Refurb begins

[Braz86]

Started the sill replacement today, removed the old ones (what didn't fall off that is) with the much appreciated expert help of @Mnbrennan

I was pleasantly surprised to find the inners weren't as horrific as I was expecting. Not the lovely amount of dirt and crud by each tyre!

Bought some prep wheels for the grinder and got to work de crusting the near-side. Got the worst off and was quite impressed with my first effort of cleaning up

After another quick once over with the grinder to catch bits I missed, I painted the cleaned parts with Vactan to treat and cure the rust and exposed steel.

Tomorrow if the weather god's are kind I will clean and vactan the off-side sill, treat both with dynax s50 on the insides, and then spray the outsides with primer

 

[Mazza]

Good work....keep the pics coming

 

[mrscalex]

I hate to tell you but those inner sills whilst generally looking reasonable have some clear signs of rot on the end. They look like they need welding to me.

 

[mrscalex]

I hate to tell you but those inner sills whilst generally looking reasonable have some clear signs of rot on the end. They look like they need welding to me.

Hopefully it's a trick of the light. Perhaps you could post some more photos closer up? Did you see any perforation? Sorry if I'm raising a false alarm...

 

[handsomejackuk]

yep have to agree with the above they dont look too good... i had my sills off my 2.8 and they not as bad as that...

i think you may need to get some patches welded on there...

sorry to be the bearer of bad news...

 

[Braz86]

The outer edge was starting to go a bit flakey, but I managed to get it back to the good shiney stuff I think

 

[ktnez99]

I hate to tell you but those inner sills whilst generally looking reasonable have some clear signs of rot on the end. They look like they need welding to me.

I agree. I've very recently - 31 Jan - had my car go through, what I can best describe as a CAR SOS - and had its front wings, sills and rear quarters replaced, both sides and then the whole of the car prepped inner and outside, treated and painted. Yes, a big job but the car is wonderful and I love it (a 20 years love affair from new). I've been in and out of the bodywork place - guy whose business it is worked on Margaret Thacher's armoured car and the same for members of the Royal Family cars - he's an expert - and he was relieved that my car was solid once he removed the bolt-on parts I've described. I mean, there was no rust on the car's actual body.

 

[Jjim]

Great work there. Hope you’re able to get to all the rust and remove it without the need for welding.

Love to see these threads with before and after pics

 

[ktnez99]

Started the sill replacement today, removed the old ones (what didn't fall off that is) with the much appreciated expert help of @Mnbrennan
View attachment 97817

I was pleasantly surprised to find the inners weren't as horrific as I was expecting. Not the lovely amount of dirt and crud by each tyre!
View attachment 97809 View attachment 97810 View attachment 97811 View attachment 97812

Bought some prep wheels for the grinder and got to work de crusting the near-side. Got the worst off and was quite impressed with my first effort of cleaning up
View attachment 97813 View attachment 97814

After another quick once over with the grinder to catch bits I missed, I painted the cleaned parts with Vactan to treat and cure the rust and exposed steel.
View attachment 97815 View attachment 97816

Tomorrow if the weather god's are kind I will clean and vactan the off-side sill, treat both with dynax s50 on the insides, and then spray the outsides with primer

I'd ditch the sills and go for new ones direct from BMW but check the actual body of the car isn't rusting...because we all know what this means...

 

[BMBabe]

I hate to tell you but those inner sills whilst generally looking reasonable have some clear signs of rot on the end. They look like they need welding to me.

That's negative mate

 

[Grumps]

Wow only just caught that. This is my winter project for the end of this season. I'm dreading taking the sill covers off to find what's underneath.

 

[mrscalex]

That's negative mate

Sorry but what kind of remark is that @BMBabe ?

Is it better not to advise people if one of us sees an issue? Particularly if it affects structural integrity? And are you aiming that at the others who agree with what I said?

I even tried to say it as nicely as possible?

 

[Mnbrennan]

Having seen these first hand the inner sills are not perforated. I think mine were in worse condition when I started the job a couple of years ago and I believe they've turned out OK

The difficulty of course is in stopping the rot from continuing. I'm considering buying a set of inner sills from BMW to swap over when the time comes

 

[Sean d]

There are still some area's that have very heavy rust build up, I have to aree with Robert @mrscalex that they are area's of concern, If you take a panel hammer to them you can knock most of the build up off, this will give you a better picture of whats really going on

 

[Sean d]

I'm considering buying a set of inner sills from BMW to swap over when the time comes

Its not the worst job in the world but does require a skilled person to do the job, after all they are the back bone of the car, the heavy guage steel makes it a bit more difficult to remove the old sills, seats and carpets need to come out, other areas to consider are the end caps and the sub frame mounting areas

 

[Braz86]

Well the sun seems to be mostly out, so after I've walked the dog I will re-inspect the NS and clean up the OS and see how that is. @Mnbrennan said he may be free to pop over this afternoon too, so his eye on it will be invaluable

@ktnez99 I've got new outer sills, there is nothing left of each end of the ones I removed! We met at c&m and talked about your full body repair.

 

[ktnez99]

Its not the worst job in the world but does require a skilled person to do the job, after all they are the back bone of the car, the heavy guage steel makes it a bit more difficult to remove the old sills, seats and carpets need to come out, other areas to consider are the end caps and the sub frame mounting areas

There's an excellent fabricator next door to the bodywork company which worked on my car - the latter not the fabricator. Thankfully, no welding needed as my car is, I quote the bodywork company, "solid".

 

[DrWong]

Excellent news the inners are still ok mate. Gotta say, when I first saw the photos I also feared the worst like others did. Was probably just how the shadows were caught in some photos

Keep the pictures coming

 

[ktnez99]

Well the sun seems to be mostly out, so after I've walked the dog I will re-inspect the NS and clean up the OS and see how that is. @Mnbrennan said he may be free to pop over this afternoon too, so his eye on it will be invaluable

@ktnez99 I've got new outer sills, there is nothing left of each end of the ones I removed! We met at c&m and talked about your full body repair.

You'd just got the car on the Monday - right?

 

[Braz86]

You'd just got the car on the Monday - right?

That's the one!

@mrscalex @Sean d @handsomejackuk Been more liberal with the gentle persuader and a screwdriver today, and so far there are no holes that shouldn't be there!