Rotten Galaxy

[bengyb]

Hi,
I am about to start work on repairing my 04 Galaxy which failed last year on various rusty points, this included rear suspension mounting points, sills and front outriggers.

Has anyone on here welded these areas before?

If you did, would you have any photos you would be willing to share?

Many thanks!

[brianh]

I've had the front outrigger done on the MK1 I had, no photos though sorry. Outrigger was fairly simple if i remember correctly, just moved the carpet out of the way I think (was a while ago, so can't be 100% sure that was even necessary).

[sparky Paul]

Again, no photos sorry.

A few years ago, I welded the offside outrigger on mine, and a small patch at the front of the offside outer sill, as well as repairing the bottoms of the front wings, and respraying the tailgate. It certainly smartened the car up, and gave it a new lease of life for a few years. Last summer however, the bottoms of the sills started looking a bit nasty just before MOT time, so I started poking about. What looked like a bit scabby soon turned into significant parts of the nearside outer sill required, and some patching on the inner sill - mainly front and rear jacking points, and an area just in front of the B pillar. Behind the good looking stonechip and paint, parts of it were just weetabix. The offside wasn't too good either, but I left it alone as I think it would have just about been testable as it was.

There were other bits of work required for the MOT, including a windscreen, front shocker, two tyres, a rear brake cable and a few other minor bits. It's only an old petrol, and underneath the rear end is looking pretty rough now, so I made the decision not to bother and it's stuck on the side at the moment pending disposal.

The only thing I would say is make sure you know what the extent of the rot is before you start. The sills rot from the inside and even bits that look good on the outside may have to go to get back to good metal. If it's really bad, you can get a complete outer sill for about Ã,£25. The outriggers are straightforward, I never removed any carpets etc., there's thick fibre insulation under them. Just have a bit of water handy in case. Scrape off the underseal, cut out the bad, weld in replacement bits and spray over with Shutz.

Mine always looked very scabby around the rear axle and body mounts, but there seems to be plenty of metal thickness and my MOT man always seemed happy with it. I'm not sure what the extent of your problems are there, but I could imagine any repairs could potentially be a bit more involved.

[bengyb]

Cheers for the pointers.

Don't suppose you happen to know the material thickness for the outriggers and sills?

Think I might start this weekend as the weather is looking good!

[sparky Paul]

For the outrigger, I just used some scrap I had, but it has to be reasonably sturdy.

I would think 16 gauge (1.6mm) should be strong enough, I wouldn't go any thinner than that.