Ok my car has just flown through its mot, but, I having looked under the car myself I feel that the sills may have to be done next year. Whats the most cost effective way? Can patterned ones be purchased? or is it a case of just having a body shop manufacture them?

 

Thanks, Dan

I've just had to do mine, you'll need to go to MJP (He's in the traders section) and he'll source you the front part of the sill from Nissan, which comes from Holland (Mine just turned up today) and he'll get a guy over in Scarborough to manufacture the replacement rear section (The L shaped bit that forms part of the rear wheel arch and connects up to the front sill under the door, this is the structural part that would fail an MOT and sits on top of the front sill, so be stupid to replace that part without replacing the front, and you can't replace the front properly without replacing the rear I don't think, because it joins to the rear part, underneath it.) for you (Mine turn up tomorrow).

 

Then you need a good trustworthy mechanic who can weld properly, and a spray shop to take it to afterwards. The price on the sills changes all the time, usually in the upwards direction from what I can gather, mine just cost me around £550 all in for both sides, that's VAT and delivery included I believe. I ordered a load of other parts and my bill was a lot higher though, so I'm quoting that figure from memory. Looking at the main sill parts that have turned up today, I would also say, don't take the risk of cutting out some second hand sills either, going with the brand new parts is a much better idea.

 

In view of what I've said about prices going up all the time and if you believe it's going to need doing next year, don't do what I did and wait 6 months to buy them and then have to take the car off the road for a month to get them done before the MOT, etc. etc. etc. Especially since once one of these comes off the road, you get awful tempted to do other things to it while it's on axle stands, trust me, I've just spent a couple of £K on top of the sills, lol.

Are these not available from Nissan? Or is that a stupid question? I will bear it in mind mate, it will be a job for the winter anyway :-)

The front sills are yes, that's where MJP gets them from, I believe you get them cheaper from him, than you do direct from Nissan (He gets trade prices), the rear parts, I'm guessing are either not available, or are cheaper to be manufactured and you'll only get that done through MJP to my knowledge, unless you know a fabricator who's either REALLY good or REALLY good and has the blueprints, lol.

Ah cool, just one more question, when they are all cut out and removed what are the chances of having to have the whole side if the car re-painted? Can the sills just be done or is all the paint going to get damaged?

 

Cheers, Dan

It'll get damaged, BUT, if you know a good sprayer, they MAY be able to just "blow it in" I personally fancy having my entire car bare metalled and re-sprayed anyway, to ensure that I've done all I can to fight the rot! So that's what I'm doing. I have known others previously though, with other cars, who just get it "blown in" if the rest of their paintwork is that good that they don't want to bother with the full re-spray.

Ok mate thats great, certainly gives me something to think about anyway. Cheers!!

you can get away blowing seals in as most people will, myself inculded will just paint the lower section.

 

 

i welded filled then re shuzlt mine before doing top coat

ok, cheers guys, whilst discussing this with a friend tonight he suggested drilling a hole under the plastic kick plate and filling it with a spray wax oil to make last a little longer ... he said it is not un common, is this correct? has anyone else heard of this?

no need to drill a hole, there are loads of holes as standard where they sprayed wax from the factory. not that well in most cases

When I replaced my sills I thought it would be a good idea to coat spray wax all over the inside whilst the sill was off.. didn't realise the stuff is so flammable. Lit up like a good un when I started welding :sailor:

so are the holes underneath the plastic kick plate? if so, what do I need to get to spray in there? lol, bet you **** yourself!

anyone? Is it a case of just sprayin wax oil in the holes?

Remove the plastic sill plates and lift back the carpet and you will see the holes to get the spray in, also more access to the rear sill if the rear inner panels are taken out next to the rear seat.

Or you could do it the lazy way :D http://www.300zxtt.co.uk/z3protect.html

 

http://www.rustmaster.co.uk/index_26.htm

 

Apparently this professional stuff is different to the DIY at Harry's etc

I just rang those guys, £390 + VAT, but I asked a couple of questions, and it seems the latest Waxoyl stuff actually soaks into the steel and in his words "pretty much stops existing rust dead" so now I've had my sills replaced and all of the serious rust cut out, I think that might be my budget on the 300 next month, get that done and just stop doing shit for a while, tis a shame cos I wanted to get it painted, but might just have to get Rose to do that with some spray cans now, lol

£390 for the sills? mine arnt too bad just yet so going treat them first

nah not the sills, the lot, full underseal and waxoyl in all the hard to get to places.

 

I can tell you straight away, there isn't a lot of point in using the DIY stuff in the sills to slow down the rot once it's already started, all it'll do is seal it in. That's certainly the advice I've received from various mechanics, paint shop owners and from my own previous experiences with older cars.

 

Get the sills done, THEN do the waxoyl to protect the new sills. If you're seeing enough corrosion to be worried about doing them next year, better to get them done now. I wish to god I'd had mine done 6 months ago, would have been an easier job for my mechanic, less off road time, the sills were cheaper to buy and the list of reasons goes on tbh. Once you see it, you can't just leave it, it just gets worse.

 

What I was getting at about that rustmaster place, was that for £390 + VAT, they underseal everything and stick the waxoyl inside your sills and all up in the other places under the car to stop the chassis rusting, etc. Plus from the look of it, they offer certain guarantees too, where as the DIY stuff doesn't. And since I've just had my sills changed for new parts, I would rather protect them properly.

I told 'em they should have done more pics!

Seems like an awful lot of overspray and won't be happy if they do that to my exhaust etc. But well worth it to stop the rot I reckon and not as expensive as I had imagined.

Yes, think the overspray could have reached the next county! I never bothered with my previous 2 Zeds but with this one - and if you've just done a big rust repair job and if you're going to keep the car - it's a bit of peace of mind to invest in some protection...

yeah well I intend on keeping this as long as I can, so exactly my thoughts.

i wouldnt use the usual waxoil and ive not had any experience with the professional line.

 

currently im restoring the underside of my zed to concourse finish, removing every speck of rust.

 

personally i am using the bilt hamber range.

 

first off im removing all underseal, seam sealer and paint with wire brushes etc.

 

next up is rust removal with a wire wheel followed by a treatment of deox gel.

 

some areas may require cutting out and rewelding.

 

once everything is back to shiny metal (all rust removed from the pitting) i spray over with electrox primer (90% zink).

 

i will be over coating all this with an epoxy mastic then 2k black.

 

all sill, cavities etc will be treated with bh cavity wax.

 

should last forever then (well a long time)

 

ill be posting up some pics etc in my build diary soon