Defender 110 sills / b-posts - unsure of what to do.

[julianf]

The next problem on the 110 are the c-posts.

Theyre not too bad, but do need some attention. This photo is of the bottom of the C post. A small plate has been added in the past -

The above is easily sortable.

The b-posts look pretty much fine. You cant really tell in the photo below, but ive had a good poke about, and not found anything fearful. Ignore the rust lump that was once a door...

The bit that im unsure of though is what to do with the sill itself. Its been replaced with a section of box.

The box is in fine condition - nothing much wrong with it. The B posts and C posts have been welded on to it in the right positions, but, sadly, its been welded to the bulkhead foot, but that's hardly a tough fabrication job - to cut off the weld, and make up a bracket.


Im considering taking off the whole lot and getting it dipped. I cant really see any advantage to loosing the box section, and replacing with C section from the likes of YRM (etc).

There's no trim over the box currently, so no holes - at some point, ill probably add rock slider step things, so, if i replaced the box now, it would have the holes in the right places, but i can always just drill them in the future.


Im not a purest. The fact that its different from factory does not bother me at all. But i will replace them with C section if there is some real advantage to be had, rather than there just being a few more holes, and it being a touch lighter.


What do you think?

 

[Burdekin]

C section is used for ease of spot welding together. To get rigidity and strength the open side needs to be spot welded to the inner sill to stop it from being able to twist etc. Therefore alone box of the same size and thickness is stronger and there's no technical reason (I can think of) to replace it, assuming it's the same size or larger than the original C section.

 

[julianf]

Thank you.

I think C section is more likely to store crud than box. Obviously, if rubbish gets into the box, it wont be going anywhere much, but it wont collect spatter in quite the same way as C section does.

 

[Burdekin]

Yeah good points. If the box is fully sealed then no need for drain holes etc as it won't be rusting from the inside.

 

[julianf]

Im planning on getting them dipped, but i can always put a bolt in the galvanisers drain holes afterward.

 

[julianf]

Im wondering how best to make up the bracket that bolts the sill to the bulkhead foot. I need to chop the box off the old bulkhead foot first, but it would be nice to not have to test fit the new bulkhead just yet.

I wonder how much clearance i should give between the old bulkhead foot and my fabricated bracket.