Mitsubishi Delica Owners Club UK™

[jejoenje]

Sorry - I'm after a bit more advice from the Forum of Wisdom...  

So, after I finally decided the rusty roof part was more or less sorted, finally, I decided I needed to have a closer look at some small holes on the inside of my sill, somewhat aware of an upcoming MOT in a couple of months' time... unfortunately, this turned out to be a bad idea...

Front side of rear wheel arch:


Front end of off side sill:


Rear end of off side sill (inside)


Obviously most of the side of this is hidden under the plastic trim, normally.
The inside front of the same sill (where it joins the arch panel) is also pretty rotten but I've not had the time to attack it with a wire brush yet...

Sigh...  

Anyway... I don't have much experience dealing with this sort of stuff, so I'm looking for some advice. From a naive point of view (and perhaps wilfully optimistic) it seems as though there still is some good metal left to weld patches into, but I'm unsure how much would need replacing.
As I've pointed out elsewhere, I don't own a welder nor have I ever used one. I'm not sure how much chance I'd stand to try to DIY some. At the same time, I'm also pretty stuffed for cash at the moment, so I may be a little bit stuck...

Anyone with some experience of dealing with this sort of stuff, or welding experience - what did you do, how bad does this look, how much would this likely cost for the welding only (I could do as much prep as possible myself, including cutting, if need be).

Or, even better, anyone know of a trustworthy (mobile) welder I could have a chat with?
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1992 L300 Exceed "Selma"

[Google]

[andyman]

First the good news - none of that is dangerously structural, and with all the cutting and polishing you have done, any welder can see what he needs to do, so should be able to give you a fairly accurate estimate. Buy yourself a sheet of 18 gauge mild steel from any autofactor's and a good quality pair of metal shears. Rough out templates for the pieces you need from old cereal packets etc, (raid the discarded packaging collection at your local supermarket,) snipping and origami-ing them into shape as close as possible, with a decent 20mm overlap as far as possible, keeping the shapes simple, and as straight edged as possible, to cover as much as reasonably possible with one piece over an area. Remember to allow overlaps if possible where you have to cut the metal to allow complex shaping or box corners. Remember, a welder can hammer bits around bends etc. once he has got a piece firmly tacked on. For the long outer sill section, talk nicely to some of the engineering guys at St. Andrews, and see if they will help you use their sheet bending and rolling  equipment to make up a nice, profiled piece to cover it all in one, you might even find a willing welder amongst their number who will practise his skills for little more than bacon butties and beer/coffee. Good luck, you are very brave, there are bits around my wheelarches that I now poke very gingerly, while wearing dark glasses, and tell myself "Not too bad", with no great confidence.
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Andy C L300 Super Exceed - over 100 smiles per gallon!

[jejoenje]

[andyman]

No, you will always have to have some overlap, just as new cars' panels do. It would be pretty much impossible to weld edge-to-edge with steel this thin.
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Andy C L300 Super Exceed - over 100 smiles per gallon!

[andyman]

And actually, you are better facing up to the actual state of it, and getting rid of the rot. Leave it, and it only gets worse.
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Andy C L300 Super Exceed - over 100 smiles per gallon!