Suppliers of chassis channel for Doblo - do you know / can you recommend any near Manchester, UK?

1ozzy · Oct 20, 2016

Hi all,

I've searched the forum on here for this info, but did not find any suppliers of chassis channel for Fiats.
Lots of links for Landy's, old classic cars etc tho!
It may be that i am not putting the 'magic' keywords in though....

So, do you know of any suppliers near Manchester, for Fiat chassis channels?
Pattern parts and replacement universal parts are great too, and may be cheaper than Fiat ones.

I've made up cills for the Fiat from Ford Fiesta ones', so i don't mind adapting a little.

The two parts I'm after are for a 2003 Fiat Doblo 1.9 JTD.

The Fiat ePer catalogue lists the part numbers -

Part labelled 1 in picture above - 51705706 CROSSRAIL - Located under the middle of the rear boot space, which is a fairly simple U type section, but with a varying depth profile because of the exhaust rear silencer.

Part labelled 9 in picture above - 46828276 CROSSRAIL - Located at the rear of the boot space, just behind the towball, slightly off U /V profile, with mounting brackets and such on.

I have searched via Google and Ebay for the two above parts and only found one of them, at a cost of £130 ish!

Now, my MIG welding skill is very beginner / basic, as is my metal work.

If necessary, i could probably fabricate these two items, however, i would much prefer to purchase them if price is reasonable.

Oh, a final question. Would you advise using galvanised sheet if I have to fabricate the channels?
Obviously I would have to grind off the galvanising for the welds.
I've got some from a previous project, so thought I may use it, if you chaps think it would be ok to do so?

Great, thanks for reading, I await your advice!

:laughing:

CompoSimmonite · Oct 20, 2016

Find a late model Doblo with frontal damage in breakers that you can cut out the sections you require.

the black box · Oct 20, 2016

For fiats best place for parts is poland. The two I use are unto.pl and alegro.pl? There's more suggestions in this thread here

http://www.fiatforum.com/cinquecento-seicento/443093-parts-poland.html#post4206270

There's also a polish dealer on the forum but you'll need to sign up and donate to get access

Most polish dealer speak ok English so worth emailing them with part no

Might be worth a phone call to Mick of eurocarcare in Derby he might be able to locate or point you in the right direction

They look fairly simple to fab but eper drawing aren't that great. I wouldn't use galv sheet not nice to eld even if the galv is ground off. I'd use zintec or just plain mild steel

Mee · Oct 21, 2016

Only use galvanised material if it is something like the Zintec B galvanising or something else similar as these are designed for welding, most other traditional galvanising means nasty fumes and spitting yellow for a while.

1ozzy · Oct 21, 2016

CompoSimmonite said:
Find a late model Doblo with frontal damage in breakers that you can cut out the sections you require.

Thanks for the idea, though I'm not sure that on this occasion it would be less work to find and cut out the parts than fabricating the channels?
I'll have to check if the rear section of later models is the same as the 2003 one?
Unless you definately know that they have not changed the design from 2003-2016?
Anyway, I'm thankful for your reply, it is a very helpful suggestion and i had not thought of doing that! :laughing:

the black box said:
For fiats best place for parts is poland. The two I use are unto.pl and alegro.pl? There's more suggestions in this thread here

http://www.fiatforum.com/cinquecento-seicento/443093-parts-poland.html#post4206270

There's also a polish dealer on the forum but you'll need to sign up and donate to get access

Most polish dealer speak ok English so worth emailing them with part no

Might be worth a phone call to Mick of eurocarcare in Derby he might be able to locate or point you in the right direction

They look fairly simple to fab but eper drawing aren't that great. I wouldn't use galv sheet not nice to eld even if the galv is ground off. I'd use zintec or just plain mild steel

Good advice, thank you for taking the time to point me to this info :thumbup:

Time to start making contact me thinks!
I'm a member of the FiatForums and have posted a few things on there.
When i searched for this info, I couldn't find anyone who'd done the job on a Doblo, hence trying here in this forum.
I didn't think to check the other sections for suppliers!
Thanks also for the advice on the galvanised.

Mee said:
Only use galvanised material if it is something like the Zintec B galvanising or something else similar as these are designed for welding, most other traditional galvanising means nasty fumes and spitting yellow for a while.

Hey, appreciate the heads up! :welder:

I've used some galvanised before, with a fan for airflow and my welding helmet has one of those fan things with a filter which blows air past the visor.
Not exactly a respirator tho.
Oh, and the workshop i use is well ventilated.... I get wet when it rains and warm when the sun comes out (!) and the ceiling is sometimes a nice blue colour....

So thanks again chaps!

I'll do some more digging!

pedrobedro · Oct 21, 2016

Zintec sheet is good for panels the zinc is so thin it's not necessary to grind it off or bother about the fumes especially as you are outside and will only be welding in bits not working with your head in it all day. Make some cardboard templates to get your shapes and sizes and the job is a lot easier using 18g or 20g steel you can bend by hand round a plank as a former.

