Thickness of metal required for cill repair patches?

[MisterCruiser]

I'm guessing the original cills are around 1.5mm to 2mm thick, anyone want to confirm / recommend what's best size to get?

 

[Tractionman]

I'm guessing the original cills are around 1.5mm to 2mm thick, anyone want to confirm / recommend what's best size to get?

Im by no means an expert, but I have always used same thicknesses, so the metals heat up equally during the process, to get a decent penetration without too much distortion of patch or surrounding areas and without blowing holes in metal through excessive heat or amps, which may be required with two different thicknesses.

 

[jibberjabber]

I'm guessing the original cills are around 1.5mm to 2mm thick, anyone want to confirm / recommend what's best size to get?

1.5 and 2.00mm are way to thick, you'd be better off with with 0.6- 0.8mm, even 1.00mm is still a bit on the thick side, yes, the thicker the metal the easier it is to weld but it's also harder to cut and form.

 

[Tractionman]

1.5 and 2.00mm are way to thick, you'd be better off with with 0.8mm, even 1.00mm is still a bit on the thick side, yes, the thicker the metal the easier it is to weld but it's also harder to cut and form.

Get a bigger hammer !

 

[jibberjabber]

Get a bigger hammer !

Or even a Birmingham screw driver.

 

[Tractionman]

Or even a Birmingham screw driver.

Not again, we've been through all that.

 

[MisterCruiser]

Yeah, I plan to use the same thickness as the original too, I was just asking what that thickness is so I could order it in advance. Well I cut out a bit of the old metal used in some previous cill repairs on it and its measuring 1.5mm thick. I'll get a better measurement of the original metal tomorrow when I have it cleaned back and cut out but I'd say it's looking like 1.5mm.

 

[MisterCruiser]

Here's some pics of my sill rust. It's mainly the passenger side that worse.

I got the rust patches replaced / fixed professionally about 6 years ago, and it's mainly these patches of metal that were welded in that have rusted now. They seem to have rusted from the inside out. They were painted and protected on the exterior but I'd imagine the inside face of these new bits of metal were left untreated. How would you actually treat the inside face, if painted before welding it'd burn off. I suppose fill the sill cavity with waxoyl or such after the repair.

You can see in my pics how the original interior metal within the sill is still original grey colour, possibly zinc metal? I notice some car specific sill repair panels that you can purchase pre-formed come as a zync plated. Am I better off buying some zyne plated metal strips to use as the repair patches, will zync plated be harder to weld or any issues in that regard?

I drew around replacement panel from before:

 

[Tractionman]

Here's some pics of my sill rust. It's mainly the passenger side that worse.

I got the rust patches replaced / fixed professionally about 6 years ago, and it's mainly these patches of metal that were welded in that have rusted now. They seem to have rusted from the inside out. They were painted and protected on the exterior but I'd imagine the inside face of these new bits of metal were left untreated. How would you actually treat the inside face, if painted before welding it'd burn off. I suppose fill the sill cavity with waxoyl or such after the repair.

You can see in my pics how the original interior metal within the sill is still original grey colour, possibly zinc metal? I notice some car specific sill repair panels that you can purchase pre-formed come as a zync plated. Am I better off buying some zyne plated metal strips to use as the repair patches, will zync plated be harder to weld or any issues in that regard?

I drew around replacement panel from before:

Wow! They have rotted out well. As regards using something like zintex , that's all well and good, but you will have to grind a margin all round edge to bare metal to get a good weld anyway, which leaves you witha slightly thinner patch. If i were you I would cut all those areas back to solid metal, and then order. These rust jubs have a habit of getting bigger as you go. Sorry about that. I think you have answered your own question regarding waxoyl or similar for inner protection. If there are no convenient entry areas, drill a hole or three and put some bungs in .

 

[Iwan]

Interesting pictures there, lack of drain holes to let water out.. also to have holes which would enable you to feed a pipe in to add cavity wax or oil etc.

Also maybe the guy who did the repair was a bit of a poof that welded in metal much thinner which combined with the lack of inner cill protection didn't make the repairs long lasting..

Another thought is that the chinese steel has so many impurities in it from all the scrap that they bought up during the last decade or so.. that it rusts much sooner than it should..

Interesting pictures but sorry too to see the repairs fail.

