Advice - Welding outer sills

[j_mcvic]

Hi all,

My fathers van failed its MOT the other day on the corrosion shown below among other things. Really im just looking for advice about the best way to tackle this. I am slightly worried that it appears to be very near to a seam, is this something to worry about or is it just a case of chop out a square, make a square plate the same size and weld it in and then obviously tidy it up and paint it etc!

All suggestions, hints and tips would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Daz1968]

All you can do is cut out the bad metal and review repairs required, it may need some repairs to inner sill as well. A lot depends on how fussy you are with the repair as you could repair that with one patch or two replicating the seam.

 

[mike 109444]

Price up a replacement sill. Reason unless you are a dab hand at making up sections then by the time you get back to "good metal" you will be about 4" each side of that hole (min!) and will then have about a foot long section to put in. You can then cut a section of the new sill and it should line up and weld in a lot easier.
First thing though is wire brush off paint to see the extent of the rust

 

[atomant48]

Even if you got a replacement sill the A post is going to need a patch making, but the end of the sill probably steps under the A post so agree this piece might be easier to buy.

Guess it depends what finish you're after, but they look like ok shapes to make. As already said though, start cleaning back to see what youre in for. As a start i'd say the inner sill and the flange onto the floor pan are going to need some attention. The rust has to start somewhere - more than likely the inside out unfortunately!

 

[j_mcvic]

Thanks for the replies chaps! I need to finish doing the sills on my Vitara so it will probably be tonight or tomorrow night il get the wire brush out and clean the area up a bit to see what I'm faced with! I don't mind replicating the sill from the sheet I've got as it's good
Practice!! Where would one get a replacement sill from? Dealers? Scrappies?

 

[gulf]

Try bodypanels4u co uk.If the part isnt available you can get a section cut from a scrapper,unless youre able to fab up the shape yourself.

 

[rikrobson]

the area you will need to cut back to is going to be a lot bigger than the rusty patch you can see there.

the rust is also on the back and thins the good metal. then when you come to weld the patch on you will not have enough thickness of sill left. therefore you need to make sure that the edges of the hole to patch are the correct thickness.

 

[zardoz]

Its more than 'near' the seam.

But its no big deal if all you want is to patch it up to pass an MOT. Just chop a chunk out and stich weld a piece back in. If you are not too concerned about appearence, then just lap weld a plate a bit bigger than the hole, with a stitch weld.

If on the other hand you wish to eke out several more years on the vehicle then a new sill is in order along with any patches to the inner sill that are needed along with rust protection, while you have got access to it.

 

[j_mcvic]

Well I sorted it tonight. Im pretty please with how it turned out to be honest considering its only my 2nd time doing this sort of thing, the first time was Thursday when I was fixing the inside sills on my Vitara!!

Anyways il let the pictures do the talking but its just about finished, need to sand down the filler a bit more and then put another coat on to try and get it a bit smoother!



























I know its not perfect but its strong and I don't think its too bad for my second dabble into bodywork!

 

[zardoz]

Not bad for a new welder. Glad you made the descision to chop the old piece out and butt weld. Many would just plate over the top. It will last much longer. If you want to really blend it in with the rest of the sill, dont forget to put back a thin coat of stone chip across the bottom third, to match the rest. Then paint over that. As it is a silver colour it should be not too difficult to blend in the old and new paintwork.

well done.

 

[j_mcvic]

Thanks! I didn't think it was too bad for 3.5 hours work! Ive got some underseal in the garage as I need it to cover the inner sills of the vitara! Ive got a mate as well thats a pretty good painter so will probably get him to just paint it for me assuming that it passes its re-test tomorrow! I was lucky and ran out of wire the exact moment that I finished welding, yesterday must of been my lucky day!

Thanks for the advice everyone!

 

[j_mcvic]

Well the Vitara and the caddy passed their MOT's today so the welding must of been good enough!

Thanks

 

[Coo]

Well done!

 

[intergrale4x4]

What did you use to cut the rotten section out ???

 

[j_mcvic]

Mixture of grinder and dremel!