355 replies to this topic

[oakmere]

DIY for now. You can get a very good finish now with good quality paints. Got to a shop that matches paints as there is often more than one mix for each paint code. Prep is everything so take your time and you will get a lot of satisfaction. The sills are not as important as the clams when it comes to finish so a good place to learn.

[TazN]

Give yourself the weekend to go chill out and not think about the vx at all. Go do something that's fun, family whatever then come back to it next week. I'd be inclined to go for sill repair - garage or diy up to you, this year and leave the clams for the moment. My rear is obviously a different shade of silver but it doesn't affect a thing except my ocd'ness. Then you can think about the cost of a full paint overhaul and if it's worth it you can then save abit over time for it.

[jules_s]

Cheers Guys I'm going to take a break from thinking about it for a couple of weeks. DIY isn't an option due to my back, so I've got to pay somebody to do it properly Back to not thinking about it again

[jules_s]

Back to not thinking about it again

And back to thinking about it

I've watched enough videos now to consider some DIY, in fact I'm quite looking forward to some bodging

Got pretty much everything I need for a start, I'm absolutely determined not to rush and stress myself about this as that's the single most thing I find frustrating about doing stuff on this car......

Off to do some more searching in the short term, as I believe Fiveoclock suggested some bonding agent for the ally reinforcement that may work better than Tigerseal

[ChrisS1]

Glad to hear it Jules my garage is available for you to use if you need it.

[fezzasus]

Jules, I'm going through the same process myself. I've repaired one sill so far and just in the middle of repairing the front clam this weekend. Let me know if I can be of any help. As for the aluminium backing, I suggest using quick dry filler, this is because it's only needed to lay up the wet fibreglass, once the fibreglass has set that will be the structural part.

[jules_s]

Jules,

I'm going through the same process myself. I've repaired one sill so far and just in the middle of repairing the front clam this weekend. Let me know if I can be of any help.

As for the aluminium backing, I suggest using quick dry filler, this is because it's only needed to lay up the wet fibreglass, once the fibreglass has set that will be the structural part.

Thanks for that

I've never ever even once laid any fibreglass, but a £700 quote has made me focus somewhat

The current plan is to cut back everything square, as at the moment the vertical hole is about 2" wide and then it flairs back underneath to 3.5" (I love mixing imperial and metric lol)

Sand back the cill at a 2" chamfer away from the 'hole', fix (with whatever) the alloy reinforcement and then cut the fibre one inch bigger either side leaving a 1 inch margin/overlap

Sound about right?

[fezzasus]

I wouldn't worry about getting it square, just remove all of the fluffy fibreglass leaving just the strong solid stuff left, use a small dril bit to stop any cracks from spreading then chamfer all of the edges using a sanding drum from a dremel, this will allow you to build up height on the fibreglass and get a decent bonding surface. Keep in mind once you've got the mesh in behind you won't have any access to the rear of the sill, so you will need to focus your attention on the facing surface, build it up slowly ensuring you don't go too far over the height of the surround fibreglass because its a pain to sand back.

[fezzasus]

I'll try to get some photos when I sort out the side damage to my sill in a couple of weeks (which is very similar to your damage, just a lot more of it) but in the mean time hopefully this repair i've done over the weekend will give you some help.

1. Use a sanding disk on a dremel to remove all the fluff, drill small holes at the end of any cracks, use a hacksaw blade or dremel disk to fully cut out the crack.

2. Support the two ends to they don't flex while being fibreglassed together. With the sills (or anything you can't get to the back of) I suggest using filler to bond in some aluminium mesh, here I can get behind it to i'm clamping some wood behind.



3. Fibreglass over the join (front and rear if you have access to the rear)



4. Sand back using 80 grit sand paper (you'll need a power sander - i'm using a £25 Draper one and it's fine)



5. Skim over the surface with filler.



6. Never follow Stuwy around a corner again.

[jules_s]

Thanks for that, sounds like my plan is about right then My front clam is worse than that I'm leaving that one (you cant see the damage) for a rainy day

[Nev]

Oh poop, just seen this. Easily done I suspect. At least it's still drivable Jules

[SPLAM]

Gutted for you Jules, not nice to see the cill looking like that. What may have caused the jack incident, possibly due to jacking on the block work (any uneven ground). Trolley jacks need to go under the car at 90 degrees, and also need to be able to roll freely whilst lifting and lowering. Could it have maybe got caught between two blocks?

[SPLAM]

Trolley jacks need to go under the car at 90 degrees, and also need to be able to roll freely whilst lifting and lowering.

Sorry Jules, that isn't supposed to read as wanky as that, just trying to help you maybe work out what went wrong.

[jules_s]

Hi Sam, Yeah possibly. It doesn't sound wanky imagine the damage if it wasn't at 90 degrees Main cause would be user error tbh.... we (JG, Coco) jacked it up in the same place/position no worries. My jack head, however, is miles smaller that James' and combined with too small a piece of wood pattress (and perhaps too much of a violent lift) resulted in the jack/pattress/car parting company. It was an accident waiting to happen in hindsight. A mistake that wont be made again

[ChrisS1]

If you want me to stick some vinyl over it to hide it let me know

[jules_s]

It wont be there come Saturday (hopefully) Dropped you a couple of PM's about other things earlier

[SPLAM]

Yep must admit for years and years I used a jack with metal cup and piece of wood. Eventually got a low entry with large dimpled rubber pad and it's definitely a lot more forgiving with loads less chance of slip.

BTW Where is Matt Bentley based? Does he have a web site? Had a little look the other day and couldn't find anything. My VX could do with driving a suspension refresh.

[jules_s]

I only really chatted, at length mind you, with Matt on FB The trouble for me was the logistics of getting the car over there. And then getting the PC done etc. It would have been a nightmare of stress despite Matt being uber knowledgeable/professional in his approach. If you need contact details PM.... P11COV he's just had the works done

[techieboy]

BTW Where is Matt Bentley based?

Based in Kimbolton, around the corner from Elise Parts

Unit 4, Ouse Road,
Bicton Industrial Park,
Kimbolton,
Cambs
PE28 0LP

07436 074786

I noticed the other day that he's signed up as a member on here.

[SPLAM]

Nice one techie, only about 50 miles away then.