sill welding questions...

[spy]

Right ho, I am showing my ignorance here!  I am thinking of having a go at welding up my sill myself.  

With the plastic sill cover thing off, both sides of the sill box section are solid, its just the base that is knackered.  I was thinking about getting some box section (3" ish?) and welding that either inside the existing sill or cutting one side out of the box and welding it over the top?  Anyone with experience know what the best way is?

Would I be better to buy the replacement panels?  The body mounts etc seem solid to the side of the sill, the replacement panels look like I would have to remove all of that?  

Any tips anyone?  Dont put "pay someone else at the top of the list", I fancy the challenge.  If i cock it up I will pay but not before :D

[Xtremeteam]

Welding sills..................................


1-Im on holiday  :lol:
2-it WILL become a biggerjob than what u started out on specialy if its a 3 door disco
3-See no 1  :lol:

[spy]

Is that an offer? :D  Your a fair old trek away and erm, you know damn well its a 3 door! ;)

[Xtremeteam]

See 1 & 3



*redlinemike is currently unavailable,please leave your message after the tone*

[spy]

Lol.  How many beer tokens? :D

Come on then, not even one handy hint? Im disapointed in ya mikey :D

[Xtremeteam]

ive done one set of sills on a disco & that was enough,

where i used to work took the head welder/fabricator a week working 8 hour days to do a pair on a 5 door,3 doors i dont even want to think about as to do them properly involves removing the side of the motor

[Range Rover Blues]

It will invariably be a bigger job than you thought.  Make sure you have the use of another motor before you start.

DON'T just cover up rust with more metal, or next year you'll have nothing to weld to.  Cut all the rust away, pluys a little of the good metal.  Try to make your joints away from rust-traps so they don't just corrode instantly, welded metal is more prone to rust than rolled steel sheet.

Have a look in my galeries for inspiration.

Oh, and I'm on holidy with Redline Mike, we can't be contacted

[andyb]

100x40mm box section is pretty close to the same as the door sill. Cut away door sill, insert box section and weld it on. Don't forget to cap the ends and make body mounts. The box section will have about a 2-3mm wall......it will still rust but will take longer to develop a hole. Also good for jacking on :)

Finally expect to do some floor replacing when you do door sills and cut off the part of the rear inner arch that comes down past the body mount....this is a real mud/water trap and is the start of much of the rust on aging 3-door Discos.

HTH

[winchman]

Patch it up and drive it, it can easily turn in to a big job if you let it and then you can spend more time fixing it than using it.
You are doing the right thing by trying your sel, just make sure the weldings up to standard

[spy]

Patch it up and drive it,

Now thats more like it!  A man after my own heart.  The body mounts are all solid, the sides of the sill box section are solid.  I looked at a range rover tonight that the bloke had rammed 2.5' box into the sill and seem welded along it to the sides of the existing sill!  That looks like the way forward! I am not sure the diameters are the same but I will have to measure up!

Will keep you updated!

Cheers,

Mike

[spy]

I hate bloody cars!  Just started knocking the remaining rust sill out and already its worse than I thought.  The outside edge of the sill is screwed, I cant see how it can be done without removing half the body. (no I told you so's from redline mike!!).  

Just to top it off, her car is broke this morning.  Battery completely drained in  under 3 hours.  Think its the glow plug relay but its been replaced twice in 12 months for the same problem.  Starting to get on my tits now!  

Might be back to breaking the disco!  Oh descisions :(

Mike

[spy]

Well I bought myself some decent work lights and a new angle grinder and several discs.  I will cut what I can out and assess.  If I decide to break it I have lost nothing!

[winchman]

Mike I can solve  the problem
I have a very nice set of rubber mats for a Disco just glue them over the holes in the floor, and I have a Rover 214 for £200 with tax and test, there you are sorted!

[spy]

Ha bloody ha! ;) I can use the courtesy cars from work so I am not stuck for transport, hers is semi sorted, just have to take the fuse for the glow plug relay out before I go to bed if i want any battery life in the morning!

I am back to the idea of fixing the disco again, might cut some of the body out to do the sills, weld it back in badly and cover with chequer plate!  

Gonna start cutting the [!Expletive Deleted!] stuff out tonight and see how bad it is, if its too bad I have lost nothing and can still break it!

Get the rover on ebay, we have done OK with some cheapos recently - look at http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=9844&item=130032946024 and http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=9861&item=130037209569

[Boggert]

I had an old VW, that just started with a sill, 16 months later, I had replace 1 floor pan, 1 door pillar, 2 heater channels, front and rear valence, and 4 wings!

And it was still a shed!  :D

However I would give it a go, When I did it I learned to weld very well!

[crazymac]

I was over at a mates this afternoon, he's a welder/fabricater and has a customers 300TDi in for new sills. Pete had the new sills there, they are HUGE, they come half way into the floor pan.

He's really not looking forwards to the job

Patch/bodge/fit sliders for strength/forget

[wheels244]

Spy

Is that the Newton Le Willows near me ?
I did my 3 door - I fabricated new inners and outers for both sides, inner wing repair panel and beneath the battery tray ( nothing left).
Took 3 full days to do - now a lot stronger than when it left the factory.
I have just fabricated a lot of repair panels for my mate Rich ( MZ6666 on here).
It can be done - it just takes a bit of time, hard work, swearing and getting burnt.

Rob

[wheels244]

Spy

Is that the Newton Le Willows near me ?
I did my 3 door - I fabricated new inners and outers for both sides, inner wing repair panel and beneath the battery tray ( nothing left).
Took 3 full days to do - now a lot stronger than when it left the factory.
I have just fabricated a lot of repair panels for my mate Rich ( MZ6666 on here).
It can be done - it just takes a bit of time, hard work, swearing and getting burnt.

Rob

[spy]

Not that near! Newton le willows, merseyside...

Well I am going for it, I am planning to be at briercliffe for december the 3rd so I better get on with it soon!  

Cheers,

Mike

[wheels244]

There's a Newton Le Willows just down the road from me, obviously more than one.

Good luck with the sills.
Like I said, it is possible.

Rob

[MZ6666]

Before you start, buy a set of motorbike leathers and a roll of masking tape ,put them on and tape up EVERY orifice :shock:
You'll thank me later.
Also I used 3 angle grinders (1 cutting disc, 1 grinding disc & 1wire brush wheel)-saves time chopping and changing.
I found it very theraputic, especially with a few sherbets at hand
I finished off ,post 'red oxide' with some black stonechip sprayed on with a shultz gun and it looks well.
Good luck
Rich