Advice on saving an s14a? Where to buy outer and inner sill panels? Also what metal i

Hi all, basically I’ve bought another s14a and surprising it’s got mad rust. I’m wanting to do Two new outer and inner sills both sides, both rear subframe mounts and a little bit of work of the front floor/arch, then she should be ready to go. Questions is, where can I buy sills? I found outer ones on eBay and on here, will it just be easier/cheaper to just get my welder to fabricate some inner sills and the chassis mounts? Who else has had a go at saving a rusty sx? Any advice? What metal thickness/type is best? I’m slowly taking more on with cars, I’ve picked this one up with great spec extremely cheap so it is worth saving money wise, just don’t know if it’s too far gone... here’s some pics! I hope they’re clear enough, I have literally hammered all soft spots so what’s left is as good as old s14 metals gets lol. I want to say I really appreciate any help and advice in advance. I’m not expecting to do this cheap I want to save it and use it for a long time.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...ebb2744155.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...2bc7d430e3.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...99ec1d211d.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...0e4121d8f7.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...7c90214f1c.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...4c7cad1a04.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...64672f0048.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...24e3d4c05c.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...40c911ac37.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...645992a923.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...21ff48a7e6.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...b6d550121e.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...7eb99a4540.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...af3ac210bf.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...b427ec16b9.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...9f45a5dae8.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...f79454d202.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...2e153dd009.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Speak to Sean Richardson, his company is SR autobidies, have a search on fb/ instagram, he makes some decent sills.
He might also be able to make some repair pieces for you.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

wow, I thought my car was going to be hard graft to get right but that looks scary.
Interested in the rear subframe mount fabrication as I have yet to scrape or poke a hole in mine to see how bad it is,(hopefully not as bad as yours).
As for metal I bought 1mm mild steel for the floor pan but for the sills I would probably suggest something thicker like 1.2mm or order a set of pre bent ones as above.
The issue is even though you can't poke a screw driver through the metal you might not be able to get it clean enough(bare shinny metal) to weld to. I am having to cut back further so the metal is nearly pit free so my mig can actually strike an arc.

I bought stuff from this mob https://www.themetalstore.co.uk/prod...ld-steel-sheet, it came well packed with no rust spots and wood/foam edging so it wouldn't bend/damage.

I stupidly bought 0.8mm steel too for doing wheel wells and stuff but its a bit thin and can be difficult to attach to the cars own metal without blowing through it.

Best of luck.

I thought mine was bad with a few small holes in the sill

These cars are worth saving. Becoming a classic and all. As said before you definitely going to have to cut away a lot more than what you have already to get to good thick metal. For something like the subframe mounts you don't want them coming loose at speed.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

Thanks for all the help and advice so far guys, I know it’s a lot of work and I’m hoping it doesn’t get much worse once it’s all cut out, but I must say I have been whacking everything pretty hard with a good hammer lol. May start a bit of a project thread up soon. Got the guy who will be doing the work coming out today to inspect it and basically make the decision whether it’s a make or break. Will update once I know! Thanks again, keep the advice coming✌️


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by evilz

wow, I thought my car was going to be hard graft to get right but that looks scary.
Interested in the rear subframe mount fabrication as I have yet to scrape or poke a hole in mine to see how bad it is,(hopefully not as bad as yours).
As for metal I bought 1mm mild steel for the floor pan but for the sills I would probably suggest something thicker like 1.2mm or order a set of pre bent ones as above.
The issue is even though you can't poke a screw driver through the metal you might not be able to get it clean enough(bare shinny metal) to weld to. I am having to cut back further so the metal is nearly pit free so my mig can actually strike an arc.

I bought stuff from this mob https://www.themetalstore.co.uk/prod...ld-steel-sheet, it came well packed with no rust spots and wood/foam edging so it wouldn't bend/damage.

I stupidly bought 0.8mm steel too for doing wheel wells and stuff but its a bit thin and can be difficult to attach to the cars own metal without blowing through it.

Best of luck.

---

Thanks buddy, will check their website out. Believe it or not the car is a 2000 reg[emoji15] trouble is it’s been sat for a few years in a garage by the sea, but to be fair I did pay cheap enough for it to either re shell or fix. What thickness metal we thinking for the subframe mounts?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

was this the one for sale other week, has over fenders/ white dials in the dash and a red rocker cover?

I was going to go and buy it but was flat out with work, the guy was a welder by trade so you knew it was gonna be knackered.
tbh I would just pick up another shell. if its that bad in those areas it will be knackered in the other places they go. strut tops/ inner wing/rad suppost/boot floor etc..

