S3 SWB tub side panel repair or replace

Hi all,

Just started the strip down of my tub for refurbishment. The side panels are in really nice straight and flat condition except for where the stays attach....please see pic.
Is this repairable? as new side panels are £££.....if so any suggestions how to best tackle this would be most appreciated

thanks in advance

Those aren't as bad as mine were!

I cut a strip of 2mm ali, about 15mm, i think it was, that would fit inside the J-section, with a tab about the same width bent up to fit in the hole of the corroded side panel. Bent it to fit the curve of the bottom edge, and riveted in place by 6 rivets, I think it was.

Very crude, not particularly pretty and I don't know how long it'll last, but it seems pretty robust and it's well out of sight.

I had some heavy alloy section so this was my solution.
Shaped to wing the rivetted with some tiger seal from memory.

Having just built 5” aluminium skirting round the bottom of my trailer to match the series 2 sill I can confirm brazing ally is a complete pain in the rear.
The thin sheet wicks heat away from the joint faster than a standard DIY blow lamp can apply it and the modern fluxless rods don’t flow very well and tend to bead, leaving a solid joint that needs a whole lot of grinding and polishing to leave an invisible seam.
I eventually tried traditional ally brazing rods and ally flux that wasn’t cheap to start with but than had to buy a map gas torch and cylinders that added to the cost of the job.
Even the map gas is a little cold but cheaper than oxyacetylene.
All in all if it’s not a concourse finish your after I’d go for the rivet solution as above and squirt some JB Weld round the joints to daddy it up a bit. In fact JB Weld is good enough to coat over a simple masking tape template stuck inside the profile as long as you build it up in a couple of thin layers before rubbing back to an acceptable finish.
I did this on a light fitting recently that had rusted through and it’s a decent finish. It works like a very hard body filler but hard as nails.