rusty sills - repearable

Author
Discussion

phatmanace

Original Poster:

672 posts

216 months

Saturday 2nd February 2008
quotequote all
Folks, I've got my mx5 up for sale. Really, the only problem is that it has are rusty sills, underneath the car, just behind the front wheels.

was curious, is this reparable, and if so, would anyone be able to give me a rough idea of how much I'd be looking at?

Cheers,
-ace

franv8

2,212 posts

245 months

Saturday 2nd February 2008
quotequote all
Depends how bad they are - pics?

Might be able to locally patch, in which case prob only double figure pounds.

T5SOR

2,003 posts

232 months

Monday 4th February 2008
quotequote all
phatmanace said:
Folks, I've got my mx5 up for sale. Really, the only problem is that it has are rusty sills, underneath the car, just behind the front wheels.

was curious, is this reparable, and if so, would anyone be able to give me a rough idea of how much I'd be looking at?

Cheers,
-ace
YHM

phatmanace

Original Poster:

672 posts

216 months

Thursday 7th February 2008
quotequote all
T5SOR said:
phatmanace said:
Folks, I've got my mx5 up for sale. Really, the only problem is that it has are rusty sills, underneath the car, just behind the front wheels.

was curious, is this reparable, and if so, would anyone be able to give me a rough idea of how much I'd be looking at?

Cheers,
-ace
YHM
Emailed you back - let me know if you you're interested.

-ace

Fruitcake

3,850 posts

233 months

Thursday 7th February 2008
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Another MX-5 rust thread scratchchin

franv8

2,212 posts

245 months

Friday 8th February 2008
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Well, for cars reaching 18 years old, convertibles at that with potential to get water in all the wrong places, what could be expected.

Given that they don't seem to be galvanised, the MX5 does an exceptional job. I only had a couple of spots on mine (and its an import so supposedly less rust proofing), and they were where the stick on stainless sill plates rubbed at either end. Very easy repair.

phatmanace

Original Poster:

672 posts

216 months

Friday 8th February 2008
quotequote all
yeah - the chap who came to look at my car (who seemed to know what he was talking about) said that it was a really common problem.

I'm in that trap when one wants to sell ones car.

Do you fix all the problems, or take the hit on the sale price you'd be prepared to accept! argghhhh

franv8

2,212 posts

245 months

Friday 8th February 2008
quotequote all
Any chance of a bit more detail on where/how much rust there really is?

Some repairs are fairly straightforward.

phatmanace

Original Poster:

672 posts

216 months

Friday 8th February 2008
quotequote all
franv8 said:
Any chance of a bit more detail on where/how much rust there really is?

Some repairs are fairly straightforward.
yeah- sorry, I hadn't replied as it's dark every night when I get home, so no opportinities for pics :-)

I've found a local bodywork specialist that comes recommended by the guy I use to service my car. I'm going to take it down to his place tommorow and have a look. When it's up on a ramp - I'll be able to take some shots.

watch this space!

dhutch

15,285 posts

204 months

Friday 8th February 2008
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Cut it up and make a westfield out of it. Thats what there designed for!

phatmanace

Original Poster:

672 posts

216 months

Saturday 9th February 2008
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right - took it down to my local bodywork shop today (sorry: completely forgot camera!) and it looked pretty bad - basically, two new wings, some plating work, and obviously repainting etc.

the chap reckons about a grand all in all - which I don't think it's worth spending as I'm looking to sell the car - and I don't think that I'd get the money back.

Feel quite gutted!


-ace

franv8

2,212 posts

245 months

Saturday 9th February 2008
quotequote all
What price you putting on the car then?

And what colour is it - perhaps if you could find a pair of wings in the right colour s/h cheap that might help? As for the plates, perhaps getting that done if you took the wings off and just had the welding done - depending on where it is you can just run a black band around the bottom 3-4 inces of the sill using a matt stonechip resistant paint - it won't look wrong and in fact is more practical than just normal paint.

Just an idea, if you can put your own time and hassle into most of the job to save some pennies.

phatmanace

Original Poster:

672 posts

216 months

Saturday 9th February 2008
quotequote all
franv8 said:
What price you putting on the car then?

And what colour is it - perhaps if you could find a pair of wings in the right colour s/h cheap that might help? As for the plates, perhaps getting that done if you took the wings off and just had the welding done - depending on where it is you can just run a black band around the bottom 3-4 inces of the sill using a matt stonechip resistant paint - it won't look wrong and in fact is more practical than just normal paint.

Just an idea, if you can put your own time and hassle into most of the job to save some pennies.
it's a mariner blue. I had it up for £5k [optimistic I know] - but the rest of the car is in really nice condition, low miles and lots of paperwork and history, and its turbocharged.

appreciate the fact that most of the bodywork cost is labour - but alas I don't have the time at the moment to fiddle or spend ages looking for bits [will do some googling though] - also - I'm currently 'sans garage', which means it would be hard to work on it.

the altruist in me wants it to go to a good home instead of part ex'ing it in

anyhow, really appreciate all the help and advice

-ace

JRT

61 posts

233 months

Tuesday 12th February 2008
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Price sounds about right - had a quote to do the same for both rear wings and respray which came to the thick end of a grand.

In regards to your front sills however, it's worth opening up the doors and taking a look in the gap below the lower hinge - I tend to find the space between the wing and sill fills up with leaves and gravel (and water!)