MR2 tin worn gone mad

[typhoon]

Hello everyone, I'm just after some advice on repairing the sill's on my MK2 MR2, She failed the MOT with these areas and after poking around the rear parts of the sill's lots of corrosion and filler fell out, the corrosion has also got to the inner sills.

One of the main problems that I have come across is, you can't get repair panels for the rear section of the sill as it's part of the rear quarter panel, and the rest of the sill to the front is only available from Toyota, I've tried finding these sections with the companies that do the pattern repair panels but haven't had any joy.

Just two questions that I would like to ask are:

Do you paint the sill's before you weld them on and if so what with? Don't want the sill's to ignite!

I'll be cutting out the rot with a straight line along the top of the sill and drilling out the spot welds along the bottom lip, when I weld the sill in is it okay to put a full weld along the top, and with the MIG spot weld where the original spot welds would be along the bottom lip, it's just so the MOT chap is happy, or does it have to be seam welded all round?

Sorry if this doesn't make any sense.
Cheers
Trev

 

[malcolm]

They'll tend to rust along the bottom seam whetever you do - any paint there would burn off with the weld heat. I would generally paint to 1/2 inch of the edge to leave clean metal for welding, then rustproof the seam once it's all finished. Fire doesn't tend to be a problem.

Plug welding in place of the original spot welds is fine for the MOT. A few practice ones on scrap sheet will let you check the penetration is OK.

 

[typhoon]

Cheers malcolm, it's very much appreciated, to be honest I'm going to have to practice on all the types of welds I'll be using for this job so I'll be reading tutorials. I've bought a MIG 135TE and a Arc Activated Headshield but I'll have to use the small bottles at the moment.
When it comes to welding the top of the sill would it be best to step/crimp the edge or butt weld it?
Many thanks again.
Trev

 

[malcolm]

I generally butt weld myself, but that can cause more distortion than overlap welding. Also you need complete penetration if grinding down the welds. For overlap welds the overlap panel will tend to keep springing off with the heat and will need frequent knocks back into place.

There's not a lot in it for welds towards the top of a sill. Possibly an overlap with a joggled joint would be the easiest. For anything exposed to road dirt behind I'd always butt.

PS - It can be difficult to get a decent gas flow from the regulators on those little bottles. Watch out for bubbles in the weld and lots of spatter if the reg isn't behaving.

 

[typhoon]

Many thanks malcolm, you're a legend. It's a great site and forum it's given me the confidence to have a go myself.
Should I buy a better regulator, SIP or something?

 

[malcolm]

Just keep an eye out for gas flow problems. The disposable regs often have to be turned up much higher than the instructions suggest. You'll get fed up with them before too long anyway - they don't last long.

 

[typhoon]

Cheers malcolm.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings]

mr2 sill repair

Just been through exactly the same fix on my MR2. just to reiterate...toyota don't make replacement sills for the MR2 mk2...they only supply the sill part under the door...the rear section is part of the rear quarter panel. To replace the sill you'd need 2 or 3 of these shorter sections and they are quite expensive....however there are cheaper routes, One option is to fit a "near fit" from another car...but typically these aren't the same profile and fitting a boxy sill can ruin the lines on the car. In the end I found a really simple (and more importantly cheap) way to form the sills. I'm sure there are lots of others out there doing the same thing but for me it was a new idea. Basically I bought some steel of the same thickness as the original sill (1.2mm I think)...took it to my bench and folded a 90 degree edge in it about an inch thick with a hammer. Took the steel to the car and clamped it to the existing sill bottom edge with lots of grips. Then just rolled the steel over the existing sill...and wow...new sill with a profile matching the existing sill, I only needed 60cm of sill...for a longer section you could join pieces together. If it helps anyone I have pics of the repair which I could post....just let me know.

 

[benham]

Just been through exactly the same fix on my MR2. just to reiterate...toyota don't make replacement sills for the MR2 mk2...they only supply the sill part under the door...the rear section is part of the rear quarter panel. To replace the sill you'd need 2 or 3 of these shorter sections and they are quite expensive....however there are cheaper routes, One option is to fit a "near fit" from another car...but typically these aren't the same profile and fitting a boxy sill can ruin the lines on the car. In the end I found a really simple (and more importantly cheap) way to form the sills. I'm sure there are lots of others out there doing the same thing but for me it was a new idea. Basically I bought some steel of the same thickness as the original sill (1.2mm I think)...took it to my bench and folded a 90 degree edge in it about an inch thick with a hammer. Took the steel to the car and clamped it to the existing sill bottom edge with lots of grips. Then just rolled the steel over the existing sill...and wow...new sill with a profile matching the existing sill, I only needed 60cm of sill...for a longer section you could join pieces together. If it helps anyone I have pics of the repair which I could post....just let me know.

I'm having exactly the same problem with my MGF, no parts available!

When you say "rolled it over" did you just do this by hand? Any heating or anything required?

Regards,
Andy

 

[Pigeon_Droppings]

Hi Andy,

I took pictures of the whole repair process start to finish...I'll try to dig them out and post them. Basically I clamped the sheet metal (with the 90 degree flange) to the sill edge just under the door...make sure you have the door open so gives you more room (in my case I hadn't trimmed the sheet so had a lot of extra metal). From memory II sat on the floor and used my hand/feet to push it onto the existing sill profle...what you end up with is something that is a very good match. The rear of the sill has a very slightly different curve but with a little tweaking you can get it totally spot on...in my case you can't tell it's been replaced...and of course the real bonus is the price! I'll post the pictures...before you think I'm some kind of expert I'm actually an IT specialist...this was literally my first repair of this type. I do have a good welder...also I recommend cutting the existing sill along the top curve...it seems to be a lot easier to butt weld. On mine the inner sill was also shot to pieces but this is fairly easy to make up once you have the right shape for the outer sill. I looked on the tinternet at the "alternative" sills but they can be a problem as the shape of the original just clears the inner sill so sticking to that shape seemed to make repairing the inner sill easier. I'll dig out the pictures and post them ...I took them half expecting it wouldn't work...but it worked perfectly so worth me sharing if it saves a few more of these great cars, I don't have many tools either...few grips...a couple of hammers,,,no fancy benders etc...worth using a descent welder though. Am currently working on repairing the rear quarter inner wing...let me know and I'll take some pics if it's useful...these are pretty much the only rust areas on my car so must be a common problem I think,

 

[Pigeon_Droppings]

Hi Andy,

Just to add...no heat required. Just put a 90 degree flange in the sheet so you can clamp it to the existing sill and roll round holding it to the sill as best you can. Just realised you are trying on the MGF...on the MR2 the sill has a nnice curve so worked well..

 

[Pigeon_Droppings]

OK - found the pic. Hopefully the more experienced fabricators won't fall off their chairs with laughter ...but it worked for me so I'm happy. I also started a new thread in the project section so will put up more pics of the repair. Have attached the forming...I'm not calling it a process as it was more trial and error.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings]

Andy, I've posted the full repair in the project section...hope it helps and good luck with the repair. This was my first project...what I would say is take your time and get rid of the rust...it's tempting to keep the repair as small as possible but rust will cause the biggest stress when it comes to welding in the repair...it's best to take it back to clean metal...the thicker metal on the inner sill seemed to clean up in my case so I think I got off lightly on that front

 

[pedrobedro]

I did one with a friend on his Polo using the same method and we butt welded it in. The only way you could tell was the jacking point indicator was missing. Drill the bottom flange for the plug welds before you tack the top, we forgot.