S Type R Rescue

[SteveKK]

I will try to document here how I am trying to rescue my S Type R from it's rust problem. Earlier this year it failed the MOT because of rusty sills, but having investigated further it was more than just the sills that have rusted. My initial reaction was that I could not personally save this car Another S Type Bites the Rust?. However, after thinking further I couldn't come up with a suitable replacement car. The S Type R is reasonably fast (I think you get used to the speed of any given vehicle), very comfortable and a designed I'd liked since launch. Everyone who has been in the car comments on how comfortable it is too.

I offered the car for sale as a project, 2002 S Type R Project For Sale and did have some interest, but in the end I was reluctant to part with the car and doubt I would have received what I feel it would be worth, even as a parts car. Therefore I have been making some slow progress to uncover the extent of the rust and work out just how I can repair it.

I have a rough gallery of photos of my S Type R which contains many of the photos I have throughout my ownership, including all those I have taken showing the work I am carrying out.

The initial inspection of the problems is documented in Another S Type Bites the Rust?. I soon removed the plastic sill cover on the near side to see that the rust was along the entire sill, including sections of structural bodywork. To better determine the extent of the rust part of the outer sill was removed by way of angle grinder.

Near side outer sill removed

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This shows that the inner sill is rusting and would also need to be cut out. There are at least 3 different sections of metal joining to make the sill, so this will be quite a complex repair.
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Before welding any metal in I was determined to ensure I wouldn't be damaging anything on the hidden side of the panels. A friend managed to badly damage wiring loom in his Land Rover while welding, so I was determined to learn from his mistake. Therefore I needed to start removing interior.

Removing the rear seats was actually quite easy. I was impressed with how well attached they were, but also the ease with which they could be removed. My main comparison was with a 1990 Fiesta RS Turbo that I stripped to a body shell for use in a kit car. My favourite parts were the clips that hold the front edge of the rear seats. Simple and effective.

Rear seat mounting clip

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Removing the interior isn't that difficult. You need to be patient, take your time and make you you know where everything goes, as there are a lot of interior parts. At this stage I have removed all interior parts from the passenger cabin that mounts to the floor, expect the main centre console. All relatively easy, except the front seats are bolted to the floor using E-Torx bolts, so I had to buy some new tools to suit. If you need to remove the front seats you may be able to purchase an E12 socket or spanner.

Front seat E-Torx E12 bolt and socket

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More to follow...

Regards,
Steve

[Montana5]

Well done Steve both for keeping the Car and taking on the work, look forward to updates on this refurbishment.
Although mileage is neither here nor there when it comes to the bodywork of our Cars, can I ask what yours is.

ps, will move this to Bodywork section beside your other post.

Doug.

[SteveKK]

Doug,

I'd put the post in the general section as I think there will be more than just bodywork information in the thread, assuming I can keep it updated. As the moderator I will defer to your judgement.

Mileage at the failed MOT is 112,792. I've had quite a bit done to the car during my ownership and have probably spent on maintenance and repair more than the purchase price.

I'm sure the work won't be the highest quality, but when repairing metal sections I do tend to over-engineer solutions hoping it won't be my repair that fails.

Regards,
Steve

[SteveKK]

A few more images to show the extent of the rust under the car.

This was the front nearside just behind the wheel. While this is not a jacking point in original condition it might have been possible to jack and/or support the car here. As you can see this wouldn't have been possible on my car.

This is after cutting out some of the rusted metal away from the outer part of the sill and also part of the inner sill.

This is taken from directly below where the nearside front wing bolts to the chassis. The wing looks to be OK at the point, but the area around it will need attention.

Regards,
Steve

[SteveKK]

To help work out how much rust was hidden I took this photo inside the sill looking towards the back. As you can see the join area at the bottom is very rusty, but there is mostly surface rust elsewhere.

After cutting more away working towards the back I came across this piece of plastic bonded in place with a foam like grommet - any idea why?

Finally this is a photo of the rear jacking point after it had been cut away. There was no chance I could jack the car up there as it had rusted though in places. I'm guessing this should be 1.5-2mm thick. It would be worth checking you own cars and applying rust treatment where necessary.

Regards,
Steve

[SteveKK]

It got to the stage where I decided the rear axle needed to come off to improve my access. Having already removed the fuel tank, exhaust and prop this was an easy job. Disconnect the brake hose and electrical connector for each wheel then undo the 4 long bolts and slowly lower the whole axle. Before you lower it too much disconnect the electrics that are above the axle near to the electric hand brake motor, then lower to the ground. I had the car high enough I could wheel the axle out from under the car.

In this photo you can see the front mounting point for the axle at the far right. Thankfully this is solid, but the area to the left is where a bracket mounts between the axle and chassis. The 2 bolts at the chassis end were only connected to rust!

This shows the visible rust I was aware of on the rear of the NSR wheel arch. Hopefully no one else has a car with this much rust showing, but if you do now could be the time to take a proper look underneath.

Regards,
Steve

[SteveKK]

The front axle mounting point needed to come off. I carefully drilled out the spot welds and after a bit of extra cutting with the angle grinder I got this small section of chassis off the car. The photo below possibly makes the rust here look worse than it really is, but at least I now had good access to the hidden a parts and could remove the rust and protect it before putting back onto the car.

Regards,
Steve

[PPV]

Excellent set of pictures and description. Could do with this for all our cars! Keep up the good work.
Regards,

[Montana5]

Great documentive write up Steve and kudos to you for taking this on.

Doug.

[jeff1954]

Wow Steve that's a lot of rust there. Has this car lived in a coastal town or village previous to you owning it. I know the earlier models suffered from the dredded tin worm more than the later ones but that looks a bit extreme.

Jeff

[Martec]

The corrosion looks daunting, so congratulations on tackling it.
I have a my2000 s type and found only small pockets of rust holes in the outer sill which I repaired.
A friend of mine bought 2 early cars, scrapped the rusty one and kept the parts for repairs, some of which I have used.
I took a lot of photos as he cut it up and noticed the track of the rust came from the rear wheel arch and ran forwards.
If you look closely at the rear wheel arch, the front lower seem and use a paper clip you will find that there is rubber or sealant until the last 1" - 2". ie a hole for water to get in, also the plastic wing liner feeds rain into the slot, the later cars have this covered.

I now wax the car every 4 years with Dinitrol, but expect to cut out more rot at some stage. I also sealed up a lot of holes along the way particularly in the chassis rails in the rear wheel arches

Best of luck.
Brian

[SteveKK]

Thanks for the comments guys.
I don't have enough of the history to say that the car hasn't been in a salty area, but yes it is rather extreme rust. I can't believe it is now about a year since I had the time to work on this as other projects and now getting ready for a house move are all getting in the way. Hopefully the house move will allow me more time to work on the Jag as I do miss it.
As a result of the pending house move I am in the market for a car transporter trailer that could move the Jag (plus other lighter vehicles). Ideally a 3.5T gross trailer as I have a Disco to tow with.
Regards,
Steve