Rust on sills - how bad is this?

[Charlieepie]

Hi all,

What it says in the title really!
My car has just been in for a wash/wax/valet (yes I’m feeling suitably lazy I didn’t just do it myself!).
Anyway whilst checking out the outer sills (there was a patch that bubbled in December last year I got a body shop to fix up for me), I noticed that behind it on both sides looks like this -





Which bit of the car is it? My knowledge of the anatomy of the underside of my car is patchy at best, and I’m not sure where this correlates to inside the car - I’ve had the interior trim off before and removed the foam and checked it was ok and it was fine - but I haven’t checked it again recently because it’s a bit of a pain in the butt.
How easy is this to sort out?? Is it structural or can it be cut away and treated?

I’m intending to take it back to the body shop and ask their opinion as well I’d just like to be informed before I do so.

For more info, she lives outdoors even during the winter and I’m near the coast so not a good combo - which is why I try and take pre emptive action where I can. The whole underside has a coat of raptor on but assuming either this rust had set in before it was coated or it’s just in an area that gets attacked by water/salt/grit when driving so there’s only so much raptor will do. She was a year-round driver for the previous owner who was Manchester-based so will have suffered a lot of wet and salty roads. I’ve only owned her for a year but didn’t drive much during the winter as I have another slightly more sensible car for wet driving. Last year in August I took her first her first service under my ownership and the garage told me it was one of the most rust-free examples they’ve ever seen so trying to keep it that way!

[jeff]

they tend to rot from the inside out, as i found after taking mine for a respary

i guess it depends on how bad the rot actually is, mine was cut out and patched, but if its serious then new sills maybe required

few pictures of mine after bumper had been removed, never saw it prior to removal

[Charlieepie]

Ah I see! Mine had some work done to the very tops of the wheel arches last year so I think they had the bumper off and never told me they’d seen any signs of rust…

I’ll take it in and see what they say. Hopefully it’s a small cut and weld and not a full sill replacement! Glad I’ve noticed it now.
Its been in for a service and new tyres this week and the garage didn’t say anything so I’m crossing my fingers they at least didnt consider it bad enough to warn me.

[JoeMc]

They do go inside-out - by the time you see it on the outer sills, the inners are often in a rough state.

If they aren't too bad, you can remove the foam insulation that just catches water near the B pillar and drop a load of Kurust down there, but I'd plan on some sugery tbh. I had mine done over the Easter holidays - they'd just started to burst on the outside and didn't look too bad, but there was a fair amount of work to do behind them:

That one is a T-bar though, they tend to go worse as they get a lot more leaks. I had all the inners sorted out and those MR2-Ben sills put in. Hopefully yours are in a better state, but it's well worth getting the inners checked out.

[Charlieepie]

Thanks for the advice!
I’ve got a sunroof version and no signs of any interior leaks so I’m hopeful it’s ok - it’ll be a couple of days before I get chance to take it in to the body shop anyway so I’ll have a look under the trim in the next few days and make sure it’s still ok under the foam (I’m fairly sure I removed the foam last time I looked!).

[BYRNEY1984]

They don’t look too bad but like everyone has said they go from the inside. Best get them done because they will rot on the insde and the then you’ll have to replace the inner sills to. I cit every bit of rust out of my Rev 1 import and welded in new steel. Part of my full restoration v6 turbo build. Also you might find if left too long the inner rear arches will rot out. Along with the rear quarters behind the bumper.

[silverseasw20]

I've already done all this welding on mine, looked better than yours before I got it all uncovered. ended up doin 4 jack posts, both outer sills, wheel arches, rear quarters and bits of boot floor.

sills you can buy, you might be ale to buy 'cut outs' from scrappers on ebay or somewhere but make sure you check the metal quality as it's likely to be perishing too, most parts are fairly simple to fabricate though.

[Charlieepie]

Cheers all.

Had a look down the little side pod bits in the car and they still look (from what you can actually see of them…) rust free.
RE other corrosion, It’s got no boot liner at the moment so I can see the boot floor is spotless and had some minor rear wheel arch welding done already so that’s all been checked out.

Fingers and toes crossed it’s not too bad when I take it in to the body shop for some panels off

[jeff]

the download section has sill templates if you want to fabricate your own