Adventures in Rust Descaling

modalita

Newbie
German Zeds
Joined
Mar 10, 2026
Points
3
Location
Kaiserslautern
Model of Z
1.8
What had so far been a relatively drama free restoration caught me by suprise on the passenger side when pulling the side sill. While the images are pretty scary, none of this pokes through with a screwdriver underneath. Jack pads still have to be removed for final confirmation.

However- in the front of the sill we have a hole that is expanding as I continue jabbing at that with a screwdriver (see last image). Im assuming this requires welding a new piece in here?
 

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Just be honest and aggressive and get the whole lot to clean metal and go from there. There are some repair plates you can use at the jacking points on eBay, these are only a quick search so maybe you’ll be able to find cheaper https://ebay.io/m/GtmPCv

As for the rest if you can’t weld or want to try have a search on facebook etc for mobile welders.,
 
I suspect the underneath with turn out fine, including jack pads. Does the front end need to even be welded? I don't drive this car is rain or between Halloween and Easter.
 
That front bit ideally needs welding but if nothing else, cut the rotten metal out, waxoyl everything and rivet a plate in, then seam seal it all.

As for the rest, clean it up best you can with a flappy disc in a grinder followed by some zinc primer and them paint it. That's some very heavy rust. If you want it to last forever then it needs a lot of new metal. Short of that, preserve it the best you can.
 
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