Spitfire 1500 sill end plates

[Chris Bracey]

hi. I want to cut inspection plates at the end of each sill. Do you think that could cause an mot fail.. i mot it every year although its exempt.

Any views or mot testers out there. 

[Nick Jones]

I think it will depend on the tester and how you do it.  Consider making a round holes to take a large grommet as used on most moderns.  Also consider that a modest investment on one of those endoscope cameras that plugs into a laptop or android phone you could do the inspection through the existing drains.

Nick

[Colin Lindsay]

IIRC - and it's been a long time since I had a Spitfire - is there access to the sills from inside the car? I seem to remember slots along the sides of the inner sills, certainly one at the bottom of the b-post and maybe one in the driver's footwell, so that there was access if the carpets were lifted? I can remember Waxoyling one from the inside, but maybe they had been cut by a PO? 

[Ian Faulds]

16 minutes ago, Colin Lindsay said:

IIRC - and it's been a long time since I had a Spitfire - is there access to the sills from inside the car? I seem to remember slots along the sides of the inner sills, certainly one at the bottom of the b-post and maybe one in the driver's footwell, so that there was access if the carpets were lifted? I can remember Waxoyling one from the inside, but maybe they had been cut by a PO? 

You can see here the slots Colin's on about. But I don't think too useful for wax oil. Better would be to drill holes in the top of the sill under the door bottom to put waxoil then put grommets in

[NonMember]

As Ian says, the slots in the inner sills are of limited use as they only give access to the inner cavity. The main sill cavity is open at the rear into the B-post, if you remove the side trim panels. You'd need a very long flexi on the waxoyl gun! There's no opening in the footwell unless someone has modified it.

I just use the drain holes. Easy access, no carpets to lift.

[chrishawley]

I would think that cutting two access holes in the sill end plates would not be a MOT problem. Two bits of the MOT test procedure would apply:

a) is there a  defect in a 'prescribed area' e.g. within 30 cm of of seatbelt mounting, suspension mounting, other structural element

b) defect, even if not in prescribed area, significantly impairing structural integrity.

Not that a neatly made, blanked, hole could be considered a defect but even if viewed that way it wouldn't fall under a or b as above. My wife's Copen passed three successive MOTs with nearly nothing left of the front sill ends (repaired now!).

[Graham C]

The original sills did have 2  drain 1/2 inch holes in them.

So why not reproduce them to gain access.

Graham