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Need to replace the thin original type sill. Will 'spot' weld the part that joins to the door step & lower rear quarter but wondered if it is acceptable to spot weld the underside. Would prefer not to seam weld unless have to but no longer have a clue what the MOT regulations stipulate. Can anybody enlighten me please? Cheers. Mark

I changed both sills on my MK2, not at the same time, using M Machine sills and spot welded them in.
My MOT man asked if I used a spot welder to put them in, replied yes and he passed the car as fit.
I could be wrong, but the general concensus is, if it is an original shaped sill, spot welding is OK, if it is one of those vile oversills then the sill needs to be seam welded on.

As mentioned above, if its a proper replacement sill which was spot welded from factory then its is fine to spot again, however you must make sure there are enough spot welds, normally 5 ish between the sill vents, depending on model. Anything else ie over sills worth avoiding and they would have to be seam welded. Its something I have had hassle with as some folk will present a car with loads of seam sealer and underseal, however if am suspicious I will have a right good look to see exactly what they have done, I had one car with about 40+ rivets and sealant/underseal, very naughty!

It pays to know a classic car friendly MOT station,I had one who failed a 1972 mini with pre-focus headlights who failed it for not having a beam cut off and wanted the sill vents flattened and seam welded. Test was aborted when Vosa was mentioned. Funny the garage went bust shortly after

coop12g295 wrote:It pays to know a classic car friendly MOT station,I had one who failed a 1972 mini with pre-focus headlights who failed it for not having a beam cut off and wanted the sill vents flattened and seam welded. Test was aborted when Vosa was mentioned. Funny the garage went bust shortly after

and wanted the sill vents flattened and seam welded

What an arse that tester was, think i would have aborted pretty damm quick as well lol

problem is you can get crap spot welds by some one who dont know what there doing and good plug welds by a good welder...i think the quality of the weld, not how its done should be the issue. and how can a MOT tester really be in a position to comment on a weld quality unless he is a certified welder him self (obviously this dont relate to really dodgy welding)...

The sills on my white S are plug welded on, but all the welds have proper penetration and there no weaker than a spot weld.

Another weld issue is a plated subframe - my 8 port has all plated , duble skinned and gusseted subframes - not because there rotten, but the MOT tester just sees a patched subframe which is a fail i believe...?????

Good job my local tester is mini friendly, seems to turn a blind eye to the fly off handbrake, headlamp covers (so he cant test the beams), hardly any rear brake pressure amongst many other things....

I think the best idea was to find a mini friendly MOT guy, shame there all old boys and dying off

pd

i took marks moke for a test years ago and the tester wanted to fail it on no washer jets - we had a 'robust' argument that eneded up with him getting his testing book out to 'prove' that it needed them (despite never having them fitted from new....)

i then asked him if i could borrow 2 x 1/2 spanners.....


'why' he asked

'im going to take the screen off' i replied.....

ha ha - pass!


funnily enough he never mentioned the lack of washers the following year....

P**sed my sides with that little tale Rich. Brilliant

plug welds executed correctly on sill flanges is only a mot failure if the tester "doesnt know his stuff.

also he can only fail an "over sill" for not been seam welded IF HE CAN" PROVE" IT HAS BEEN PUT OVER THE TOP of a crusty panel.

theres a myth that a rear radius arm with a bit of play will fail,,,the ammount of play you are allowed before its actually a "legit" fail would shock most people!!!

but sadly most testers fail em anyway with a whiff of play

i used to go "by the book" and pass them,,as if they compalined ,vosa would back the mini owner up all the way,,an advisory notice was usually all i could issue !!
#
suppose the tyres they scrubbed off,and the "brown trouser moments" they had with really worn radius arms was a good incentive to get em fixed anyway,,,the following year,,99 percent of em were all fixed,,suppose the tyre bills on a daily use car were more than a new radius arm ??


i dont mot cars anymore,,i just fix em! and use a "classic friendly" mot station