OH DEAR.. my sills appear to be FU...rotten :(

[valman]

well as it says:



how hard is this to fix then?

thats jsut the driver's side rear near the arch.. i dont even dare poke away at the passenger's side

[macplaxton]

Ooops. I'd attack the other side though. Wouldn't surprise me if it were the same.

[Speedy88]

I've heard new sills aren't that expensive for 300s. It's "easy" but time consuming as long as you can get welding done and you know how to paint.

[valman]

I've heard new sills aren't that expensive for 300s. It's "easy" but time consuming as long as you can get welding done and you know how to paint.

i can weld fine.. just can i do it on the drive? my incentive is to leave it as is till the MOT runs out and then hopefully by then id have an access to a lift where i can do it.

unless its doable on the drive??

i would attack the other side but i dont want to make it worse by letting more stuff get in there, im yet to drive it when i turn 17 in a month and a bit although if its something i can do on the drive id happily go for it

[Jos360]

I wouldn't do it with the car on the ground. It makes your back hurt so bad you wish you didn't do it.

If you can weld it's an easy job. Arrange some 1mm sheet metal and a sill replacement at http://www.euro-autoparts.nl / www.artaparts.nl / similar websites.
Cut the rust out, shape the sheet metal to act as an inside reinforcement, weld the floorplate where needed and cut the outside sill to size.
Must be doable in a few days with the right equipment.

[Chris_C]

Depends how desparate you are tbh. I've done it on my back on the drive. It's a pain though.

I'd be dubious driving it until you have a proper look though, you may have noticed how close the leaf spring mounts are to that point....

[valman]

thanks for the helpful links jos,

Depends how desparate you are tbh. I've done it on my back on the drive. It's a pain though.

I'd be dubious driving it until you have a proper look though, you may have noticed how close the leaf spring mounts are to that point....

yeah i noticed that too how long did it take you to do on the floor chris?

[Chris_C]

I did both sides, basically an afternoon cutting bits out, a morning making tempplates and new bits (well, just over) and another late ish morning to evening to stick them all on per side. Then paint which in this weather is a pain.

Doing a proper job really isn't quick there, you have 5 sheets all coming into the same point as well as the jacking point strengthening piece.

[valman]

right i've put her up on axle stands... had a good poke around/into the sill on the drivers side, it seems to be relatively solid about 2 inches after the jacking point and the spring mount is solid, . cant say the same about the rest of it, although the jacking point's strengtheners (i think?) are solid and still attached to the jacking point. however, i can grab hold of said jacking point and push it around - not good but atleast it goes back to its place so the metal is solid-ish there. how shall i go about cutting out the old stuff then - how far forward to cut? or shall i just make a cut upto where i think its solid then if its not cut further forward etc

i guess i should hold off cutting untill i have the panels etc but just so i know
thanks all

[valman]

I did both sides, basically an afternoon cutting bits out, a morning making tempplates and new bits (well, just over) and another late ish morning to evening to stick them all on per side. Then paint which in this weather is a pain.

Doing a proper job really isn't quick there, you have 5 sheets all coming into the same point as well as the jacking point strengthening piece.

thank you. yeah for sure, will have to make a proper job of it, for my own safety if anything else. you dont happen to have any pictures of the procedure on a build thread or something mate?
edit just found some

[Ride_on]

Still repairing mine, but took a break over the holidays. Personally unless the car is dear to you I really would not bother with that level of damage. You can get the outer sill, but the inner 2 layers will be damaged and need rebuilding from self fab stuff or recovered scrap. You can bodge it with the a one piece outer (that goes all the way to the lower lip), making maybe 2 layers, but it will not be as strong as the original with 3 layer.

Most likely any parts that fell solid are probably rusted 50% and won't last much longer. Having removed many layers and seen the insides of 300s that noone should see I've come to the conclusion that it is impossible to rust proof this technology of spot welded seam, there are lots of little shadows and the design is not perfect (eg in and around the front of the leaf spring mount). Once you have serious rust like that, the chances are there are a load of little bubbles around the car that hide rot that you can put you hand through when its cut out. I just found one under the passenger seat, grown from around a seam for a strenthing box.

[valman]

hmmm, but i couldn't put a screw driver through it once i got further up the sill, im going to do what chris did and cut to a certain distance and check the corrosion and coat it all in anti rust stuff. i just dont want to bin this car as i really like it and they are pretty scarce at the moment it seems. tell me how you get on once you resume repairs though

[foggyjames]

If you clear off 2" of shiny metal with a flap wheel, you should be comfortably clear at that point. You'll see easily enough what's solid and what's not. cut a bit into the clean stuff, but don't go nuts. Just make sure all the rot is out.

cheers

James

[valman]

If you clear off 2" of shiny metal with a flap wheel, you should be comfortably clear at that point. You'll see easily enough what's solid and what's not. cut a bit into the clean stuff, but don't go nuts. Just make sure all the rot is out.

cheers

James

thank you for the advice. ill carry out the repair during easter, and i'll report back to show how i got on