How easy is it to cut rot out of sills myself?

[anonymous-user]

This might sound a little crazy as I have no experience of car bodywork repairs, however I'm fairly handy with a spanner (or angle grinder) and it can't be that difficult, can it?

Why? - Basically my car is in my own garage without MOT so it's a pain to organise transport to take it back and forth to a garage for works and my budget is tight, I want to cut the rot out of the rear of the sills so that I can see the extent of the damage and send photos to a few garages to get quotes before trailering it anywhere, and to help determine if I should be buying arch repair panels, sill repair panels, or inner sill panels also?

So:
- I assume there's nothing in the sill that could be damaged by my going at the usual rotten rear of sill section with an angle grinder?
- Should the car require any further structural support with those sections cut out or is it fine to have it sitting on all 4 wheels up on ramps?

Or am I being ridiculous to consider it?

[Aizle]

Have a look for the MX5 Restorer (I think that's his name).

There should be some pics of sections cut out, that might show you what lies behind

[anonymous-user]

Yes I've seen Garath's work in pictures but they won't show what's behind in my car!

I know what lies behind, just not what condition it's in!

Essentially I want to get quotes for the new metal and paint from garages, but as the car is off the road I can only send them photos (the places I've approached are happy to quote on this basis) and it will help if I can do a bit of exploration work so they know what they're dealing with from the outset, as once I book a car in and they start cutting, I'm stuck with whatever they decide they want to charge me for any extra work they find hidden away.

[Riknos]

I think what Aizle meant was, have a look at the thread, and it will show you cars that have had the car already attacked with an angle grinder, so you can see where to make your cuts etc safely yourself?

[anonymous-user]

Ah, ok, cheers, that makes sense.

I'm going to make a start on it tomorrow weather permitting, will post before, during and after photos in the 'show us your sills' thread!