195 replies to this topic

[Stu.]

Lift the carpets where the floor abuts the sill / door frame on each side. You'll soon find out whether there is any advanced corrosion in the sill from the condition of the floor.

Below is a photo of an oversill peeled back to see whats left of the original sill below. The shell is inverted.





This photo shows an inner sill repair panel planted over the existing inner sill. The car has existing oversills on. You can see the damage to the base of the inner sill repair already coming through. This lot will be cut out when I start on the shell. Planting repair panels over existing corroded panels just costs more and causes more damage in the long run !

Edited by Stu., 20 November 2014 - 08:20 PM.

[Down&Out]

Just flipped my shell, this is what an oversill did to the other side....

 

[RossKnight]

tasty

[Dirk2514]

Read this last night, so just been out to check my recently bought mini. Damn!!!  does this mean im gonna have a shed load of rust & problems ahead?. The car seems quite solid, what i can see, should i change the oversills to proper ones.

[jccc78]

Read this last night, so just been out to check my recently bought mini. Damn!!!  does this mean im gonna have a shed load of rust & problems ahead?. The car seems quite solid, what i can see, should i change the oversills to proper ones.

yes I would change them asap     a old trick was to fit oversills  to cover up and save time doing a proper job   I seen loads like it

if your buying a mini from a garage etc and they are saying its been restored etc check for oversills if there fitted walk away  there will be rust under the sills

[Dirk2514]

 

Read this last night, so just been out to check my recently bought mini. Damn!!!  does this mean im gonna have a shed load of rust & problems ahead?. The car seems quite solid, what i can see, should i change the oversills to proper ones.

yes I would change them asap     a old trick was to fit oversills  to cover up and save time doing a proper job   I seen loads like it

if your buying a mini from a garage etc and they are saying its been restored etc check for oversills if there fitted walk away  there will be rust under the sills

 

erhhh im scared!!!  i dont want to find a mess underneath. im tempted to use the " ignorance is bliss" thingy so i can use it for a while first. How much would it cost to have a profesional put right a job such as you found in your pictures??

[jccc78]

Longer you leave it the worst the tin worm will get costing more to fix. I would sort its soon as possible

[samg2007]

So, like many before me, I had nice clean looking oversills on my mini and I decided to chop them off.

 

I understand for the most part how the panels are meant to go back on, but I'm a little confused about the metal in the companion boxes in the rear. I seem to have a gap between the quarter panel and the inner sill.

 

Is this normal?

 

Having an oversill would have kept the water out, but putting the normal sill on will have air holes that let water and crud into the car. I've made a rubbish picture below. The blue line in the new sill, black is the inner sill and the arrow is the gap im worried about.

 

I hope that makes sense, any guidance would be appreciated.

 

[sonikk4]

Yes there is supposed to be a gap there as to why the design is like that I can guess but that would be it.

The biggest problem with Oversills other than the water / moisture trap is they are not the correct section, in other words they do not form the correct cross section for strength which the standard short sills have been designed for. So that makes them inherently weaker.

Now yes the fluted open short sills can get muck and moisture in them but at the same time it can get out as well. Any moisture that gets into a Oversills will sit at the bottom which will lead to rust.

Yes you can pump Waxoyl or whatever into them and if done correctly they will last but for all those cars out there with Oversills slapped on and no protection added internally are just a ticking time bomb.

Now with you as a potential buyer who happens to know his way around a mini would you pay £3k for a "restored" mini??? I know I would not if it came with Oversills on. That to me smacks of something not right, whether it's a bodge job, laziness or whatever.

If you want the car to be correct and if you want to sell it on in the future then do the job correctly, fit the correct short sill.

[samg2007]

Thanks sonikk. 

[benm]

finally finished the repair to my oversill damaged mini!
took him for a drive last night first time in 3 months Was fantastic... untill I broke an engine steady

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

quite pleased for my first ever sill replacment :)

[Carlos W]

It'll be far better in the long run

[ac427]

Buggewr, i might have had those on my old Mini.  I remember years ago the bloke saying oversills would be fine.  They even welded the external hinge panel over the old one.  Can't anyone do a proper job these days.

[Ethel]

erhhh im scared!!!  i dont want to find a mess underneath. im tempted to use the " ignorance is bliss" thingy so i can use it for a while first. How much would it cost to have a profesional put right a job such as you found in your pictures??

 

 

 

Look under the plastic seam moulding. There should be just two edges - the sill and the door step. If the sill's been clagged over the old one there'll be a third, likely crusty, one in the middle.

 

So, like many before me, I had nice clean looking oversills on my mini and I decided to chop them off.

 

I understand for the most part how the panels are meant to go back on, but I'm a little confused about the metal in the companion boxes in the rear. I seem to have a gap between the quarter panel and the inner sill.

 

Is this normal?

 

Having an oversill would have kept the water out, but putting the normal sill on will have air holes that let water and crud into the car. I've made a rubbish picture below. The blue line in the new sill, black is the inner sill and the arrow is the gap im worried about.

 

I hope that makes sense, any guidance would be appreciated.

 

 

Is that as seen in the companion bin? That's how it should be http://www.theminifo...mini-adventure/

[eean]

Just took my oversill off on the mini, yep its a bodge job, where's the best place to get replacement orig/heritage proper sills from? Moss do a pair for 74 quid which seems reasonable, only my heritage everything panelwise for my mg midget were a t@#t to fit!!
Can anyone recommend a good pair please? Cheers Iain