Hi All,

Can anyone give some advice on the best way to cut out and weld in some new metal to repair this hole:

Step 1
Fit a wire brush cup wheel to your 4 or 5 inch grinder and clean up all metal around the area back to what looks to be good metal from the outside.
Step 2
Cut all badley rusted metal away ( in this i mean if its badley pitted LOOSE it )
Step 3
Look or feel up inside the pillar etc and if you still have badley internally pitted metal cut more away.
Step 4
Clean up all cut area's with a file and wire wheel but DO NOT GRIND these areas any thinner as it wil be diffucult to weld any way let alone making it any thinner.
Step 5
Buy some weld through primer which is a zinc rich primer and paint up in the back of all your repairs and inside the pillar etc.
Step 6
Make up your repair patches from 1.2 - 1.5 mm material ( This sort of stuff should be available from your local sheetmetal workshop as off cuts and you want preferabley zincaneal or mild steel NOT ZINCALUME OR GALV as this will be difficult to weld )
NOTE : At this stage don't be ashamed if it takes you a while to make each patch as the better the fit , the easeier it will be to weld and finish of later as even myself as a 20 year sheety can take a while to get a patch fitting nice.
Step 7
Tack weld your patchs in place preferbley with a butt joint , tacking at a maximum interval of 20mm
Step 8
Dress with a small hammer and dolly if possible all joints eliminating any gaps etc and grind back any large tacks to just above flush.
Step 9
FULLY weld all new joints with a mig welder , Dont just tack weld as if a structural area it comprimises the structure or if to be filled later with putty it will allow moisture to get behind the putty / bog and it will blister etc.
Step 10
Clean up all welds with a grinder and various snaders files etc being carefull not to remove any material thickness other than the weld
Step 11
Prime all exposed metal with a the zinc rich primer and move onto the next area

FINAL NOTES
If you have not welded before or have not got any welding gear , don't panick as many of us here do and are more than willing to help in exchange for just a chat or what ever services you may be able to help us with .
Last of all just have fun , AND WEAR ANY SAFETY GEAR REQUIRED FOR THE JOB IE : SAFETY GLASSES , HEARING PROTECTION ETC

make sure you fit the captive nut plate back inside and fit a temp bolt to it before u weld up the hole

Looks like someone may have cut an access hole there to get to the nut plate

Wow OZ!!

I certainly wasn't expecting such a detailed reply as that. That certainly gives me confidence to tackle the job. I'm still learning how to weld properly with my MIG but when I'm ready, your instructions will be a life saver.

Cheers,
Steve

yep thats the item there should be 2 x 10mm bolt holes on the plate maybe its twisted around get a old bolt and cut off the head and screw it into the holes on each side so it drops back through the floor pan when you assy the body to the chassis

yes its twisted you can see its on a angle

u need 4 head less bolts to fit to the plates so they dont jump out of place u can also use a engine head stud as there nice and long and help line up the body easy