MOT Failure Inner sills

[brian0443]

Just back from MOT with a fail. " Sill- rusteaten/holed- nearside and offside. Seam weld all repairs."

Our MOT centres do not carry out repair work, but the tester advised it could probably be patched, so hopeful.Doing my homework and beenlooking at inner sill prices from the usual suspects. EJ Ward considerably cheaper than the others.

Any comments/advice

Brian

[redstag]

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Replacing the inner sill is a major job and you will probably end up restoring the whole side of the car.

OK if you are ready to do that, if not then justpatch it up to keep it on the road.

Pete

[ethel]

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As Pete and your tester say, patching it is probably a good idea if you don't want to rebuild the car because you can't replace just the inner sill (at least I couldn't on mine). If the inner sill is rusted then the outer part of the floor is probably gone too and the ends of the outriggers under the floor, unless they've already been repaired; with each panel you'll have to decide if you want to patch or use a replacement part and to fit a complete inner sill you'll have to remove others just to get at it along its full length.

Depending on where and how your inner sill is rusted it might make the patch repair easier if you buy a newsill and just cut the repair sections you need from that, at least it should have the correct folds and bends, though it's a bitdiscarding half of a panel you've just spent £100 on.



John.

[Ian B]

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Brian,

this a major job, the inner sill is a pig to do, unless you want to go down the whole resto route then patching will see you okay - providing there is enough good metal to patch too.

remember to remove and replace the inner sill; the outer sill must come out along with cutting the rear wing bottom, taking off the front wing or cutting the bottom and probably removing some if not all of the floor pan.:shock:


ian

[Sheepdip]

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As others say, its probably failed on the sill join to the floor, especially in the front footwell area. You can't replace inner without removing outer so unless you're looking for a major job, patch whats there.

Try a panel suppliers (look in yellow pages) - they always carry right angled repair sections or similarso canrejoin sill to floor. If the floor is bad then may need a new footwell and outriggers. Its all hidden by the carpet eventually and make sure theres plenty of seam sealer and sealant underside to hide the repair from the mot man

[ethel]

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Sheepdip wrote:

make sure theres plenty of seam sealer and sealant underside to hide the repair from the mot man

Trouble I had was the seam sealer was the repair - holding the remains of the outrigger to the sill:shock:

[tonypy1]

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Not only is inner sill replacement a massive job but the replacements available at the moment do not fit. A patch / plate repair might cost £50 - £100 wheras inner sill replacement can lead to years off the road and £1000s spent on a full rebuild - trust me I know.....!

Cheers

Tony

[brian0443]

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Thanks everyone. I had heard somewhere along the way that the inner sills were just about the worst thing that can happen. I have arranged to bring it to my local friendly garage this afternoon so we can get it up on a ramp and see the extent of the problem.

Brian

[Ian B]

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good luck

[brian0443]

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Just back. Problem area seems to be relatively minor to the point where the local garage have offered to do the welding.

Looks as if your combined good wishes did the trick. Still I'll be a lot happier when the job is done.

Brian

[Ian B]

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luck of the Irish

[brian0443]

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Sills patched and through MOT on Saturday morning in time for a local show.

Thanks to all for advice and best wishes,

Brian