Hi all, first post in a while. Having just been made redundant I find myself with some time on my hands and have decided its time to get the van back on the road and sort out some of the bodywork issues (every cloud and all that). I'm fairly handy with the spanners but have never done any bodywork in my life, however I've bought a welder and I'm keen to give it a go.
The main area of concern is the kitchen side sills. The lower fridge vent was never sealed properly and this has caused water to leak in and rot both the inner and outer sills directly below it. I've purchased myself the necessary repair panels and have today dived in and started to cut bits away to see how bad the damage is. To be honest I feared the worst but having exposed the inner sill it really is just the area under the vent that has suffered badly. There is a hole above the front jacking point but the B post is solid as a rock.
As mentioned I really am a newbie to this sort of thing so was really looking for some advice on how to tackle these issues/what I should be doing next. Having scoured previous threads there's lots of people who have tackled similar repairs but I can't seem to find a step by step guide to removing/replacing the inner sill. I'm sure this topic has been done to death but a I don't seem to be able to access a lot of the threads without a password.
I've added some pics below so any advice on what I need to be cutting, what I need to be leaving would as always be much appreciated.
Thanks
It looks like you’ve done a decent job so far already. Keep going as you are and having done that job I would advice you buy the genuine outer. It will make life so much easier when you come to refit. Line that panel up with your sewage lines then bugger about with the side panel. Weld in spots allowing plenty of time for the heat to dissipate or it will warp like buggery.
The really tricky bit to get out is the front jacking point where it is welded to the chassis rail and inner sill. Just consider it carefully and it will come out. The spot welds at that end are a bit of a bugger to get out from underneath, plus the four or five spot welds from the front wheel arch going through the chassis rail into the inner sill.
Front chassis rail
I don’t have a pic with just the outer sill fitted but it’s the black section, then the grey is the repair panel that I got cut up and folded up by a metal shop, held in with butt welding clamps before welding. Use panel bond or karroserrie kleber to bond the edges to the existing panels, it’s impossible to weld without losing the seam.
Cheers for the help/pics they explain a lot. I was wondering if it was possible to remove the sill whilst leaving the outrigger in one piece (your pics clearly show it is) as I've noticed a lot of people seem to cut the end off. I'm guessing this just makes the job a bit easier/quicker?
My only other question (for now) would be. Do I need to touch the B post if I'm happy with its condition? Again I've seen threads where some people have cut the pillar in half towards the bottom. It wasn't really clear if this was because of rust or if it was just to improve access when removing the sill?
Unfortunately I've already bought the outer sill/lower repair panel. It's not a genuine one but i did get it from schofields and people seem to rate them highly on here.
Rob- I suspect I'm having the same issue as carrera and the threads have been removed.
Thanks for the help so far, I'll get back on it today hopefully.
superdes wrote:Cheers for the help/pics they explain a lot. I was wondering if it was possible to remove the sill whilst leaving the outrigger in one piece (your pics clearly show it is) as I've noticed a lot of people seem to cut the end off. I'm guessing this just makes the job a bit easier/quicker?
My only other question (for now) would be. Do I need to touch the B post if I'm happy with its condition? Again I've seen threads where some people have cut the pillar in half towards the bottom. It wasn't really clear if this was because of rust or if it was just to improve access when removing the sill?
Unfortunately I've already bought the outer sill/lower repair panel. It's not a genuine one but i did get it from schofields and people seem to rate them highly on here.
Rob- I suspect I'm having the same issue as carrera and the threads have been removed.
Thanks for the help so far, I'll get back on it today hopefully.
It’s a case of getting all the spot welds out then chop the sill in half to get it out. TBH your B pillar looks on good nick, it forms part of the jacking point so has to be strong and thick, most those you see chopped out were proper rotten like mine was so had to be cut out
Rain stopped play on the weekend but I did manage to get back onto the van tonight.
Now I might be missing a trick here but I can't really see a way of getting the sill out without cutting either the b pillar or the outrigger. I guess if I chopped the bits out in small pieces it may be possible but with the b post and outrigger fully in tact surely it would be impossible to get the replacement sill into position?
superdes wrote:Rain stopped play on the weekend but I did manage to get back onto the van tonight.
Now I might be missing a trick here but I can't really see a way of getting the sill out without cutting either the b pillar or the outrigger. I guess if I chopped the bits out in small pieces it may be possible but with the b post and outrigger fully in tact surely it would be impossible to get the replacement sill into position?
Your spot on, cut it in half unless you have to repair your b pillar.
Cheers adie. I thought that must be the case but didn't want to start lopping bits off that I didn't have to. The B pillar looks good to me so I'll chop off the end of the outrigger and then replace it once the sill is welded into position.
superdes wrote:Cheers adie. I thought that must be the case but didn't want to start lopping bits off that I didn't have to. The B pillar looks good to me so I'll chop off the end of the outrigger and then replace it once the sill is welded into position.
Sorry I meant i’d Cut the sill in half, but thinking about it there doesn’t seem to be a strong reason for not cutting the outrigger either
