sills and arches

Who done exactly what mate and price ? Pm me if you would rather had a couple people up here talk shit about how they would do it so if it's a good job might be worth traveling

Was done by a Company called RAD in Daventry,
https://www.reflexautodesign.com
They did both rear arches and repaired and resprayed the passenger door which took a bit of work
All in it was £1200, which is more expensive then other quotes, but the service was brilliant and the premises looked quite professional.
I certainly dont begrudge paying any of it.

Yeh a huge amount of shite bodyshops about so you done okay if more than happy with work done. Probably lucky that other shop gave up when couldn't do it on their lift .
I would travel miles for proven good bodywork as it not easliy found for everyone locally.
Do have pay quite good money as proper effort is huge amount of prep work time and use of pre weld primers and epoxy primer probably for best long term rust prevention .
Worth misting inside quarters with some more waxoyl as extra precaution and then just enjoy your shiny classic beast

It looks like they put some waxoyl in there too.

Looks great! Bet you are happy about finally getting it done

Looks great mate will be getting mine done at some point soon fresh paint makes such a difference!

My car is featured on the company's Instagram page  
https://www.instagram.com/p/BTMkDoUgofX/?taken-by=reflexautodesign

Great work, and its great to find someone recommended who clearly knows what they are doing.
God forbid I'll ever need much doing to mine but if I do, I know where to go now.

So, barely a year later those new arches are now rusting and bubbling.
I'm not sure what to do about this as I've moved to a new area that's 3 hours away, plus the R is of the road, so it's not like I can steam down there and demand he sorts it out.
I can only think of sueing the f*cker.

Not good mate my first step would be e mail pictures and see what he says and go from there. You might find different but I am going through procedure with a mini engine I have lots of prof not just off me and it’s not easy or fast

about normal (read my post post30) :-(
doing arches properly and I mean PROPERLY is a massive job.
Hardly any of these shops spot weld the inner tub to the lip, use pre weld primer or use best moisture proof base coats or seam sealants/panel jointing bonders .

This reason I never like buying painted cars and if do never pay good money as can turn to shit in 2yrs and need same money or more spent put it right .

I would have polite word with them but that inner seam rot looks right bodge on material finishing product coating and must of left some heavy rotted metal in lower arch blow out that quick in a year.
I would get engineers report on that if want press it through court .
I don't do much body work as absolutely detest it and don't consider myself good enough but arch work I done finished better than that and lasted .

You can't beat factory finish or the factory fluro carbon clears used in 90's and early 2000's as super hard even withstanding UV no issues, it can do close to 3 decades , most body shops lucky pull 3yrs .

very very few decent body shop guys about as simply proper job takes hours, is hard, takes real dedication and needs expensive materials.
Don't get mad, get even and make sure your R gets sorted.
I can feel your pain on this, had similar on a VW camper many years ago :-( fecking heart breaking see rust like that in a year, most welding repair I do I say about 3yrs to be safe side, hell I could brush paint a rusty gate and it would rust through less than that in a year !

oh dude that sucks, I would be filthy, have a chat with them, hopefully you can come to some sort of agreement with them. Hope it works out for you.

Story of a Pulsar mate. Like Mr. B said, a proper arch job is a rather large endeavor that nobody every does thoroughly. You have often have to replace the inner wheel arch as well.

Ill let them know im not happy with the work but if they fob me off i dont think theres much i can do except right it off and put it down to experience.
Its not like they were the first garage i came across. It took ages just to find a company willing to do the work as so many just weren't interested.
Anyway, that was the midlands, maybe now im in the north ill have better luck and maybe bettter price to ease the pain. If anyone knows a good garage please let me know.

Tricky one really as even if they offer do repair work it going be a patch job and anyone else wanting do good effort would ideally need start right from scratch .
1yr is seriously poor for that level of rust appear, I don't think 3 to 5yrs that good but that more average for better work, if want over decade it going have be proper effort and proper paint products at every stage of the repair, marine grade pu40 sealers and epoxy paint being key .
Small claims court is best option if do feel like the effort.
easy build engine and gearbox as good or better than factory but bodywork is the tricky one and lot of heartache, ballache and expense.
Proper decent bodywork is rare and also super expensive when do find it, recommendations from classic owners likely best bet, only way I had good work is specifying materials and inspecting at each stage progressed.
Girl on here with R and classic ford sort of person might now good bodywork shops, need have recommendations with people who had several cars done and over 5yrs+ get idea of work, also got pin them down on materials used all way up to final coat and expected lifespan they put on their work .
Did original shop give guarantee of any type !
Hope it works out, I fooking hate average body repair shops with a passion .

I can see from your pictures that the repair was not properly sealed, nor etch primed, or you wouldn't have had rust come back so quickly. 4 or 5 years down the road, maybe but a year? My guess is they just welded in new arches, slapped some filler and high build primer on the outside, and didn't even bother to seal up the back side, so the corrosion will just end up seeping right back through.

