Corrosion is not uncommon in older cars. It can most often appear in the area of sills and also in the area of the floor. If this is also the case for you, it should be said that you can also consider the option of repair. The correct procedure is to boil the sills and the floor. The first step is to consider whether a repair will really be the right thing to do given the cost. In connection with this, we also recommend an overall more thorough inspection. If you decide that the sills and floor will be repaired, take a look with us at the instructions on how to do it.
First the preparation
The first step is to attach a new sill to the body of your car and then outline it very thoroughly. Once you are done, you can proceed to the second step of preparation. This makes it necessary to remove the spot welds that are located on the specific part being changed. Two tools will help us here. Either it can be a milling cutter, or a drill can also help you. The important thing in this step is to proceed thoroughly and to be sure that you actually remove all the spot welds that are on the parts in question.
Removing the old sill
At this moment, one of the most important things can come up. This is, of course, the removal of the existing sill. We can go in two ways. The first way is basically the classic one, which is related to the fact that we cut off the old sill. It is a procedure that is quite effective and which is also quite fast and accurate. Accuracy is especially necessary in connection with the need to follow the line that we drew during the preparatory work and which is the one that marks the place where we will place the new sills.
If you don’t use the popular cut as part of removing the existing sills, you can also cut the existing sill. Here we must not forget that it is a job that is more demanding, just as it is also true that it is a job that does not have to be completely accurate. In addition, do not forget that after the initial part is removed, you can fully see the real extent of the damage and whether the corrosion has spread to other parts of your car’s body. If so, this is usually the part of the sill, as well as the floor, which we can refer to as internal.
Preparation for welding
The work associated with the removal of corroded parts is over. Now we will again rush to the preparatory work, which is now connected with the welding of specific pieces. First, you need to disconnect the car battery. This step is essential, so don’t forget it. Next, you need to shape the sheet, exactly according to the cut or cut parts.
When it comes to preparatory work, we must not forget that in some cases it will also be necessary to repair the existing part of the floor or sills. Welding of various metal parts and so-called boiling out of problem areas can already help here. At this moment, we are sure that the preparation is definitely over.
We can start welding
Before we start, we should also not forget that the metal must be thoroughly prepared in order for the weld to hold well. The basis is therefore nothing other than a thorough cleaning of the sheet in question. At this moment, new sills need to be deployed in specific places. It should primarily be that it fits well where we need it. Logically, it will also happen that we will restore the original spot welds with which the sills were attached. In this case, we recommend drilling the new sheet metal at predetermined locations where the specific weld will be created.
Once we have this as well, we can get down to the actual welding. First of all, it’s a good idea to score the sills in several places so that they hold firmly, and we could only concentrate on the final work itself. This is nothing more than welding where spot welds used to be. Remember that the sill should not only fit perfectly in these places.
Check your work
In addition to making sure that the new door sills fit perfectly, you also need to make sure that all the gaps that will be on both sides of our car are respected. If we’re going to be specific, we should mainly be interested in the gap that is under the door itself. We check whether it is correct quite simply, as it should be the same as it is on the other side of the car.
Final ending
If the welding is over and everything fits as it should, we just let everything cool down. After that, we can start again with other work, which is only related to the final completion of the repair of the sills and the floor. First, specific areas need to be sanded, and of course where new welds have formed. Once it is done, you need to take the base color and completely paint the new sills. At the moment, we have the replacement piece completely ready for painting. Whether we do so is up to us. It mainly depends on how much you want to invest in the repair overall. Painting parts is certainly not a significantly cheap matter.
If we look at other final works, it is definitely a good idea to get a special wax that is intended for the sill cavities. We recommend spraying them with this wax, as this is the only way you can be sure that you will significantly extend their lifespan. Of course, due to the specific age of the car, it can be expected that once such a repair is carried out, it will also be a final repair, as it can take a very long time before the new sills corrode again. That is, specifically to such an extent that it would be necessary to carry out the above-mentioned repair again, which can be not only more time-consuming in case of major damage.
