Full steel ahead
Matt’s project TR6 reaches a satisfying milestone
Having successfully replaced the passenger side sill in an operation that was both unexpectedly simple and largely trouble-free (PC, November 2018), Projects editor Matt Tomkins and I were flushed with optimism when attention turned to the driver’s side. However, as is often the case, things ended up being a bit more troublesome than we had initially hoped.
Things started well enough as I got on with the laborious task of drilling out the factory spot welds tying the outer sill to the inner sill (top) and floorpan return edge (bottom). But as we had used the same spot weld miller to do the passenger side sill, it was clearly part-worn already and began to be less and less effective, until it eventually became unusable… and we didn’t have another one ‘in stock’. Cue a frantic hour or so dashing around Peterborough to find a replacement, which we managed at the third attempt, courtesy of Millfield Autoparts. Where would the classic movement be without the services rendered by our friendly local motor factors, I wonder?
Back in the workshop and armed with a fresh tool of spot weld elimination, the rotten outer sill was soon prised away from the body… which is when our best-laid plans went out the window. While the passenger side horizontal floorpan return edge had been found to be in excellent condition, the same could not be said for the driver’s side equivalent. Corrosion had taken hold and some remedial works would be required before we could even think about welding the replacement outer sill panel into place.
Nip and tuck
We elected to cut the return edge back all the way up to the 90˚ angle with the inner part of the floorpan, which would then allow Matt to butt weld our (yet to be crafted) repair panels flush to it. Unfortunately the sheet steel that we had to hand was not quite long enough to allow for a single panel, so after measuring the depth of the return edge, I made up a smaller repair piece to run from the front end of the floorpan to just ahead of the front chassis to body mount. This approach actually worked quite well, as the
metal covering the front mount was in good shape but the part covering the rear mount had corroded through and definitely had to go.
Once the front piece had been treated with weld-through primer and zipped into place, I cut the rusty rear part out, cleaned up the top lip so it could be welded to and carefully trimmed the old metal away from the edges of the body mount so that it was also clean enough to allow for a good weld. Matt had marked where the return panel would sit up against the body mount and drilled holes in it at that point in order to plug weld the panel to the mount. Once primed, the longer piece was also welded into place.
The task of attaching the outer sill went well and followed the process that I detailed in my previous Saga. Next, the sill end caps on both sides were teased into position, then plug welded in place through holes drilled in them and seam welded around the edges. All that remained was to fill in the holes in the back of the B-pillars on both sides where we’d previously had to cut out localised areas of rust. It took me much longer to create suitable cardboard templates and transfer them to metal than it took Matt to weld them in, but between us, we got there in the end. After cleaning up all the welds and coating the panel in primer, the sill repairs were done. The next job was to remove the steel frame bracing the body and check that the doors still fitted… I’ll leave the big reveal until my next instalment!
Time for reflection
With that, we have (touch wood) completed all the major welding work that the TR needed when it came back from America and I took it on. I bought the car in August 2017 and time has simply flown by since then. Progress has been slow at times but it feels like the hardest tasks have now been completed. The engine is still at TRGB but is 90 per cent complete, while the decision has been made to paint the car after all, so soon I will begin preparing panels in readiness for either media blasting or chemical dipping. Before that however, the TR is going to appear on the PC stand at the 2018 Classic Motor Show (November 9-11, NEC), so if you’re attending then do come and see it for yourself. matt.george@practicalclassics.co.uk
‘It feels like the hardest TR tasks have now been completed’