welding inner sills

[TomMull]

I'm having trouble welding the aft ends of the inner sills to the lower wheel arches. In short, I am able to weld flanges on the sills, quite strong but not weather tight. I'd have to remove more of the lower quarter than I'm prepared to do in order to get to the top of the sills closed where there is a gap. I'm not completely sure that would solve the problem. Does this weld need to be weather tight? One old sill, very rusty on the outside but still unbreached was like new inside. Any thoughts will be appreciated.

Tom Mulligan

[Kiwifrog]

Tom

 

I am going to tackle this task in the next couple of weeks so will watch replys with interest

 

Alan

[Don Elliott]

The outer sills that have been re-produced for 20 years are too short. You have to cut a piece of sheetmtal to fill the gaps. Don't leave a gap.

 

Thse photos are from my black TR3A I restored from 1987 to 1990.

Edited December 13, 2009 by Don Elliott

[TomMull]

Tom

 

I am going to tackle this task in the next couple of weeks so will watch replys with interest

 

Alan

 

 

Alan,

Good luck this winter. If you work as slowly as I, it will take a good part of it. Everything needed to tweaked to fit. The only real issue I had was that sill to wheel arch connection which requires a fair amount of destruction to the quarter panel (and the wheel arch), probably more than I did to get things right. It's a hard place to put a patch too, since you can only get the outside after the inner sill is in. The good part is that some of the patch is hidden under the aluminum shield but even so, that shield looks ugly if it doesn't at least fit snugly. I'd considered (but rejected) putting in a piece of new quarter panel with the weld in the narrow curved part just above and behind the door. At any rate, should you have any questions, I'd be glad to tell you how I did things.

 

Tom

[Don Elliott]

Tom - I have sent you an e-mail message.

 

Don Elliott

[stuart]

As long as the end plates are welded strongly then the best thing is to red oxide prime over the welded areas and then use a good quality (Not silicon) seam sealer to ensure that all the seams inside the arch, ends of the inner sills and up to the underside of the floor are well sealed off to prevent any water ingress and then drill access holes in the ends of the inner sill and wax inject to ensure longevity.

If you need to remove any of the quarter panel to gain access to this area it is usually best to go up further than the height of the stone guard as the lower captives for the rear wings usually need replacing so its best done at the same time. You can use the swage line as a cut line as the panel will warp less at that point when welding but its harder to get the shape back in at that point than further down where the panel is flatter, (Though saying that if you have had to reskin the doors you will already have noticed that the swage on the door doesnt often match with the original quarter panel line )If you are fitting new quarter panel stone guards then you will find that to get the best fit you will need to grind the back of the front edge down to suit the shape of the quarter as the repros arent really close

Stuart.

Edited December 15, 2009 by stuart

[TomMull]

As long as the end plates are welded strongly then the best thing is to red oxide prime over the welded areas and then use a good quality (Not silicon) seam sealer to ensure that all the seams inside the arch, ends of the inner sills and up to the underside of the floor are well sealed off to prevent any water ingress and then drill access holes in the ends of the inner sill and wax inject to ensure longevity.

If you need to remove any of the quarter panel to gain access to this area it is usually best to go up further than the height of the stone guard as the lower captives for the rear wings usually need replacing so its best done at the same time. You can use the swage line as a cut line as the panel will warp less at that point when welding but its harder to get the shape back in at that point than further down where the panel is flatter, (Though saying that if you have had to reskin the doors you will already have noticed that the swage on the door doesnt often match with the original quarter panel line )If you are fitting new quarter panel stone guards then you will find that to get the best fit you will need to grind the back of the front edge down to suit the shape of the quarter as the repros arent really close

Stuart.

 

 

Thanks for the good advice Stuart. I hoped someone would suggest seam sealer, reassurance is nice. I'd given some thought to using the swage as a cut line but unless I got one of my better welds going on it I'd do some serious damage. My door is ok and lines up well here. The cages are intact also. If I start at the bottom and mess it up I can always move further up. Thanks for the stone guard tip as well. Tom Mulligan