12 replies to this topic

[jayjay31]

Hello i recently purchased 1980 mini had a rebuild early 2010 , the sils and under the car look great BUT the sils dont have any hole/vents to let moisture out ! is that alright ? if not whats the best way to approach this ?

cheers

[sonikk4]

They sound like oversills which may or may not cover a load of nasties especially if the old sills have not been removed.

To be brutally honest here i really consider removing them or at the very least drill a small hole and i do mean a small hole through the outer sill to the side of the jacking point to see if there are two sills present.

If there is then there will be a very good chance that the oversills will be covering rusty original sills so causing more damage. Time to replace them and fit proper short sills.

Not only will this cure the moisture problem but they are also stronger.

Now if there is only the oversill fitted then you could drill holes right at the bottom but again the question needs to be asked is there any rust on the inner sill. You cannot always see this from inside the car but on the outside its a different story.

If you have a look at the Project Paddy link below you will see where i have removed the first oversill fitted to Paddy. Luckily the old sills were removed but there was no treatment at all on the inner sill so rust was there but not too bad.

[jayjay31]

Hi thanks for the honest reply ! luckly when i purchased the car i also got the photo album of the rebuild , and loooking at a few photos it shows the rusty ( rotten ) sils and them removed and the new ones put on ! i dont know why they wouldnt have gone for the vented sils!

So to put vents / holes in them where are the best positions ? how many holes ? how small hole are we talking ?

thanks for your help

going to look at paddy now

j

Update , just looked at your post thread , your primed and black sil has 3 holes in it ,and some side vents ! mine has these vents but look like there sealed can these be opened on mine ?

Edited by jayjay31, 11 August 2011 - 07:58 AM.

[JonnyBMX]

yeah it does sound like oversills.. one of my friends had oversills... what appaered to have been put over brand new sills.. but i hear most of the time they are put over original sills that have just rusted away!

[sonikk4]

Hi thanks for the honest reply ! luckly when i purchased the car i also got the photo album of the rebuild , and loooking at a few photos it shows the rusty ( rotten ) sils and them removed and the new ones put on ! i dont know why they wouldnt have gone for the vented sils!

So to put vents / holes in them where are the best positions ? how many holes ? how small hole are we talking ?

thanks for your help

going to look at paddy now

j

Update , just looked at your post thread , your primed and black sil has 3 holes in it ,and some side vents ! mine has these vents but look like there sealed can these be opened on mine ?

You could open the bottom of the vent area but unfortunately oversill don't work that way. The rest of the sill will still be lower than the vents so moisture WILL build up in these areas.

To be brutally honest here and its not what you want to hear these need to be removed and proper short sill fitted. This way everything will be the way it should be.

The three holes you see in the panel are the ones at each end are slinging points and the other one is the jacking point

[CLM]

Hi thanks for the honest reply ! luckly when i purchased the car i also got the photo album of the rebuild , and loooking at a few photos it shows the rusty ( rotten ) sils and them removed and the new ones put on ! i dont know why they wouldnt have gone for the vented sils!

So to put vents / holes in them where are the best positions ? how many holes ? how small hole are we talking ?

thanks for your help

going to look at paddy now

j

Update , just looked at your post thread , your primed and black sil has 3 holes in it ,and some side vents ! mine has these vents but look like there sealed can these be opened on mine ?

You could open the bottom of the vent area but unfortunately oversill don't work that way. The rest of the sill will still be lower than the vents so moisture WILL build up in these areas.

To be brutally honest here and its not what you want to hear these need to be removed and proper short sill fitted. This way everything will be the way it should be.

The three holes you see in the panel are the ones at each end are slinging points and the other one is the jacking point

Actually, they could be modded into short sills by carefully slicing with a 1mm cutting disk up the length of them at the width the normal sills would be then rewelded in the remaining area.The vents would be a bit bigger then normal, but if they had been correctly fitted along the body seam and there is no rust in there yet no reason to throw all the work away.

Chris

[jayjay31]

The family who i brought the car of had owned it 16 years but it was actually there dad who rebuilt it so i got his number and rang him last night, he told me all the rotten inner sils were replaced and he put the larger over sils on not relizing there were ment to be vented until someone pointed it out ! but he thought it would be ok to leave it

Could i not slice into the vent mould making a vent hole rather than cut the all the way around ? would that work ?

cheers

jay

[malebassplayer]

Sorry to hijack this thread but seems pointless starting a new one. I think i Have made the mistake of buying oversills. They cannot be retiurned aas i have already welded up the jacking holes. Can these be cut down the length and vents fabricated in? also what is the best way to stop the inside of the sills rusting. I have waxoil which i will be using, but at the minute it is at a stage of bare metal, What is the best paint to use? Something like hammerite?

[CLM]

Sorry to hijack this thread but seems pointless starting a new one. I think i Have made the mistake of buying oversills. They cannot be retiurned aas i have already welded up the jacking holes. Can these be cut down the length and vents fabricated in? also what is the best way to stop the inside of the sills rusting. I have waxoil which i will be using, but at the minute it is at a stage of bare metal, What is the best paint to use? Something like hammerite?

If they are classic oversills they have bumps along the length corrisponding to the vents on normal sills, they become the vents when you trim them to the correct width.

Chris

[jayjay31]

i am going to get the waxoil that has a pump and long piping to reach all the way in ! as my sils are welded on , im also at your stage with my oversils ! just trying to think of the best way to get some vents put in !

I drove down to mini technique near to where i live its a mini specialist , he said he use to fit these years ago and just drill small holes in them ! but im still unsure if i should do this or slice the sil on the slant where the mould comes out where the vent should be ?

if i did just drill a small straight hole up would this course wet & muck to go in ?

jay

[CHUNKY365]

Its an old trick so don't worry.

Cut a nice neat line along the sill. I normally use a long straight edge and line it up on the edge of the 'raised bumps' and cut along this line.

This results in a sill that looks like the more expensive 'narrow sills'.

IF the sills are already elded on, then you can carefully cut the vents with an angle grinder to open the ends.

As for the Waxoil. Then once you have cut the vents, you can stuff the 'magic wand' up the vent hole.

HOWEVER, its normally best to jack the car up.

Remove the front wheels.

Drill a small hole in the inner wheel arch into the sill cavity. Remember to put some paint or something on the bare metal, where you have drilled.

Shove the 'magic wand' in and keep going until it reaches the other end.

Start spraying and pull the 'magic wand' slowly out of the sill.

Use a good rubber grommet to fill the hole.

I normally use a small dob of seam sill with the rubber bung, to keep it water tight.

Repeat on the other side.

You should be able to get it past the jacking point (if you have one), might take a couple of goes though!

If not just do it this way and then copy the technique from the rear wheel arch of the car.

Oh and be warned! The waxoil will pee out the vent holes!

[malebassplayer]

Luckily my sills arent welded on yet so will be easy enough to mark it and cut it with the straight edge technique rather than having to drill holes for drainage.
Will have some nice metal left for other patches too
Before welding the sill though what would be the best paint to prep the metal with before the waxoiling? I managed to pick up a waxoil kit cheap from a show which should do me well for the whole car.

[jayjay31]

Thanks for the advice chunky ! very helpful ! can i just cut into the vents without cutting along the side, to make things a little easier for me ? how deep does the cut need to be ?

regards

jay