 

[Shayne]

I would repair it then drill holes in the new steel to squirt a load of zinga in maybe followed by some Krown spray then repair the holes with putty and paint .

 

[jibberjabber]

I like the antique Land Cruiser 40 series steering wheel on your wall in picture 5 and the 'Stags Head' hood ornament.

 

[Finiterex]

0.8mm is the sheet thickness... I advise chopping out and replacing with 2mm box as I have... See build thread

 

[Matt Vee]

Interesting pictures there, lack of drain holes to let water out.. also to have holes which would enable you to feed a pipe in to add cavity wax or oil etc.

Also maybe the guy who did the repair was a bit of a poof that welded in metal much thinner which combined with the lack of inner cill protection didn't make the repairs long lasting..

Another thought is that the chinese steel has so many impurities in it from all the scrap that they bought up during the last decade or so.. that it rusts much sooner than it should..

Interesting pictures but sorry too to see the repairs fail.

THIS ^^

 

[MisterCruiser]

I like the antique Land Cruiser 40 series steering wheel on your wall in picture 5 and the 'Stags Head' hood ornament.

Haha Stag would get a few looks if were on the hood alright!

[/QUOTE]

THIS ^^

I don't think the replacement steel was much thinner than the original, it seems the same. If 0.8mm is really the thickness of the orig then I'd say they'd find it hard to even find thinner steel then that and then it'd be even harder to weld too making their job even more awkward. I think it was just poor quality steel and unprotected on the inside.


I'm in the process of cleaning the whole rear / middle of the underneath down and painting with Owatrol oil to stabilise the existing surface rust and painting with Owatrol Deco paint. Owatrol Ireland | "The Professional's Choice" - [Leaving Land Cruiser Club]
My mate is welding up the sills for me, I'm gonna spray cavity wax in there now too and into all the other cavities of the chasis. I think I'll use Waxoyl cavity wax as I happen to have a can of it that I never used. I've also found a small bit of rot on the very rear of the drivers side main chasis, only found it when I removed the fuel tank. It's easy to get to at least and thicker steel to weld as well so least that's straight forward.

Iv'e removed and sand blasted some parts that unbolt, rear step plate and another plate under it, fuel filler, tank straps, 1 broke had to weld in a new length of steel and free up the hinge points on both where they seized solid, side steps brackets, etc,,,, had to fight with nearly every bolt due to rust / corrosion. I'm hoping this rust-proofing effort will last 3-5 years of weld free driving. I've 2 wire brushes worn down, lots of elbow grease involved! I'll throw up some pics in a few days.

What is it with the design of Toyota bolts, they seem to have a slight taper / split in the end of their bolts? It makes fitting a new normal bolt a PITA as the new bolts I have with no split/notch in their ends don't want to thread in fully; I end up using shorter bolts.

 

[keith97]

Just curious MisterCruiser, how did the paint work out for you?

 

[MisterCruiser]

@keith97 - It seems to have worked out ok. It passed the annual roadworthy test after all the welding / rust proofing / painting job last yr. It's due it's test again now in October I think, got extra 3 months or so I think due to Covid causing test delays, so I'll be able to give you a better long term answer in a few weeks, It'll be interesting to see how it has done rust-wise in the last 15 / 18 months.

 

[keith97]

Thanks for getting back to me. I was under my '97 cruiser today, cleaning the chassis with a wire brush. Just got the chassis welded and found a hole in the cill on the driver's side. How strict are DOE on welding the cill, can a weld be painted over before the test?

 

[MisterCruiser]

Regards the DOE as far as I'm aware if they fail it on rust in the main test the repair for the retest will need to be accompanied with an engineers report. So you're better off repairing it before you put it through. That's what I did. I assume the repair can be painted over as the engineers report will accompany it. Obviously you can paint over the repair that's made before it goes through the first test. I completely cleaned and treated the whole underside with Owatrol rust preventer and paint at the same time as welding the cills. I just hope it's done it's job and hasn't rotted anymore, guess I'll find out soon enough. I'll pop me head under it before I send it through though just to make sure.

 

[keith97]

I thought it was just the chassis welds that had to be done before the test, thanks for the headsup about the cills. Time for some upside down welding practice. Pic below is chassis weld before paint