front sills where y frame bolts on

[brads59]

Hi guys and Gals.
                          Just wondering how often you guys have seen an otherwise reasonably good shell with bad rust in the front corners of the sills where the YFRAMES bolt on?Mine is bad enough that they have rusted through and had to take yframes off and get new sections made up for her.My shell is quite good otherwise for rust,but this rust is really bad.A shame really.Anyway just want to know if it is a common spot for these old girls.Thanks keep up the good work.
BRAD........

[michaels57]

Hi Brad,

I know when i pulled off the front gaurds on my fe ute i found exactly the same thing. The sub frame was ok in that section but just after the end of the sill i have big holes. the previous owner has tried to reinforce the area by adding boxing to hold the bolts for the sub frame. But the whole things rusted pretty bady and it was quit a job to get the sub frame. After some grinding, beltin of the hammer and chisel i finally go the bolts out.

Otherwise though the rest of the car isn't in too bad a  condition  

Hope that helps
it's just my experience though

REGARDS
MIchael

[Graeme]

Hi Brad,

This must be a common problem - I have the same large rust holes and a mate doing his FC also has see through sections here.

Will let you know how we go about fixing it over the weekend. I have some specialist help coming over for a look (and no doubt a laugh or two at my lack of progress over these last few freezing weeks in the garage).

Catch you later

Graeme

[fcvan]

hi there brad.   This area you talk about is a very common problem with any old car.  All the water that comes off the front wheels as they rotate around gets flicked up into the area you talk about. In turn it gets trapped in between the two sections and rusts.  
Hope this helps and as everyone else has said it happens to almost all old Holdens.
miikael

[michaels57]

Just adding on what FCVAN said i think youll find that the mud getting flicked up off the tyre's once stuck in those area's hold's the moisture and then you get the huge amounts of rust that you see.
When i did mine recently i had piles and piles! of dirt coming out of all the thing (i should have put in jars and sold as NOS dirt! )

REGARDS
MIchael

[brads59]

Thanks guys.It would seem that i'm not the only one who has had this problem.
Stupid me rushed into painting my engine bay in two pak
pearl and now my yframes are hanging in my shed.
Graeme,i would like to know exactly what you did about your rust in this tricky spot.Any ideas would be great.
Thanx all..........   :-/ :-/ :-/ :-/ :-/ :-/ :-/ :-/ :-/ :-/ :-/
                 
             BRAD

[mcl1959]

Brad, The bottom of the A pillar extends along under the front sill panel for about 6 inches, It also includes a reinforcement piece to support the bolt that holds the sub frame on.  The reinforcement piece is usually not too badly rusted since it is made of much thicker metal, but you have to manufacture the replacement bottom of the A pillar to fit over it and allow the bolt to fit correctly. The only problem you will have is if the rust goes right under the sill panel.
There is no rust repair panel for this area, so you have to custom make the repair piece from scratch.
Once you start cutting out the rust you will see the extent.  Sometimes there will also be rust in the inner sill at the front as well, and this will have to be hand made. Take great care here to duplicate the shape exactly since the rust usually occurs right where the Y frame bolts up.
If the rust extends under the sill you have 2 choices
1. Take the sill off and repair the rust then replace with a new sill
2. Weld the pillar repair to the sill and hope that the remaining rust underneath doesn't come back to bite you too soon.

Write back if you have any further questions

Ken

[brads59]

Thanks heaps Ken,I have cut most of it out and now have to kill what rust is left.
I've got Greg from the FE FC club here in SA to help me with these repairs.Quite a bit of work here,but it should be worth it in the end.Cant wait to be on the road and out and about with other clubs and FC owners.Thanx again,and keep the ideas and advice rolli'n in.
                                     .........BRAD