Inner & Outer sills

[lofty]

Hi all,

It's certainly easier taking it apart than putting back!

I have rebuilt the lower part of my n/s inner sill and am trying to get the new outer sill to look good/door lines etc.

The outer sill is a good quality Heritage make from Rimmer.

Appears to fit at top front and rear but along the middle edge the new sill top angle is not 90degs.

Can someone please confirm the inner and outer sill top edges are indeed 90degs to each other before I get the big hammer out.

Cheers Dave

[edd]

Hi Dave , i had all sorts of fun with this problem and did change the angle closer to 90 The sill is very well made but i used several long lengths of wood clamped on and very slowly gave it a twack with a big rubber mallet, only a slight change in the angle will totally transform the fit so lots of temp fitting is in order .
You then have to take into account the swage line to , i noticed one at a show and it stuck out 1/2 inche from the door and looked like a shelf to put a picture on. i used lots of grips and kept my lock and rubbers on to ensure a future good fit with no supprises .Screwing it on first also helped to slowly fettle the fit . Lovely work btw
edd

[lofty]

Many thanks, I have started by correcting the angle and you are right, a little goes a long way.

The outer sill stuck out a mile and now its nearly flush.

Need to renew the doorskin next, so will get all the panels temporarily fitted and cross everything.

Cheers Dave

[puffernutter]

I am in a similar position, although not so far advanced! I am getting well outside my comfort zone, but posts like this give me confidence! I am working on the offside. The bottom of the A Post was rotted through - in fact what I thought was a welded repair patch turned out to be held on with mastic! So, bottom of the rear of the front wing removed, ditto the rear wing, a use of a borrowed plasma cutter (now bought my own) and the true horror is revealed! In fact it wasn't that bad - the front around the A post and back as far as the inner sill changes height, but after that, as solid as a rock. I am still in the process of drilling and grinding bits of the old outer sill out, so I have no idea how mine fits (although it is a heritage panel).

First question - should the edges of the sill need to be pulled together to allow the jacking points to be welded in?

My second question is around the front floor.

I will be replacing the front part of the floor and the front outrigger. The floor is rotten adjacent to the inner sill, but pretty good elsewhere. I need to weld a small repair patch at the end of the gearbox cross-member. I need to repair the floor, I have a replacement panel, but was going to cut it out such that it overlaps on the good part of the floor. The inner sill is OK, so I planned to bend the edge the floor through 90deg (about 30mm worth) at the sill and I can either plug weld or seam weld. Very simply, that is the question - should it be plug welded or seam welded?

Neither can be seen during the MoT, but I want a strong and safe car!

Cheers

Peter

[edd]

Hi Peter. Your floor should come with a 90 degree on it. I purchased a hole puncher and combined flange tool from machine mart it does speed up some of the holes for plug welding. I fabricated my own jacking points. I fitted them once I was happy with the fit of the sill. Once you are happy and have made the adjustments you can verify the distance from the top and bottom flange of the inner sill. These datam faces can then give you the finish shape and size of your jacking points.
Seam welding is great when butting material but the floor pan you need to try to get the weld on the 90 and not at the bottom of it. I have plug welded mine to the inner sill under the car and tacked it on the inside always using a zinc weld through primer. If I were you look at the other forums or just look at the pictures only on the threads and save the ones you need as a good reference. I have learned so much looking at other peoples work. I have just posted my work on the floor too.
Edd