Anybody know a good auto welder Kent, UK? Classic nearside rear sill rot. Need to cut out and weld in a form panel to pass my MOT


From the wheel arch over the nearside rear sill

Nearside rear sill

 

That rust looks far worse than simply replacing a section for appearance sake to try and pass MOT. These cars are excellent with the exception of being terrible in salted areas (Lexus and Toyota have very well known issues with rust).

Good luck... for safety reasons I'd be extremely cautious driving in that car going forward as the frame looks comprimized, what you see is not as bad as what you don't...

 

Yes – this is something that warrants careful handling. The offside is clean. The nearside gets all the kerbside debris and much of it catches under the plastic rocker cover – especially at the rear. The pinch weld is very solid still – but the corrosion hole is scary. I have found a professional welder who has manifold experience with Toyotas and Lexi. And you are right – they have a reputation for corrosion. The welder will use a specific steel for MOT level pass (he also runs an MOT centre). Anyhow, I want to keep the old girl going. I have made the mistake of having some affection for her!! She has served me well.

 

Let us know how the repair goes! I have a bit of this beginning on my car on the pass side and need to put an end to it before a big hole appears!

 

You should take off the plastic rocker covers, grind down rust areas and then use a few coats of industrial rust paint – and shove a load into the sill tunnel

 

Exactly what i am going to do. And I'll spray the inner tunnel.

 

Just scraped through the MOT. The inner sills are still an advisory and a new major advisory is rear sub frame corrosion (MOT man: "A very close call, you just scraped through")

The rear sill hole was welded – and the shop putty plugged an exhaust hole, though that was mentioned still as a minor leak advisory – vehicle sounds more like a V8 now. Shop bitumened various sill areas (clearly I need to do more work). "You've got 2 years if you get underside and do a major wire brush job and reseal. But the sub frame is at risk". Bloomin' cars. Suppose at 21 years on the road its had a good innings


The hole

Repair

Repair

 

"You've got 2 years if you get underside and do a major wire brush job and reseal. But the sub frame is at risk".

Is this two last year's on the frame?
I was looking at a sill fill on mine and waiting for a nice summer day to wirebrush and wax oil the underside.

 

It isn't the rust you see that is the problem nor can you get at the rust that matters. You can patch the exterior all you want it won't stop or delay interior rusting within the frame rails and other structurally important ares... it may be good eough to fool MOT. Lexus/Toyota of these years were extremely suspetible to dangerous rusting like seen here, actually so were most early Ferrari's but that is another story.

 

Yes, it's that old chestnut the rear sub frame. "I reckon I could have found rust spots to push the screwdriver through" said the MOT tester to me. Hmmm well I'll get under and see about that. But it is a classic area of corrosion as are the sills. But latter is easier to fix than the former.

 

Another RX saved for now. Even with my 2002 Highlander with a hole in the frame rail, all the metal around it and behind are clearly not rusted out (still even has factory primer with no surface rust), although my case was caused by a drainage issue. These hold up a lot better against rust at least here in Canada compared to an equivalent Mazda, Ford or Chrysler. Ones that weren't regularly washed or cleaned do rust like everything else, though.