[Cthomas]

Wow! That's a lot of work

You need to see the rest of the work James has done to a high spec

[crepello]

I have bought new repair panels from a chap called Roland who has worked his whole career in the automotive sector for major manufacturers but in his spare time and for a hobby he make small runs or repair panels for cars that he like. Lucky for me he has a rover 200 brm, so has made new sill sections and closing panels (and door cards) for rover mk3.

Roland sounds like a man the Club should get friendly with!

[N1tr0_9]

I have bought new repair panels from a chap called Roland who has worked his whole career in the automotive sector for major manufacturers but in his spare time and for a hobby he make small runs or repair panels for cars that he like. Lucky for me he has a rover 200 brm, so has made new sill sections and closing panels (and door cards) for rover mk3.

Roland sounds like a man the Club should get friendly with!

Yeah im sure he is. He advertises on ebay. He also makes repair panels for the tailgate hinges.

[N1tr0_9]

I also started on the front end of the sill. Chopped the grot off, cleaned up the reinforcing rib inside, and then treated it with Hydrate 80, ready to prime and then weld in the new sill cover.

[N1tr0_9]

I confidently embarked on welding in a new repair section. I carefully measured up, put my nice neat joggled edge and plug weld holes in and offered it up to the car.



It kind of fitted, but i had concerns that i hadnt cut enough rot out, and that i couldnt hold it in position properly at the top.

I did some more head scratching and came to the conclusion that i really needed to hack the whole lot off. I thought i had just enough sill pieces to replace it all, so thats what i did.

I made myself a pretty much full length sill but welding my donor sections together. I did this whilst they were clamped to a very long piece of angle steel to make sure they stayed straight. I welded from teh inside, then flipped it over and went back over from the outside to make sure it was 100%. After welding i ground the outside surface smooth'ish, but left the inside weld for strength. I had a bit of a twist so i carefully took that out too.

Ready for welding



Outside after welding from the inside



Ground smooth



Inside

[N1tr0_9]

Then i had to re-profile it as the bends in the repair sections didnt quite match the car. I just balanced it over my car trailer and bodge bent it into shape. Worked very well after i took a profile template off the other side of car.

Tacked it in, then welded. Took fricking ages and the top joggled edge was a proper pain.









Plug welds underneath

[N1tr0_9]

I moved the car across on trolley jacks so i could access the right side. For some reason i thought this was going to be easy and fast but it wasnt. The rear wheel arch itself was perfect and the closing panel at the rear of the sill was also really good. However the internal structure at the rear end of the sill required major surgery.











I chopped off the outer sill skin and then poked at what i was hoping was just surface rust, but it was rot. So i had to cut off the bottom of the b-pillar, the lower reinforcer, and the inner sill where it comes down the the bottom lip of the sill.



I fabricated a section with the correct s bend in it for the lower section of sill and hammered in two ribs to replicate the ribs where the jacking point is. Then welded that in and red oxide painted it.











Next i stitched together two sill skin sections and welded that on over the top. I was really rushing all this work as i was really running out of time. It was all done in the evenings and one weds afternoon followed by a last sprint on the Saturday. I loaded it up and stuffed it on the trailer and got it up to Mike Dave and Kieran at Midland Performance and Retro to sort the rest and paint it.

















Lots of teh images below are actually stills from my video as i was rushing so much i didnt take photos!

[N1tr0_9]

VIDEO




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Xg_FfciMZ4

[N1tr0_9]

Got my first photo of progress being made by Midland Performance and Retro, thanks Mike.

I have also been out collecting parts. Ive finally managed to get hold of some stainless steel coolant pipes, so i wont have the same issue as was starting to develop with the 420 coolant pipes, rust!

All my nasty welding being hidden

[N1tr0_9]

More photos. Bumpers are replacement second hand and now in primer.

Front wings are brand new genuine Rover parts, £37 each side plus VAT, so it was silly not to.









Tailgate hinges also being attended to. Mike thinks it can be repaired without needing new metal or any welding.



And more progress with the rear wing.