GT6 Floor and sill replacement

[Alex Lowe]

Hi all

Discovered the one part of my Mk3 I thought was solid is actually held on with filler a fibreglass. So now I need to replace the sills and the floor pans of the car

A few questions

1. Will this be easier to do with the tub removed from the chassis 

2. Are there any bits of know how or things to look out for for this job

3. Where is the best/most cost effective place to acquire the required patch panels as being a full time student funds are low but i need to make the most of this free time granted to us

Again thanks for all help provided 

[NonMember]

Hi Alex,

1) NO! NO! NO! Removing the body from the chassis means you have no structural strength nor positional reference once the old rotten sills are off. You MUST leave it on the chassis until the sills are properly solid.

2) Plenty. Keep the doors on - it may seem counter-intuitive as it makes access awkward, but the doors are your primary reference for where the sills should fit. Don't trust the shape of the new panels - trial fit and fettle as needed. Other people will have more comments...

3) Probably Canley or Paddocks, maybe Fitchett's (but I'm not sure they're operating during the lock-down).

[Martin1945]

Before I started having this work  done on my 1968 Triumph Herald 1360 Estate. I was advised:       You cannot repair the chassis properly with the tub in place.      Potentially I could be opening up a can of worms.   The same is applicable with you       You wont know how big the can will be nor how big those worms are until you start and take it all apart.   

Be prepared for supprises 

Only one word is applicable COMMITMENT

Best of luck. Martin

[Alex Lowe]

Straight away had not thought about that stupidly so thanks straight away.

couple other things to ask 

Im assuming floor pans are best to replace while the sills are off and whats the trick for these.

I also forgot the mention its looking like the A and most likely B posts need replacing would it be best to tackle these and any bulk head work to start with before doing the sills?

[Martin1945]

My car is now completed

And all being well

You will be able to see my Triumph 1968 Herald 1360 Estate CXC990G on the Club Stand at next 2020 NEC Practical Classic Restoration Show.

[Martin1945]

45 minutes ago, Alex Lowe said:

Hi all

Discovered the one part of my Mk3 I thought was solid is actually held on with filler a fibreglass. So now I need to replace the sills and the floor pans of the car

A few questions

1. Will this be easier to do with the tub removed from the chassis 

2. Are there any bits of know how or things to look out for for this job

3. Where is the best/most cost effective place to acquire the required patch panels as being a full time student funds are low but i need to make the most of this free time granted to us

Again thanks for all help provided 

Hi Alex 

I had the same with my car. The bits I thought were good were not. Especially the A frame and the chassis areas 

[Martin1945]

52 minutes ago, Alex Lowe said:

Hi all

Discovered the one part of my Mk3 I thought was solid is actually held on with filler a fibreglass. So now I need to replace the sills and the floor pans of the car

A few questions

1. Will this be easier to do with the tub removed from the chassis 

2. Are there any bits of know how or things to look out for for this job

3. Where is the best/most cost effective place to acquire the required patch panels as being a full time student funds are low but i need to make the most of this free time granted to us

Again thanks for all help provided 

Your Item 2 answer

If its worth doing no matter how small do it well.

Have lots of tea and patience to hand

[NonMember]

33 minutes ago, Alex Lowe said:

Im assuming floor pans are best to replace while the sills are off and whats the trick for these.

When I did my Spitfire, we decided to do the sills first, then the floors. We had previously done one the other way round. I don't recall now why we changed. In either case, and for most bodywork repairs, my general advice is to remove as little as possible at any one time. Having the remains of the old sills in place will help you locate the floor pans correctly. Do take account, though, of the issue of accessibility for removing the old inner sill ends once your nice new floors are in.

38 minutes ago, Alex Lowe said:

I also forgot the mention its looking like the A and most likely B posts need replacing would it be best to tackle these and any bulk head work to start with before doing the sills?

Some parts of the bulkhead and A-post live behind the outer sill, so you will have to fix them while the outer sill is off. They probably are best done first, as the bottom of the A-post (where it butts into the footwell) is the primary structure to which the sill attaches. The bits higher up, including the box section where the door hinges attach, can be done later, if needed.

[Colin Lindsay]

3 hours ago, Martin1945 said:

Before I started having this work  done on my 1968 Triumph Herald 1360 Estate. I was advised:       You cannot repair the chassis properly with the tub in place.     

That's true - for example you cannot weld all of the sides of the outriggers - but you're better to repair the body in situ whilst the chassis is giving structural support, then repair as much of the chassis as you can with the body on for reference before removing the now solid tub and finishing the chassis welding. Unless you have a pre-made jig for the chassis you'll have a hard time lining up the various outriggers with the body off.

[thescrapman]

My mate Andy spends a lot of time putting floor pans back in straight and realigning sills to restore door gaps and panel alignment.

ISTR the floor doesn't quite go where it looks like it should go, and the sills are easily put on half an inch out.

Alao don't assume a new sill panel is the right shape, they aren't now-a-days.

[Nick Jones]

Links to our fairly recent Spitfire and GT6 restorations.  Both of which got very structural......

My tips:
As already stated, for GT6/Spit especially the body MUST be on the chassis for the structural stuff.  By all means remove the body, after for final welding / tidying up but sills, A posts / B posts etc need to be done with body and chassis bolted together.

Make sure that the doors fit before you start.  If you can't get them to fit and they seem to be the originals then things have already moved (weakness or previous damage/repair) and you may have to do a bit of adjustment during your repairs.  With this in mind, making/buying adjustable door bars is worth considering.

The doors must be present as they are a vital reference.  Time spent getting the gaps right and panels in line is well spent.  Nothing looks worse than doors that stick out 1/2" at the bottom corners.....

Heritage panels are worth the extra money.  Not perfect but better.

http://sideways-technologies.co.uk/forums/index.php?/topic/7535-nick-chriss-gt6-mk-3/#comments

http://sideways-technologies.co.uk/forums/index.php?/topic/7107-chriss-mkiv-basket-case-restored-to-glory/#comments

Nick

[Dick Twitchen]

1 hour ago, Nick Jones said:

The doors must be present as they are a vital reference.  Time spent getting the gaps right and panels in line is well spent.

I would reinforce this point, 'build' your repairs around the doors, and if they need repairing/re-skinning do this before you start work on sills and A/B posts.  Bitter experience speaking!

Dick 

[Alex Lowe]

Thanks for all the help so far giving me lots to think about

Door gap adjuster would one be easy to make or would i be able to just weld a bar in place?

[Nick Jones]

If you are happy with your door gaps then a welded bar will suffice, though ideally you want it positioned so the door can still be fitted.  If you think you would like to be able to move the door gaps then adjustable would be better.  Rimmers sell one that they claim is adjustable, though I can't see how.  It's no bargain either.

I've seen a pic of a nice one that someone made somewhere but can't find it now.  We chose not to make an adjustable one - we just moved things to make the door fit (including the screen surround!) and welded in a bunch of braces.  The top one did have some adjustability (it was the first one in and helped with the "manipulation of the broken bones") then the others were added for stability 'cause we had to cut rather alot out

Nick

[Brooky]

I just welded a box section across the door arpeture  decent thick stuff  40mm square 3mm thick, weld it on the inside lip then you can try your doors with it in situ, I also put a downward section to the lip above the floor strengthener, you can then cut the A post to repair it etc

[thescrapman]

There used to be information about for the length of a bit of wood to put between the top of the screen frame and the rear deck which once removed after repairs were done would give correct door gaps once everything settled.

came originally from JK, but I lost my copy of it when Yahoo closed my email acct unexpectedly one day.