[ROVERNET - UK] Re: Sill Repair

peter king peter at king-co.com
Fri Oct 22 19:41:33 BST 2004


Hi Chris.

I can't tell you anything about welders in your area, but I can tell you
that the sill repair on my P5, which has similar construction, was not a
simple affair. I have some pictures posted of the process at this link:

http://www.king-co.com/rover/thegoodstuff/index.html

also a few shots of the finished car at:

http://www.king-co.com/rover/thegoodstuff/index.html


I did order panels from Wadhams for this job, and they fit perfectly once
the old panels were removed by drilling out the factory welds and separating
the panels with a wedge. The welder did clamp d-post, etc. in place when
removing the old metal, which you will see in the pictures, but did not need
to cross-brace the car to prevent movement. Working one side at a time kept
the body rigid.

May be a bear of a job for a first do-it yourselfer, but best of luck to you
if you choose to go that way. It is highly likely you will find that the
price you are quoted for having the work done will exceed the price you paid
for the car, but maybe there's some unemployed skilled labor in your neck of
the woods...

Good luck!

Peter King


on 10/22/04 1:58 PM, Christopher Smith at csmith at ssl.berkeley.edu wrote:

> 
> Folks
> I am about to embark on repairing both the sills
> on my 3500s, and I am looking for the best way to
> go about it. Does any one in the Bay Area know a
> good ... and cheap ... place to get welding done
> near San Francisco USA? Is it worth ordering the
> replacement bits from JR Wadhams? Including
> shipping, I think, it is around $600 for both
> sills. I was also thinking of doing it myself. I
> have never welded before, so I would need to buy
> the equipment and take a class. Is this a job that
> a beginner can do? If I need to replace each
> entire sill do I need to rig up something to keep
> the car body aligned? Any tips and advice would be
> greatly appreciated. Of course my wife and I just
> had our first child so I am probably crazy to
> consider doing this myself.
> 
> Chris
> 
> 
>> 
>> Roger,
>> On each of my Rover 2000 restorations,I climbed
>> underneath the car after supporting it on 4
>> Jackstands. I proceeded to scrap off loose original
>> undercoating.  In order to get the pressure (upside
>> down and backwards) I ended up using a 1/2 inch or a 1
>> inch wood chisel.  As I was scraping I noticed veins
>> of rust running under most of the undercoating.  I
>> decided that I should remove it all.  When all the
>> undercoating was removed, I saw a variety of
>> conditions. I saw large expanses of unmarked paint
>> primed finish to a large network of rust from fine
>> veins to serious patches.
>> 
>> I used a rust inhibitor called "Extend". It contains
>> phosphoric acid which changes the iron oxide to iron
>> disulphide (which doesn't rust). However, other people
>> have tried "POR 15" to great effect and I would love
>> to try the stuff but I can't find it out here.
>> http://www.por15.com/Default.asp?
>> 
>> Anyway, I painted on the rust inhibitor firt.  Then I
>> painted on black Hammerite rust resiting enamel paint
>> to protect the Extend.
>> http://www.hammerite-diy.com/webapp/wcs/stores/HAMUK/Home/Jsp/Home_Page.jsp
>> 
>> I finished with a spray-on black rubberized
>> undercoating similar to waht has been mentioned
>> already.
>> 
>> This process holds up well.  It lasted for about 10
>> years before rust returned in the sill area.  The rest
>> of the underbody is in great condition.
>> 
>> I cut out the returned rust with an angle grinder and
>> welded in the same metal thickness but in stainless
>> steel I bought as scrap from a scrap dealer.  The
>> sills were welded by me using stainless 10 years ago
>> and are still in mint condition.  I expect the
>> dissimilar metal problem caught up with me after 10
>> years. The rust was in the 4 sill corners just beyond
>> the stainless sills.  Now the stainless extends
>> further.
>> 
>> If you can catch the rust before it starts, that's the
>> best plan.  However, I found that Rover sill rust
>> seems to start from the inside out so by the time you
>> see it on the surface, it has a serious hold behind.
>> 
>> Eric
>> 
>> 
>> =====
>> Webmaster & Magazine Editor:
>> The Rover Car Club of Canada -  www.roverclub.ca
>> 
>> 




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