Door hinge pillar repair

[Deleted]

Can the front door hinge pillar be repaired (to deal with rusted hole around the lower hinge) on a P5B coupe without removing the front wing?

I do hope so!!!

Freddy

[Phil Nottingham]

It depends how far its gone up the door post - often its worse than it looks. If it is isolated then if you unbolt the bottom of the wing from the sill and inner splash panel it will (just) lift up enough to allow access. It may be necessary to loosen the top wing bolt just inside the windscreen/door post

[glennr]

Freddy,I know it pains but would it not be a good idea to remove the wing for closer inspection? Peace of mind etc unless you feel 100% there is no further problem.

[dorsetflyer]

Yes I agree with Glenn on this one. to get proper access to that area you won't have much luck without removing the wing.
Good luck with it and lets hope it has not taken too much of a hold by spreading in towards the inner wing.

[Deleted]

Thanks guys.
I have had the car for 12 years and it was restored and repainted 7 years before that so I can't complain.

I took 'her' to a body shop with a very good reputation for their work on old Rolls Royces and saw an 'older' chap who talked to me about whats best to do. What he told me was very encouraging - he clearly knew what he was talking about and I saw some work in progress in their workshop - proper job! They will take off the left front wing and do the job properly, making up their own repair sections as necessary. Lucky I have some paint left!!

I would like to think it would be a localised repair in view of past works but I am under no illusions.
They may find that the rot stops at the rear bumper!!!

I will keep you posted as work progresses.

[Deleted]

Update:
Bodyshop and I have agreed a price to remove the left front door and left front wing.
Cut out rusted section of hinge and make good as necessary. Make up and fit new sections of steel as required. Repaint new metal and pillar etc.
Refit door and wing.
After the work is done I will post report and pictures.
Work should commence first week of May due to them being busy.

Cheers

Adrian (still smiling!)

[Deleted]

I have my Coupe back from the paint shop

They did a very good job thus:
To atted to rusted area of left hand 'A' post (lower door hinge mounting point).
Disconnect and remove front bumper, radiator grille, stainless sill trim, left front wing and left front door.
Cut-out rusted section of lower 'A' post.
Fabricate new section as required (including making up new threaded plate inside pillar for screws to attach to), align and weld in place.
Treat new metal with primer etc.
Inject pillar and sill with anti-corrosion wax as appropriate.
Prepare and paint pillar to body colour.
Refit wing,door, grille, bumper etc.
Re-treat wing to sill with under-body coating and refit sill trim.
Adjust door hinge etc to obtain correct door gaps and alignments as necessary.

The above work was carried out by:
WILKINSONS COACHWORKS LTD
UNIT 9 THE PARKER CENTRE
MANSFIELD ROAD
DERBY DE21 4SZ

TELEPHONE [phone]

All I can say is that they did a very good job and I am very pleased with the workmanship.
Sorry to say that no pictures were taken except my before and after pictures (see Take 5 in future, hopefully).

First time in 12 years of my ownership that anyone else has worked on my Rover!!!

I'm a happy bunny again!

Regards

Adrian

[dorsetflyer]

I bet you are happy Adrian, at least you now have the summer to enjoy the car rather than it being stuck in the bodyshop for a duration. I think they did well in that short timescale. Let's hope it lasts at least another twelve years.

I know how you feel though, I found it strange but very rewarding to be back behind the wheel after my confrontation with the 4x4. Needlessly it will be sharing a good part of the coming season with my 3 litre coupe and the Supersnipe.

[Deleted]

Yes John, I'm very pleased to have the car back. (We don't have a name for it even after 12 years!)

I will certainly use it a lot more now.

By the way, the bodyshop said on the Monday morning that it would be ready by the end of the week and it was.

They also repair and renovate Vintage Rolls Royce cars so I knew I would be in safe hands.

Happy motoring!

Adrian.

[Phil Nottingham]

Nice to know you can still get good work done.. did they get a good paint match or does it not show really

[Deleted]

Hi Phil

I gave the bodyshop some paint that came to me with the car and they used that. Colour match is as good as I could hope for.

Cheers

Adrian

[dorsetflyer]

I think you were very lucky with the paint colour match. If you have had it twelve years, the car colour would have lightened up a bit by now, unless it as been resprayed recently.

[glennr]

Shame about the lack of photo's but I am glad you got it done.

[Phil Nottingham]

I had a look at the damage cuased by the collapse of the front jacking last January - as you can it was just the tip of the iceberg!

[glennr]

Quite a large photo Phil :ol!! You have my sympathies having replaced my "A" posts both sides there is quite a bit of work involved.