Repairs to Rusted Out Front Floor Box Section - with photos

[Bazzbiggles]

I bought my car last spring, as an ebay punt, and like most without any real understanding of the inherent problems. Now 9 months on I’m almost an expert in comparison. I removed the engine, stripped it down and put it back in last year. I’m now repairing the A and B posts and rear wheel arches by welding in new metal. What I have noticed is there appears to be many postings and advice on repairing the wheel arches but very little on repairing the A posts and particularly the box section between the front wheel arch and the floor. I thought mine was solid until I tapped it with a pointy hammer. Horror and gloom as it all crumbled away . My first thought was that it was a write off but then realised I could see a way to rebuild it.



























My thought from all this is that if the A post has rusted through then it’s quite likely that the box section has also gone. Water splashing up from the wheel arch or running down from the windscreen will find its way, via the rusted hole in the A post, to collect in the box section and rust from the inside out as there appears to be no drain hole in there. To prevent this happening I suggest that the rubber bung in the bottom plate of the box section should be removed to make a drain hole and to give access to spray Waxoil. Does anybody else have any ideas or experiences to add?

[crazybrightman]

thats one of the worst ive seen! nice repair though the last car my dad had rusted in the same places and also on the a pillar half way down wheres theres a join so plated over it in stainless. the design of the car is poor when it comes to drainage and rust proofing theres so many places for water to build up and none are protected!

[cartledge_uk]

That is a top repair

Most people bin the car when it gets that bad as the cost of welding is expensive, but your job is fantastic.

[oukie]

Got say I am very impressed with that repair most that bad go to the scrappy so well done to you

[010on1986]

I have always (annually) inserted a waxoyl cavity probe into the various holes covered by grommets throughtout the underside of the car.




There are alot of these grommets in various underside places. I flooded the cavities on my sc. On me little 86'na, there is zero corrosion in these areas, solid as a rock.

Just peel back the grommet and you have access to the casualty cavities.

In the underside photo in the first few pages of the haynes manual you can make out quite a few of these grommets. There are big ones near the handbrake cables .

[coverco]

That is a fantastic repair job, well done. It just goes to show if you learn how to weld nothing is impossible to repair

[NDR008]

Amazing, people like you give me hope ^^

[bburn13]

Quality repair
I must admit I have broken better.

Daev

[Superfly]

As has been said already, quality job.
Just wondering where you get your repair metal from? (I've bought a welder but have yet to use it and have never welded before so i don't know about sourcing for it)

[cartledge_uk]

As has been said already, quality job.
Just wondering where you get your repair metal from? (I've bought a welder but have yet to use it and have never welded before so i don't know about sourcing for it)

To practice any old scrap metal works, as you need to get used to different thickness's etc.

[bburn13]

By coincidence,
I spent the day looking for 1mm & 2mm thick steel plate today.
I need it for alterations to 1.5
The only place I found it was B&Q
and they wanted £27 per sheet
I even tried some metal fabricators with no joy
My mext option was to take the angle grinder to spare parts
Where do people get steel plate from?

Dave

[BIGBOBO]

Pick up some cheap body panels from fleabay?

[cartledge_uk]

Its not cheap.

I use spare parts it the metal is thick enough etc and its cheaper (free)

Sheet metal is expensive unfortunately, sheeting I get from a local fabricator.

[LimeyMk1]

Usually get my sheet steel from small metal fabricators and engineering companies. 0.5m2 of 4mm was £10 and the same of 2mm was £10 IIRC. There's a massive sheet of 0.9mm in the kitchen which Cassi picked up for £5.

Go for a wander round an industrial site and see what you can scrounge.

[Bazzbiggles]

Thanks for the positive comments. The welder I use is a Cebora 130 mig welder connected to a pub gas CO2 bottle via a regulator. I bought my last sheet of metal from Supertune in Oldham who are wholesale paint supplier for the motor industry so I would think any specialist paint/body panel supplier should do it. I also used U-POL WELD No 2, which is a weld through zinc rich primer and I sprayed this onto the backside of the metal before welding (£10 Halfords) to give it some protection. The paint dries within 20 seconds using a hair drier so it doesn’t hold the job up either.

Is it possible for somebody to scan the diagram showing the location of the rubber grommets that could be used for access for spraying Waxoil please. I think that would be really useful for the Forum members. The reason why I’ve posted this topic is that I feel it’s an area we are neglecting and in most cases become aware of far too late, like in my case. There were no holes and the whole area looked and felt solid until I tapped it with a pointed hammer. My concern is that there must be many other cars heading towards what I found. Maybe we should be thinking in terms of having repair panels made for that area like there are for the rear wheel arches – just a thought.

I’m thinking of purchasing a welding visor with clear glass that reacts and turns dark when an arc is struck. Has anybody had any experience with these? I’m find it difficult to make a neat weld because I can’t see what I’m doing with the dark glass lenses until the arc is stuck and even then it’s very difficult to see where I’m welding.

Thanks.

[LimeyMk1]

I’m thinking of purchasing a welding visor with clear glass that reacts and turns dark when an arc is struck. Has anybody had any experience with these? I’m find it difficult to make a neat weld because I can’t see what I’m doing with the dark glass lenses until the arc is stuck and even then it’s very difficult to see where I’m welding.

Thanks.

I've got one of these, bought it from welders warehouse and I wouldn't have a chance welding without it. Just don't scrimp on cheapy ones IIRC mine cost about £50-60.

Will see what I can do re the scan.

[010on1986]

"There were no holes and the whole area looked and felt solid until I tapped it with a pointed hammer".

thump the area with a rubber mallet and listen for falling rust flakes...

[richyrask]

I have one of the lcd welding helmets, and it is just awsome for weldng on a car. You cant really do one long run on a car (even with a mig) as the steel is very thin in some areas, these helmets make it much easier when doing lots of short runs. My dad bought me mine a couple of years ago and its still going strong. They just make welding soooooo much easier.

Mine wasn't the most expensive at the time, I think it was about £40 but has settings for TIG and MIG and the level of darkness when it changes and the clarity when its not activated. Highly recommended.

[crazybrightman]

ive got this mask for work...
http://www.engweld.co.uk/Special/Offers ... elmet.html

works very well indeed and is a good quality product. just be careful as theres some cheap tat out there that works ok but breaks easily and when it does you can't get the bits.

[N!co]

Mine had some rust on that same place, not that bad. I really think this is the main area too look for when buying a MK1 apart from the well know rear arches...

Dont forget to remove the front bumper & bar. I think this is one place where water can enter into this area. The end of the 'beam' is at the point where the big bolts of the bumperbar are. I poured lots of waxoil in and mounted the bumperbar back with a lot of sealant to prevent water getting in.