cutting and plating rust

[nick.gooding]

hey guys
i have just purchased my first 4wd
a suzuki sierra 1989 model soft top

i got the car knowing it had a bit of rust needing attention
i dont no about other sierras but this model came out with a black plastic guard over the sills
which seems to have over time collected water and mud and has rust straight through on one side and is getting pritty close on the other side

there are also little bits of rust on the doors which have started to bubble through the paint


Question 1.
Has anyone cut out major rust on there sierra before, was it hard, what did you plate it up with

Question 2.
with the paint work starting to bubble should i peel off all the paint around the rust then just sand it back and paint over it.

or is this to much work for a noob and should i leave it to a pro

i can post up pictures if needed
thanks guys

[Pyrotech]

welcome to the sierra world!

i had my sills cut out due to damage, not rust,
and replaced them with 6mm steel plate, on a 45degree angle, i will try to psot pix tonight.

i have since slid over, landed on rocks and logs with them, and had no ill side effects.

i only went this thick so it would act as a rock slider, but u could get away with 2mm plate

its not a hard job to do, if u are confident with ur grinder and welder skills

hope this helps

[nick.gooding]

yeah mate thats a good idea but im not a good welder or any good on the grinder haha

and i was hoping just to plate the parts needed

to keep it as cheep as possible
but it would save me money in the long run so i dont need sliders so pics would be good thanks mate

has anyone had this done by a pro

[Pyrotech]

damage




sill gone



new sills


thats all the pix i have sorry

[nick.gooding]

did you just use a grinder to cut it out

[Pyrotech]

i did one side with a grinder and a cutting disk, the other was done with a plama cutter

[Gwagensteve]

Different solution to the same problem:





Or you could just do this



Seriously, you could rivet some alloy over the whole sill to cover the rust. That's pretty common.

Don't tough the bubbles unless you are prepared to do a repair. The panels are VERY thin and hard to weld. Unless you are a decent welder I'd leave it alone and look for some clean doors, then you can cut the rusty ones into 1/2 doors - that's what I did.

a professional repair? I'd never spend money on panelwork on a sierra because it will always just get ruined on a track, but if yours is a daily driver, you might decide it's worth it.

Steve.

[zukiviagra]

hey dude, i removed plastic sill covers. then used a grinder to remove spotwelds that attach the sill cover on.
then riveted and sicaflexed on calmini checkerplate sill protectors.
killed the rust adds protection and looks cool.

[31zook]

I like the cut sills/sliders setup. Sorry for the hijack, but is welding to your chassis legal it NSW? I've heard funny things about only being able to weld across not down? Can anyone fill me in?

Josh

[Gwagensteve]

You'll need to consult an engineer. That particular install isn't engineered and we expect to rework this when this car is certed, however, there's no problem with chassis welding in general so long as it's done in accordance with the engineer's requirements.

Generally, you can't weld on a chassis without engineer approval.

Steve.