riveting steel plates over chassis holes???

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so the entire strength of the chassis will rely on a couple of pop rivets! MOT - no unless the tester doesn't spot it (in which case he shouldn't be an MOT tester!) - they will check the weld all the way round any patches and if they can get a matchstick in anywhere they SHOULD fail it!
 
The holes face out the back and are on the outside of the two main beams. So i'm hoping it won't fail, if it does i'll put a new one on.
 
I've seen people fit chequer plate covers to the rear cross member. to hide the whole crossmember. If the tester can't see it he can't fail it!! But what your mate has done will be an instant fail. As soon as the tester sees it he'll fail it, and he will see it. As the rear crossmember is one of the 1st places he'll look for corrosion.

Problem is if the rear crossmember has gone on the outside, then you can almost guarantee that the rest of it will be rotten and the testers little hammer will find it..
 
O MY GOD. your mate has got to be taking the ****, pop rivets please do us all a faver get the job done proper for ever one.
 
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Someone i knoe did that to pass an mot. A week later while pulling his mate out of a bog he ripped his crossmember clean off. No joke it was fooked, he just gobbed a load of plates on it with rivets and silicone!

He's now learned to weld properly!!
 
My first thoughts are no, it's not structurally strong enough. The metal surrounding the hole will be weakened too and a bunch of rivets are nothing like a good big seam of weld!
 
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ive just chisled out a load o repairs like that of a disco all riveted and smeared with underbody seal

mot tester wasnt best impessed failed it and i ended up buying it fer a song
 
My first thoughts are no, it's not seen as structurally strong enough. The metal surrounding the hole will be weakened too and a bunch of rivets are nothing like a good big seam of weld!

Thats not, strictly speaking, true - but it depends on the number and size and type of the rivets.

You dont see many welded aircraft.

having said that - the MOT wont accept riveting, pop or solid.
 
The centre of the crossmemeber is pretty strong. The ends (from the chassis out) are weak. If you attempt to jack up a crossmember from the jacking points they tend to crease even though the crossmember looks good. There is only a small strengthening strip above the jacking points. I would have just cut a piece of 3-5mm plate to the shape of the crossmember and welded the whole thing in one hit.
 
to be honest if the rust holes are outside 12" radius from a majour suspension mounting or mounting point its a pass but advise sounds daft but true yes you should weld them anyway but thats what the book says
 
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