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[Doctor Gollum]

That's probably going to require pulling the dash to move the heater intake. 

[TheBoy]

That's probably going to require pulling the dash to move the heater intake. 

OK, nearly to heater intake then.  High enough to keep the water doing through the drain, not the cabin

[STEMO]

I have a suggestion. Thrown the fickin old rustbucket in the bin 

[TheBoy]

I have a suggestion. Thrown the fickin old rustbucket in the bin 

Nobody has come up with a suitable replacement though.

[STEMO]

I have a suggestion. Thrown the fickin old rustbucket in the bin 

Nobody has come up with a suitable replacement though.

Yes they have, the jag. It doesn't fit every criteria exactly, but I doubt anything would.

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

This is what I had a couple of weeks ago. Whats yours like (location / size) in comparison ?

[TheBoy]

Managed to dodge some showers to get a better pic, taken from inside the cabin...



The silver metal, arrowed in blue, is the car's shell, and this looks in mostly good condition, though it needs the sound deadening cut away a bit to inspect at the bottom.

There appears to be black sponge (top red arrow) sandwiched between bodyshell and the black rusty plate, and its sodden.  Half an hour with a hairdryer has done nothing to dry it.  Not sure if the red arrow at bottom is the same sponge or a bead of sealant or something. Feels harder.


So I need to knock out the black plate metal to get back to good metal, which I think I'm going to struggle on the left and the bottom, as I'm going to run out of room.  I also suspect the sponge/seal is going to act like an insulator, making non gas welding difficult.

I think this one might be beyond my limited welding capabilities.

[Nick W]

If you don't remove all of the sponge/seals/sealant/foam/rubber that's touching, or close to the weld area you WILL set it alight.


This is a bad thing, and you should check your household insurance before you try it.


It doesn't matter what weld process you use, as they all get the steel hot enough to melt which is about 1000°C

[TheBoy]

So as its seems the foam is sandwiched between the shell and the black plate, and not that accessible, I need to find another way to seal?

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

So its the black plate (partly visible in my pic above yours) which has rotted away ?
There is indeed a black rubber seal / sealant at the bottom, which you can see part of in my pic.
Need to cut that part and the spongey stuff out just to get rid of the flammable stuff first.
Still looks doable. Doesnt need to be pretty as it isnt seen, and I would squirt Tiger seal / Sikaflex around the join afterwards to ensure its watertight.
Nothing to lose by having a go, apart from the fact you will probably have a pretty painful back afterwards.

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

A bucket full of wet rags is handy when doing a job like this. Stop welding regularly and check nothings burning. If something smoulders, chuck a wet rag over it.

[YZ250]

Not sure just how little space you have to work but I was going to suggest using a small wire spinner to get back to solid metal, tack a sacrificial bolt to a clean part of the same metal so that you can keep the earth clamp local to the panel. Rusty/painted metal is an arse to weld so it needs to be as good as you can get it. As Nick and Albs have said, fire is always a very real issue, even with the Mig sparks landing in the wrong place. I've been there with sound deadener and gas welder ..... don't ask. 
If you can plate it the best you can, is there any access to the other side to put chopped fibre over the finished article to avoid water traps between the panels.  When are you planning on tackling it, as I'm more than happy to pop over and help if I can ...... social distancing permitting. 

[Nick W]

So as its seems the foam is sandwiched between the shell and the black plate, and not that accessible, I need to find another way to seal?

Brushable seam sealer. Almost like it's made for the job......

[Doctor Gollum]

Black sponge is the factory bonding seal between the two panels.

The greay sound deadening should lift away once you have undone the clips. Which you won't get to without pulling the dash.

Or you could cut a couple of inches away from the area

As an aside, looking through your hole, the front of the firewall where the drain plug and loom* run through looks pretty crusty. So whatever you do os going to become very short lived 

*That particular loom runs forward along thee chassis rail to the plug underneath the battery tray.

[iansoutham]

Instead of welding, why not look at cleaning back to good metal and then using a good (3M) panel bonder to bond a plate into place on each side?

No heat to worry about that way.

Example eBay number 174394858784


Obviously you can buy cheaper than that, but as an example.