MOT FAIL.. Is it worth repairing????

Well it went in for the mot and well theres good and bad


Here is what it failed on!

Additional Stop lamp insecure (1.3.2d)

Offside Front Track rod end excessively corroded and unserviceable (2.2.C.1c)

All centre and rear (6) Body or chassis has excessive corrosion, seriously affecting its strength within 30cm of the body mountings (6.1.3)

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The lamp i not a problem it actually came off on the way there thats a easy fix.

The track rod end shouldent be too hard when my haynes manual turns up it should cover that!

But the sills are in a pretty bad way... ive been quoted in the price of £600+ upwards for wellding ....

Is it worth buying a migwelder (i know not to get a arc) Take two days of next week and one day to practice on scrap and 1 to do the job?

i've found replacment sills for about £60 each and £20 for each ot the rear mounts on flea bay..


Is it a easy or hard job to reapair/replace these?? and cut out and clean the old?

Any advice as allways appreciated.

P.s. i can get one of these Silverline Mig Welder 100a No Gas, 282562 at Tool Shop Direct for £80 would it be worth it for this job? and the hoppyist?


p.s.s its a 93 200TDi with a imaculate engin

dont get a no gas mig they are pants, and if you've not welded before it might take more than a couple of days to do, as you can be sure that you will find things the MOT man didnt

it's not hard to do but it's a messy time consuming job to do properly

As I am mid-way through a sill replacement job myself on my '94 disco, the one thing I can say is that once the rotten crud is cut away, there isn't a lot left....

It's quite a challenge for a novice.

There is a big market for spares, so it may be worth considering letting it go..

yea i would m8 then you learn to weld too.

Well I would repair it, but thats the sort of daft thing that I do, plus Ive done them before, plus i can weld. if you haven't welded before it may be a big first job.

It'll take a couple of weeks 'cos you will keep on cutting back trying to find good steel. you will bolt the new sills to the chassis and find they don't have enough steel to get to the good body so you'll have to fabricate bits.

When it comes to buying a welder then a SIP 130 is decent for home use, you can use gassless wire but its not cost effective for large jobs and not the best weld, but it is easier to use and OK for little jobs. On the other hand, if you are using gas then you need to invest in a decent size bottle because the little DIY bottles only last a few welds and you'll get through loads.

Hope i haven't put you off 'cos if it were me, I'd go for it.

If I can give you any pointers then feel free to ask. where are you? I'm in Cannock, are you far?

Last, there are some pictures of a sill job on my old Range Rover on fliker if you want to look. martinlovatt's photosets on Flickr

Well you've got a choice, either sell her in bits for a fair bit of dosh and buy a new car. Or repair her taking your time getting to know her inside and out, how things work.
Also you might get to be able to work out how to weld propley and have a welder for the future incase anything else goes wrong..

You might try a search on here.

From memory there's been a few posts (mainly from Redhand) about sill replacements using box section steel. Might be cheaper/easier than proper sills and gives the added advantage of additional strength (not sure on that point though).

If it were me, I'd do the work. Learning to weld is an added bonus and you'll use the welder over and over for all sorts of jobs.

Right then i've done a lot of tinking and talking with the missis... and


Im gonna learn a new skill!!

Were gonna repair it..













well thats the damage ---- rear ones i'll probably do first they look the less complicated....


Im now just deciding on what to do for the sills im torn between using box section or replace the inner sill.

martinl Thanks for that but im miles away im in Yorkshire. but i might get you for some of that advice.

Thinks im gonna use the search button for the next few hours lol... and ebay some mig's

Thanks again every one

that does look quite well gone - did stevie wonder do the MOT last year ?

Your local college might do a car restoration evening course for not much dosh- tuition as you go and use of all the ramps & tools. Result!

Good luck!

It does look bad but once the sill is removed it'll look much better. I would go for a sill panel and make patches around it. It'll be a good experience for you.

There are some migs on ebay, I looked already, A migmate near you looks interesting. Get yourself a small angle grinder too.

I'll give any pointers if I can, happy to help.

Did you look at my Rangie? I have more pics of her, she was a mess but along with gearbox rebuild was only off the road three weeks.

best of luck

lol i was hoping stevie would do it this year lol...


