Hi all, another Mk2 common fault because they use plastic on the mark 2 sills just wondering if anyone's got an idea of what sort of welding cost I'm looking at? 

 

 

If you can find a garage to to it, you'll likely get little change from £400...

Wow I wasn't expecting such a big cost - garage owner said it needs to be assessed but it shouldn't be more than £200 - have I given the specific rust details right I did attach image of MOT certification 

1 minute ago, Riky#MK2 FOCUS 1.8D 2008 said:

Wow I wasn't expecting such a big cost - garage owner said it needs to be assessed but it shouldn't be more than £200 - have I given the specific rust details right I did attach image of MOT certification 

Well there you go then, always best to take car to garage so they can actually see, then asses the work needed. Posting a blind  'welding' issue on a forum is a waste of time 🤣

Thanks Stephen I understand, there welder works for the RAC so hopefully it's not the worst damage and extensive - ps took them over an hour Labour £60 to get the bonnet lock open - then the new led upgraded lights I as having fitted would not glue in place either - and theres now glue stuck on the inside of the lens as well 😭

1 minute ago, Riky#MK2 FOCUS 1.8D 2008 said:

- ps took them over an hour Labour £60 to get the bonnet lock open ...

Wow, my guy must be special doing the whole thing in 15 minutes. Ironically I remember it as it was during lockdown, I had a 10am appointment, I was driving home at 10.15am with a working bonnet....

Putting on the ramp should have been the best thing to do rather than working at ground level - only good thing is now I can open it myself with a screwdriver (haven't had lock changed itself) not spending any more money on new lock dreading the welding charge at the moment and more headache of going back and forth - after welding it's probably going to need painting as well I'm assuming?

Remember this.......After welding up any chassis or body parts, the metal behind will be raw and burnt.

Most will never do anything about the none seen areas, so it will secretly start to rust from day one after welding, give it a few years and the rust can creep through the welded areas.

After the painting is complete.......................

Try to look to see if there's any holes or slots in which oil or a rust preventative can be blasted through, give it a good blasting until it runs out all over the place, I used to use old engine oil & grease & white spirit, mix the lot up until it's dead runny, then blast it inside, the white spirit evaporates away leaving a thick film of rust killing goodness.

19 minutes ago, Ian Lanc said:

Remember this.......After welding up any chassis or body parts, the metal behind will be raw and burnt.

I applied multiple coatsof paint behind the sill of my own welding repair...

 

27 minutes ago, Ian Lanc said:

Remember this.......After welding up any chassis or body parts, the metal behind will be raw and burnt.

Most will never do anything about the none seen areas, so it will secretly start to rust from day one after welding, give it a few years and the rust can creep through the welded areas.

After the painting is complete.......................

Try to look to see if there's any holes or slots in which oil or a rust preventative can be blasted through, give it a good blasting until it runs out all over the place, I used to use old engine oil & grease & white spirit, mix the lot up until it's dead runny, then blast it inside, the white spirit evaporates away leaving a thick film of rust killing goodness.

Wow thanks for that input I'll show it to whoever does the work and say can we make sure this is pre addressed it's not something I would be any good at doing myself

Managed to get a quote said would be around the 200 Mark and it is just rear sills one side bit deeper to the middle - I did mention what Ian posted about the extra protection on the rear and he said yes its something he would do with zinc blasting but ultimately he said it's still going to deteriorate and he's done lots of mk2 focuses same problem area - he also mentioned they're supposed to be a bracket towards the ends which holds the plastic stripping but that's gone

After a lot of faffing about and them holding my car hostage a lot longer than they advised and more expensive it's done...

4 days without the car has been a nightmare to say the least.... Ok so going by previous threads as soon as my lower back can handle it I'll be checking behind the sills with a mobile phone camera to see if there's any of these gaps or cracks where rust can be treated

Now Ian said used own mixture engine oil etc and Stephen you mentioned that you just painted over it so I'm not sure what to do if I find any issues 

The strip is loose do I need to glue this back on as well somehow because it looks really tacky - corner ford getting it sprayed could I get some advice on this please actually quite like the Black a bit knight rider Goliath style 😂 was just thinking to get advice on the right primer and paint & DIY - cars not worth enough to be spending another 200-300 to get the sills resprayed 

Thank you to all who invest time in replying as always

8 hours ago, Riky#MK2 FOCUS 1.8D 2008 said:

Now Ian said used own mixture engine oil etc and Stephen you mentioned that you just painted over it so I'm not sure what to do if I find any issues

Both have merits. I did multiple coats of paint with a metal finish paint. I simply don't have access to 'old oil'! I'm sure whatever you choose will be just fine, that repair looks good and should last you a few years to come...

I'd be pretty peeved if it only lasted a few years after 300 pound cost - once I Google the spray paint procedure how do I get the plastic to glue back on? 

6 minutes ago, Riky#MK2 FOCUS 1.8D 2008 said:

I'd be pretty peeved if it only lasted a few years after 300 pound cost - once I Google the spray paint procedure how do I get the plastic to glue back on? 

I really do believe you are overthinking this LOL I just reached in behind the sill and sprayed multiple coats of black paint, probably leaving 30 minutes between coats on a very warm day. I had no 'plastic' to worry about...

Ohhh Stephen 😀 I'm not talking about the under sill I'm comfortable with that - I was actually thinking about the outer sill silver finish - cant leave it black looks tacky plus it needs to have paint anyway am I right? And the plastic strip glue it back on afterwards as it's hanging both sides?

This really isn't my kind of thing when you have lower back problems you avoid any kind of bending twisting as well - also got the clutch and timing belt to worry about... Cars now at 110k

2 minutes ago, Riky#MK2 FOCUS 1.8D 2008 said:

... I was actually thinking about the outer sill silver finish...

If you read my 'repair' post, you'll see that I simply used a brush to paint over the repair with some Hammerite style smoothrite. The car is 20 years old, I don't need it to be concourse, just protected. There are 100s of YouTubes showing you 'how to paint' if you want a better finish...

12 minutes ago, Riky#MK2 FOCUS 1.8D 2008 said:

And the plastic strip glue it back on afterwards as it's hanging both sides?

There was probably a clip or screw at the back.  If you can get a mirror on the floor you should be able to see whether there's a hole down there.  If there isn't a hole I'd just add a thin strip of adhesive foam like 3M.  You could glue them on with Tigerseal but that looks messy if if you get any excess and they'll be a pain to remove if they ever need to come off again.

The strip wasn't hanging before it was pulled apart to assess the rust damage - I remember the mobile welder saying there should be a bracket part at the end wheel part 

Just to add but the bracket part has probably corrided / fallen off at some point but the strip itself was pretty much intact minus a few bumps 

I've never seen a bracket there on a Mk2.  Just clips or screws.  Though screws are usually used on the heavier 'full' side skirts on the ST as far as I remember.

From Stephens post I regarding the plastic strip - my focus is 2008 is facelift as his hasnt got a strip assuming its pre-facelift- but that strip helps stop water and stone chips so its crucial to be back on once painted - just trying to fin the post about his painting - I havnt got fully to grips with this site yet