[Mk2] [NA] MOT Failure!!

[milesy_boy]

Hi all, not seen too much of this but my beloved 89 MK2 import is getting plagued with rust!!! the drivers sill is pretty rotten(passengers side seam fine though???) and with it being 30cm from the seat belt anchorage it failed its MOT, now most of the sill is rotten, has anyone here replaced a sill here (from the drivers door to the wheel arch)??? if so what have you used, wheel arches are starting to go as well so looks like the labour of love begins!!! (((

any help appreciated

Miles

[RST]

I had both my entire sills replaced at the start of the year -previous owner (s) had botched them for years untill they finally gave up the ghost (4 foot long gash in either side appeared) after I bought it. You might want to check thoroughly along the entire length if you suspect that any moisture has got in.

The only Toyota sill repair panels are short (about 1m long) and are for use round about the centres of the door sections. There isn't a panel or part of a repair panel to go from the front of this to the end at the front wing. There is a replacement panel which runs from the back edge of the door at the sill to the front of the rear wheel arch BUT, it is actually one panel from the top of the roof running down the side of the car and goes round the back of it. The sill isn't separate from the rest of the panel.

You could try:

1) Order Toyota panels but that'll run into something like £60 for the middle sill and over £350 for the rear arch (both per side)
2) Source a 2n'd hand panels and cut them to suit and have a metal worker roll you / bend you new sills (quite an easy shape to follow if you can get hold of a section to copy)

The guy I used in Inverness charged me £350 for complete new sills for both sides -front to back but the fitting wasn't as good as I'd have liked cosmetically (made no difference as I have side skirts) so I suggest you have someone like a fabricator make you the sills and a bodyshop fit them.

This sounds like a common problem and pops up now and again -there was a spate recently and I had new Toyota sill panels for sale but ended up binning them because folk wanted rear sections not middles although I think you can get away with using them anywhere down the length.

I've thrown out my print out now but Toyota should be able to give you a print out of the panels round those areas so you can see the make-up. I should know this but can't remember what the Toyota garage is called in Falkirk now.

Hope this is of some use. Caused me loads of grief at the time because I didn't know where to start.

Richard

[refo]

wow them prices up north are cheap! i got quoted by 3 garages about £350 to weld up 2 small holes into the boot from the wheel arch and one hole where the drivers side front arb mount used to be.

[HighwayStar]

Heya mate. Not your neck o the woods but when mine failed for the same reason my local spray shop cut out the rust and welded in a new bit (and you cant tell the difference) for £75 cash. Took about 2 ft I think.
If its not too widespread thats the route I'd follow.

Good luck.

R

[RST]

wow them prices up north are cheap! i got quoted by 3 garages about £350 to weld up 2 small holes into the boot from the wheel arch and one hole where the drivers side front arb mount used to be

...That sounds about right normally up here. If I had the sills repaired by a bodyshop it would have cost me about £1,500 for the panels alone plus labour. Also, got quoted £600 just to spray 2 side skirts and you can pay up to £75/hr for bodyshops. Fitting my bodykit would have likely cost £2,000+ so I resorted to doing it myself. Secret I found for steel panels was to use a fabricator / metalworker rather than a garage. Most of the garages I've been to don't do welding now anyway but that's maybe just a local trend.

[milesy_boy]

Managed to get a car local restorer who will custom make a sill, he's replacing it from half way along the door to the rear arch so....just have to wait and see, however he's charging £100 for doing it, so not the most expensive job to get done!

thanks for replies people.

[RST]

That's good to hear -get it done right and you shouldn't have any problems. Your restorer should be able to make a good job of it.

Afraid the last person who suggested tacking plates in holed sills to me received a swift kick in the nuts.

[HighwayStar]

I'm assuming that last italicised was regarding my post? Is there a problem with this method of fix if the area is small or am I missing something? Thought I'd got a good job for £75, is it going to be a false economy?

R

[milesy_boy]

The sill was rotten at the wheel arch and rotten all the way to the door section, so that was why I'm getting most of it cut out. Pointless when I was getting charged £50 for a patch up as opposed to £100 for most of it getting replaced and I kinda thought it was gonna need replaced next few months or so anyway!

[JOHNM400]

I did my own last year for the MOT. The problem comes when you cut away the rotten part of the sill and you are left with nothing to weld to at the back end.I ended up having to plate up the inner wheel arch at the bottom so i could weld up the piece of sill near the rear wheel. Horrible job to do as its really hard to get acess with the welder.

[RST]

Sorry, I wasn't picking on anyone in particular. Think it was said above -you can never be too sure what you're going to find in there if you've got a hole.

I thought I'd bought a well maintained car (not sure if the previous owners were aware of the botches that had been done from the receipts they had) but when we opened up my sills there must have been 4 or 5 plates loose in there. Last repair was done a week before I bought mine so it lasted less than a year. I don't think it's an option really for sills (structural item) when you can get new ones made for similar prices.

I can't believe anyone would ever buy the Toyota panels at that price.