What have you done to your car today?

Found a hole in the sill end and MOT due in 2 weeks. Very tempted to buy a welder and have a go. But for now... Messaged a couple of local welders for a quote.

First response is 200+VAT which is more than anticipated. See how things look tomorrow, I'm not sure I have time to learn and finish a weld in one weekend.
Youv've any photos?

You could do a DIY repair yourself saving over £200.

EDIT:

I've used it to fill-up a cut out in my bumper in the past and recently did my mates daily to get it through MOT (I didn't take photos).

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Youv've any photos?

You could do a DIY repair yourself saving over £200.

EDIT:

I've used it to fill-up a cut out in my bumper in the past and recently did my mates daily to get it through MOT (I didn't take photos).
That would pass the MOT but not fix the structural issue they'd be failing me on... It'd buy me time but I need to get it welded either way.

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It's not a crucial body structural part, you could literally cover it with anything and it would pass, the tester can't remove e.g. duck tape and can't fail you on what they don't see.
 
Youv've any photos?

You could do a DIY repair yourself saving over £200.

Note to self, don't buy a car from IC3.

"£200" and "proper repair" shouldn't be used in the same sentence... especially when it comes to rust.

£200 - £240 to repair that is plenty enough to get you a decent job done, it isn't a complicated repair.

£200 for welding when I do the prep and all the finish work is probably reasonable. The hole is bigger than when I first poked it...

I'd suggest £200 is more than enough to pay for a rear sill repair like that, you could find someone to do it cheaper I have no doubt. I think I paid like £100 for a similar repair, but that was 6 years ago.
 
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I'd suggest £200 is more than enough to pay for a rear sill repair like that, you could find someone to do it cheaper I have no doubt. I think I paid like £100 for a similar repair, but that was 6 years ago.
Main issue is that because I've got 10 days til MOT expiry, I don't have much time to ring around. I'm waiting on a reply from a mobile welder, then I might pop down to a local spot. There's about 6 body shop type places in a street near me but I work 9-5.30 so can't get down there easily.
 
£200 for welding when I do the prep and all the finish work is probably reasonable. The hole is bigger than when I first poked it...
Oh yeah, that sounds ok, around London £200 doesn't get you far with bodywork rust repairs...
Note to self, don't buy a car from IC3.

£200 - £240 to repair that is plenty enough to get you a decent job done, it isn't a complicated repair.

I'd suggest £200 is more than enough to pay for a rear sill repair like that, you could find someone to do it cheaper I have no doubt. I think I paid like £100 for a similar repair, but that was 6 years ago.
£500 bangers aren't worth spending that much money on, I just scrap them, wouldn't sell it... I avoid rust buckets anyways, I'll pick a car with a healthy shell and mechanical problems over a car with no mechanical faults and rust issues.
Main issue is that because I've got 10 days til MOT expiry, I don't have much time to ring around. I'm waiting on a reply from a mobile welder, then I might pop down to a local spot. There's about 6 body shop type places in a street near me but I work 9-5.30 so can't get down there easily.
Yeah, so a temp patch to get you through MOT is perfect, gives you time to find someone reputable and you can use your car in the meantime. Although, I don't know if that will work, it looks like the rust is in really deep when taking a 2nd look.
 
Went to put something in the boot, only find the boot wouldn't open :(

Still opens via the keyfob rather than the handle, so have ordered a new handle / boot trim.
4 screws and one connector - even I can manage that


Thankfully BMW (mini) just stands for "Broken Most Weeks" rather than "Bring My Wallet" on this occasion - £30.51 for an aftermarket part.

Replaced the boot handle/trim over the weekend - all sorted.

Aftermarket one doesn't feel quite as good to open, but once it's worn in a bit I think it will be ok.
 
Main issue is that because I've got 10 days til MOT expiry, I don't have much time to ring around. I'm waiting on a reply from a mobile welder, then I might pop down to a local spot. There's about 6 body shop type places in a street near me but I work 9-5.30 so can't get down there easily.

Get some silkaflex and a piece of black perspex and it will pass, then pull it back off after the MOT and continue looking for welders. :p
 
We absolutely can’t use a screwdriver, only a corrosion assessment tool and very lightly, along with finger/thumb pressure, but yes.
Where people get this ridiculous idea of “if it’s got duct tape on it” it can’t be checked is a mystery.
I quoted IC3 because it’s misinformation and there’s way too much of it in the motors section.
 
I welded the entire inner arches of my Saab 9-5 for £200 and that included the purchase price of a welder.

Both sides and both still solid 4 years on.
We aren't talking about DIY, he clearly stated that he's looking for a place to do it for him. I don't think any shop down south will do it properly for £200, maybe up north... I'm happy to be proven wrong tho.

We absolutely can’t use a screwdriver, only a corrosion assessment tool and very lightly, along with finger/thumb pressure, but yes.
Where people get this ridiculous idea of “if it’s got duct tape on it” it can’t be checked is a mystery.
I quoted IC3 because it’s misinformation and there’s way too much of it in the motors section.
Duck tape on its own wouldn't hold, you would use something (expansion foam used in construction) in combination with it, lick of any paint you've lying around to finish it off

It's a temp fix if you're in a pinch...

 
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So things got much worse...

Spoke to a welder and agreed to go there 8am tomorrow for a look. After work I decided to take off the body trim there so it's ready to work on.

I started poking at it and... Let's just say it's not just the sill end that's rotten. I felt underneath towards the inner edge and whole pieces were coming off in my hand. This is the end result after I poked and pulled off everything I could by hand:




About 70% of this rubble came off the car, some of it is just loose tarmac bits from my deteriorating driveway.


And as a bonus, I thought it'd be wise to check the other side and poked a hole in that! Not nearly as rotten but definitely needs looking at.


How on earth this wasn't even an advisory last year I don't know. Same story with my MG really. Went from no advisory to fail.
 
Duck tape on its own wouldn't hold, you would use something (expansion foam used in construction) in combination with it, lick of any paint you've lying around to finish it off

It's a temp fix if you're in a pinch...


Please stop seriously recommending that people repair their vehicles with duct tape and expanding foam, this isn't a bradford pop-up chop-shop car dealership, what are you *talking* about? :p

That kind of "temporary fix" is daft and often takes more work than doing it properly. That video is particularly stupid because it is a removable panel, just buy a replacement.

Expanding foam holds water and makes rust 10x worse in a short space of time, and duct tape shouldn't be used for anything other than holding together MK2 Mondeo bumpers. :D

Doing this also makes it harder to do the proper repair down the line, because you have a bunch of crap to remove first...

See this here, there's a reason lol.

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By all means, bodge your car... Its fine to do some butch work to keep something presentable and on the road as long as it doesn't make it unsafe, but at the very least grind away the rust, spray on rust converter, and use fiberglass reinforced filler, sanding, and paint... It will look 100x better, it will actually last quite a long time, and it won't cost much more... When it comes to things like sills and chassis rails though, burn in some new metal. That is the structure of the car. It doesn't even need to look good, it just needs to be strong, and not rust away immediately.
 
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