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by green_rs13

was this the one for sale other week, has over fenders/ white dials in the dash and a red rocker cover?

I was going to go and buy it but was flat out with work, the guy was a welder by trade so you knew it was gonna be knackered.
tbh I would just pick up another shell. if its that bad in those areas it will be knackered in the other places they go. strut tops/ inner wing/rad suppost/boot floor etc..

---

It’s not that bad, I’ve stripped the car completely with over fenders off and it’s all been done pretty good, only rust is what I’ve posted above... Guy gave up with it a couple years ago, and dropped in price considerably when I pointed out how soft it was under there, seemed a good genuine guy[emoji106]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

There's a half decent shell on FB Marketplace at the moment for £200.

Rotten in the same place as mine that. Can buy the outer sills and the horizontal internal sill piece (the bit below the door) on ebay, I have and they're decent quality and fit. Can't find anywhere that does the inner multilayer sill or floor though so if you find anywhere please let me know!

You'll want 1.5mm for the subframe mount box bit (easy to fab too, basic 90degree angles) and the chassis rail, and 1.2mm for the floor/inner sill etc. bits

Delighted to see people are saving these old girls! Best of luck with the project, I’d like to see it progress.
I do a good bit of rust repairs at work and most of the time it’s worth cutting out a lot more than you’d like to(including a bit of clean metal). It makes it a lot easier to carry out a neater and safer repair.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Slamz

Rotten in the same place as mine that. Can buy the outer sills and the horizontal internal sill piece (the bit below the door) on ebay, I have and they're decent quality and fit. Can't find anywhere that does the inner multilayer sill or floor though so if you find anywhere please let me know!

You'll want 1.5mm for the subframe mount box bit (easy to fab too, basic 90degree angles) and the chassis rail, and 1.2mm for the floor/inner sill etc. bits

---

Yeah I seen them, I’ve got someone doing it now, I’m supplying the sills he’s going to fit and fabricate the rest, and any other little bits he finds[emoji106] got to wait a couple months though, but gives me time to save


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by NismoNut

Delighted to see people are saving these old girls! Best of luck with the project, I’d like to see it progress.
I do a good bit of rust repairs at work and most of the time it’s worth cutting out a lot more than you’d like to(including a bit of clean metal). It makes it a lot easier to carry out a neater and safer repair.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

---

Thanks mate. I’m probably going to start a thread, I’ve made an Instagram for it. Yeah the guy doing the work said that, I’d prefer that too.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

and i thought mine was bad! ouch! same sort of damage, same places, just not as bad, i just recieved the cill replacements, got them off ebay, 2 people doing them, one with a strengthening swage in, went for them.

hopefully going off to have the work started next week :-)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sxstu

and i thought mine was bad! ouch! same sort of damage, same places, just not as bad, i just recieved the cill replacements, got them off ebay, 2 people doing them, one with a strengthening swage in, went for them.

hopefully going off to have the work started next week :-)

---

To be fair I’d say it looks worse in the photos, the guy doing the work said he was expecting much worse aswell. But hey ho, I’ve got a quote from a reputable guy who restores cars for a living so it’s all booked in, 2 month wait though[emoji849] yeah I was tempted to go for them ones too, how do they match up to the car? Good fitment? I’ve heard lots of good reviews about Dan’s ones (without swage) but can’t find much talk about the ones with the swage line?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

them seem a good fit, on close look on ebay they both look very similar, only difference was a fiver on postage,

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sxstu

them seem a good fit, on close look on ebay they both look very similar, only difference was a fiver on postage,

---

Fair enough mate, I’ll probably go for those then, any issues though please let me know[emoji106]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I offered them up and they are a good shape n match. Long piece enough to sort the piece under the door to the front wing. And plenty on the smaller rear peice to form a lip to create the start of the wheel.arch. i also got the rear panels they do to but i may not need them.as my archs are ina state i may get some 25-30mm over fenders and have them bonded n blended in.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sxstu

I offered them up and they are a good shape n match. Long piece enough to sort the piece under the door to the front wing. And plenty on the smaller rear peice to form a lip to create the start of the wheel.arch. i also got the rear panels they do to but i may not need them.as my archs are ina state i may get some 25-30mm over fenders and have them bonded n blended in.

---

Sweet, just ordered the last set! My arches have been cut out and 50mm over fenders fitted, seems a good job and all rust has been cut out/treated. Really can’t wait to get it done now!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk