heli_madken · Apr 20, 2023

So I can now move on to body repairs starting with the nearside sill. First I used some 20mm bar to act as reference and positioning points for the A and B posts plus the forward seat mount -

This way I will know for certain when fitting the new sill that everything will be in the correct place.

Then I can start cutting away the rot. The repair panels had just been tacked over the rotten metal and had also started to corrode badly -

I am using Froggatts sill kits which replace a good portion of the floor at an existing joint so it is just a matter of drilling out some spot welds and cutting away at the A and B posts.

They really are a nice bit of kit and relatively easy to fit. I made sure all internal surfaces where given a coat of Corroless which seams to cope well with localised welding heat.

After lots of measuring which isn't very easy as both original sills are a mess and using my 20mm tube reference bars I got everything welded in place -

The B posts were badly damaged but I didnt want to use replacement 'boots' as they are too square for me so I spent a lot of time repairing them and adding a couple of plates to make them look a little stock -

I also had to do a lot of work to the inner face of the B post where the seat belt fixing is. This was badly corroded and had been covered with some sort of goop. I had to temporarily cut the housing away so I could get at it to weld fresh metal in then weld the housing back on, all good now.

Next up is the footwell and floor repairs.

steve24v · Apr 20, 2023

Impressive work, keep the pics coming

Kev12 · Apr 20, 2023

Very tidy work

On mine the B pillar has a drain hole at the bottom (not sure why tho)

heli_madken · Apr 20, 2023

I cant make my mind up about the drainage hole, in that position its going to let water in as much as let water out, my feeling is just to flood the bottom with Dinitrol through the inside of the post for instance through the seat belt mounting, not sure yet.

RRDave · Apr 21, 2023

Looking really really nice, lots and lots of time being spent doing a quality job. =D

RRDave · Apr 21, 2023

The drain holes are a funny one because my a pillars don't.have them but my b pillars do, but they got rubber caps in them? I tend to agree I think I'd leave them solid.

Kev12 · Apr 22, 2023

Plenty of rust flakes fall out of the holes in all my pillars

RAW111111 · Apr 27, 2023

heli_madken said:
Discovered a bold attempt to fix a leaking A/C unit, jeez (I did note there was no belt on the compressor) -
View attachment 283348

Just a sticky mess, looking at the parts book it looks like this is all part of the evaporator coil I think? Replacement is around £1300.

Not sure what I will do yet I may just delete the A/C system completely, I live in Scotland so not much call for it Does anyone have a second hand unit they fancy selling?

I’m not sure if this is an attempt to bodge it or just a mess where the lubricant has come out from a leak. My ‘93 car had similar gunk around a few joints but I am confident no one in my cars history would have made any attempt to fix air conditioning. It cleaned of mine with just degreaser which made me think it was just the lubricant from the system combined with dust and fluff from behind the dash.

Keep up the good work!

Rich

heli_madken · Apr 27, 2023

RAW111111 said:
I’m not sure if this is an attempt to bodge it or just a mess where the lubricant has come out from a leak. My ‘93 car had similar gunk around a few joints but I am confident no one in my cars history would have made any attempt to fix air conditioning. It cleaned of mine with just degreaser which made me think it was just the lubricant from the system combined with dust and fluff from behind the dash.

Keep up the good work!

Rich

Thanks Rich, I will clean it all off at some point to check but it is some form of self amalgamating tape that has been used so I dont think it is just lubricant. The system was empty when I discharged it so I guess there must have been a leak somewhere.

heli_madken · Apr 27, 2023

Kev12 said:
Plenty of rust flakes fall out of the holes in all my pillars

Thinking this through I can see the most obvious place for water to get in is the wiring grommet. On my car there was also sealant around the door hinges.

I think if I do put drainage holes in I will make up some form of grommet that lines the hole itself as they always seam to start rusting there.

