Rusty sills....Replace or repair?

[NabsNabsNabs]

Hey all,

I've started taking a look at my rusty sills. For now I've started with the drivers side. Prior to removing the outer sill I was fearing the inner sill would be very bad, given the state of the front suspension and the rust appearing along the edge of the outer sill.

The inner sill was not as bad as I feared and whilst the outer sill certainly had nasty bits, I thought I would attempt to clean it up to save a few quid on a new pair.

After about an hour of scrubbing, I'm fearing this sill is beyond repair - but I'm not an expert so would love to hear what others think.....

Ideally I don't want to throw loads of cash at it, so want to salvage where I can ( and rust coat, stone chip, primer ,spray etc myself ) but will this be a waste of time, and rust will return in a short while?

Cheers

 

[Davyhoogy]

Get a quote for someone to repair it, at least then you can compare it to a new part price (£160 per side)

 

[DavidM]

Replace - and ensure new sills are rust protected before paint and fit.

 

[NabsNabsNabs]

How much should I expect to pay for new sills, painted professionally?

 

[petecossie]

Get a quote for someone to repair it, at least then you can compare it to a new part price (£160 per side)

The only way to see how bad they are and hence see whether they are repairable is to get the rust totally cleaned off. I've just replaced my sills (they didn't look to bad on the car, but drivers side fell to bits when dismantled) cost me £330 for the pair including loads of new bolts clips etc. I managed to remove the front & rear wings so I could get them repaired and repainted. They were about 95% sound just that odd 5% needed sorting which was made possible by getting the affected areas grit blasted (in a big grit blasting cabinet) which meant my paint guy had rust free panels to work on.
Cost me £20 for the grit blasting then £500 for the wing repairs & painting all wings and sills. The wings and sills were all waxoyled and weather guard applied to arch edges.
Your sills will maybe cost £80 to £100 to repaint - you'd have to check with your local body shop if repairable, though they look a bit crusty to me from the pictures. Take you jacking pads off and check for rust underneath them. Mine had some rust there which cleaned up OK. Used DEOX-Gel as recommended by DrWong in his excellent write up on sill refurbishment.
Good luck.

 

[DavidM]

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[DavidM]

How much should I expect to pay for new sills, painted professionally?

Sills bought painted and fitted - expect to pay between £600 - £1000 depending on who you get to do the work - take your time - shop around and get recommendations from zr forum members / experts. Good luck!

 

[NabsNabsNabs]

Take you jacking pads off and check for rust underneath them.

This is something I plan to get around to, just a bit tricky at the moment as I'm in central London and only have on street parking to work from....hoping to get a garage in the not too distant future to properly jack it up and tinker away.
I have a suspicion there will be a bit of rust to find there as well....

 

[NabsNabsNabs]

expect to pay between £600 - £1000 depending on who you get to do the work

Yikes.....a bit more than I bargained for.

 

[t-tony]

Yikes.....a bit more than I bargained for.

I would hope that quote was for "Supply , paint and Fit?"

Tony.

 

[Fender2004]

For the cost of having the old sills repaired, that cost would go a long way to the purchase of new sills. Then you know that you shouldn’t have problems with rust for a good few years.

 

[gookah]

I would think £320 for new sills, and someone would paint for £200, fit yourself, treat insides yourself,

 

[petecossie]

I managed to remove old sills, purchased new sill + fittings, remove 4 wings which were grit blasted, repaired, repainted, waxoyled and I'm refitting all done for £830. Because I removed wing liners etc I've purchased a load of other fittings pertaining to just a Coupe amounting to £200 or so which you won't require. I'm sure you can do just the sills (new) if you check around for less than £450 -£500 if you refitting yourself.
Good luck.

 

[NabsNabsNabs]

I would think £320 for new sills, and someone would paint for £200, fit yourself, treat insides yourself,

This is what I had in mind....Maybe even take a punt at doing some of the pre-paint prep and doing primer and additional rust proofing ahead of that to keep costs low.... I need to take a look at the passenger side. If I'm lucky it may not be as bad, externally it was the better looking side