Has Anyone Seen This Before?

[GLPoomobile 958]

I knew when I bought my 205 that the welds on the bottom of the B pillar had split, and that my passenger side rear wing was also splitting along the sill too.

 

I've been getting a lot of metal on metal scraping noises recently so I had a feel around the wing.

 

It has completely split away from the inner arch up to the level of the plastic trim, possibly a bit higher.

 

Has anyone else had this happen before? Providing it is not rotten with rust, is it likely to be hugely expensive or labour intensive to repair?

 

It will be a bodyshop job, so don't suggest that I crack out the welder

[Hilgie 16 2 Cars]

I've seen that before, but only on replaced panels. Never on a non-repaired car.

[GLPoomobile 958]

Hmmmmm, the worms are slowly crawling out of the woodwork!

[GLPoomobile 958]

Is it likely to need completely rewelding along the length of the join (wing to inner arch and along the sill)?

 

Or it just a series of spot welds?

[DrSeuss 0]

The whole car is held together with spotwelds. That seam being no exception. If you look behind the rear quarter trim, you should be able to see the seam from inside the car and how it has affected other parts of the car (by coming loose).

 

Its something worth sorting fairly soon, to stop further rot getting in.

[Guest wils3]

Bodyshop its gonna cost you a fair bit,

 

You can buy a drill bit type thing thats made to remove spot welds or get a drill bit the same size as the spot weld and place the drill bit tip bang on in the middle of the spot weld and drill but makin sure you dont drill through the 2nd panel thats behind the spot weld.

 

After drilling out a couple of spot welds you get the feel for it, you (i did anyway) feel a very slight twitch on the drill when you hit the back panel then you know to stop so you dont drill through it else you will have no back panel to spot weld to again.

 

If you aint got a welder then try get a (mig) welder, dont buy the spot welder cos for cheaper you can get a good mig welder which can spot weld as well. Preferably a mig welder that you can set the amps low on for bodywork and the ones which use the Co2 gas are a cleaner weld than the gasless ones.

 

You could take ya old panel off drilling out the spot welds then pratice spot welding the old panel together before fitting your new panel.

 

If you do go this route then make sure when new panel is on that the new spot welds are covered with coat of primer at the least or else the will spots will rust in no time.

[DrSeuss 0]

Good idea in theory Craig but doing that on the street in london is slightly more of a challenge.

[rossimura 0]

Yeha its probably been crashed, I bought my original 205 crashed jigged it and seam welded it up.

 

Even though the impact was relatively light on the front drivers side the back quarter arch where the floor pan meets the inner wing was cracked, ended up cutting out all the seam sealer with a drill and wirebrush, and welding it.

 

 

Out of interest does you passenger footwell leak ??? Just it if has been a cut and shut the popular joining places where the bottom of the B pillars, and just above the front bulk head. Remove the plastic cover above from the rear of the bonnet, the one over the windscreen wiper motor.

I've seen a few 205s that have been done like this.

 

Oh yeah before you do this post a picture of your cracked welds etc

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

The bottom part of the rear qtr is glued on, No welds here as over the wheel arch,

[GLPoomobile 958]

Yes, it has been hit in the back at some point in it's life. As I have posted before, the it doesn;t look like the damage was significant but obviously enough to cause this.

 

I was going to get all the welding done after I bought it but circumstances change and it never got done and has slowly got worse.

 

At the moment the Pug is sitting gathering dust and I'm taking the train. I just need a break from it.

 

At the moment I'm considering biding my time and looking for a bargain with a good shell, then just swapping all the good bits over from mine and getting rid of it.

 

I figure for the money I would spend getting it welded and sprayed (the roof has some rust that needs treating and needs respraying) it wouldn;t be worth it in the long run.

[B1ack_Mi16 67]

Don't know how bad it is in your case, but in my case it was really much rot behind the wing.

The spotwelds crack up and the wing becomes loose, then it starts to rust like hell.. at least on the non-galavnized models, my was a 1985 model.

 

http://forum.205gtidrivers.com/index.php?showtopic=31216

[maturin23 10]

Sounds like you should perhaps cut your losses Steve - given current prices that car seems to have just too many niggles and problems to make even vague economic sense.

 

I'm up for helping you in a search for another - would be a real shame if your bad experiences with one car put you off the whole lot of 'em!

 

Looking at what's available now I reckon a 1.6 would make a lot of sense for a daily runner - and when funds are available convert it to 16v

[GLPoomobile 958]

Ian, glad you agree.

 

I always regretted buying it, particularly for what I paid. I was aware of the shell problems (except the crash damage) at the time but planned on getting it all repaired early on.

 

Now I'm left strapped for cash, numerous other problems to put right, and a car that I just don't feel is worth repairing.

 

It certainly hasn't put me off. If anything, it has made me appreciate how good my 1.6 was, which I partially stripped and sold for £50, and was consequently rebuilt for virtually nothing by the new owner.

 

I just need the right bargain at the right time. Can't believe I missed that one the other day for £140! If only it hadn't been Xmas/New year!

 

C'mon all you multiple 205 owners, stop snapping up the bargains and let the rest of us have a chance!

[Guest wils3]

DrSeuss: Good idea in theory Craig but doing that on the street in london is slightly more of a challenge.

 

Lol, Sorry did'nt pay attention to the left hand side of screen.

[ashley peddle 3]

i sold a 205 last week that had a lovely shell... there was rust on one of the rear qtr's but i can get them repaired for £80 my a mate the shell was superb though - a really nice deep cherry red with VERY little fade... went as a non runner for £185 but the engine was sweet - ran better than my 1.9 does! (dead alternator / starter motor)

 

bargains are there to be had... just keep your eye out