rusty sills Rusty SIlls

abcdescott · October 7, 2019

Hi Guys & Gals

Just wanted to make a post on here to let people see how bad the rust with the sills can be.

I have 2 at the moment that I will be welding up, so 4 sills in total I have just cut up one at the moment and have some pictures to show.

Im not much of a welder so using a good old cheap flux core mig welder that should do the job 😄

I have some pictures of what its like and what my plans are, the area's are a bit tight to get the grinder into to grind away the rust … so just going to cut it all away!

Let me know what you guys think, if you have any photos of your rusty sills/boot etc

Have the cold but should be doing this within the week or so 😄 Looking forward to it !!

So plan is to cut out all the rust, replace it with new metal, primer it where I cant reach after welding, plug weld ovr existing good metal then seam along the sill etc, also though I might as well do the rear arch while I am there.

Britprius · October 7, 2019

Hi Scott. It looks like you have quite a bit of fabricating to do there. Once the tin worm gets started it is difficult to stop the only way is to cut it out. Good luck with your en devours ,and let us see pics on how things progress.

John.

abcdescott · October 14, 2019

Hi Guys

So … Kinda all done, need quite a bit of filler but I think it will look alright :s

I did make a few mistakes hopefully that I can coverup. The biggest was I was trying to grind the welds away and well I ended up grinding away good metal so thin that it just cracked (right under the door) so had to cut that away so I could replace it with more metal 😕

In full tho… really good fun, just rather difficult to get into at some points and stuff.

Ill post some of the during then make another reply for the after .

So as my pictures above, Ive created a panel to cover the (think its called a Gullet ? the big O cut out's) holes and welded them up. these weren't the finished product welded a lot more, made sure there were no holes but didn't grind them down as its on the inside.

underneath, I cut away some of the pinch weld so started to form what I had taken away. along with the bit on the right which was for the plate in the wheel arch to plug weld to.

4th picture down you can see that box section trying to continue it all the way along. (I like this bit, feel that I done Good there) You can also see my mistake. on this photo and the other 2. So I had put these plates in thinking about how I would do the outer sill and thought id grind it down to see how it looked etc.... and ended up screwing it up as you can see the bit of good metal just at the bottom of the door sill bit 😞 wasn't happy at myself ! lol

Overall the inside was a mess … not so much anymore 😄

abcdescott · October 14, 2019

So As you can see most of this was done in the dark with a few lights. I had planed on doing it thought the day but my pal needed help with his exhaust.

So next day I managed to get the bellow done, not too happy with the outer sill, really happy with the join with the wheel arch but not so sure about the curvature of it … What's your thoughts guys ? I will be using some body filler and then seeing how it is after that 😛 I have another 2 to do as my other car neds it quite badly.

If everyone wants I can post about this here too ?

Here we have the finishing product ! 😄

Still need to plug weld the Sill bit, Forgot to do this at the time but I can easy enough go round with my drill and fill it in with weld. Cut the Pinch to the same level.

Im quite happy with how it turned out, kinda. Where the new Sill meats the old sill im going to need quite a bit of filler for that 😞 messed that bit up. Where the rear arch comes back, not sure if this is the correct curvature or if it matters, WHATS YOUR GUYS THOUGHTS ? also need to bend it back so its not a sharp edge.

abcdescott · October 15, 2019

So, its getting there Slowly and my god body filler stinks and is hard to work with … Done plenty of filling walls plastering ceilings walls etc but body filler … different kettle of fish 😂

Still need to give it another layer and then a fine sand with 180 then a wee coat of paint … nothing special just black maybe, just to see how it is.

So for the first time doing welding and some body work etc … What do you guys think ? Im a little :s about the rear arch bit besides that im really happy with it so far ...

whiteman · October 15, 2019

you've done a good job, I have just rescued a 2004 sport with rotten sills, it appears they rust because when they inject waxoyl or what ever they use it never gets to the rear part of the sill so they eventually rust from inside , first sign is bubbles on the sill trying to get through the stoneguard….

abcdescott · October 15, 2019

2 hours ago, whiteman said:

you've done a good job, I have just rescued a 2004 sport with rotten sills, it appears they rust because when they inject waxoyl or what ever they use it never gets to the rear part of the sill so they eventually rust from inside , first sign is bubbles on the sill trying to get through the stoneguard….