Kev12 · Apr 27, 2023

Could also be condensation travelling from the door via the wiring rubber I guess? I think its impossible to stop the rust on these, just delay it as much as possible

heli_madken · Apr 27, 2023

Over the past week I have moved on to repairing the passenger floor, footwell and A post. The car had been driven I think for some time with the holes in the footwell and as rubber mats where in use the carpet was sodden and rusted the floor completely.

This is where I was starting from -

Started out by making a 3D template of the footwell repair panel in liteply to help me make the cuts -

The profile of the left hand side of the panel was good but the shape of the right side was way out. In the end as the metal in this area was relatively good I decided to cut this section off.

My car doesn't have the top hat at the rear of the upright section of the repair panel. I stared at it for ages wondering what to do, I guess I could have covered it over but to me it was just going to be another place for water to gather and rot out so I cut it off and stitched a straight panel on -

Where ever I can I am joggling joints to avoid butt welding. Makes for a strong weld and also gives me the opportunity to hide joints. I am also taking care to have the overlap face away from the direction water will come from -

So with all the cutting, patching, welding and front seat mount repair done I now have a passenger floor that doesnt resemble something out of the Flintstones -

Next up is to sort this mess out -

RAW111111 · Apr 28, 2023

heli_madken said:
Thinking this through I can see the most obvious place for water to get in is the wiring grommet. On my car there was also sealant around the door hinges.

I think if I do put drainage holes in I will make up some form of grommet that lines the hole itself as they always seam to start rusting there.

I wonder if the holes are there to allow access for wax injection. Factory used plastic grommets which I had no luck trying to find replacements for but you can get equivalents of a different shape. I don’t think they can have been intended for drainage like in the doors as they’re blocked with the grommet.

As for the air con pipes, mine also had something under the gunk. I assumed it to be some kind of insulation to prevent things freezing up when the system was working perhaps but maybe you’re right. He’ll of a difficult joint to access to not bother to just fix it properly though eh!

Lovely work on the doors and cills. Got the doors to do on mine sometime although they’re the later type like your donor ones and need the hinge area looking at too.

Rich

heli_madken · May 8, 2023

Got the rear quarter done, it was in a bad shape the bottom of the C pillar had completely rotted away and had been badly repaired, I cut away all of the wheel arch and boot floor side panel -

Then set about replacing everything again taking care to paint any bare surfaces. I also got rid of the horrible rubber sound deadening/protection stuff which had let water in behind -

Repairing the bottom of the C pillar was a challenge but got there in the end. The drivers side is in the same state cant really understand why they rotted so much, the only way for water to get in is through the door keep -

So I just have to repeat the whole process, floor, foot well, sill and wheel arch for the drivers side now!!

heli_madken · May 9, 2023

Thought I had better check to see everything still fits, just bolted doors and wings on no finessing just yet -

Wont actually use this wing as the fixing at the front edge has completely rotted away but I can see the profile is ok -

marjon · May 9, 2023

Some absolutely cracking work going on ere, liking it alot

.

Gonna be better then new.

J

resto_d1 · May 9, 2023

marjon said:
Some absolutely cracking work going on ere, liking it alot .

Gonna be better then new.

J

The standard of finish is sublime. Watching with interest!

heli_madken · May 10, 2023

Thank you I am doing my best to do a good job.

Wow!! -

Drivers sill was just jam packed with rust, years of repairs one on top of another

Firebobby1 · May 21, 2023

Any updates

heli_madken · May 21, 2023

Here you go!

Just finished the drivers side sill, floor and foot well repairs. Slightly easier than the passenger side, not as much rot but also learned a lot from the passenger side -

For anyone replacing the entire sill with the Froggatts kit the trick is to weld the rear closer piece in place first as this controls the fore/aft positioning of the sill making the rest of alignment relatively easy.

Next up is to sort this mess out with new inner and outer wheel arch and boot side floor -

I am going to be delayed by Jury service but getting very close to taking the body off the chassis.

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