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bobbber · Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2003 9:47 am Post subject: Welding jacking points

Hi guys... thanks for a great forum! Very Happy

Just bought my first Alfa (33 1.7IE 8v) and I'm treating it as a bit of a restore project (I have to... It's knackered!)

I've inspected the car underneath, and there's quite a bit of rust. About three points are affected, the seam which goes across the car in the N/S footwell, along the sill, and the O/S jacing point has become rusty and jacked up through the floor by a previous owner!

Does anyone have any tips about welding this jacking point? After all, I assume it's pretty structural!

This is the start of quite a comprehensive rebuild, and I want to sort this out first!

Thanks! Cool

Gary UK · Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2003 1:36 pm Post subject:

The whole of the sills & front floor pans will be rotten as well I bet. Unless u can weld scrap it.

graeme · Alfasud Joined: 16 Mar 2003 Posts: 64

I agree.

Mine looked like it had a couple of isolated holes at first glance.

If you remove all the underseal where the floor pan attaches to the inner sill you'll probably find alot of rot. Also where this seam looks sound, open it up and i'll bet you find rust starting.

I've replaced the whole floorpan where it attaches to the inner sill (about a 40mm strip down each side), as well as parts of the inner sill itself.

Check the outer seat mounts for corrosion/fatigue cracks.
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16v p4 In pieces.

Gary UK · Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2003 9:48 pm Post subject:

Basically attack it with a screwdriver (like the psycho shower scene) this will show you where the rot is, don't be shy as you are going to re-underseal if worth it anyway. Also check behind the carpet on the rear shock towers, the boot pan, behind the front inner wing guards at the end of the sills AND the rear inner wheel arches (sill ends and shock towers). Sorry to be the harbinger off doom but these will ALL from personal experience be completely rotten if the jacking point(s) have gone that far.

If it is salvageable on surfaces underneath that attract stone chips paint on silicone sealant (>=3mm depth) rather than underseal.

graeme · Alfasud Joined: 16 Mar 2003 Posts: 64

Agree you should attack it as it's always worse than it looks at first.

Just clarify your point about the silicone sealant. I wasn't going to underseal mine, but paint it with POR or similar so I can monitor for corrosion in the future. Alot of nasties lurk under underseal.
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16v p4 In pieces.

bobbber · Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2003 2:54 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the replies!

I spent a couple of hours scraping off the lagging and the sealant from the floor pan...

Hmmm.... I've revealed the seam is completely gone in the N/S footwell. Also, a line of rust where the floor meets the N/S sill, like Graeme said. I'm intending to weld these up though with metal panels.

I've began to cut away the rusted metal, and the surrounding metal is bright and shiny, so I'm not anticipating any probs with the welding.

However, in order to complete the cutting, I need to move the four 'pipes', which go along the outer sill floor out of the way.

There are two metal and two rubbery ones. What are these? I have removed the rubber ones from the yellow clips, and these fall out of the way easily... but the metal one's do not.

Any ideas how to move them???

Thanks guys! Cool

graeme · Alfasud Joined: 16 Mar 2003 Posts: 64

Plastic are fuel, metal are brakes.

They're a real pain in the butt and get in the way while you working.

Maximilian · Alfasud Joined: 04 Apr 2003 Posts: 39 Location: London, UK

I've got a Sprint which needs some welding too.

It's currently stripped of trim and all the interior, apart from the dashboard.

Once you get the car stripped like this you can see what needs being done much better. I thought I had a near mint car until I did this.

My problems are the rear wheel arches, which are very rotten around around the area above the sills.

Also, just like your car, the N/S sill seems pretty gone, once I'd taken the sill covers off. I can only see that the outer sill is rotten, but now that I've figured out why I reckon the inner sill is rotten as well.

Reason - the drain holes for the N/S sill have been welded closed. The lip at the bottom of the sill covers the holes, so the water can't escape. You have to unclip the brake/fuel pipes and let them hang down to see the holes properly.

The O/S sill is completely fine, and the holes aren't blocked up.

When I took the carpets out I realised that their was water in the rear footwells. I've taken out the drain plugs in the footwells, cleaned them up and stuck them back on and sealed them. Then I reundersealed the bottom.

Since then the car hasn't moved, but water collected in the footwells again. I really couldn't figure out how it was coming in. I thin it might be because the weatherseals on the doors aren't watertight. I'll try adjusting the door strikers so that the doors close tighter.

Comments Please..

P.S. Is there somewhere on this board where I can upload some pictures and then link them to a message?

Cheers
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1988 Sprint 1.7 QV (35,000 miles)

graeme · Alfasud Joined: 16 Mar 2003 Posts: 64

Mine seemed to have rotted from the inside out due to wet carpets. Records that came with the car show previous owners had big problems with the door seals leaking.
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16v p4 In pieces.