Dings and dents - repair or replace

[Rob W]

Hi all, I've been stripping my car down and assessing what needs doing, the body is very sound with all original panels.  It definitely needs a new front valance and n/s outer sill. My query is the rear Valence is quite badly dented but there is no rust whatsoever, the o/s sill is also dented but again no rust.  I'm keen to keep the original panels but wondered if they were too far gone and needed replacing. See pics

[RogerH]

Hi Rob,

the rear valence looks easy !!!

The sill looks more difficult.Is that a deep long dent.

 

Roger

[Rob W]

12 minutes ago, RogerH said:

Hi Rob,

the rear valence looks easy !!!

The sill looks more difficult.Is that a deep long dent.

 

Roger

Roger, the sill dent is probably half an inch deep and runs for about 10 cm along the sill

Edited September 1, 2019 by Rob W
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[rcreweread]

Rob - Definitely repair rather than replace wherever possible - the rear valence and dented sill are definitely repairable, in my view -may need some skillful tin bashing but will save you a lot of money and you know it fits!

Lets have a look at the other bits you feel are past it as they may not be!

Cheers

Rich 

[RogerH]

Hi Rob,

if it was doing the sill I would unpick the spot welds along the bottom, remove the end plates.

That would make access good to do a good job.

You may ask that that is a lot of work. The bottom of the sills do get rusty inside. This can be sorted with it open.

Roger

Edited September 2, 2019 by RogerH

[david ferry]

Rob,

Your rear valence is very repairable. I’ve seen worse panels put back to the correct shape by good body people. I think Roger has a good plan for your sill. Failing that, I can probably supply a good pair of skills along with a front valence.

David

[Geko]

I would definitely bang/pull the rear valance out without removing. The sill calls for replacement, you'll never get the folds back to shape

[Chilliman]

As the others have said the valance is an easy fix, as for the sill  - a good body shop may be able to pull it out but if you're tackling the job at home I think I'd take it back to bare metal first and if there is no rot apparent I'd probably cut out the damaged section which would enable you to have a good look inside and assess the quality of the metal & if all's well just let in a plate and seam weld. I'm loath to remove more of the original than is absolutely necessary and it would be comparatively easy to make the folds for a repair section which could then replicate the original. Although the new heritage panels aren't as bad as some stuff in the past they will still not give you the same crisp definition of an original panel without some careful lead work.

The only thing I'd add is that there must have been a fair bit of force for the sill to have been pressed in along that particular area so you need to check carefully that you don't have any subtle bulges or ripples on the edge of the floor pan or elsewhere along the inner/outer sills....good luck whichever way you go - looks like you have a sound basis to work from.

[Malbaby]

As others have said...check for any rust in the outer & inner sills first before deciding.

Depending on how good a finished job you want, .... If no rust, then the outer sill dent should pull out as it is relatively thin metal, even if you have to run a thin cut in the centre of the dent to relieve the tension, but you will then have to dress with filler. 

Alternatively, cut the damaged section out and tig weld in replacement section.

Or the ultimate repair.. remove the outer sill completely as there will be some surface rust inside both the outer and inner sills, and replace with a new outer sill

[stuart]

Definitely repair what you have, that sill would pull out no problem at all with some washers welded edge on and the help of a slide hammer. I would also repair the front panel as repros are poor.

Stuart.