Sorting this at the weekend....but how?

Well, seeing as it was nice today, and I had a day off, I thought I would do some rust investigation, and also try to seal up some leaks that the recent storms had shown up. Ended up finding this little gem, buried under a load of sealant. Great!

bottom top

and a handy tyre tread checker

Basically, I undid the bolt on the seat belt, and the reinforced plate holding the captive nut just separated.

It's obviously been patched before round this bit, and the top hole is round the base of the C pillar. Directly beneath the pillar feels firm, but I've been peeling sealant off from the edges so it's coming out. I'm toying with a couple of options.

1, repair/ plate under the C pillar, then buy an easy on repair panel from Froggatts or similar.

2, cut the whole lot out, and make up a repair patch to incorporate both holes. And weld the captive nut plate to this once I've cleaned it up.

I'm not sure if two separate repairs would be detrimental to strength, even though they will be seam welded. I'm new to the world of welding, so still learning as I go. I would have felt happy repairing one hole. Typical I found two

The C pillar is fine inside, it's just f@"k'd underneath it

I've a sheet of 1.2mm steel knocking about, which I plan to use for the main repair.

All opinions, advice, abuse welcome

Pretty standard disco rot spot.
You can buy a complete inner wheel arch if you like for around £150 or either make up or purchase a repair panel.

In so far as strength goes, so long as you use appropriate gauge materials and the welding is of a decent standard the repair will be just as strong if not stronger than the original. An inch of weld can withstand 1 ton of force.

I'm leaning towards buying a repair panel, lazy, I know, but it's my daily drive, so I can't have it off the road for too long. Will look at plating under the C pillar as I don't think the repair panel will cover both. Thanks for the reassurance regards the strength.

Andy

Take pictures, before and after. They'll be worth money should you ever sell it.

KeepDigging said:

Take pictures, before and after. They'll be worth money should you ever sell it.

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Definitely! Even if it's to remind me how much cash I've ploughed into the old girl.

Looks very similar to mine though it isnt quite as bad as yours

sergeantcookie said:

Looks very similar to mine though it isnt quite as bad as yours

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It's a pain having the two blooming holes. Still waiting for a seat belt mount repair panel to arrive that I ordered a week or so ago. This will be my first real welding repair. (So will probably end up having to replace the whole arch! )

Hi
Hope this helps a bit discovery sills - YouTube

roger352 said:

Hi
Hope this helps a bit discovery sills - YouTube

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That's cracking! Cheers for this.