406oc.co.uk

A while back when i was breaking the 406 i had a look into the sills and they were in quite a bad state, much worse than they looked on the outside, it was the main reason the car was bought so cheap:
(A hole from the wheelarch into the sill caused by the rust)




Yesterday while adjusting the handbrake for the MOT i removed the inner wheel arch cover and the inspection hole and had a look at the sills on my car. I put the torch up to the hole and gingerly moved over to look in, not knowing what to expect especially as one sill once had water in it from the drain hole being blocked a few years ago, here is what i seen:

(clear waxoyl was used on the other side)

A sigh of relief was breathed when i seen they are in good condition, the waxoyl, keeping the lower door seal clips in place and drain holes unblocked has helped

The lower part of the wheelarch can fill with crap so i gave it a good clean down, let it dry and then some copper grease. I dont know if copper grease is the best thing to use to prevent rust but it works on brake lines and should do until i get another go at the waxoyl:



Is there any other rust prevention things that you do to your own car, ive got a few small bubbles on the front bonnet but ive used a grease gun and pumped the box section round the front of the bonnet with grease. The rest of the car except for the aftermarket towbar frame, and fuel tank bracket is free of rust.

It's looking very good inside your sills I guess copper slip is mostly grease and it will repel water just the same as anything else, with the added advantage that it won't melt if your car gets extremely hot...

I hate to think what the inside of my sill look like - there are no sill clips and I think they have been missing for quite some time. Is it too late to chuck in a load of waxoyl, or will it stop the water from getting out...?

I don't want to risk the sills as they are now obsolete.....

I didn't think they were available anyway, not without half the side of the car too.

You need to sort the clips out and the seal strips too or water will be pouring into your sills every time you wash it or drive in the rain. You also need to make sure the drains are clear. You need to check them first because if you fill them up with waxoyl and then discover they need some welding you'll incinerate your car. You might have got away with it, there is some basic rust prevention going on there, but it doesn't last forever...

Okay - its made it to the top of my ' to do ' list.......

its too late for mine.
for what i see,its import from cold and wet denmark so rust is attacking sils bigtime

where exactly are the drain holes? The ones on mine are certainly blocked at the front as It pisses out the back when I move it off the drive...

I did take some pics when I did mine but the sunlight was so strong you couldn't see anything in the pics I took under the car. Here's the thread: viewtopic.php?f=18&t=8130&hilit=+waxoyl+sills+surprise

I just tried cleaning the others up, not brilliant but might give a better idea anyway

This must be a front:


So I guess this must be a rear:

Incidentally, while you're down there see if you can take some better pics, we might be able to turn this into a how to...

just a quick thanks as i had water sloshing about in sills looks like my car had been jacked up at this point and crushed drain hole all sorted now and preping for waxoiling thanks to everybody on this subject

Ill get some pictures when i have the car off the ground again which should be soon because the MOT test is on the 19th and im getting a funny feeling from the steering, its an intermittent clunk/knock when turned possibly the balljoints are worn, what else could knock in the steering?

Inner balljoints, steering rack bolts loose

steve_earwig wrote:Inner balljoints, steering rack bolts loose

One of the many possibilities, ill have it up on a lift tomorrow my cousin got his old 2 post lift to work after being inactive for a long time.
Inner balljoints, are they the ones that connect the wishbone to the hub?

I hope your cousin has already tried lifting his own car on the lift

Inner ends of the track rods, they've come up before. It could be a lot of stuff I guess, you won't know until you look

Its been fixed for about a month, in the past an old ford diesel engine provided the hydraulic pressure (i never really examined exactly how it worked but it wasn't simple to operate) now though it just uses an electric hydraulic pump to lift it up, and it locks on each post to stop the car falling.

So far its had a few VW's on it, a 307 he bought and put a turbo in, a renault traffic, and my subaru so its well proven and should be able to lift the 406 with no problem.