CynicAl and I made a neat repair to his MX5 sill. We formed a neat envelope sized repair panel. We drilled it then plug welded it to sound metal. Ground the plug welds flush and gave it a quick coat of Waxoyl underseal.

Al took it for its MOT test at Halfords and the guys failed the repair saying it had to be seam welded. They’d happily seam weld it for £100.

It will probably be more than a ten or fifteen minute job to seam weld it, but what’s the rule regarding such a repair?

I replaced the sill on my Discovery with the same plug welded / spot weld and passed the MOT.

According to an mot manual i happen to have lying around :

Suitable materials of appropriate gauge and thickness should be used for repairs so that
– Any plating or welding extends to a sound part of a load bearing component, and
– The repair must be virtually as strong as the original structure
So only a continuous seam weld is acceptable for patch repairs, although spot welded joints are acceptable where they originally existed.
Welded repairs to highly stressed components such as steering/suspension arms, rods, levers etc are not normally acceptable.

If it is within 30 cm of a suspension/brake/seatbelt/steering etc mount then for mot standards it does need to be seam welded 100%, even if the original panel was spot welded. basically some mot testers are ****, some are decent are realise that the rules are open to personal interpretation (go-on….. flame me for that statement you armchair car restorers).

It should be fully seam welded unless it’s a full original style replacement.

Should have fully hidden it with a skim of filler! 😀

Cheers guys. We will get it sorted. I ran out of seam sealer. 😀

soma & pepper have already covered it.

Basically it has to be a full weld, unless you’re replacing original spot welds.

The last sill I repaired was on a 305 van. Stuff sill loosely with newspaper, squish in a good strong cement mix. Cover cement with bodyfiller-sand smooth. Paint with several coats of Massey red enamel. Sell van. Sorted 🙂

basically some mot testers are ****, some are decent are realise that the rules are open to personal interpretation

There in is the joy of being an mot tester, it’s about making a sensible decision, somethings are very black and white, other things are not a light either works or it doesn’t, excessive movement to one man is a small knock to and fro and to another it is just about falling out.

Personally I would want to see the repair seam welded.

Just in case you didn’t know or hadn’t guessed, I am a clipboard wielding nazi otherwise known as an mot tester.

So am i or rather i was when i worked as a mechanic, ex mot tester to be precise and it was usually pretty obvious when folk were taking the piss as they tried to hide body filler repairs with fresh underseal or attempted to distract you when checking specific components.

Pah…i used to love my little percussive hammer….it told me the truth! 😀

This has been through multiple MOTs without a word from testers. The rear suspension beam attaches just inboard of the replaced section (where the axle stand is) so by the rules as stated, it should be seam welded all the way, rather than me puddle welding in the same places the original spot welds were.

However, any sensible person can see that it’s 100% sound. (Or can’t even tell it’s been welded once the side skirts are on 😉
)

What is that? Looks 80s with the swage line. E30? Mk1 Golf?

Yep, repairing poor quality previous repairs on a 30yr old car that is riddled with the worm is time consuming and very vexing.

over £2.5K of original panels and countless hours of hand made panel beating and rolling steel sheets i have just about finished the repairs, sometime 2016 it may be ready to go back on the road.

The weld on the flange is like for like.

Where you cut the sill and added a piece that needs to be continuous

tron – Member
What is that? Looks late 80s with the swage line. E30?

Yeah, late 80s design and nah, way cooler than that 🙂

It’s been ages since Ive seen one of those on the road. Or a phase one clio 16v for that matter

@BiscuitPower I wouldn’t have an issue with that, it’s continuous at the top where it needs, and the bottom part is attached the same as the rest of it is, so common sense would award it a pass.

If it’s hidden by a skirt, we always have to give anything we can’t see benefit of the doubt, and pass and advise is the usual answer. We don’t have x-ray eyes and we can’t disassemble.

Is that the 16v?

I know where there is one of those sat unloved in a garage next to a lotus carlton.

Alway wondered about making a cheeky offer for it.

Yes it is. I’d be interested in some details about the one you know of 😉

Google kellys garage, rathdrum – it’s not on their list, but it’s in the old show room/garage on the main street, has about an inch of dust on it.

You’d get the vrt (20% of the tax office rated price) back off it too probably – it’s why the lotus has UK plates still, tax man wanted 18 grand to import.

Hah, Yeah I know of it, I’ve been there. His name is Chet, he’s one of my mates. We set up http://www.retro-renault.com together about 10 years ago.

He has a green convertible and a red 3 door hatchback that started out as a base model but was converted with 16V parts.

Jeez, small world – he’ll remember me as I was the only person in ireland with a 2L rover 200. I doubt my clio3 counts as retro (was supposed to remove the washer motor today, scuttle ports blocked up and the lake of water must have rusted it up). The joys.

They get some savage cars in considering it’s such a small out of the way place.