S5 - Mysterious hole

[BERNARD ROSE]

My friend just acquired and is rebuilding a '67 Alpine. On the inside of the rocker panel, near the front corner under the seat, on each side is a 1/2 inch hole. Does anyone have an idea of the purpose of this hole?
I have two photos, but don' know how to add them to the post. I can email them if need be.

 

[phyrman]

Not a clue
I just plug them

BD

 

[DanR]

Bernard, Send the pictures to my E-mail and I will load them for you,

DanR

 

[buckalpine3]

I think my SV had a moisture drain in the bottom of the rocker and should always be open

 

[BERNARD ROSE]

Bernard, Send the pictures to my E-mail and I will load them for you,

DanR

What is your email address?

 

[Tim R]

Alpines have a tendency to collect water in the sills, unlike some other convertibles of the era they have no drain holes. The end result is that the water gets in and just rusts its way out. It is not at all unusual to find additional holes that owners have added to try and stop this. We have seen cars with very large holes (1" plus) where you describe, sometimes caked full of mud and probably causing more harm than good.

We follow a set process where drill 2 holes in the bottom of the front wing, 3 holes in each outer sill (rocker), 2 holes in the front of the rear wing panel ahead of the rear wheel arch and 2 holes in the lower rear quarts beneath the fuel tanks.
We drill 3 holes in the top face of the sill and spray internal frame paint in these holes (If we haven't re-built and already painted the internals ourselves) then we spray creeping rust convertor wax like Dynax S50 once year. This was recommended to us many years ago by an Alpine restorer and we have followed his advice ever since. Any water that gets in just runs straight out again without causing any damage.

 

[Barry]

The TS asked about 1/2" diameter holes inside the car at the top of the rocker box structures; not about drain holes on the outside / bottom of the rocker boxes.

The holes in question are not rocker box drains. My best guess would be for alignment while forming the sheet metal "angle" or during construction of the unibody.

 

[Tom H]

Barry, I am not quite sure of your assumption. Like you my initial thought was that he meant the holes were "inside" the car's interior. But after seeing other responses I thought he could mean on the inner side of the rocker, but under the floor. I think Tim R's response was based on that thought and was considering that if the holes were located there, they might have been an attempt to drain and access for rust prevention.

Tom

 

[Tim R]

Barry I took it that the holes were outside the car, under the floor and in the vertical side wall. I was under my son's Series IV today and noticed that he has holes just in front of the rear wheel arch on both sides that open to the inside part of the sill (rocker).

The additional drain holes that we add are all on the horizontal lower faces of each panel, the injection holes that we add are on the angled side face that is covered when the door closes.

Tim R

 

[Barry]

Tom,

There is no assumption involved on my part; the two 1/2" diameter holes in question are located exactly where stated in post #1.

The right side hole is shown in the middle of this picture.

 

[junkman]

Hand brake mounting holes.

 

[Barry]

Hand brake mounting holes.

As clearly stated, the hole is in the middle of the picture.

 

[Barry]

To eliminate any confusion about "middle".

 

[Tom H]

Barry, Not to be overly argumentative, but how can YOUR picture clarify the original poster's words? The original post says "On the inside of the rocker panel, near the front corner under the seat," That could mean on the inside of the rocker , inside the vehicle. or it could mean on the inside of the rocker but on the lower part under the floor. You have assumed ( correctly , I think) he meant inside the vehicle and then in your post your wrote "The TS asked about 1/2" diameter holes INSIDE the car at the TOP of the rocker box structures". It was only in YOUR post that the words "INSIDE the car" and "TOP of the rocker " appear. I can only guess that you assumed he meant that because your car has a hole there. I think he has the holes there too, but I was only looking UNDER the floor. Tom R made an assumption that the poster meant "under the car", and gave his best guess based on that. I'm still not 100% sure if the hole you pictured is the same hole the original poster asked about.

Tom

 

[Barry]

Tom,

I do not see any way to understand "... near the front corner under the seat, on each side ..." as referring to drain holes for the rocker boxes, but I have been wrong before and you are entitled to your opinion. Time will tell.

I have stated which hole I think Bernard was referring to. If you are willing to go on record about which specific hole you believe he was talking about and provide a picture, we could make a friendly wager.

 

[DanR]

Hi Guys.... I asked back in the third (3rd) POST for him to send me some PIC's for uploading! Let's wait until He provides me with the PIC's then maybe we all will know what he is referring to?

The reason I volunteered to upload his pictures was I could not come to a good decision as to what he was describing and as they say a picture is worth a thousand words

I sent him a PM with my E-mail address at 11:59 AM this morning.

 

[Tom H]

Barry, I thought I was clear that I think you are correct about the holes Bernard is referring to. Maybe he will send photos to Dan.

I was only trying to clarify to you as to why myself and others could easily assume that the location of the holes that Bernard mentioned were under the floor, i.e. OUTSIDE the car. He described the holes as being "on the inside" of the rocker and "under" the seats. Because you were familiar with the holes on the inside of your car you made a reasonable assumption that those were the holes he was referring to. Others, like Tim R, were familiar with drain holes on the bottom inside of the rockers, outside the car, and also reasonably assumed that Bernard might be describing similar holes.

Tom

 

[ALC 68A]

If the hole marked with a red arrow in the earlier picture IS the hole the original poster was querying, might it be intended as a lower seatbelt strap mounting point? Is it threaded inside?

 

[DanR]

OK Guys, Bernard just sent me his Picture of the "What is it Hole?"

Also some additional PICs hopefully it will clarify for all to see the hole in which He is referring!
1st PIC is Bernard's.

Take a look at the 2nd picture taken from the Alpine Guide 2nd Issue page 048 I have included. You can easily see the holes for the E-Brake mounting, but the Draftsman either left off, left out the hole or the drawing was actually cut short in their Illustrated Drawing(s).

Still no answer as to what it is or Why it is there!!!! The hole is in Both side panels of the Alpine as shown in the 3rd and 4th PIC's of my "all" Original SIV Alpine B941003819

 

[Tim R]

That looks like it was my mistake in thinking the hole was beneath the car then, apologies if I caused any confusion.

Tim R