Welding Up Sills, Rust Problem!

[huzzer 0]

Was poking around the sills and uncovered this.

 

I'm looking for the best way to sort it.

 

-My idea so far is to cut out the section back to good metal,

-cut a piece of new steel slightly larger than the hole,

-feed it into the sill and pull it onto the back of the area,

-weld the edges so the whole new section is slightly lower than the rest of it,

-use filler to get the desired shape

 

???

 

I ok with a mig but i'm not sure I could butt weld the new section in and get the right shape of the sill? Is the way I've suggested ok or a bodge??

[jord294 87]

i don't know how easy parts are to get over there.

 

perhaps you could buy a whole new sill?

[huzzer 0]

Parts are pretty scarce, and I don't think my bodywork skills are up for that.

[TurboSam 5]

sounds ok to me, its not a bodge if the rust is fully cut out and the new metal is seamed in.

[Jrod 7]

Could you not get someone out here to cut a chunk out and send it to you? can't cost that much for a bit of sill to be posted.

[huzzer 0]

Thats a good idea! although may cost more than its worth.

[gti_al 1]

There are 205 shells around... Chris (casnell) has one, and there are plenty in the melb wreckers

 

Weird too see rust like that though - i certainly haven't seen anything like it here

[Super Josh 4]

Weird too see rust like that though - i certainly haven't seen anything like it here

 

Must be a UK Import

[Paintguy 0]

Your intended method will give you a structurally sound and safe repair, but you'll have to watch out for future corrosion in that area. Although it's probably not as much of a problem for you as us in the UK, but where the larger plate overlaps, it will create a haven for future corrosion to start. Sealing up the edges would help to prevent this, but clearly you won't be able to do that inside the sill.

 

I'd at least make sure the plate is covered in a decent weld-through primer, and try and get some sort of Waxoyl/Dinitrol product injected into the sill to keep the tin worm at bay Even better would be to do a butt welded repair, where the plate you fit matches exactly to the area you have cut out, so that there are no overlapping sections. Harder to do though, and much more difficult to weld.

 

And check that the drain holes are clear in the sill! The 205 (like many cars) is designed to channel rain water through its sills. If the drain holes are blocked, it can hang around in there and make matters worse.

 

In my opinion though, the sill has clearly had some sort of repair in the past, as they don't come full of filler from the factory That's almost certainly where the rust has appeared from, so I'd consider stripping all of the sill to see if there's any more damage that needs repairing. I can already see a few bubbles in that picture the the right of the main area.

[huzzer 0]

Cheers Paintguy. I have literally just sat down after finishing painting and saw this. Oh well.

 

Its not actually filler on the sills, its just a thick stone chip stuff. it peels off when hot about 1-2 mm thick.

 

I took it all off anyway, and stripped all the sill back a couple of feet from the hole. There were a couple of pin holes of rust close to the bad area but nothing further on.

I ended up making up a backing piece and welding it onto the inside and round the edges. I used a piece of zincaneal (sp?) and just scuffed up the welding area with a flap disc. Hopefully this will stop the edges of it from rotting again from the inside. Then I just used filler to bring it up to surface level.

 

It is strange why it has rusted so badly there as none of my UK pugs had any in that area, and rust is unusual here being dry all the time.

I am planning on completely stripping it and repainting it at somepoint when I've built the new house with a big garage! I would try and find a decent example to start with but they are rare as over in the West so I guess i'll just have to work with what i've got.

will get some pics up soon

Edited March 3, 2008 by huzzer