Outer Sill/Rocker fit problem

[red57]

I am plodding away at this restoration project and last weekend started to fit the outer sill on the right side. I have already replaced the inner sills and was ready to fit the outer sills when I found a potential problem. On these replacement sills, the surface that will be seen after assembly is about 1/2 inch longer than the door skin that sits above it. I bought these 2 years ago along with most of the sheet metal I knew I would need, these came from Moss. I am not interested in bashing a supplier, only mention the name here in case other suppliers have different sills to offer. Has anyone had good luck with outer sills that fit well? My doors measure about 31 1/2" along the bottom & these sills would work well with a 32" long door. Does anyone have any suggestions before I start trying to move the depressed area to line up with the wings? The attached pictures are with the door, front wing, and dog leg repair piece just laying on the floor to show the issue. Any thought will be welcome.
Dave

 

[Brinkerhoff]

None of these will fit perfectly. Don't fit the outer sill until the door is repaired and hung with the swage line from the front fender to the rear lined up. That's the only way you'll get the door to outer sill gap correct. The last thing is to cut and rework the rear edge of the outer sill. The Moss panel is the best one . Its an easy fix.

 

[Keoke]

Dave:

I would see if a Kilmartin part might solve the problem.

 

[Brinkerhoff]

Been there , sent the Kilmartin parts back to British Car Specialists. The panel wasn't even as close as this one but hey , that was 12 yrs. ago.

 

[healeyblue]

I have done 2 cars worth so far and they both needed that modification as well.

 

[red57]

Thanks for the responses. Pretty much what I expected, was just hopeful there might be better ones out there. Brinkerhoff, I'm sure you're right that "it's an easy fix" - the problem for me is, there seems to be "easy fixes" everywhere I turn on this project....

Thanks again,
Dave

 

[tonyk]

Line up the parts and patches on the car with hinges and wings (fenders) adjusted as best you can. Some pushing and pulling may be needed to line up the wings and swage lines. Perhaps the outer sills should be pop riveted in place as well.

The pics are part way through. Additional problems I had were -

Left door was about 5mm low so it wouldn't close with the outer sill in normal position (referenced by levelling and fitting the aluminium trim piece/s for position, get this right, I think this will be vitally important down the line). I think all this was an original manufacturing defect as the aluminium sill finisher was also deeper. You can also get the angle of the door shut face panel correct before final welding.

Note the rot at the door bottom, taped out for a replacement piece cut to fit the new dimensions. The door was shortened slightly to give a good door/sill gap.

Fiddling about with the sill got a reasonable set up, but needed a few mms taken off to line it up. I took off too much and you can see the rough weld lines at the rear. Doh!!

The second thing was, like you, I fitted parts of pre made patches (from AH Spares) front and back but you can see these would need fettling to get a tight fit around the sill edges - ie shorten the under surface etc.

All in all a PITA.

The right side fitted perfectly with a new sill slotting straight in.

P.S. Don't know what's happened to the photos.

 

[Brinkerhoff]

Well "relatively" easy ! Like all other surgery ; as long as you have all the tools out , might as well grab more !

 

[Randy Forbes]

I cut out the little bit that was too long, inverted it and welded it back in, then smoothed/contoured the edges. A head-scratcher the first time, but breezed through it on the second car.

 

[Rob Glasgow]

Another issue I had with the replacement rocker panels I purchased is that the manufacturer spot welded the front angle piece to the rocker with six spot welds. The instructions state you need to revove the angle piece befor trimming the rocker to fit the opening and then weld the angle piece back in place at the front of the opening. I'm fine with that approach but can't understand why they would use SIX spot welds to attach a piece that they know has to be removed as part of the insallation process. Simply tape the angle piece to the rocker would be a better solution I think.
Any one else have this thought?
I also had to 'shorten' the rocker to fit between the front and rear fenders, but I figure that was just a part of the fun of restoration...

 

[Jim 58 BN6]

I will be doing this job in the near future, and have seen references to instructions (as in the previous post), and other procedures. Where would I find some of this information? None of my books have any real practical info. Do some manufacturers send instructions with their parts?

For instance, I've seen several several references to doing the finish welding on the outer sills once the engine and transmission are back in the car, and car is sitting on its suspension. Others say that it shouldn't matter if the frame is sound.

I'm not trying to hijack this thread, but I thought this might be an appropriate place to ask this question. TIA, Jim

 

[red57]

More great responses, thanks

@ Tony K - I will be checking the whole thing including the aluminum finishers before welding - that's one of the worst parts of the project, the number of times I have mounted and removed things, repeat ad nauseum

@ brinkerhoff - yeah, well 'relatively' is the key word, and compared to some of the other challenges, I suppose this isn't too bad. I can only hope mine come out as nice as yours.

@ Randy Forbes - that is what I figured to do - I want to make the modification prior to installing so I can clean and prime the back side.

@ Rob Glasgow - I found the spot welded piece frustrating as well, like you said it should be supplied loose. However, I guess I got lucky 'cause in mine they only used 4 spot welds....

@ Jim 58 BN6 - the ones I have came from Moss and do have an instruction page attached describing removing the angle piece, trimming the sill to fit and re-installing the angle piece. As to the "sitting on the wheels w/engine in" or not issue, I am in the camp that thinks it shouldn't matter if the frame/chassis is in good shape and strong. It's hard for me to imagine the factory waiting until the engine is in to install the outer sills, but I have not read anything definitive on this. Guess I'll find out eventually.

Anyway, Again thanks for all the responses.
Dave