My '86 360 GLE has just failed its MOT apparently the sills are too corroded to pass it. Also one of the rear shocks is leaking and there is play in one of the steering arms. I'd quite like to keep it as the car runs really well, has a/c factory fit, leather etc. and I've just spent about 200 on getting injectors/exhaust etc and the engine running really sweet again.
The shocks and the steering I can fix, (do you reckon it needs a new rack or just a track end?) but I don't know how or where to get the sills fixed, or how much it'll cost me.
Anybody have any idea of how much it'll cost to have new sills put on and if they know anybody in the Glasgow area who is good and cheap.
Thanks for your help
Andy
Sorry, I forgot to say that the n/s jacking point has collapsed slightly as well, and that worried the MOT tester as well as a cracked number plate and the wrong bulbs in the back lights
|
Andy,
Not what you want to hear but this car is telling you it's time to go.
I don't deal with cars that need welding at all, there is no reason to when many cars these days are free of MOT failing rust when they are scrapped.
I did get my friendly contact to quote on a customers 1990 Fiat the other month and he wanted almost £200 to do a proper job on a third of one sill and the jacking point/floor also involved. Needless to say we scrapped it.
You might get some cheap quotes but from the quality of work I've often seen it will only last another year before the bits they're welded to corrode and you're back to square one. And if you have an accident these tacked on bits of tin work nothing likle Volvo designed the structure to 16yrs ago.
Hope you get sorted somehow.
MM
|
Most of the sill area on these is triple skinned, inner, web and outer skin. I did a 9" long patch on my 340 Ereg last year and to make a good job is time consuming. Beware of any cheap job, the chance is they will replace only the outer skin! Whilst this will satisfy the visual element of the MOT test you will loose significant structural strength. The web on mine had corroded heavily altho the outer sill had only a 3" visible area of corrosion. My local tester reckoned that this was fairly uncommon, normally the result of old accident damage.
By the sound of it yours is pretty bad, unless you decide to teach yourself to weld, the only realistic answer is the one you dont want to hear. Remember what you can see is only the tip of the iceberg! If you want to find a car of similar age with the minimum of corrosion problems look towards a Golf or Polo. Otherwise find another 360 with a years MoT and start xfering bits. I would guess that you should find a 360 in immaculate condition for about £300!
pmh (was peter)
|
Thanks for your replies, it is just a tiny patch, the problem is that it is close to the seatbelt bolt between the front and rear doors on one side and the jacking point on the other side.
Andy
|
|
|
