Sill replacement

[Ant laud]

A company in Yorkshire can supply complete sill panels at £150 per side which is easy enough, the hard part is fitting them. I've asked around for someone to take the job on and if I hear anyone say "....what you've gotta ask yourself is this, is the car worth it?" just one more time, I shit thee not sire, bad things will happen.
My reasoning is that if someone can go out and spend their hard earned cash on something as futile as a newish second hand Vauxhall corsa why do most people, welders and garages I've spoken to think I'd be wasting mine if i spent it on essential restoration work on a Puma. If the work isn't done and it won't be in a lot of instances then all there'll be left for puma hunters in the future are rotten cars in need of serious welding. And further on in the future possibly not many Pumas. And expensive ones.

So what do I do? It just needs regular Puma welding. The sills looked good until I peeled back the clean looking stonechip coating, its clearly begun its rusty phase, the floors good though and the rear arches are starting to show and the boot floor hasn't concerned me yet.I could get away with patches but why faff about when materials are available to get the job done properly. My aim is to keep the car as a daily driver long into the future and since I won't consider buying a corsa or some other mundane motorist style podule I'm left with with one of two options. Fix mine or buy one that's had new sills fitted. I prefer option one.

Anyone suggest a sympathetic welder? It needs to be soon, I'm surrounded by windy coastlines.

 

[XAF]

Where are you based? Pumabuild in Birmingham will do it to a fantastic standard, equally I'm near Leeds and there is a place called Jessop Motor Bodies that have restored both my Puma and FRP, including the sills! They know I'm crazy so never tell me it's not worth it!

 

[Ant laud]

I've heard of Pumabuild come to think of it.
I'll give them a call tomorrow. I'm based near Lands End, so I'll have to travel no matter where I go. I have family in the Brum area so it makes sense to go there. Gotta be done though, at least if its classed as restoration I might be able to convince my insurance company to honour my investment. They have it locked in their heads Pumas are only worth a couple of hundred quid. I saw a tidy low milage 1.6 going for two grand last month and I'll bet it had hidden tin worm just waiting to be born. Why don't Peugeots rust, damn it!

 

[Ant laud]

Update!!!! Thanks XAF, I got in touch with Alan at Puma build and emailed pics of my sills and rear arches, he got back to me with a price for complete replacement both sides, arches and sills, waxoyl and paint for somewhere in the region of 2k. Considering that this outlay will nail any future rust problems in that area and guarantee a few more good years of monoqoque integrity, although initially expensive, seems a better option than buying a "better condition" Puma that unless its been kept indoors for the past two decades will ultimately need doing at some point in the not too distant future.(mine looked good remember, until I probed aggressively) or worse still replace my car with a crappy front drive 5dr family hatchback for similar money and abandon all hope of fun driving and the kind of experience not found in many cars on our roads today, my rusty little shit doesn't even have ABS its that damn good, shame about the power steering though, still i can live with that, for now.
All I have to do now is find an insurance company that will honour my investment and I'll make the call. And eat bread for a bit, with maybe butter on special occasions, or perhaps a hint of jam. And water. mmmmm....

But.......

....It should look spankingly good when its done, Pumas with good arches and sills are getting expensive. And I want one.

 

[XAF]

No problem at all, glad Al sorted you out!

James