Chassis repair sill area

[allanbyrne]

I am sure I read somewhere that it is possible to repair part of the chassis without removing the entire body shell. I have a hole in the top of the tube alongside the neraside sill, is there any way of repairing this easily? Getting a welder in is virtually impossible with only a 1/4" gap.

Thanks. Al

[pies]

Body needs to be lifted to gain access,not a full body removal just lifted approx 6 inches

[allanbyrne]

So is that quite straighforward, undo a bunch of bolts? Anything more.
Thanks

[pies]

Disconnect the fuel tank
Disconnect the steering UJ
Disconnect the exhaust,not sure about manifolds
Disconnect brake and clutch lines
Disconnect handbrake cable
Might need to disconnect some electric cables

[allanbyrne]

How many chassis/body bolts and where?
Cheers

[spivvy]

www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?t=31524&f=11&h=0

may give you a clue

[yuaman]

Just a word of caution. Bought my S1 last year and thought I took real care over examining the state of the chassis as I was aware of all of the cautionary tales of the cost/complexities of chassis repairs. Got underneath, prodded and poked and paid particular attention to the usual areas of corrosion such as the outriggers. These had been repaired but seemed in good order. The MOT was only a few weeks old from a reputable garage and, reassured with the apparent solid state of the chassis, bought the car. One year later I carried out a pre-MOT inspection to reassure myself that there was not much to do. I think you know what is coming! It seems a previous owner or "garage" had carried out the repair by inserting a length of steel tubing into the corroded chassis ends and had wrapped sheet steel around the chassis tubing and had welded it all together - except for those areas which they could not reach on the top surface of the tubes as, presumably, they did not remove the body or lift it up far enough! Needless to say, it looked lovely from below last year but now I have a rather large problem on my hands. As they say, caveat bloody emptor!!

[ketvrin]

You know I'm beginning to think that MOT's are actually a waste of time and certainly not a guarantee of anything. When I bought my S3 (private sale) I asked for an MOT before picking it up and it duly got one and passed no problem. I picked it up and drove it home in the pouring rain without wipers or wash wipe as neither worked, lights on ( or light from behind as one was out) with the smell of petrol from a leaking tank ... I knew it needed some repairs when I bought it so my refurb began and I found a completely knackered top ball joint and a holed brake servo and a trailing arm that needed professional repair...

Caveat emptor alright !

K

[pies]

My uncle is an MOT inspector and as he states an MOT is just the minimum standard, not the desired standard

[ketvrin]

Yes and I'm sure there are some good honest blokes out there that do the job properly, but what I'm warning against is the possibility that the MOT tester your seller has used to get the nice new Certificate is a friend and has not done the job thoroughly so watch out...
If an MOT tester out there has been offended by my comment then I'm sorry because the warning was not directed at you... if you are the type I'm warning against, you would not (could not) be offended anyway.

K