Sill removal and rust prevention

[z3cade]

Sill removal and rust prevention


Jack up the car and place on axle stands
Remove wheels
remove rear arch liner

Remove kick pannel trim and door rubber

remove kick pannel plastic plug

Remove kick pannel by lifting up

You may brake some plastic clips so remove broken clips from holes

Remove front arch liner

Remove screw from front arch, top front of sill (use 10mm ratchet)

Remove three screws for the small side pannel, detatch side repeater and remove

Get a friend to help, but a good friend not a nutter... s:rolleyes

Remove screws from under the sill

Remove screw from rear arch

Remove small plastic trim from inside door and remove bolts that hold rear arch to allow better access for the screw behind it

Remove finnal bolts from top of the sill that were under the kick pannel and remove sill

Clean up box section and check for rust

Treat areas with rust with your prefered products

I used zinc 182 primer, clear waxoyl spray for inside box sections and original waxoyl underseal

Treated rear box section

Treated front box section

Sand down any rust found on the sill and treat with your desired products

Now just reverse the removal process and replace the sill, Job done :-bd

 

[MAURICE THE MARTIAN]

Wll done Liam,glad mine are plastic

 

[pete59]

brill!!! great and very clear pics,do fancy doing mine,great hourly rate.lol

 

[Garythefish]

Great post Liam s

 

[swamper]

great wright up s

 

[Aceman]

Great tutorial Liam, want to do this myself sometime so many thanks. :-bd

 

[Sorcerors Apprentice]

Get a friend to help, but a good friend not a nutter... s:rolleyes

Looks like he sat down on a spanner or something...... :ymapplause:

 

[GazHyde]

Great work Liam,

I think anyone could follow that! I have put a copy in the Z3 knowledge section, and will add it to the wiki next year

Gary

 

[z3cade]

Thanks guys yes feel free to use it. Hope it helps out anyone wishing to do it.
I'd recomed doing it to help prevent rust forming in the future as these areas seem prone to muck collecting and staying damp..

 

[HornelZ3M]

Damp, what does that mean.. Happy new Year mate, great write up. :ymparty: :ymparty:

 

[r37]

might also be worth putting some waxoyl inside the door aswell. Had my door card off to grease the runners and the bottom was filled with a horrible smelling brown mixture, other than that great write up.

 

[badman gee]

enjoyed the day mate, mine next.

 

[badman gee]

Get a friend to help, but a good friend not a nutter... s:rolleyes

Looks like he sat down on a spanner or something...... :ymapplause:

oooh it felt good s:mrgreen

 

[jonco]

Excellent guide - I have so far only removed one side of my 98 1.9 Zed. I was quite pleased/relieved that the actual sill was in good condition except for expected moderate surface corrosion in the wheel arch lower voids. These are easily repairable but of more concern was corrosion in the lower front corner of the wing panel which was only removed for access. Refer to pics -there was a `sealant' run along the length of the bottom edge and it lost some contact in the front corner creating the obvious mosture trap. The contour line of the rust is where the sealant was. The `sealant' resembled rock hard putty and was very difficult to dig out without damaging the metal and therefore I have only cut it back to clean metal. Don't know if this is original or a previous owner's diy attempt. Has anybody else got experience of this or a suggested repair/ replacement sealant. I am considering installing an additional plug in arch liner at this point to make Waxoyl injection easier in the future.

 

[AussieZ3]

My apologies for replying to this very old thread. Excellent guide for anyone hoping to remove the sills. Some years ago I removed a set of sills from a scrapped Z3 and as raised by jonco, I found the sills have sealant around the edges to prevent ingress of dirt and water to the inner sill area. This sealant definitely looks original and I think it is essential that a seam sealer or a suitable silicone sealant is used when refitting the sills.

I am currently refurbishing the spare sills and like to know of a suitable replacement sealant to use when I replace the sills.

 

[Nodzed]

There are many makes of panel sealant just google it or go onto amazon. Guessing it will be the same in Oz

 

[AussieZ3]

Thank you Nodzed for the response. The exact auto body sealer is not available in Oz but there are many polyurethane seam sealers such as Sikaflex 227 and multi purpose non sag sealer Sikaflex 221 are available here. There is also a 3M product recommended for automotive application. I am not certain if these products are suitable.