Mr B wrote:Tricky one really as even if they offer do repair work it going be a patch job and anyone else wanting do good effort would ideally need start right from scratch .
1yr is seriously poor for that level of rust appear, I don't think 3 to 5yrs that good but that more average for better work, if want over decade it going have be proper effort and proper paint products at every stage of the repair, marine grade pu40 sealers and epoxy paint being key .
Small claims court is best option if do feel like the effort.
easy build engine and gearbox as good or better than factory but bodywork is the tricky one and lot of heartache, ballache and expense.
Proper decent bodywork is rare and also super expensive when do find it, recommendations from classic owners likely best bet, only way I had good work is specifying materials and inspecting at each stage progressed.
Girl on here with R and classic ford sort of person might now good bodywork shops, need have recommendations with people who had several cars done and over 5yrs+ get idea of work, also got pin them down on materials used all way up to final coat and expected lifespan they put on their work .
Did original shop give guarantee of any type !
Hope it works out, I fooking hate average body repair shops with a passion .

Exactly. Proper work is not cheap, and not quick either. It took me a VERY long time to deal with all the rust in my turrets and arches, and probably over $1000 in materials, and that was doing it myself.

Still £1200 is not top end but a good chunk of cash. As weld in outers and paint can be done at most places for £500 you would expect them to go further for £1200 that’s a good few hours in a uk body shop

Yeh he should of got more than 12 months for his 1200GBP .
They really didn't prime that repair panel well and lip must of been hardly covered/sealed rust through that quick, The front lower arch rust hole is old rust they didn't remove and just blew over it .
Part of reason for that is rear 5 door repair panels run too short feed right down to sill end so rather than fabricate a fill piece from some sheet the just left what was there and hid it with finish material
Other thing you got do with these cheap repair panels is once set for fitting strip them back and get decent epoxy primer on before welding in and more epoxy primer and marine grade seam bonding sealer after welding .
Most I seen done never stitched to inner mud guard tub and at best only really bonded with sealer to scabby edge of  mud guard tub then sins are hidden with shultz .
Making the mud guard edge good job takes hell of a lot of time and it one of areas easy take short cuts as it not visible out panel.
Hate to see what gets done for 500GBP as that only about cover all decent material and consumables. Good effort in UK with high hourly rates likely be 500 to 700 a side pending on extent of rust plus the materials and consumables.
For sure some of the lower cost one man guys can be pretty good but they 1 in a 100 these days.
Main thing is get exact walk through of what being done and what materials and you need be able go in in inspect or at least get them picture each step .
Body work is biggest ballache in the classic car world, engines gearboxes and electronics can be rebuilt and duplicated easy but not the shell and it way harder once been done wrong already and even worse for guys like you in UK as the weather and road treatments have no mercy .
Be real fussy on your bodywork, worth getting some info together and if find good shop approach them as a club or something .
Have a word with the subaru guys as they know all about rear arch rust lol :-) and the guys with old classic fords, these people normally have good knowledge of body shops proven over time too .

Pretty easy for body shops make visual appearance nice but it what you can't see that sets the good from the bad and what counts in a long lasting job .

After 2 years waiting to get round to it I need to get the Pulsar back on the road. It failed its MOT on inner and outer sills (rear wheel arch. Not uncommon I gather. I also gather that OEM parts do not exist, so I guess the only option is to get some fabricated.
Any suggestions/advice as to where I can get this done? I'm in Buckinghamshire UK. btw, a sympathetic MOT inspector passed the car last year so it is valid for another month or 2 to get it to a bodyshop. It's SORN at the moment. I won't say money no object but I do have more than enough to spend on my mid/late-life crisis motorbike-substitute... I don't mind paying what is needed for a decent job. I'm also retired so have time to get it anywhere if someone knows anyone who can do it.
Other than the sills its in standard form and running well - one of the later ones.
Cheers, Keith

bogstandard wrote:After 2 years waiting to get round to it I need to get the Pulsar back on the road. It failed its MOT on inner and outer sills (rear wheel arch. Not uncommon I gather. I also gather that OEM parts do not exist, so I guess the only option is to get some fabricated.
Any suggestions/advice as to where I can get this done? I'm in Buckinghamshire UK. btw, a sympathetic MOT inspector passed the car last year so it is valid for another month or 2 to get it to a bodyshop. It's SORN at the moment. I won't say money no object but I do have more than enough to spend on my mid/late-life crisis motorbike-substitute... I don't mind paying what is needed for a decent job. I'm also retired so have time to get it anywhere if someone knows anyone who can do it.
Other than the sills its in standard form and running well - one of the later ones.
Cheers, Keith

I can't recommend someone to sort it but I used these guys last year for sills - https://www.carz2.co.uk/contact-us-2-w.asp

They are a 4-door sunny but my bodyshop man made them fit and I couldn't tell the difference.

Many thanks - I'd found them from a previous search and have pointed my local bodyshop to them. I'll report back as to how they do...

bogstandard wrote:Many thanks - I'd found them from a previous search and have pointed my local bodyshop to them. I'll report back as to how they do...

With pictures I hope?

Certainly - I have the before ones, and will hopefully have the done ones early next month...

Hope it a good result ...