Hi guys..Happy New Year Haven't been logged in for a while but always lurking, wonder if you can help please? My lovely wee copen has the dreaded rust! In both sills and a few bubbles on left rear wheel arch. Popped into local bodywork shop yesterday and he was really reluctant to quote Said he couldnt guarantee a repair as the rust would come back if not cut out etc, agree with that as it had been done just prior to me buying it. He suggested replacing the outer sills , and also said he can't say if the inner sills would be affected until he starts grinding them down etc and only then will he know the extent This worried me as he could put any figure on it without me having a say and by that time my car would be in a sorry state and in his hands. My last mot sailed through in October, not even an advisory,.My question is if there was serious inner seal rust would this be visible when the mot was done? Just very cautious to hand over my pride and joy to someone that won't give a price at this stage. Is it possible the sills can just be popped off to check if any damage underneath first? Thanks in advance guys, ps the coachworks has a very good reputation locally, what would be your advice?
Sills and rear wheel arches are welded in, there is no taking them off easily If you want to see what it looks like inside the sill, just get an endoscope camera for your mobile/laptop (something like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_s...rch-alias=aps&field-keywords=endoscope+camera)
Thanks for your reply, that explains his advice. To be honest I wouldn't know what I was looking at, if the rust was bad or not. Does anyone think rust in the inner sills would have been picked up in a mot if it was in a bad way, as in advisory? As mentioned mine's came back clean, just being really cautious I guess, I have a budget of £1500 at the moment for the works but have no idea what it could potentially cost, new sills I have been quoted just over 200 each for outer, inner wasn't available apparently.
I'm taking my Copen to get his sills repaired tomorrow. They are going to cut out a small part of the sill then weld in a new piece, to avoid buying an expensive new sill from Japan. The area affected on mine looks to be quite small, but we'll see. I'll update you on any info I might pick up during the repair. I'm not sure if the MOT guys will pick up on the inner sills unless it gets bad enough for it to be obvious. I believe you only fail an mot for rust if it is structural for something, Like around the suspension for example. I've been quoted about 500-600 for my repair of both sills (including painting of the sills), but this price may change depending on what he finds. Again, I will update once the repair is done
Brilliant thanks, hope it all goes well. Id rather have that done so nor sure why he thinks he can't do it. It's not a big area either. Let me know how you get on and I'll have a chat with him after, he's planning on cutting out the metal on the rear wheel arch and replacing so don't see what the difference is, but then I'm no expert. Just want to keep it as rust free as I can then a full resto in a few years.
I had, among other things, to have my right rear fender panel replaced due to an accident. The unpainted part (6016197201) was 303 Euro in 2015. Labour was over 700 Euros, not taking the paintjob into account. Just to give you an estimate. The total was over 5000 Euros Keep in mind this went through the insurance company, so the garage tried to make it as expensive and comprehensive as possible in order to grab as much money as possible. I guess you could get it for cheaper. If the people at the MOT cannot see the rust or punch a hole into it with a screwdriver on a structural part, they dont care. If you want to stop rust immediately, try something like FluidFilm, which can be sprayed into the sills with a probe via the holes on the bottom.
Ouch I would hope so That's insurance jobs for you tho, they have to make a living. Thanks for advice appreciated. Going to try another place at the weekend see if I can get a quote .fingers x
Why not take it to another repairer and get a competitive quote ? It’s not like you’re limited for options. With regard to the MOT, the inspector can only assess what he can see and isn’t allowed to disassemble or remove anything so if was a good bodge job, it’ll get through every time.
Hi Rob Thanks yes my thoughts too, will pop it in at the weekend to another company to see of they can quote, needs doing either way. Ideally I'd like the rust cut out this year as plan on a resto in a couple of years. Just went to that company first as he has a good reputation but as you say others out there.
I have attached some photographs of what has been found when working on the stills of our Copen. These issues were not picked up by the MOT or on initial inspection.
Wow Martyn that is shocking, was there much visible rust on the outside? Really shocked at the condition and these cars are not that old. Thanks for posting I'm taking mine elsewhere on Saturday so will see what they say. My old beetle had very little rust and that was over 40 years old just shows the quality of the make but it did break down on every roundabout
The still showed some rust and there was a recommendation on the MOT but nothing to indicate the hidden rust.
Cheers I'll prepare myself, just been to the garage for them look at it. They will phone monday with a quote.
Update on my Copen sills. Apparently there was a lot of surface rust inside the sills. The outer sills had some holes and rot that needed to be cut out. It cost a total of £510
Thanks for this sounds a good price, was just coming to update too. Finally got a quote from another garage £600 for similar works, will get that done next month and then replace the sills in the next year or so. Next the leak in the boot!
