MOT Failure: The tin worms have been busy

[Mad Professor]

Hi All.

Well the Rex went in for it's MOT this week, and things did not end well.

• Offside Front Inner Suspension component mounting prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength sill panel

• Nearside Rear Inner Suspension component mounting prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength wheel arch

• Offside Rear Inner Suspension component mounting prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength wheel arch

Over the weekend I've had a very quick look at the drivers side, as the MOT guy said it's the worst side.
The car has had previous repairs to the sills before my ownership.
The rear of the drivers side sill is all rotted out, theres surface rust on the full lenth of the outer sill, and rotted on the inner sill near the front.
I've not even looked at the passenger side yet, but I am expecting it to be somewhat similar.

I will take some pictures today, but I am fully expecting that the outer and inner sills will need to be cutout and replaced.

I've also got to work out if the repairs are financially feasible or if the car is beyond economic repair.
I have a feeling this might be the end of the journey for the rex.

The withdrawal symptoms of not driving the Rex are already kicking in

[Mad Professor]

Here are a few quick pictures.

[qwakers]

Its repairable, everything is. As you say, its whether it's worth it.

If you can weld or are willing to learn, then yes, its worth repairing.


If not, you could have it patched to get it through the mot, but it'll fail again next year. If your getting it done correctly, then you'll be taking it to someone who restores classic cars, and yes, it'll be a lot of money...

[Mad Professor]

Thanks for your reply, I'm not at all intrested in patching over existing problems, I hate the idea.
If it's going to be repaired it's going to be repaired by cuting out all the rot, new panels, etc, etc.

I do own welders, mig and tig, but body work is not my strong point at all, and I am not currently setup for such work, my background is more electrical and mechanical.

[qwakers]

Well I've seen entire new sills sold on ebay and facebook. I dont know of any other sources, and that's a few hundred before you even start. Even if you.can weld I'd be budgeting £800 and that also assumes you can paint it yourself too.

[350matt]

Whats the car worth? thing is finding a replacement rot-free car and then moving parts over is not hte work of the moment either

finding a rot free rexi is not a simple task these days

[Mad Professor]

Well after talking with local firms / repair shops, my rx8's fate has been determined.
I will be braking it for parts, and scrapping the shell.

If anyone is interested in parts please feel free to PM me.

[goodeggbob]

Sorry to hear this,but it would help your sale of parts if you posted up some info about the car.

[Mad Professor]

VRN: SP05 OZX
Model Variant: RX-8 231 PS
Year Of Manufacture: 2005
Registration Date: 01/03/2005
Current Mileage: 112163

[dac69er]

If the rear lights are perfect, I will take them