43 replies to this topic

[jagman.2003]

Great guide. I'm looking at doing some outer/inner sill repairs soon.

The Heritage costs for the repair panels is a bit scary. More economical to buy the complete floor.

But M-Machine options make it a bit more realistic.

Cheers.

[sonikk4]

Great guide. I'm looking at doing some outer/inner sill repairs soon.

The Heritage costs for the repair panels is a bit scary. More economical to buy the complete floor.

But M-Machine options make it a bit more realistic.

Cheers.

 

It is cheaper to do it this way and now i'm on my second time of using them. Just a bit of a bugger to get them in place. On Wills car i left the flitch repair to last so i could feed the inner sill in that way. Unfortunately with paddy i have already repaired the flitches so i have had to do it somewhat differently. Every job is still a school day. 

 

So with this in mind its best to remove either the complete floor crossmember or just the side you are repairing.

[frodmyster]

Where do you weld the box section to the car itself? I've picked up some 25/25mm box section today, 1.5mm thickness. Would that be adequate as I'm replacing the inner, outer sills and door step. Great thread by the way, pictures are always a big help 👍👍👍

[sonikk4]

I welded a section across A post to B pillar then boxed that across the car so B pillar to B pillar, A post to A post.

 

Then i welded another section across the width of the car directly above the floor crossmember. From that i did two drop downs to the crossmember and tacked them in place. This helps to support the floor. All of these were welded together to form a frame than can be removed as one piece.

 

Now all of this i welded just above the height of the companion bins as i removed these as well.

 

The thickness of box you have is plenty thick enough for your needs.

 

[frodmyster]

Brilliant 😃😃 thanks very much 👍👍

[frodmyster]

I'm replacing the inner sill and floor up-to the 1st pipe, the door step and outer sill. Will it be safe to cut all this out? The rear subby is off and the back of the car is an Axel stands. Really sorry about all the questions 😳😳 I'm removing the companion bins 1st so I'll probably do the same frame as you have on the red mini and refit the bins once the sills etc are all fitted

[sonikk4]

Have a look at the Project Paddy link under my signature. You will see how far i have gone with him with regards to metal removal. 

[jenks74]

Thanks for this I've been searching about for info on this as I'm a complete noobie to minis and I'm pretty sure i need to do the inner sills on the passenger side!!

[sonikk4]

As an alternative method for getting the inner sill in place you will need to carefully remove a section of the floor crossmember to just past the inner sill cutline on the floor. This will let you drop the inner sill neatly into place. Once in and you are happy the inner sill is trimmed up correctly then you can reweld the section of crossmember back in place.

 

I took a different approach on Paddy. I really did not want to disturb the crossmember so i cut the inner sill in to two pieces. Once in i then seam welded them back together. Would i do it this way again well the answer is no, i would remove the crossmember. 

[Alexthelion94]

This is great, thank you for your effort!

[screech]

Silly question alert...

Can this be done with the rear subframe in place? You say to put the car on axel stands but the photos show no subframe.

I’m about to do this but not sure if it’ll be inners or just outters so will be fully prepared to do both.
Want to put the car as far onto it’s side as possible, so without subframe will make it a bit difficult ?

Thanks!

[sonikk4]

With the subbie out you can get to the spot welds that attach the inner sill and companion bin to the heelboard.

A lot of people use a mattress to roll the car onto but then you need to protect that from sparks etc.

Now with the subbie fitted but bolts out of the trunnion you will need to access everything from with in the car.

[screech]

Ok so subframe our it is then.

I have got a spit and a mattress, but keeping the engine and front sunbeams in will stop me using both of those.

Think I’m going to make up a dummy rear subframe/jig similar to yours but a bit heavier to support the rear end ?

Thanks

[Verderad]

Thanks for the guide, I’ve read through project Paddy my initial though was wow glad I don’t need to change bootfloor and heal board, I was wrong!! Anyway in some of the pics you have painted panels specifically the sill, it looks like you have topcoat on the surface that you are going to plug weld. Do you clean this off before welding

[sonikk4]

Thanks for the guide, I’ve read through project Paddy my initial though was wow glad I don’t need to change bootfloor and heal board, I was wrong!! Anyway in some of the pics you have painted panels specifically the sill, it looks like you have topcoat on the surface that you are going to plug weld. Do you clean this off before welding

 

I normally clean those areas of contact with a scriber to remove the paint from the plug weld area. 

 

I've tried several approaches to this. Just Weld thru primer although good is not water resistant. Epoxy primer is but its not weld through. So now i use epoxy primer and topcoat, clean the individual areas where i plug weld as i go. 

 

Only time will tell which is the best route.