need an expert opinion....

update. After scratching the underseal off, there was not much left and I decided to cut the rotten metal out as good as possible. I didn't really wanted a full blown repair as the car will be stripped anyway but it was just too bad to be left alone.



welded.


all I have to do is to slam some seam sealer on as there are some tiny pin holes in the top corner I was unable to weld watertight. If you can't get the metal really clean there is no chance for a proper weld.

After a few days in the rain I can report that there is no more leaking. On this side
With the carpet now out I found the drivers side to be leaking as well
Some very careful poking with a screw driver revealed almost the same as on the passenger side..........
But I have decided to stop for now. It's really an dashboard and engine out job to fix that somehow.
Let's wait and see what the future brings

Toby informed me that a new firewall is NLA

Lancastrian wrote: Uwe, Your signature says ".........bought a welder now" but I guess you have used one before. That is a really neat job. Just for info.... The inner panel that goes from the door aperture to the wheel arch (includes the loudspeaker aperture) is available and costs less than £20 IIRC. I decided that it was easier to use a part of that panel to get the right shape for the wheel arch, than to make up repair pieces.

thanks, but it looks nicer on photo than reality.
I haven't really checked what panels are available to improve the quality of the repair. Intentionally I didn't wanted to go that far at the moment. It just happend...... (I am not goint to touch the other side right now)

I don't believe it will be done with a panel here and there. The whole filewall looks like a Swiss cheese. holes everywhere.
This time it has to be done quite radical to stop it for a few years.

SHEPSM3 wrote: Its quite shocking, as Brian said, when you start stripping off the underseal and sealer......its suprising how big holes like that appear from what looked like no problems there.

when I "persuaded" some of the new metal with a hammer from the inside of the car, a whole section of the strenghtener (that y-shaped thing under the fender) just fell out!! And there was no indication before that i was rotten. Like Brian said, just the underseal was holding it in place

Uwe,

That is quite horrible and a reminder to us all of how things might really be under the carpets.

Do you have any racing wellies for track work?
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Kevin