1ozzy · Oct 21, 2016

So, searched through the three Polish website databases and they don't have the parts.
https://catalog.polcar.com/Catalog
http://www.unto.pl/
http://sklep.euroforin.eu/

Awaiting a reply from Mick of Eurocarcare in Derby (http://www.eurocarcare.net/).

The next will be to ask Fiat themselves (shudder!).

Maybe I'll have to make them... :vsad:

1ozzy · Oct 21, 2016

pedrobedro said:
Zintec sheet is good for panels the zinc is so thin it's not necessary to grind it off or bother about the fumes especially as you are outside and will only be welding in bits not working with your head in it all day. Make some cardboard templates to get your shapes and sizes and the job is a lot easier using 18g or 20g steel you can bend by hand round a plank as a former.

Thanks pedrobedro :thumbup:

Yes, cardboard is the pattern makers partner!

I used it to form the parts for this ...

1ozzy · Oct 21, 2016

Mick from Eurocarcare phoned me back and he can get the parts!
Thanks to 'the black box' for that info, much appreciated. :laughing:

Mick also checked with Fiat and the prices he gave me were about £30 + vat for the middle (smaller) rail, and £101 + vat for the larger rear one.
Fiat have the larger one at about £167, so still a great saving from Eurocarcare.

If anyone else knows of any other supplier, I'd still be happy to hear from you !

Thanks again.

Oh, here is a pic of the rusted area ... the arrow is for my dad to see the 'other' channel that needs replacing... the rusty one is a bit obvious i think !

The middle channel coating was just peeling off in strips... so i stopped peeling until I can get the parts....

... and the third channel isn't looking too good either...

Anyway, we'll see :worms

1ozzy · Oct 21, 2016

Sorry, back again!

Looking at the discolouration on the right side of the last pic above got me thinking, should there be a heat shield mounted above the rear silencer?

Anyone else got a Doblo to check?
Let me know if you know!

Maybe i'll just make one and fit one anyway.... looks in the picture like the heat has been affecting it.

lazybones51 · Oct 21, 2016

Another recommendation for Mick at Euro Car Care, he has helped me out many times!

To the left of where the exhaust pipe is in that photo, appear to be a couple of studs, maybe they secure a heat shield?

Paul99 · Oct 21, 2016

I had to replace a couple of the chassis cross members on my brothers Iveco Daily last summer that had rusted through in the same places as in your pictures - though his were in a worse condition. I asked a sheet metal fabricators about getting some zintec folded up but they weren't really interested - I then talked with a mechanic friend who said save yourself a lot of hassle and money trying to source the panels / profiles and do it with simple box section.. so that's exactly what I did in my case 40 x 80 box was perfect - the MOT tester and a local fabricator were apparently quite impressed. I will have a look later to see if I took any photos but I was in a fair rush to get it done so may not have taken any just can't remember...

octo0072000 · Oct 21, 2016

try here universal channel there are more suppliers out there as well
channel does not need to be the same as factory for a mot just not rotten

http://www.carpanels.com/catalogue/moreinfo/CP2140

1ozzy · Oct 21, 2016

Paul99 said:
I had to replace a couple of the chassis cross members on my brothers Iveco Daily last summer that had rusted through in the same places as in your pictures - though his were in a worse condition. I asked a sheet metal fabricators about getting some zintec folded up but they weren't really interested - I then talked with a mechanic friend who said save yourself a lot of hassle and money trying to source the panels / profiles and do it with simple box section.. so that's exactly what I did in my case 40 x 80 box was perfect - the MOT tester and a local fabricator were apparently quite impressed. I will have a look later to see if I took any photos but I was in a fair rush to get it done so may not have taken any just can't remember...

Thanks Paul99,
Yes, good idea!
I've got a good metal supplier nearby, K-Steels, I didn't think to see if they sell a similar 'C' section size, great! :laughing:

1ozzy · Oct 21, 2016

octo0072000 said:
try here universal channel there are more suppliers out there as well
channel does not need to be the same as factory for a mot just not rotten

http://www.carpanels.com/catalogue/moreinfo/CP2140

Hi octo,
Thanks for the link and the idea, I'll check them out :thumbup:

1ozzy · Oct 21, 2016

lazybones51 said:
Another recommendation for Mick at Euro Car Care, he has helped me out many times!

To the left of where the exhaust pipe is in that photo, appear to be a couple of studs, maybe they secure a heat shield?

Hi lazybones,
Yes, I think that there should be one and the studs sort of confirm it for me.
I appreciate you helping me!

mk1mr2 · Oct 21, 2016

It looks like vw camper top hat section to me.

http://www.hayburner.co.uk/shop/Product/485/68-79 Bay window top hat section

Suppliers of chassis channel for Doblo - do you know / can you recommend any near Manchester, UK?

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