Just done the left side floor pan and front sill area (rust under carpet thread)
Had a bit rust showing through the rear sill area just behind the rear left wheel so decided to continue with sorting out the sill area before replacing the carpet.

The rear sill area didnt look to bad, just a little rust showing through at the rear wheel area and a bit after the centre joint of the front and rear sill's

So out with the old chisel to remove the stonechip,paint etc for a better look. and found what i was looking for (rust)

From where i welded in the front sill to the centre joint, its got little spots of surface rust that will be cleaned up and covered with epoxy 121 but after the centre joint its going to be cut out and replaced with new steel.
(and to think it didnt look to bad)

Some photos....






Area behind rear wheel..







Now where did i put them welding gloves....LOL..

 

Done a bit more today..
Removed outer sill from the centre joint to the rear wheel.
Revealed Lots of work to do, both inner sill's (whats left of them)
Then cut out the rust from both inner sill's (will replace with new steel)
The bottom of wheel well will need some new steel as its rotted through and the lugs that that the sill is plug welded to are well rotted, so fabricating that bit will be fun!


Removing outer sill




Inner sill's




Bottom of wheel well and lug's



All from a little rust showing through the paint work..WOW..

This is turning in to a full diy restoration..
At one point i thought i was about 20% done, HA,HA....Rethink 10% if lucky...

 

Wow! This is beginning to look like the automotive equivalent of Rembrandt's "Lesson in Anatomy of Dr. Tulp"

Hat off to you, Sir.

Quick question: is the area I've circled where the inner sill has rotted, or does it not carry all the way down to the bottom flange?

 

Michaelh, the area you have circled was previously cut out by some one in the past (not rot),
It was cut out from there all the way back to the wheel well area (and never replaced)

So im not the first to open Nicolaes up...

Surprisingly the rust on that inner sill would of cleaned up well, as it was all good thick metal, but i needed to get in behind it, to repair the other inner sill that comes down and has the floor pan and jacking point spot welded to it.

Evan though it would of cleaned up well, the rust was well set in and it would have rotted through, all along the bottom flange and then further up in to the sill if left untreated.
As for the bit cut out in the past, it may well of been rotted through , or just removed for access to some patch welding near the jacking point.
Some patch welding done in the past to this rear sill area, but never done in a good long lasting way..

 

Looking out of my window in Durham this morning - I hope you have a heated garage!

Good luck.

Graham

 

Unfortunately the garage is not heated, built it about 2 years ago to house spec, 100mm insulation to cavity walls also floor and ceiling insulation, the garage is detached, but i can get it plumed to the house central heating. (another project) at some point.

It's about 3.5 degrees in there now, after 5/6 hours its time to go in the house and defrost ! (with lots of irish coffee)

A bit more done today, had to remove the A frame bracket as it had a rust hole in it, then the fun started !
The rear box section that the bracket bolts to had also rotted through, so iv cut it out, lots of work/fabrication/welding needed to sort this out.

I went to see Nev at North East Jag Spares and got a good pair of A frame brackets (sorted)

Iv been fabricating the new steel for the bottom part of the wheel well and started on the A frame box section replacement steel.

After removing the bracket i found this...




Cut it out ...


Over view of the repair area ...


Some fabrication for bottom of wheel well ..


Started the fabrication for the "A frame bracket bolt hole" in the floor box section ...


The way this is going, im going to need all the luck i can get......LOL..

 

Mr. DAY,
My heart goes out to you.

From your first picture in post #6, it seems that the outer sill (as opposed to the rear quarter panel) doesn't extend rearwards completely to the lower wheelarch closure. I think Jaguar calls the piece you are manufacturing a 'closure panel'
If so, then it would be possible to direct some wax injection between the outer sill and the outer body panel via the rubber bung. Am I seeing this correctly?

 

Yes, but that gap may have been originally closed with foam sealer, i cant see any traces of this in my car at that point.




If it is sealed with foam use the top plug, this is to the same area...


Other access/drain points for cavity wax in this area iv come across..




The above, internal red straw photo, is showing the rubber grommet that the front seat belt rod is located (when fitted)

The yellow straw hole is smaller and could well be sealed with underbody coatings, there is other access to this area via a rubber grommet in the part i cut out,
on mine the A frame bracket was slightly covering this grommet (making it difficult to remove/replace if used).
In photos 4+5 (yellow straw) you can see a large round hole (big grommet removed)... this is to a different box section and i think from there you could feed a long wax oil pipe all the way to the rear drop leg (dont know correct name) the one that has the A frame bush bolted to it..

