rust.....

[phurn]

been under the car most of the day trying to convince the age old bolts holding the sill rails on to come off... on side eventually got defeated and now i have to move on to the other. anyway while i was underneath the car i noticed some rust which has holed around the rear spring hanger on the passenger side. which would odviously be a clear mot fail.
however, it does have a very large plate welded to it from above, and its this which the hanger is attached to at the front, not where the whole is, so would this still constitute a mot fail? as its no longer providing structural support.

[chickenjohn]

Best thing to do here as the area has already been plated is to measure everything very carefully several times and cut the spring hanger and plate out and weld a new spring hanger (on plate ) in.

Otherwise more patching will just mean the rust will be back (and worse!) in a few years time.

[MarkyB]

Sounds like a dreaded rust sandwich, water, salt and dirt get trapped between the layers and accelerate the rusting.

[Neil MG]

Yes, I think most examiners would fail that. Arguments about the plate on top would be met with the answer that it's not an acceptable repair. Ok it's difficult to say that without seeing it, but how can the spring hanger be properly welded to a plate that is on the inside? The rusted metal should be cut out and replaced. Of course plates patches are acceptable, but not if there is anything attached to the part they are covering.

Of course if the holes are filled with bodge and covered with thick underseal the examiner cannot fail what he cannot see. If you are sure you are happy with the repair, that is.

[phurn]

well a strip down is on the cards anyway, its just gotta get me through the next 12 months or so as a daily first. the whole floor could do with replacing as its pretty much made of plates, solid enouhg... but scruffy.

so for now id rather make an effective repair than start welding in replacement panels. the panel welded above it pretty much covers the entire rear corner, so for now what i supect ill do is cut off all the rot, and apply an external patch too, since it only has to last 12 months. or possibly cut the rot back and just weld the existing patch to the clean edge of the floor, aswell as its current mountign points.

out of interest my sills have saome surface rust on them, which ive jsut treated with kurust so in theory thats problem solved. it has however, swelled up abit and forced the sill rail out about 4mm so you can see daylight inbetween the mounting points. i presume, since these are just bolt on and off, that it wont cuase any mot problems.

ive never stuck a classic through a mot before (all my previous cars were no where near road worthy) nervous times!!! still ive got 2 months to prepare him.

[MarkyB]

Treating one side of rusted steel is never going to be "problem solved." I'm afraid.
What the MOT man can't see he can't fail, but if I were you I'd take the door steps off and have a look at the structure underneath to see the extent of the rust.

[phurn]

It was only surface rust. A light jab and scrape with my trusty rust screwdriver showed me that. Reckon I caught it just in time. And now I have a nice polished sill runner. But only on one side, the other side the bolts refuse to move. My angle grinder will see to that.