones. When I got to the 3rd one, discovered this one was not a case of the head of the screw falling off, at this attachment point there was no retaining screw originally installed, not even a hole in the rocker for one. Also, either I mis-counted, or another one failed since I first noticed the problem, cause on the side where I thought 4 were missing, it'* now 5 missing, only 3 left holding the molding in place.

That'* very weird. So is your molding really loose? Maybe your car WAS in an accident and was not fixed right, like the peeling paint. :? I know some of mine are probably rusted out. I'd take my rocker moldings off to repaint them but I'm afraid I won't be able to put them back on because of all the rusted out sh** under there.

I sanded all that **** down under there and primered it, painted it then put the rocker holders back in.... to bad all that is bondo :? I got new rocker panels to put in sometime... :?

Even with only 3 screws where there should have been 8, I didn't notice that the molding was loose. If I try to move it, it feels secure, it was only because I got under there and looked around that I even noticed the missing screw heads.

That'* why I'm very curious to know if any other SSE/SSEi owners have this problem, cause like you suggest, maybe there'* something in the history of my specific car that relates to this problem, or maybe it'* a general problem with the the way these moldings are attached. I'm not having any peeling problems with the paint on the rocker moldings, and I would think the rocker moldings would get just as much abuse as the wheel wells, so either it'* the original paint, or if the rocker moldings have been repainted, it must have been done right.

As far as the condition of the paint on the rocker moldings in general, I notice that at the rear section of the molding where it kind of flares out just in front of the rear wheels, it'* kind of pitted, almost like it'* been sand-blasted, I'll try to get some pics of that and post them.

"maybe there'* something in the history of my specific car that relates to this problem, or maybe it'* a general problem with the the way these moldings are attached. "


Has this car ever been driven through the mountains in winter or in the lower mainland when there is snow on the road? Road crews use a lot of very corrosive salt solutions when there is snow on the roads in your area. Unless it'* rinsed off quickly after exposure it starts to dissolve the metal.

I didn't think my car had been exposed to any more corrosive salt than average (if there is such a thing). I've owned the car for about a year, here in Vancouver, and the previous owner brought it here about a year before I bought it. It started service in Indianapolis, Indiana in Aug '94, and moved to Martinsville in Apr '97, then to Vancouver in Sep '01

We typically don't get more than a few days of snow here each year, but lots of frost & ice, so there is certainly some exposure to salt in the winer. I'm sure going to washing under there in the winter from now on. Since at least in the winter, it'* legal to wash your car, not like in the summer here, when it'* illegal to wash your car.