Replacement Sill Help Needed

[W80ODY 0]

Hi there

 

A friend and i have bought a 205 1.8 diesel van as project to work on over the winter months.

 

We got bought it for next to nothing as we knew it needed work done to sills but not until a closer inspection did it reveal how badly rusted the sills were.

 

The rust is in the usual 205 spot where the sill mets rear quarter but also after probing with a screwdriver it seems that most of the underneath of the sills are in bad shape too.

 

Having spoken to my local friendly mechanic and watching him doing a sill replacement on an escort van its inspired me to go ahead and do it myself as i have various mig welders and basic welding experiences

 

The sill that i saw being fitted to the escort van was an "over" sill which after cutting out all the rust in the original sill was welded on top of this, would this be what im looking to do with mine?

 

My main concern is that the the rear part of the sill seems to sit behind/underneath rear quarter panel, i intend to remove interior rear panels tonight to get a better idea of how it is attached.

 

Has anyone done a full sill replacement on a 205 before?

 

Any help/advice would be fantastic, il post pictures tomorrow to show the extent of the rust.

 

Heres a picture of the van after its first wash

 

[axnutty 10]

Id be interested to see how you get on with this. I hate to say it but if the sills are really bad you may want to consier getting a new car/van.

 

However if you can weld and ensure the car is level and not twisted when you do it im sure its not too bad a job.

 

The sill to rear arch dont line up like youd first imagine. Theres a lot of OE filler there. There is a lip of the steel arch about an 1" back though. I think there is another bridging section near the B piller (???) Underneath it joins to the floor section at that lip that runs the length of the car.

 

At the top I dont where or how it joins the 1/4panel.

 

As i say id like to see some pics on how you get on and what exactly lies underneath. I suppose if the van doesnt owe you anything/not much then the answer is to cut the old sill back and see how much work it looks like its going to be.