The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

Something like this: Jeroen

Groan!!!

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Andy,
your car sills are not fine. The rot can be seen clearly in your photos even with the outer sill still in place.
Please do the sills first.

You should not repair an inner wing with the suspension unit in place.


Please do the sills first.

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You want to lower your car and in that case 2mm steel sheet is fine. In all other occasions it's too thick. It's not easy to shape and to work with. 1mm max is fine and easily bendable. The body gets it's strenght due to the shape of all the little pieces together. Like the round holes in the sills with the pushed in edge. That little recess makes the inner sill strong. If it's replaced by a plain plate it's not as strong and will flex. If you have a partsbook you can see how all the different bodyparts look like and the best is to copy them as much as you can. Every little lip or angle make a plain sheet of metal stronger and in the right place it's doing it's job. Even a welded front wing acts like a box section together with the innerwing, frontpanel and A post and that makes the front end less flexible.

Jeroen

Many thanks for that reply, its what i needed to know. Steel will be collected monday and cutting will commence!

You have a talent for alienating those who would help without any prejudice.
There is no need for you to be swearing.
Mind on this, it was I who pointed out the lack of inner wing structural integrity of your car.
I have told you an easy way to determine the sills' structural strength.

andyboy069 wrote:Yes I know that front end of the sill is rotten. The inside of the sill is fine, I've had a bloody bright torch inside it and can see to the other end. It is not rusty at all inside..

. Madness has begun and I will have no part of it.

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I've got to be honest, and say that I think you'll struggle with 2mm, it's a bit on the thick side, compared to the material on the car.

From memory, the majority of the car would be 20, or 22 SWG which I think equates to 0.9, and 0.7 mm.

Trying to weld 2 mm to those thicknesses is going to run a risk of blowing holes, rather than achieving penetration.

It's also going to be a lot more difficult to form.

The best bet would be to measure where you've cut out, and buy equivalent thickness material.

KAC had new inner wings 12 years ago, it's abused a lot more than your car, and hasn't had problems.

I get what your saying, I think you might be right. It's only because the car is pretty much hard slammed, and she takes a lot of abuse, its a daily driver and the roads here are horrendous!

andyboy069 wrote:I get what your saying, I think you might be right. It's only because the car is pretty much hard slammed, and she takes a lot of abuse, its a daily driver and the roads here are horrendous!

All the more reason to use thin steel then. The inner wings take a lot of load as you appreciate, so by welding in random patches at a far greater thickness, there'll be many more opportunities for cracks to form.
If you were to form the entire inner wing from the thicker steel, then possibly you'd get away with it but as Bruce said, it would be harder to shape and although more forgiving of outdoor welding in itself, would cause you to blow holes at the points where it joins.
But all of this talk of inner wings is irrelevant as the sills come first in the methods manual and without the repairs done there, the car won't keep its shape when you start cutting out the rusted areas.
I'd close off that sill then worry about the holes you've shown in the picture but hey, it's only decades of experience leading me to that conclusion. I'd gladly accept your advice on taking photos though, so think on - nobody on here wants to see you off the road for the want of less than a day of straightforward fabricating and welding.

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I do also think (on reflection) that the use of 2mm steel would cause more probs as explained already, you've had a rethink and made the right choice. Cool.

Hope you have lots of cereal packets in your gaff as it make brill template material. I love this bit, making various odds and sods. At least cardboard is cheap Have a look at the RR site re: bodywork/panels. Lots of very good stuff there and pretty straightforward too.

1mm cutting disks will be your friend to cut out all of the shitey stuff. It is a bloody shame you aren't nearer as I have most of what is required apart from a mains supply for Mr. Weldy. I know time is of the essence as this is your only method of transport but do what you can in that respect as I know you will. My own 2p worth is that when I make a patch/section, I tend to round the edges slightly where I can as I seem to recall from somewhere landrover orientated that this reduces stress on the repair and helps avoid potential tears/cracking. I could be wrong though (it has been known).

Good luck with it and keep us posted.

Ken

Thanks ken. I've had a guy on autoshite send me a Haynes welding manual, and I've been reading the panel making thread on RR which is damn helpful and made all a lot clearer. Luckily I have a free supply of slitting discs