Replacement Sills

[Hippymonk]

Hi....I'm quite new to welding and have only done small patches etc in the past but i'm about to try something a whole lot bigger....well for me at least.....The outer sills need replacing on my 1999 Mitsubishi Challenger and i can not find any off the shelf panels/over sills. I am going to attempt to cut the sills of a scrap vehicle with decent sills but i am not sure the best way to go about this. The rot on my sills in places goes back as far as the seam with the floor pan so i would need to split this seam without causing damage and would i cut the sills below the top curve ( as it curves under the doors) or below that curve? Any advice or tips would be gratefully received

 

[the snooper]

welcome to the forum, cut the replacement sills well past the points that you need then drill out any spot welds to split the seems measure thing more then once to avoid cutting it wrongly

 

[mike 109444]

Are you not likely to spend ages removing used sills only to find they are rusted in the same places, bottom edge where it meet the seam and at rear where the dirt and moisture gathers. Sills would be spot welded on so if you clean up the top and bottom lips on yours with a rotary wire brush you should be able to see the spot welds to get an ideal ho far apart they are spaced (usually 11/2 to 2 inches. Also may have a small amount of braze or weld where it meets the B pillar. You might want to try on one of the 4x4 forums as they go off road in those type of vehicles and so must dent and bust there sills regularly. You could if you get the profile get them made up by company's using box/pan folders. I'm in process of scratch making a sill and it's not easy with out a 5ft folder!! See Images
And welcome BTW

 

[Hippymonk]

Thanks for the advice guys...i really need to consider if this is something i can do or bite the bullet and see if a fabrication company can help me out....i don't mind the hard dirty work but to be honest i'm not that confident in my abilities at the moment.

 

[mike 109444]

Would they also be known as "side steps"? If so see this link
http://www.1stchoice.co.uk/car-parts/mitsubishi/challenger/body-panel
and look at bottom of page at "latest request" Not sure if they are indicating that they have had these request and filled the order or what ? drop them an email maybe. Note sills are sometimes refereed to as rockers (don't know why !)
ps it's probable easier to spot/plug weld a new sill on than patching an old one. There will be plenty of advice on here when the time comes.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings]

On my toyota mr2 I was able to make my own sill repair panels by shaping a new piece of steel around the existing sill.....this only worked because the sill just had a bottom lip and then a nice smooth curve so it was easy to clamp to the bottom edge and then bend the steel around the existing sill. It wouldn't work on a more complex shape though.

 

[mike 109444]

Could it be that there is a pickup truck or van from same maker that has a sill that could be adapted?