Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi, two questions - firstly I notice Mandymoo has just asked about sill covers, and my first question, for this post, is 'is this the sill'...! This is what is 'under the door', or is this itself a sill cover? You can see in the second picture, posted in a moment, that it appears like two pieces of metal coming together and forming a lip... unfortunately it is where my 3 and a half year old stands when trying to get out of the back, and I'm worried that he will end up damaging it... where can you get covers? Or indeed is it wise to put covers over this area?[frame][/frame]

Close up...[frame][/frame]

And my second question!!! It is about the sill as well - now the sill appears to be a hollow tube really? Yes? But not one which (luckily... lack of rust) you can readily get into to inspect... so can you with normal tools? If not, how can you get a dinitrol / wax oil nozzle in there to protect the inside?

Thanks in advance!!

the sloping bit you can see is the kick plate and the out side edge is a sill rail...

http://www.morris-minor.org/morris-mino ... -c-25.html

there are five or six bolts under the sill rail that go thorough the sill rail/kick plate/ sill and hold them all together, they can be undone to take your kick plate off to gain clear access to your sill to paint protective wax on.

Thank you, so:

The picture![frame][/frame]

Arthur

It looks like your kick plate has been welded on

Taupe

Does that mean it's trapped for life?!!

It means its not good ..... they normaly get welded on when there is rust underneath the kick plate on the inner sill etc... i cant be sure, but i would get it wont be pretty underneath...

Paul

I would as a matter of urgency get those covers off,and examine the real sills which are under the covers,the covers should NEVER be welded on,its essential to be able to take them off every few years and re wax the inside,hope there are no gremlins hiding inside like rot or botched repairs GOOD LUCK

But how on earth to get them off? I can tinker with servicing and a bit of respray work here and there - but can't weld or even afford to have somebody do this at the moment... darn it! And this was supposed to be economical motoring after my VW Beetle experience...

Perhaps I could drill holes underneath... 2 inch diameter to see inside and check, and if okay then dinitrol / waxoyl inside and then bung the holes?

If not, can anybody tell me roughly how much to unweld, and replace with the correct kick plate round Stockport?

Cheers!

I'm not sure that drilling 2 inch holes underneath is the best course of action as you won't be able to get a good look at the condition of the sills and the holes will be potential rust traps, even with bungs fitted, because of where they are. As already pointed out, you might find that there is a lot of corrosion on the sills, which is being covered up by the kick plates. So you might end up needing more work than just getting someone to unweld the covers and fit new ones. (Incidently, a 3 year old child standing on the kick plate shouldn't cause damage to the actual sills if they are solid, just possibly damage the paintwork on the cover).

You mentioned in one of your earlier posts that you met a bloke round the corner from you who owns a traveller and adjusted the clutch for you. Perhaps he could he take a look for you, or recommend a good local welder / garage? Labour charges are around £50 - £60 an hour in London but I'm guesssing they might be a bit cheaper where you are.

That's a good idea Louise, I think I'll try that - also take a look at his traveller to see what it SHOULD look like!


Still, nothing can be as bad as when I purchased my first Beetle and took out the back carpet only to discover there was NO floor, only painted cardboard!!!!