Snifflebag · May 17, 2013

So there I was, all innocent like, poking at some rusty bits in anticipation of some minor patching and...

discovered that the nearside rear inner sill body mount is hangin by a thread...

So first things first, I'm assuming that gentle pootling to dump and back shouldn't present a problem (given I've been doing that for a while in blissful ignorance

) - or should I now get paranoid and not drive it?

My plan for fixing it was as follows:
1. Remove the body mount from the chassis outrigger and clean it up. If there's enough to weld (given my virginal welding skills) then OK, if not I can get a replacement from YRM.

2. Patch in the inner sill and underneath of the sill with 2.5mm plate (the outer sill wall seems OK having hit it with a hammer).

3. Weld the mount back into place. This sounds easy, but it looks like a pig to get to and I'm not clear how to weld the top of the mounting bracket.

4. Magically realign chassis outrigger and mount and tighten up the new mounting bolt...

What I'm not sure about is if the body has moved out of alignment slightly, how best to get it back?

Anyway, so that was the plan - constructive suggestions appreciated!

The Mad Hat Man · May 17, 2013

I have this overwhelming desire to extend my holidays

.

have to lift up sill & body somehow. (accro through rear doors?)

Patch inner sill, then refit.
inner sill aint 2.5 mm.

wots the rest of the inner like? worth replacing the lot?

Snifflebag · May 17, 2013

The Mad Hat Man said:
I have this overwhelming desire to extend my holidays .

have to lift up sill & body somehow. (accro through rear doors?)

Patch inner sill, then refit.
inner sill aint 2.5 mm.

wots the rest of the inner like? worth replacing the lot?

It will probably be there for a while I suspect! I wondered about a trolly jack under the sill with packing up to the floor pan - don't have any acrows.

The sills seem to be 2mm, but I didn't think the thickness of the patch was that critical?

I had thought about doing the whole sill and replacing it with box section such as this, but that is a much bigger job and not sure I'm confident enough yet. I could pick up the box section next week though, and save the postage

DiscoPol · May 17, 2013

Get it all chopped out and replaced with a decent bit of box section, did mine over the last couple of weekends and it wasn't bad at all to do just a bit time consuming, but I reckon by the time you have messed about doing what you suggested it would only take about half as long again to do a proper job and know it's solid and will last as long as the disco Will. Check my thread out on it. Can't link as I'm on my phone but seriously it will be better in the long run

Pikey · May 17, 2013

couple of strops with padding thru the rear light ports (take lights out first. then stand ya highlift on bumper or chassis cross member and attach strops to jack foot. jack away and bob's a useless prick, and hopefully not ya aunties brother...

DiscoPol · May 17, 2013

Oh and check you rear body mounts too, because looking ay those pictures it looks like the mounts at the back may have collapsed too putting undue load on the rear sill mounts and leading to what you have discovered. Or did you do anything that might have led to that?

pocketrocket · May 17, 2013

Thats just how mine went, on both sides

, 1 year after another! all i did was take lots of measurments before i chopped it back to good metal, cut the mount off the rotted inner sill, made a plate to fit the now gapping hole :screaming_bug_eye_f and mark out where the body mount goes on the new plate and weld it up, this way i was able to get good seams round the entire mount :tea:
I do intend on replacing with box though in the begining of next month which will have heavy duty custom/home made over engineered bodymounts

Matt Baxter · May 17, 2013

Chris if you want/ need a hand/ pointers just say the word

stutab · May 17, 2013

The box is great, doing my rangy with it, find a local steel stock holder and get a full length, I got 3.5mm walls on mine in a 7.5m length and cost about £50, enough to do both sills, sliders and rear bumper.

Snifflebag · May 18, 2013

Many thanks for the encouragement and tips :tea:

I've had a good look around this morning, and none of the other mounts show any signs of laminating or damage. Rear mounts are completely sound.

The offside sill is sound with only surface rust and the nearside sill apart from where the mount has broken and one other hole, appears to be sound. Even the inner sill stands up to a beating from a hammer

I'm reluctant to embark on new sills completely at this stage, though it is definitely on my to-do list. I was going to try and do the patching job first. If that all goes tits-up then I can get on with a wholesale replacement, especially of the nearside sill which, of the two, seems in worse condition.

Will try local stockholders for the box section on Monday - I notice reading other threads - that some people get a slightlly larger profile (140 x 60 x 3). I'm not into hardcore laning, but did wonder whether the extra rigidity would be worth it? I'll see what stockholders have available and take it from there.

Given there is only one mount gone, I was considering jacking up the floor pan and sill once the bolt is undone which should allow the minor readjustment I need. Floor pan and sill are reasonably sound. I was hoping to avoid undoing loads of body mounts - am I being delusional?

stutab · May 18, 2013

Sounds a good plan, 100 x 60 look good on mine,

65 or 70 wide would fit better but don't seam to make it

I only needed to change 2 body mounts, inner sills were solid on one side and only gone around the mounts on the other. I tack welded the mounts into place on the box, then took it off and did a proper welding job on the bench before fully fitting

Them fookers aint going to rot through

Snifflebag · May 18, 2013

Did you get the prefab mounts from YRM?

stutab · May 18, 2013

One is YRM @ £25 the other is from Island 4x4 @ £8 for a pair. The YRM is thicker, better made and easier to weld on.

Snifflebag · May 18, 2013

Hit a bit of a hiccup... the body mount nut is off, but the bolt is trapped in the mount. I can't remove it as it snags on some bodywork just above the mount. The front one has a hole in the floor, but the rear one seems as if it should pull free into the wheel arch. I guess the distortion from when the mount broke off is stopping it though.

Should I just apply brute force and ignorance?

Not sure I have much option to be honest... ideas?

The Mad Hat Man · May 18, 2013

can yu cut thru the bolt?

Snifflebag · May 18, 2013

The Mad Hat Man said:
can yu cut thru the bolt?

Not easily, tucked up in a most inaccessible place. Would have to be a last resort... I'll apply my two brain cells tomorrow morning before turning to the hacksaw

stutab · May 18, 2013

Rear mount!!!
Same on mine if you look through the build thread

Design fault me thinks, I raised the body to get the lower mount off then the top one twisted out with the bolt.

Easier for me as the floor unblots

A view of things to come

Keep the pics coming

Snifflebag · May 18, 2013

stutab said:
Rear mount!!!
Same on mine if you look through the build thread

Design fault me thinks, I raised the body to get the lower mount off then the top one twisted out with the bolt.

I agree, does seem to be a deliberate design "feature"

I'll take a look tomorrow - maybe cutting a small hole in the floor like they have on the front would suffice, just need to see what access is like. My sills aren't as bad as yours (yet) but the pics in your thread are useful to orientate where stuff is...

Snifflebag · May 19, 2013

Spent the day cutting out rot and cleaning up everything. It is looking pretty bad to be honest. While I'm sorting out getting some box section, I thought I would practice my welding on the sill. There are two extra bits of rot either side of the B (?) pillar mount as well as the big bit at the rear. Going to experiment with welding the sill and mount in situ to try out some ideas. Decided not to drill a hole in the pristine floor!

More piccies for those that enjoy seeing what rot can do!

The Mad Hat Man · May 19, 2013

Do yu think that is wise

.

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