Guru/Cooperman urgent advice needed...again...

[dogfather]

how do guys im back for round 2. cooperman, if you remember i told you in our phone descussion the other day that i was going to cut out all the repairs patches and replace with full panels like i should have to start with.. well i started cutting out the inner sill on passenger side which i had previously patched and i also descovered it was weak and did not stand a firm prod with a screw driver. i tried leaving the outer sill in place, but as i went along i noticed that the outer sill was also shot and will need replacing. my question is, is it safe to remove the inner and outer sill at the same time or would this be too weak to keep the car in shape. Guru do you hav any pics that relate to this topic if so would you mind posting them.
thanks in advance..neale..

[Loui]

Chap i get the feeling this should have been in calssic mini

[Cooperman]

What i do when I need to do both outer and inner is to jack the car up on the one side, leaving the wheels on, and put a milk bottle crate under each wheel.
Then, so long as you don't move the car until all the cutting and welding is finished and don't remove the lower door sill at the same time, it will be fine.
If the door sill is also rotten, the best thing to do is to weld a steel tube about 1.5" diameter, or a piece of 1" x !2 x 1/8" steel angle, across the door aperture low down before cutting anything away. You simply cut the tube/angle off after finishing all the cutting and welding, grind back and re-finish the surface.
The worst thing you can do is to cut off both inner and outer sills then move the car or jack up one end. That could cause the shell to deform slightly.

[dogfather]

(and put a milk bottle crate under each wheel.)


thanks peter but the problem is, I didnt think this through very well... she has no rear subframe and is jacked up at the rear on a few lengths of timber running directly under the rear seat/boot dividing panel, she has to be moved because its sitting on timber on the end of the outersill. i cant jack the side up due to lack of wheels and OH yeah if forgot to mention..ive cut all the way down the length of the inner sill leaving about 4" uncut at each end and removed it from the outer sill so now the floor isnt attached to the outer sill , i hav cut around the cross member and left it attached to the door step which is in great condition so is staying putt.

Have i still got the structural integraty to move her or have i gone to far with my "JUST CUT IT MOMENT". i may be able to put a couple of wheels under the drivers side sill to act as the rear wheel and place a peice of timber from front to rear and then jack up the side using 2 bottle jacks, 1 at the front and 1 at the rear, and hopfully if i evenly jack up the side this will minimise any movment. what do you think mate, should i leave it where it is, remove and fit the inner sill (if possible?) and then jack up the side to removed /replace outer sill...many thanks peter...neale...

[Cooperman]

Neale,

I don't think it's too big a problem. I would now carefully jack up the front and support the car with length-wise timber beams if that's possible. Try to jack it evenly with, say, 2 trolley jacks, one at each side, using a large piece of timber to spread the load over the floor. If you support it fore-to-aft you'll best spread the load length-wise to prevent any possibilty of 'sagging'. If the door steps are still in place it can't really sag anyway. The risk is it twisting, but if the supports are the same height each side and the floor is supported equally that also can't really happen.
The only problem, and it's more a practical one, is that as you can't now lift one side higher than the other , you'll be welding 'uphill' which I hate because it always seems to spit onto your feet or arms. Still, it's what it is now, so just go for it.
Good luck,
Peter