So, a little background; So I bought my Rev 2 Turbo in 2005 with 54k on the clock, its covered a lot of miles in that time now sat around the 130k mark.
A few years ago the dreaded rot was starting to appear on the sills and despite many warnings from my MoT tester, I was reluctant to tackle it especially after the tales of huge bills often found on here. Counter-intuitive I know but I just couldn't bear the thought.Anyway, after spending a not insignificant amount on what turned out to be just shy of a full engine rebuild courtesy of Rogue, I was pretty much financially obliged to pull my finger out and sort out that rust!
So this is what I was faced with:
Offside
Nearside
A friend of mine has over the years taught himself how to weld to an impressively high standard.
He's created a brilliant John Cleland BTCC Cavalier GSi replica out of what was once a very rotten Cavalier SRi and has done a full body rebuild on an Uno Turbo, so a price was agreed and he made the long journey down to Bath from Oldham.Working on my drive the cutting began.
...Rusty box section revealed
Rust cut away and remaining good metal treated and prep'd
New box section created
Using crispy piece of the original sill as a template
Newly crafted sill in place
Finished and painted
Close up
He did a fantastic job.
The best part of 2 days work and at a fraction of the price often charged by body-shops. Hopefully the MR2 will live on for a good while longer. I hope the Mods don't mind me saying that Troy has used my old sills to create templates if anyone is interested. He's a legend in Vauxhall circles thanks to his bodywork skills.Hope that has given other rusty-sill sufferers some cause for optimism.
