Rusty sills on a MR2 Turbo

[Madabout]

After a bit of advice as looking to buy a MR2 from someone I know.

Had a closer look today and it drives well, spools up quickly and generally looks the part with some nice extras.

A few negatives but it's a 20 year odd old car.

Major downside and why I've not purchased yet is rusty sills. The car has side skirts on but I crawled on the ground and had a good look. Drive side seemed ok but at the rear edge forwards the rear wheel it seems rotten with the 'inner lip' seeming to have rotted away.

On the passenger side the 'inner lip' and at the rear arch seemed fine. However along the sill I could see blistering and in the area around the middle of the door found a hole in the outer sill.

Rear arches seemed OK.

I'm no mr2 expert as into MK1 MX5s but know to look for rust. I'm guessing to fix properly it will need new outer sills either side and possible inner sills as understand they rot from the inside out.

Apart from that the floor of the car looked ok, front boot area all ok and the rear boot and underside seemed good. If I owned the car I'd probably dinatrol these areas to be safe.

Question is any ideas on cost of repairs on replacing inner and outer sills? From those in the know is this a common issue and regularly repaired or would this be where many would scrap/reshell?

I've repaired rear sills on MK1 Mx5s before but was surprised to see rust the full length of the sill on this MR2.

Thanks in advance and a happy new year to you all.

[almeida1234]

You can buy outer sills from mr2 Ben, depending on condition I would say 400-600. Best to replace the inner and outersill at the same time.

[Nic]

The rear inner and outer sills are a common issue now given the age of them. I've recently had mine done using one of these kits, the repair work (cutting, welding, respray and undersealing) cost around £600.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-SET-Toyot ... Swu4BV0iNs

If the full outer sill needs replacing there are also these ones.

https://mr2-ben.co.uk/products/1089

[Madabout]

Thanks chaps for the quick replies. Appreciated.

If I buy this mr2 and those outer sills does anyone do the full length inner sills or is it a case of getting handy and making good the inner sills? Am i right in thinking bubbly or rotten outer sill means goosed inner sill?

I've a friendly mechanic who is a good welder but I've normally supplied the parts to make the job easier.

On the MX5s the sill edge also tends to rot but although the sills showed signs of rust under the skirt the edges on the mr2 looked looked apart from the drivers rear edge near rear wheel.

It's a rev3 with some decent breathing mods so was surprisingly quick to spool up too for what I expected

[abovetherim]

There will be plenty of surface rust on the inner sill and there are also reinforcement box sections that will require some rot cutting out and fabbing up. The lip for the floor for the outer sill to weld to will be solid.
The rear inner arch will likey need work as might the front end behind the wing. Worth also checking the lower rear wing behind the bumper.

If you have good access to the car you might want top pop off the interior trim on the sides behind the seats and move the seat belt reel out of the way then take a snap at whats down in the void. If there is foam in there pull this out and inspect beneath it.

[Madabout]

There will be plenty of surface rust on the inner sill and there are also reinforcement box sections that will require some rot cutting out and fabbing up. The lip for the floor for the outer sill to weld to will be solid.
The rear inner arch will likey need work as might the front end behind the wing. Worth also checking the lower rear wing behind the bumper.

If you have good access to the car you might want top pop off the interior trim on the sides behind the seats and move the seat belt reel out of the way then take a snap at whats down in the void. If there is foam in there pull this out and inspect beneath it.

Thanks. Mechanically it seemed ok and is a rev3. Given a welding repair bill of around £600-£800 and possibly abit more as as you say this can uncover other rust issues is that worth doing? Went for a good 30 minute drive in various road conditions and all iseemed good.

I checked the lower rear wing behind the bumper, rear wheel and that seemed ok. A bit of surface rust but nothing that looked scary. At some stage it's been treated as was painted black there with either old underseal or something.

I wasn't able to check for the foam but imagine that's still there so will be a water trap.

[Nic]

I've edited the cost on my earlier post, I'd forgotten I had the welding and paint work done at 2 different places, so the total cost was more like £600.

There are some pics of the repair work I had done here https://www.facebook.com/pg/wheregt4dre ... 1562757927

[Madabout]

Thanks mate for the feedback and taking the time to provide the info. The car I'm looking at is from I can see crawling underneath and checking the sills rotten on the driver side at the rear by the wheel so needs full inner sill and outer sill rebuilt. With the skirt in the way difficult to see further along. Passenger side the part nearest the rear wheel seemed stronger but it was below the drivers door where there was a hole in the outer sill with rust bubbling in various places along the outer sill.

Good to see how yours was done in the photos as that looks like it needed the rear by the wheel fully replaced and repaired on inner and outer sills.

[androo007]

The main thing thing you'll find is that no matter how perfect the outer sill looks.... once you pop your head / phone with flash on behind the rear speaker cover you'll see the inner box is rotten unless you're VERY lucky.

[Madabout]

The main thing thing you'll find is that no matter how perfect the outer sill looks.... once you pop your head / phone with flash on behind the rear speaker cover you'll see the inner box is rotten unless you're VERY lucky.

Yes I reckon if I buy this car and get it up on the ramps and the skirts off the outer sill and inner sills we both need doing so budgeting for both.
I reckon a lot of MR2s will be like this. I was surprised to see this on a car I saw for sale a few months ago as that looked OK in the photos.

http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic. ... c&start=20

Having had a poke around this white mr2 turbo I am interested in I think it will be similar on the rear arch. It has had side skirts on, which no doubt has hidden and concealed the issue. The seller is a fellow enthusiast and whilst the jacking points are OK think this has been missed due to the skirts.

Also there is a bit of rust in the car I am interested in the rear arch towards the bumper but boot, etc. is all good. I am really surprised how rust has got at them.