I'm thinking that I may go for the #80 to get me through the MOT and
repaint the sill myself at home. I know it is not an ideal fix, but if
only the back is rusty then I should get back a fair bit of the strength
that it once had, hopefully.
I trust the garage as a friend has been going there for a while and has
had no problems.
I know that I should go for the whole sill, but #300 is a lot of money,
which I am reticent to pay at the moment considering the number of
problems and amount of money that I have spent in the last year. I think
I have only done just over 1000 miles in the last year and have replaced
the front suspension, wheel bearings, brake pads, engine and steering
rack spending an average of #100 a month over the last 12 months. I fix
one problem, and another one is waiting just around the corner!
Maybe I should cut my losses and sell the spitfire?
cheers
John
--- Richard Gosling <richard.gosling@exprogroup.com> wrote:
> John,
>
> My sympathies - one of the annual events that tries the tolerance of
> the
> most dedicated Spitfire driver in the UK...
>
> #80 sounds pretty cheap to me - I hesitate to say too cheap?? What
> will be
> done at this price will be a cosmetic repair only, it won't really add
> back
> the full strength you have lost with the rusty sill. I had Daffy's
> welded
> up for about #100 myself a few years back, but I saw this only as a
> stop-gap
> to get me through the MOT and back on the road.
>
> Then, a year later, Daffy failed MOT again... for rusty sills. So not
> only
> will a cheap repair not give you the strength you need, it will also
> need
> doing again pretty soon, negating any saving you might have made.
>
> The second time I had the sills cut out and replaced with new panels
> obtained from TRGB. That cost me #300 (inc. VAT), plus the cost of the
> panels which I sourced (only $30-odd I seem to remember, for both
> sides).
> That included all labour, plus painting with stone-chip, which I
> intended to
> paint over with Inca Yellow (but still haven't, so still driving around
> with
> black sills!).
>
> That was still pretty cheap compared to some of the quotes, which were
> in
> the #500-#800 range. The high price quotes were from classic
> specialists,
> who expected to do the job PROPERLY - i.e. cut out all rusty metal they
> found, and keep cutting until they found something solid, and re-build
> from
> there, plus do a decent job on the painting. The #250 job was from the
> everyday garage-round-the-corner, and they just cut the old sills out
> and
> welded the new ones onto whatever was left behind.
>
> You pays your money and takes your choice. I would strongly advise
> replacing the sills, because if you don't do it this time the problem
> will
> be back sooner than you want. Whether you go for a truly professional
> job,
> or something like I had done, depends on your wallet and what you want
> your
> car to be. If you are really cash-strapped get the cosmetic job done,
> but
> expect to re-visit the sills sooner rather than later.
>
> Good luck!!
>
> Richard & Daffy (who is due in a month or so's time, so keep your
> fingers
> crossed!)
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