Thursday, December 15, 2005 - 02:57 pm, by: John Jantzen(Taslex)
In taking a front wheel off my car for the first time the other day, I used a trolley jack, but of course didn't use the scissor jack point, as I realised that would roll over and be damaged. However, I used a point just inboard of the jacking point,as I assumed (wrongly) that this would be reinforced. Instead, snap - crackle - pop and I have a pushed-in section of floor(?) as a number of spot welds gave way.
Why I'm writing about this is the repair. I'm thinking, remove the carpet, drill a bolt hole in the middle of the "bump", then from underneath bolt up a very strong piece of steel plate or angle, tightening the bolt/nut until the floor is pulled back down again, as close to the plate, and hence flat, as possible. Then perhaps, epoxy a piece of galvanised sheet steel to the underside of the floor to cover the damage and seal the opened seams, then coat with under-body sealant. I would like to avoid welding, if possible, as I would probably have to take out too much electronic stuff to safeguard it. Also the heat of welding would destroy the galvanising on the body panels. Likewise, I would like to avoid pop-rivetting as these may be a source of corrosion in future. I'd like a few constructive comments on whether you think my approach should work all right or whether it is flawed (no pun intended) in some way. By The Way, How do you lift the carpet without damaging it (passenger side)
Thursday, December 15, 2005 - 03:28 pm, by: Haydn Crandell(Haydn)
it couldnt have made that much of a dent.use a block of wood and a brickies(miniture sledge hammer and belt it down ,as for carpet ,,,,dont know never done it ,but have done the latter on other cars.good luck
Thursday, December 15, 2005 - 03:50 pm, by: John Jantzen(Taslex)
I though about that, then I wondered about the jarring around that area to delicate electronic boxes of tricks such as the ECU. WOuld like to avoid hammering if possible. Dent is about 30mm deep, or high if seen from above :-)
Friday, December 16, 2005 - 09:54 am, by: Haydn Crandell(Haydn)
geez is that all.belt it trust me it will work.just dont belt the box .or use a hammer and dolly. or place the block of wood under the damaged area making sure it is firm and belt it that way.what gos up must come down .good luck
Saturday, December 17, 2005 - 09:43 pm, by: John Jantzen(Taslex)
Thanks for your advice. I wound up jacking the area lightly with a piece of 12mm steel plate under the damaged area as a dolly. Then, using a metre of hardwood, driven with a 16oz Ball pein hammer, I drove the pushed-up floor down onto the steel plate. This went extremely well!
A few gaps where spot welds had failed still were in evidence, so I carefully cleaned the floor top and bottom, and filled/covered all the repaired area with Sikaflex adhesive/sealant.
The resultant fix is very good - and removing the carpet to get at the area proved really easy - once the plastic cover along the door sill was lifted at the back of the door, it came out easily, and so did the carpet. These cars are beautifully put together!
Don Bagnall Moderator New Zealand 1991 UZZ30 GT4.0 V8
Monday, December 19, 2005 - 07:56 pm, by: Nathan Stewart(Nathan)
not that this is of much help now... but its more than ok to use a trolley jack on the scissor jack point ( i assume your talking about the sills just under the body of the car..)
Monday, January 28, 2008 - 03:22 pm, by: Kevin Trac(Menty)
Iv just done exactly the same things. Do you think if i take it to a panel beater it can be fixed up? Would anything at the bottom need to be fixed to prevent rusting?