7 replies to this topic

[Harryracinggreen1990]

http://www.somerford...roducts_id=1154 hi , i have a 1990 rover reacing green and am looking to buy genuine outer sills could anybody possibly tell me is this is the right one i want to buy and is the genuine ones 9 inch?

[Alex_B]

9 inch sills are not genuine, they are oversills and bad news, they trap moisture and water as they dont have any venting holes, they are weaker and make the car harder to sell on also they are a bodge really,

and that link you provided looks to be genuine and a correct sill but I would wait for a second opinion on which is the correct part no :)

[Sam Walters]

http://www.somerford...roducts_id=1154 hi , i have a 1990 rover reacing green and am looking to buy genuine outer sills could anybody possibly tell me is this is the right one i want to buy and is the genuine ones 9 inch?

There are two types of sill. Normall type roughly 4 inches wide. and the 9 inch ones. The 9 inch ones are a bodge....they are designed so they can be slapped over the rotting original sills to get the car through an MOT.

Get the 4 inch ones.

These ones.

http://minispares.com/product/Classic/Body/Panel/Repair/14A9535.aspx?030703&ReturnUrl=/search/classic/sill.aspx|Back%20to%20search

Although chances are if your outer sills are gone your inners will be too and the surrounding panels such as the door step and floor pan.

[Spud_133]

Why don't you save yourself a couple of quid and buy the wide sills and it them in half

[minidaves]

yeah but herritage sills are thicker and bette rmetal

[tiger99]

How would that save a couple of quid? One half would be useful, the other scrap, as the sill is not symmetrical.

Oh, and at this point someone ought to mention that if the inner sills are rusty, YOU DO NOT NEED AN INNER SILL REPAIR PANEL (the one with the cutout to clear the crossmember), another dangerous bodge which, if spotted, will result in MOT failure. You need an outer floor edge, half or full length, according to what is rusty, and not the one with the cutout to bodge around the rear bin either. Or more likely, you just need one or more simple patches made from 0.9mm steel, with a fold to the correct angle.

[Spud_133]

The fact you can get both for less than the price of one genuine sill? Also, as you say,
You can weigh the other half in to make a few more pence

[tiger99]

Ah, so they are cheaper! I wonder why? As has already been suggested, thickness, which really does need to be 0.9mm, but there may be another, far worse reason. The sides of a Mini are actually curved, but at one time, and possibly still today, cheap sills were straight, because they were made on a folding machine, and then the vent flutes bashed in with a couple of shaped bits of metal, instead of pressing the thing properly. It is extremely difficult to get the curve without pressing them properly.

A straight sill is a nightmare to fit. It is very difficult to force into place, and get it to line up correctly along the outside flange. If you force it into shape and weld it there, you then spend ages with jacks and such like, tyring to make the lower edge meet the floor pan properly. And. once welded, all those locked-in stresses may make the shell go out of shape, with the first effect being that the doors don't fit properly.

Avoid cheap, nasty sills like the plague!.