Rocker Panel Replacement

Hey guys, been a long time since I've posted here. I've finaly got around to redoing my floorpans, and I've got the entire passenger side done but thats where the happiness ends. My drivers side rocker panel from about the middle of the door up to where the toe board starts is rot, like complete rot, and it looks like someone tried to jack the car up using that area because its all caved in in this one section. What are my options for replacing this? I know this is a significant issue in terms of overall strength and integrity of the car so I want to do it right. Should I spend the $130 or so on a rocker panel replacement piece or should I try and fashion something myself from sheetmetal and weld it in there? Has anyone does this? As always, thanks for all the help:SNSign:

i'll post some pics tonight...it'll make you cringe, at least it makes me everytime i look at it