Hope this helps.

 

It's been slow going due to the cold weather.
Iv had to get some heaters to keep the garage temp around 14 centigrade (57F)

Iv removed all the rot , cleaned and treated the surface rust , welded in the new inner sill that meets the floor pan , completed the fabrication of the floor box section with the captive nut for the A frame bracket (will weld this in place tomorrow)

Some photos.....




Temporally fitted to mark captive nut hole...



The next job will be the end closure panel and the other inner sill areas to repair...

 

Got the captive nut welded in the correct position, then welded the new box section floor in place..



Dressed the weld up..


Then painted the area with epoxy 121..

 

Managed to get a bit more done..
The end closure panel was remade, (as the first one i made wasn't a good fit). To get a good fit i had to make the end part of the outer sill first, then make the closure panel to fit the new outer sill.




End closure in place ready to weld..



Welded and cleaned up, then painted with epoxy 121



Iv now got a good solid end closure panel,
Next job is to make and replace new sections of the inner sill..

 

Iv decided not to replace the other inner sill as original,
but to use some brackets to give it some strength/rigidity, and avoid the rust trap between the inner and outer sills.

The brackets are 55mm wide, and have an impressed channel to give it some strength/rigidity.
This way i should have no problem when inserting the cavity wax/oil.

The first bracket is now welded in place between both inner sill's

Some photos ..




Didn't bother with dressing the weld, but gave it a good clean then painted with epoxy 121


Iv got one more bracket to weld in place (i may make a third) , next weekend. Then on to the outer sill....

 

It's been some time since i last up dated this thread ....
Got the other inner sill bracket welded in place (didn't bother with a third one)

Im doing the outer sill in sections as its a difficult shape to replicate.

The first section was welded in place and i also used panel glue between the end closure and the sill to get a good seal, i could reach in after welding and apply seam sealer to the rear of the closure panel and sill area.





Then on to the next bit around the jacking point..





All dressed and painted with epoxy 121.


Another two sections still to do, the next one will be starting at the other end at the sill joint below the door.



As each section is welded in place i can protect the back of the welds with spray paint.

 

The next section is now done..

Shaping the section at the joint below the door.


Then plug and butt weld it in place, then dressed the weld.


Then paint with the 121 epoxy.


Now before i weld in the last section... I want to use the cavity wax/oil (Dinitrol ML) and make sure it gets in to the pinch point between the inner and new outer sill, i sprayed the oil right in the pinch point, then i used the compressed air line and blasted this area pushing the oil right in there, then another good spray of the dinitrol ml ..


As you can see there is lots of dinitrol ml right in the pinch point, also iv drilled a 10mm access hole so i can oil this pinch point in the future with ease, the hole is to the left on the above picture, temporally fitted with a foam plug.

 

The last section is now done..
After removing the Dinitrol ML from the area to be welded it was plug and butt welded in place with no problems.

As iv done with all the repair sections, after getting a good fit, the section was cleaned down with panel wipe and scuffed up with 80 grit and painted with epoxy 121 on the inside and out side (two coats) and left for 7 days to harden. Then the weld area had the epoxy 121 removed and sprayed with weld through primer

After welding, the weld was dressed, and the area on the out side was cleaned down with panel wipe, then the epoxy was scuffed up with 320 grit and more panel wipe and then more epoxy 121 ... (all very time consuming)... Then the inside got more Dinitrol ML to protect the weld area.









Now all thats left to do is some filling and shaping with bondo/filler and some stone chip and then MDZ base coat and top coat.
He said so confidently.........................LOL

 

Not been around for a while as I put my car into storage 6 months ago for the winter so have missed your thread. Great work! I am sure that many UK cars would be exactly the same if a bit of investigation was done.

 

Thanks RD
Iv seen all your threads and gained a wealth of knowledge and encouragement from them...
Iv got lots still to do front/rear subframe etc.

Yes many of the Uk cars will no doubt have similar rust problems if they havent been fixed and rust treated correctly ..

Iv even gone as far as adding things to help with cavity oil spraying to the inaccessible areas ..

Set up on out side to see the access


Now fitted on the inside ..



This works well and will be a big help in the fight against the rust....