Sill replacement. 1990 Mk2 Rev 1 T bar.

[BrianDeacon]

Hello All.
Have been reading TrevMk2's great work on sill replacement. Now started to follow his lead and tackle mine. Starting at the drivers side have cut along about an inch below the door. This done with an angle grinder and cutting disk as its quicker than using the nibbler.
Then drill out all the spot welds along the lower flange. These can be seen more easily of you shine an inspection light along the sill. I drilled through each one with a 1/8 drill then drilled the weld with a larger drill just through the sill and not all the way through the flange.
The T Bar has additional stiffening with a vertical flange behind the sill. This is spot welded to the sill just on the curved surface above the lower flange. Shining the light you can just see the weld spots. These were drilled out in the same way.
The inside structure at the rear is well corroded. So far have cut out all the bad stuff and reprotected until I can start to fabricate parts.
There is a good article on how to remove the side vent panel which must be done to complete teh sill replacement. Its on the "know your MR2" pages.
A waiting Astra Mk1 sills now to get the next bits done. Could not have started this without Trevs good info on this site. Brian

Sill removed. Good structure in all except rear parts.

Spot welds drilled out in lower flange, and in sill curved surface for stiffening flange

[xvillax]

from what he has done so far its not going to be an easy task...

i have yet to do mine think its time for me to get off my lazy ass and do it


any ways good luck hope it all works out ok

[BrianDeacon]

Still waiting for the new sills to arrive. Have cleaned the exposed structure and coated in rust removed gel to keep the weather out! Some more pics added to show the "hidden" rust damage.
Having to do this in the drive so hope the snow doesnt come back!

rear of sill inner structure. Vertical parts are ok. Sponge rubber found in this area which is probably the initial cause on the corrosion.

[xvillax]

they all rot from the inside out

love the axle stands.... i know how ya feel have to do mine on the drive too not got the lux of a workshop

[BrianDeacon]

Axle stands now under teh car, were not doing a lot sitting in te garage!!

[BrianDeacon]

Managed to spend some time in the garage today and progressed the fabrication of various bits.

These are the two pieces for the offside inner sill. Both made using the patterns from Trevs thread on sill replacement.

[BrianDeacon]

The front of the Astra Mk1 sill fits really well. It has been joggled to fit inside the original sill piece that was left in place.
The inner T bar web will have angled pieces welded to it and the lower flange. These do not need to be shaped to allow water run off as the web itself is shaped and will leave gaps between the new and old metal.
The rear of the sill is more of a problem. The original structure is still good and I did not want to cut this off. But the new sill profile will not fit. Still undecided whether to reprofile the sill at the back end, or cut of the support structure and make a new piece.

The Astra Mk1 sill has been joggled and cut at the front to fit inside the original sill. This will be welded, ground back and then leaded.

This shows the inner stiffening web fitted to the T bar body. It is in good condition. It was welded to the sill and not to the lower flange. I have made some angle pieces to fit between the web and the lower flange. This will save drilling weld holes in the new sill above the flange. I thought these might need to be shaped to allow any water drain, but as the web is already shaped they can be fitted as straight angles.

These are the inner pieces in place. The lower one is not quite right. It fits but could be better so I may have to make another one or at least try changing some of its angles.

[BrianDeacon]

two more pictures, the new sill in place at the rear and the original structure which I think will have to be cut away..

This the new sill over the top of the original sill. It would need a lot of reprofiling to get the lower flange and upper lip to contact easily so I think the old structure will have to go.

This is the original sill structure. a shame to have to cut it off.

[BrianDeacon]

Bad weather has prevented much progress in the last month. Now going to be on a contract for three weeks so not expecting to start welding parts in until April. Will post some pics of progress then.

[BrianDeacon]

Still in KL with temp at 34 deg so welding MR2 sills way at back of mind. Will have to get a move on though as going to unsorn the car at the end of this month.

[BrianDeacon]

Well work has beaten me. I just cannot find the time to finish this project, and must have the MR2 back on the road by September as we will be using her to go to the Circuit De Ramparts in Angouleme, France. She is has now been transported to VRS in Iver to have the project finished. They will take some photos as this progresses which I will upload onto here. Brian

[BrianDeacon]

Well sill replacements complete on both sides thanks to VRS of Iver. Really good job and the Astra sills fit very well. Car MOTed, unSORNED and back on the road for the summer.

[BrianDeacon]

Picture of sill in place

[adam3442]

Good work Brian its a shame you didn't get to finish it yourself as you were doing some well thought out and executed work.

At least you can have fun with it now she's all good.

Adam