Sill repair?

tytek · #1 21st August 2012, 12:19

Has anyone here had their sills repaired?
I am in the process of having mine done :-(

I got a call from the garage who are doing the repair saying that they couldn't get anything else than genuine Mazda panels costing the same as Greece's national debt...

After a bit of searching I sourced a pair of repair sections on Ebay for less than £90 posted.
They are on their way and should be with me before the weekend.
I'll let you all know how they are and if they are a good supplier.

tytek · #2 24th August 2012, 12:16

Repair sections have been dropped off at the garage, lets see how it turns out...

Tribute Automotive · #3 24th August 2012, 19:43

Don't forget to ask them to waxoil inside after they have welded, as you will still have water going in there at some time in the future.

See you at the weekend

tytek · #4 24th August 2012, 22:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tribute

See you at the weekend

Looking forward to it :-D

tytek · #5 15th September 2012, 18:48

After wasting 2 weeks waiting for the garage to do something I brought the car back home and bought all the gear I was going to need to do the job.

Here's a few pics of my sills before I start to work on them.

As you can see the drivers side is far worse than the passenger side.

I'll be posting more pics as I go but please be patient as I'm working out of town 5 days a week :-(

Bongo · #6 17th September 2012, 19:02

It'll be very interesting and informative to show the before & after pictures as well as a step-by-step guide (including pics) if you've got the time & patience.

tytek · #7 17th September 2012, 23:57

I'll do my best. Time at home is in short supply for me at the moment...

tytek · #8 5th October 2012, 21:57

I finally made a start on the sills...

I took a flapper wheel to the sill to reveal a heap of filler and a few rust holes.
It looks worse than it is to be honest...

tytek · #9 5th October 2012, 22:00

I have since cut out all the rusty material and prepped the area ready to take the new repair section.
I'll do a few before and after pics to show the progress.

Bongo · #10 6th October 2012, 22:31

Good to see the work you've got to do on this & how you're going to go about it. I'm a total newbie at this so all advice & guidance is invaluable. Carry on the good work!

tytek · #11 6th October 2012, 22:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by tytek

I have since cut out all the rusty material and prepped the area ready to take the new repair section.
I'll do a few before and after pics to show the progress.

Just to clarify, the section I've removed from the car's sill is actually around 18" x 5"

It is just the 'skin' of the car and nothing structural, all the inner chassis members are fine apart from a bit of surface rust. The repair section I bought from Ebay more than covers this so no worries there. If you are canny and pay attention to what attaches to what on the car you will see that most of the welds you willneed to do are actually spot welds (or plug welds if you are using a MIG like me) and will be quick and easy to do.
A quick word of advice to any newbies going at their cars with a hand grinder - Don't go deep with the blade, the chassis sections are not far below the surface and can easily be cut if you are not careful. I know this now...

As a result of being over enthusiastic with the grinder I have a small section to do a repair on

The other side will be a breeze (I hope)

Tribute Automotive · #12 11th October 2012, 19:38

It could be worse, this is our "workshop" MX5 that we do development/kit fitting demo's on:

The poor old thing lives outside with no side windows, but it starts every single time

. I think a replacement will be needed in the Spring....

tytek · #13 11th October 2012, 20:10

Bloody hell!!!
The rust worms have been busy

tytek · #14 13th October 2012, 18:40

Well, I've done one side totally (filled and painted) and I'm oosing with confidence.
I am now working on the other side (the worst).

Lots of photos coming so be warned!!!

tytek · #15 13th October 2012, 19:25

Here we go...

This is what I started with.

Offer up the new repair section

Scratch the a line with a screwdriver at the top of the repair section.

Carefully grind half an inch from the line being careful not to go too deep - especially at the arch and the front most end as there is metal you need under there!!!

tytek · #16 13th October 2012, 19:32

I was able to 'peel' the old metal away due to the amount of corrosion.

This reveals the inner chassis member (and all the rust that has been gathering).

tytek · #17 13th October 2012, 19:39

I now carefully run my cutting disk along the under side of the sill to allow me to remove the lower section of the area I am repairing.

Look out for the old spot welds, grinding them away will make the final removal of the old metal easier.

Most of the old metal removed.

tytek · #18 13th October 2012, 19:47

Now it's time to clean up the surface rust with the flapper wheel!!!

More to come next week...

Bongo · #19 13th October 2012, 21:05

Very informative & helpful Tytek. Is that rusty lump behind the sill skin structural? And how did it get so bad in the first place? Is there any way to stop it happening again?

tytek · #20 13th October 2012, 21:15

In my opinion it's all down to the drain holes getting blocked.
All the rust is due to water sitting in the sill and having nowhere to go. I am convinced it's down to people actually trying to solve the problem of the sills rusting by Waxoyling or similar and blocking the drain ways.
The chassis is made of thicker steel than the skin so they seem to have survived the process.