General MOT rules for sills

[bredsticz]

What will cause a sill to fail an MOT?
Last thing for me to do is the sill. Jacking it up and the sill collapsed inwards. So there is now a hole in the chassis around it aswell.

Can i just repair the hole or does the sill need to be rebuilt?

 

[atom0007]

I would've thought sill too, it could be argued by the examiner that it is structurally compromised?

 

[Brendan W]

Aren't they still stabbing sills with screwdrivers?

 

[fingers99]

Significant rust will fail it. No reason why you can't weld in a section after chopping the old bit out.

 

[benny279]

Mine failed on O/S Sill due to severe rust, you could poke it with a screwdriver and go right through it

So had a new half sill put on and the half they took off, oh they put that in the boot for me to keep......it was that rusted you could actually bend it which I did and it crumbled like a very old Holden Commodore in a crash :devil:

Benny

 

[Ziggy122]

as long its got no holes, severe.rust or structual damage itll pass as i understand

if sills are good - get them sealed up again to make sure it doesnt happen to you

ziggu

 

[benny279]

as long its got no holes, severe.rust or structual damage itll pass as i understand

if sills are good - get them sealed up again to make sure it doesnt happen to you

ziggu

mine had crumbled before mot, im guessing someone tried jacking car on the sill area, not me though i blame previous owner.

benny

 

[hennabm]

If the corrosion is within 30cm of a load bearing point ie Seat belt, steering mounting, suspension mounting or brake mounting then the sill cannot be holed or weakened severely.

if the sill corrosion is out of the 30cm range of the above mountings then the corrosion has to be bad enough to adversely affect the steering or braking of the vehicle.

See link to testers manual and look under the appropriate section ie 2, 3 or 5 for the 30cmm rule. Also look at appendix c.
Section 6.1 deals with corrosion outwith 30cm.

http://www.transportoffice.gov.uk/c...nualsandguides/mottestingmanualsandguides.htm

 

[benny279]

Mine failed on this O/S rear Suspension component mounting prescribed area is excessively corroded [2.4.A.3].

And two others but that isn't related to this subject...

Car felt better after stuff was welded

Benny

 

[bredsticz]

Well my flattened itself into the chassis. Don't know how to weld myself but do still have the shell from my other punto. Going to grind a section off and see if i can get someone to weld it cheap

 

[fingers99]

Not a huge job, but drilling out the spot welds cab be a PITA.

If you think about it, most of the torsional ridgidity comes from the sills, so fitting new ones (or chopping out the rust) will make a big difference.

 

[benny279]

If you think about it, most of the torsional ridgidity comes from the sills, so fitting new ones (or chopping out the rust) will make a big difference.

So this explains why my car feels so much better now compare to before welding?

Benny

 

[fingers99]

So this explains why my car feels so much better now compare to before welding?

Benny

Oh yeah. My old Fulvia felt like a much taughter, newer car when we popped new sills on it. On my quicker Centos I'm plotting an internal membrane in the sills (some idea as used on MGBs and the like) to stiffen them up.

 

[s and b]

remember weak side sills mean a wheelchair if you get t boned ,i know someone who was in a rotten car hit at a junction and they still walk with a limp (and its not their heavy waller)

 

[Brendan W]

Corrosion Assessment Tool ! What happened to hammer?

 

[Ziggy122]

Sh.... looking at that video i need to get my rust treated near the top strut mounts on the front

got 2 to 3 pea sized rust spots on both sides.....

time for some work!

Ziggy

 

[Brendan W]

Off topic a bit but the MOT seems to have a different flavour - particularly for the mirrors. The NCT here tests anything that the manufacturer fitted so a cracked n/s wing mirror is a fail even if the other two are ok.