need some welding doing
Turbo Mini Forums

I'm in need of some welding skills on my mini, it failed the mot on the sills, I've had a dig around and i think it might be best to replace the whole sill rather than plate all the holes up.!


I was thinking of doing it myself before i found out how bad they were, so i asked a mate who usually does my welding, but he has just moved house and is pretty busy at the moment.

so is there anyone in the essex area that anyone can recommend, would rather take it to someone recommended rather than any old place which could make a complete hash of a job on it and charge a fortune for it!

““A turbo: exhaust gasses go into the turbocharger and spin it, witchcraft happens and you go faster.”” - Jeremy Clarkson

Jason may well be your man - might be worth sending him a PM

PM sent Adam :)

I'll make a hash of it...and be cheap!

Edited by Jason G on 23rd Aug, 2010.

Nab my spot welder if you want J

Could be an option, prefer to try it on my own car before hand to be honest though.

pm replied to.

““A turbo: exhaust gasses go into the turbocharger and spin it, witchcraft happens and you go faster.”” - Jeremy Clarkson

all done now! 2 new sills welded on, just got back from another MOT test. The guy who tested it thought it was insufficient welding, because the welder had put seam sealer along the length of the weld and then stone chipped over it all, i said surely he done that to tidy it all up and make it look nice and neat, but he reckons its a bodge?

whats your opinions on this? i thought it looked nice and neat and finished it off well.

““A turbo: exhaust gasses go into the turbocharger and spin it, witchcraft happens and you go faster.”” - Jeremy Clarkson

can you see the continuous weld under the seam sealer?

I certainly wouldn't consider seam sealer a bodge normally but i've seen some pretty good attempts at cover-ups in the past.

I remember someone who used no more nails round a panel and blobbed it on to look like a weld when painted over to finish. The MOT guy thought it was an untidy but good enough weld. Pity he didn't notice the self tappers holding the panel in!

Edited by Rob Gavin on 24th Sep, 2010.

MOT rules certainly used to be that repair sections (ie patches) must be 100% seam welded, but replacement sections (ie, a whole new sill) can be replaced using the same type of welding as original.

My new sills are 100% spot welded as per the originals and, knowing my MOT station, I don't expect it to be a problem.

However, if a sill has been put on with stitch welding, I guess the tester could legally fail it as it isn't continuous and isn't the original technique.

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???