3.5 disco i'll lookin to that i know whitwood college do courses.

martin do you mean get a used one or patch my exsiting.


I've only found faulty migmates near me but what you think aboutthis one?


Remember it gonna be used for hobbying (landy repair) nothing to heavy

TIG WELDER MMA WELDER 200 INVERTOR AMP on eBay, also Welders, Welding, Metalworking Milling Welding, Business, Office Industrial (end time 22-Jan-09 20:07:17 GMT)

Ive not seen the pics yet i'll have a look in a mo just reading this litlle info on the pros and cons of co2 and co2 argon mixes lol

thats not a mig welder, it's just the invertor for tigging

have a look here for welding info

MIG Welding - The DIY Guide

martinl said:

It does look bad but once the sill is removed it'll look much better. I would go for a sill panel and make patches around it. It'll be a good experience for you.

There are some migs on ebay, I looked already, A migmate near you looks interesting. Get yourself a small angle grinder too.

I'll give any pointers if I can, happy to help.

Did you look at my Rangie? I have more pics of her, she was a mess but along with gearbox rebuild was only off the road three weeks.

best of luck

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It looks very bad, and it's going to be a coont to make the plates up. To be any use it's going to be 18 guage for strength. Anytime I encounter any job like this I set about it with a hammer because you need to know now where the good metal is, chances are that its going to fall to bits so better to know now.

If the plates are available off the shelf go for them, but in welding terms you dont get much welding done in an hour.

My sills were fooked and I got a metal suppliers to make up a U section in 6mm which I bolted in after welding tree and rock sliders onto them.

But personally considering whats available out there, scrap it and start again, probably find the chassis is paper thin aswel.

This will get you going..






Sealey Siegen S0771 130A Mini Mig Welder Welding & Mask on eBay, also Welders, Welding, Metalworking Milling Welding, Business, Office Industrial (end time 20-Feb-09 19:50:29 GMT)

The-Wappy-One said:

lol i was hoping stevie would do it this year lol...


3.5 disco i'll lookin to that i know whitwood college do courses.

martin do you mean get a used one or patch my exsiting.


I've only found faulty migmates near me but what you think aboutthis one?


Remember it gonna be used for hobbying (landy repair) nothing to heavy

TIG WELDER MMA WELDER 200 INVERTOR AMP on eBay, also Welders, Welding, Metalworking Milling Welding, Business, Office Industrial (end time 22-Jan-09 20:07:17 GMT)

Ive not seen the pics yet i'll have a look in a mo just reading this litlle info on the pros and cons of co2 and co2 argon mixes lol

Click to expand...

Nah, get some bearmach or similar sills, new, then cut the scrap out, bolt the new sills to the chasis and see what gaps you have. Then you need to fabricate patches, you'll need some 1mm mild steel sheet and an angle grinder. there is no point in making lovely neat patches as the welding will cover all that anyway.
its a mig welder you need, that one is a tig power unit, different. Take a look for a SIP turbo 105 on Google, they come at about 180 new, that is ideal. You want about 90 to 100A capacity to mke it useful, smaller ones dont have the duty cycle. there is one in Hereford on ebay, ending soon.

martinl said:

Nah, get some bearmach or similar sills, new, then cut the scrap out, bolt the new sills to the chasis and see what gaps you have. Then you need to fabricate patches, you'll need some 1mm mild steel sheet and an angle grinder. there is no point in making lovely neat patches as the welding will cover all that anyway.
its a mig welder you need, that one is a tig power unit, different. Take a look for a SIP turbo 105 on Google, they come at about 180 new, that is deal. You want about 90 to 100A capacity to mke it useful, smaller ones dont have the duty cycle. there is one in Hereford on ebay, ending soon.

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quick edit this before you get the **** taken outta you

Sean said:

quick edit this before you get the **** taken outta you

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OK 1mm is a it heavy, a bit thinner then, 0.5 mm

Oh yeah, forgot the gas. Argon is for TIG, you need CO2 or Argomix, this is CO2 with 8% Argon added


That siegen looks OK too

.5mm MS for patching chassis holes ?

right oh ....