Thanks Whiteman

Yeah I have a black one that im doing next, that has … well it has been bubbling for about a year or two 😕 so not looking forward to whats behind it.

Any pictures of before during and after your repair ?

whiteman · October 19, 2019

whiteman · October 19, 2019

You can see that after the stoneguard was removed the small holes can be seen then tapped with a hammer it is very thin as its rusting from the inside, when looking inside you can see where the waxoyl or whatever they use for protection stops so therefore rust appears, it was cut out and treated with waxoyl then covered with new metal and finished off ready to spray.. You can catch it early and no need to do as much as you have done but I have not seen one of the old is200s without the dreaded rust....its the stoneguard which hides it for many years until its too late when you see the bubbles appearing ...

Chris JJ · November 28, 2019

On 10/15/2019 at 11:55 AM, abcdescott said:

So, its getting there Slowly and my god body filler stinks and is hard to work with … Done plenty of filling walls plastering ceilings walls etc but body filler … different kettle of fish 😂

Still need to give it another layer and then a fine sand with 180 then a wee coat of paint … nothing special just black maybe, just to see how it is.

So for the first time doing welding and some body work etc … What do you guys think ? Im a little :s about the rear arch bit besides that im really happy with it so far ...

A lot of hard work, but looks like the fun she'd article looks good. There is some bad garage welding out there so you should be proud of what you have achieved.

abcdescott · January 6, 2020

Ok, !!! It continues, this was the practice car and Glad I used this one, because one side on my daily …. well looks bad.

Sadly I don't know what happened but lost the before photos but it was kind rotten you could poke your finger though it it was that soft ! so not good 😞 The other side I thought was better as well it was more solid, but the problem was someone jacked the car up on the sill so was finally going to fix that too !

So my friends parents are away and they lent me their garage as my drive is stones. Straight away much better, reversed up onto some ramps which gives me plenty of room.

So, Ill keep the photos small but here is the drivers side - decided to take it back quite a bit to ensure there's no rust left.

With the passenger side, thought it was better but oh I was wrong! not sure if its because it was bent, it kept all the moisture in or what but oh man ! wasn't expecting that ! and theres all the metal and dust I was just pulling away !

All the green stuff is rust covert stuff, trying it out to see how it does.

Also whist I was under the car decided to look at the boot pockets as I knew I had 1 hole, but again 😞 didn't think it was that bad, also noticed the boot floor was looking a bit rusty, so may replace some of that as well … have plenty of metal and wire 😂

Also, the blue pictures, I was trying to figure out how to end the back plate, of the sill. Also …. that's my mates car who has asked me to do his next 😂

Anyone else got DIY sill repairs ? just wish I knew how to paint, if anyone wants to teach me !!!! ill travel for it 😛

rich1068 · January 7, 2020

Good work!

abcdescott · January 7, 2020

42 minutes ago, rich1068 said:

Good work!

Whish it felt like it when you are cutting away the inner sill and thinking you might need to cut the support bar for the rear subframe mount 😞 but its all progress weather its getting cut out or cleaned up, steps in the right direction I guess 😛

rich1068 · January 7, 2020

Certainly. And you're braver than me. Most of all it's good to see someone else determined to keep these cars on the road.

abcdescott · January 27, 2020

Thanks rich1068 but apparently not very smart !!

Anyone who is squeamish STOP READING !! So I decided to do a small job before working on the car and well … I shouldn't have, now ill be 4-8 weeks out the game along with driving maybe !! NOT GOOD !

so I hurt myself a wee bit as you will see below..

So was using a Stanley knife and well it slipped... cut two fingers doesn't look too bad but cut 98% through my tendon so that had to be stitched up then the cuts. a very disappointing end to that day !!

TO EVERYONE WHOS WORKING ON STUFF … PLEASE BE CAREFULL.

rich1068 · January 28, 2020

Ooo! That second one

Farqui · January 28, 2020

Ouch, that blade really cut deep if you damaged your tendon...nasty.

Get well soon.

abcdescott · February 1, 2020

yup, but cast off just sadly, will be in a temp wrist splint for 5-8 weeks ! 😞 not good ! oh well accidents happen & Farqui yeah was ready to snap apparently so hopefully I don't have any lasting damage 😕