Painful..... End of the road?

Rickysmith189

Rickysmith189

Well-known user
Jan 10, 2016
2,102
2,082
Sandbach
So, after seeing matts car... I decided to take the rear out of mine...
This is the drivers sill...
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Theres alot of loose rust there I mean here is a sample
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There are signs of previous repairs...

What is my best option now?...
 
It's not the end of the road. If it was, Tiger would've died years ago.

Tap the outside of the sills with your knuckles and listen for hollow noises. If so, tap with a pin hammer and see whether you go through.. Made a hole now? Don't panic - it's just metal.

Didn't make a hole? Take out the rear interior and remove the sill liners underneath the doors. Now inject all of it with underseal. Failing that, dirty diesel oil.

You'll be okay and never forget that you're not alone.
 
Doesnt look that bad Ricky..mine looked worse than that..a bit of TLC and it can be saved..like chris said if you cant make a hole from outside you should be fine doing this like me

My Oh ... moment like your having now

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Vaccumed out loose rust then Kurust Treatment

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Zinc Primer

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Final stone chip spray coat

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Rust..what rust? :)

It can be saved...
 
I had to let huge patches in mine when I bought it to even get an MOT - Offside sill holes went all the way into the floor pan.. Most would have sent it to scrap with the amount it needed. Cost me 20 quid and an afternoon on a borrowed 4 post lift to fix.

Buy a welder, fiddle around with it and crack on. Cut it back until you get to clean steel, weld new in. Sorted. Pretty much any car you buy at this age and especially market value will have as bad if not worse. If you didn't have the car because you loved it, you wouldn't be on the forums.

Don't cover over it and hope it'll go away - it'll keep going without you being able to tell until bits start to drop off. Rust should only be attacked by a grinder and welder.

A square meter of 1.2mm mild steel (structure) is 20 quid. the same size in 1mm (bit thicker than the standard body panels - 0.8mm) is £16 - MUCH cheaper than isopon & fibreglass, much quicker, and easier, too.
1.2mm: https://www.metals4u.co.uk/mild-steel/c6/sheet/c2240/sheets/c55/1.2mm-thick/p3105
1mm: https://www.metals4u.co.uk/mild-steel/c6/sheet/c2240/sheets/c55/1mm-thick/p2817

Welding courses are cheap if you haven't got a friend/relative willing to teach. You could probably call a mobile welder out, make them a brew and ask them to show you how instead of doing the job themselves.
 
Thanks guys... guess just panicing as welding is my worst weak spot and dont want to see her die after everything...
This is the nearside
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Doesnt look too bad down the sill but im not sure about that corner near the Arch..you might need the welder on that looks like the ingetrity of the metal may be gone , nothing that cant be fixed though
 
Rickysmith189 said:
Thanks guys... guess just panicing as welding is my worst weak spot and dont want to see her die after everything...
This is the nearside
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Click to expand...
Welding is an art. fabrication is black magic and doing them together is some kind of crazy voodoo. The only way to get better is practice. Look at it this way, your car isn't rusting, its asking you to become a better welder/fabricator. Key is don't panic, don't let it win. A human made your car and you being human means you can fix it.
After seeing how everyone here, excluding me with my 4200 mile trip to get there, pulls together, I have no doubt in my mind that if you give it a shot and screw up someone will help you get on the path to straightening it out. I'll tell you through experience we learn more from our mistakes then we do our instant accomplishments. I've actually learned more screwing things up at work then I ever did at school. Give it a go Mate nothing man made cant be fixed.
 
Biggest risk when welding is actually setting light to the car, or yourself. I've done both.
Strip anything flammable away from the area, especially the wiring loom !
I constantly stop welding to check the other side be it inside the car if I'm outside or vice versa. If it catches it there is the possibility it'll spread through the plastics.
If your under the car watch where the spark are going. I've got a scar on my upper arm, splatter set my overalls alight in a local spot, burnt through to my Tshirt sleeve then me. Which was when I found out my overall sleeve was on fire. Couldnt see it due to the welding mask.
As above it's all experience when things go wrong. My skin healed up but your car wont grow a new loom !
 
rooster2100 said:
Welding is an art. fabrication is black magic and doing them together is some kind of crazy voodoo. The only way to get better is practice. Look at it this way, your car isn't rusting, its asking you to become a better welder/fabricator. Key is don't panic, don't let it win. A human made your car and you being human means you can fix it.
After seeing how everyone here, excluding me with my 4200 mile trip to get there, pulls together, I have no doubt in my mind that if you give it a shot and screw up someone will help you get on the path to straightening it out. I'll tell you through experience we learn more from our mistakes then we do our instant accomplishments. I've actually learned more screwing things up at work then I ever did at school. Give it a go Mate nothing man made cant be fixed.
Click to expand...

That is awesome advice.... is it easier to actually replace the whole sill than bits?
 
Yes and no. bits you have numerous welds to make. multiple pieces to form all kinds of wierd angles to meet up and look straight. Entire sill you have to worry about heat and warpage due to how long the weld is. it would be more about what your comfortable doing. my job requires I be comfy with being able to cut the entire side off the car and weld a new one on. Actually I just cut the entire rear panel out of a minivan today so we can weld a new one on in the next few days.

If youre more comfortable with welding say a 9X12 piece then a 5x60 piece then bits would be better for you. If youre reverse then the sill is gonna work better. there really is no absolute right way. its what works for you.
 
And to deal with the heat issue, tack, then seam a maximum of an inch at a time. You'll rarely ever warp anything that way.

If you cut a sill, make sure you weld braces in the door shuts to keep your car straight (before you cut into the sill)
 
Herak said:
And to deal with the heat issue, tack, then seam a maximum of an inch at a time. You'll rarely ever warp anything that way.

If you cut a sill, make sure you weld braces in the door shuts to keep your car straight (before you cut into the sill)
Click to expand...
I'm not sure Id go an inch. I stitch weld it and just space the tacks out.
 
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