Sills

[clivvy]

chaps, i have a few jobs to do soon on the Mav, wings, service etc, and I got to thinking about my outer sills (inner sills were ok last I checked), anyway, what are my options?

What I mean is, if I were to cut away all the not so good metal, what can I do to ensure that at the very least, itll pass an MOT.

Do I have to refit outer sills?

can I fit steps in place?

can I leave it "naked"?

I just want to ensure that th einner sill sare still ok, but have a reasonably easy way of putting everything back together in an MOT passing state.

I cant weld myself, and if my only option is to weld it, then I will leave it and just tidy the sills up.

 

[jims-terrano]

Having seen mine and how the rot creaps up on you I'd be tempted to cut the outer ones off. Then repair inner and replace full outer sill. Either that or fit the box section sliders like Makeitfit's.

Clivvy last time I looked in your rear arches when mine were being welded your rear seat belt mountings looked a bit rotten so you could do to check those.

Jim

 

[R1cho]

places to check for rot

inner and outer sills front end and back end

inner wheel arch especially around the bulk head

floor pan where middle seats are

now some pics

ns wheel arch and bulk head

floor pan

os inner sil at front

i have more somewhere but you get the idea also check under the wings because the rot sneaks in there undetected

 

[clivvy]

Cheers guys, yes I'll be sure to check. Jim, so for the set belt mounting points have remained OK amazingly, but I do need to get that welded sometime. Maybe I should buy a welding machine...

 

[R1cho]

if you do take to diy welding have a spotter inside the truck armed with water or you could end up like i did :doh

 

[spautoparts]

Ive had the exact same rot. to fix it i just platetd over the sills and fibreglassed the arches. total cost was no more than 40 squid.
the outer sills could be fibre glassed but i decided to weld mine because they take a beating. the inner sills only need welding if there within 300mm of a body mounting.
make sure you apply plenty of underbody sealent on the fibreglass and you will never have a problem

 

[Kamsin]

Im doing the same job on my new truck at the moment, inner sills have a hole about the size of my thumb, but as its within the 300mm limmit, out comes the welder. Started the prep yesterday, removed the side steps and put them in the scrap pile cos they rotten as hell, may just use them as a template for some sliders.

Steve, when you take the photos, just back up a little with the camera, its hard to work out what your looking at, i did work the floor pan under the rear seat, i did mine a few montsh ago. i cut the rot out and left a hole i could crawl through, but a good bit of sheet steel later and all was good again.

 

[Fez_uk]

bulkhead/inner arch is a pain to weld. best to get it earlier as it creeps higher up and dash etc will need to be removed.

Mine was close. seam sealer has been used alot in that area which likes to catch fire.

 

[clivvy]

right, i think what i will do, is chop the sills off where I repaired them a few years ago, and inspect the inner sill and get welded if required. Then, make up something to restore the outer sill either fiber glass or welded-i dont care how it looks. I have given most of the truck an inspection, and everything else appears ok but i suppose all will be revealed when i start the work.