New Sills - Vitesse

[Paul H]

New Sills ready for trial fit 

The holes don’t line up so added masking tape to protect new paint and show where the holes in the body shell should be. 
 

The front and rear don’t line up . The rear shows a step 

The front is way out and only one securing point available . 

 

Previous sill had filler added everywhere to “hide” the gaps . Are these gaps normal ? 
New sills are NOS with the 4 securing straps having elongated securing holes . The previous ones were not 

Paul

[Colin Lindsay]

I think you have four there including the bolt? All of mine have only two and the unfitted sills I have confirm. Those centre two have been added later.

The screw heads are the only visible part that you'll see from outside so they're the bit you worry about; everything else is hidden underneath. Most important thing is getting the sill aligned with the edges of the bodywork front and rear so hopefully the two holes will line up with the sill and you can fill in the other two. Yours are slotted, not an original feature but it does allow some adjustment. Just use self tappers and a spire nut to allow it to slide into place at the front; at the rear they screw up into the underside of the wings so no capacity for adjustment there.

The straps to the chassis rails are a great stiffener and should be drilled at the very end when all else is adjusted.

[PeteH]

Getting mine (13/60) to align after a full body off and the replacement of an acre or two of steel is an ongoing nightmare. Passenger side now lines up right through and is (almost) flush with the door bottom. Driver side has big gaps and will need a lot of modification I suspect. I have Let go the rear tub to chassis bolts and that has reduced the gap a bit, now I have to measure and make "C" washers to use as packers!. Found some Alloy stock, so I will turn some up and part off the required thicknesses. IF I offer up the cill to the outside of the bodywork it is close but try putting it on from behind and the gaps quite major. Not worked out yet why. I think I might finish up having to re-work the cill.

Pete