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Chassis Welding / MOT

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Chassis Welding / MOT

Postby Robo70 » Fri Apr 07, 2017 12:58 pm

Hi everyone, new to the forum so apologies if this post is in the wrong place.

My van failed it's MOT this week, mainly on corrosion / welding:

002 Suspension spring mounting prescribed area is excessively corroded Offside Rear (spring front spring hanger outrigger holed) [2.4.A.3]
003 Suspension spring mounting prescribed area is excessively corroded Rear (cross member in two places by offside rear spring hanger mounting bracket holed) [2.4.A.3]
005 Body or chassis has excessive corrosion, seriously affecting its strength within 30cm of the body mountings Offside Front (chassis section holed) [6.1.B.2]
006 Body or chassis has excessive corrosion, seriously affecting its strength within 30cm of the body mountings Nearside Front (chassis sections holed in two places) [6.1.B.2]

I spent almost £1500 two years ago on welding the front end. Most of the panels were replaced so I am surprised to see that there is more welding needed on the front end. None of this was mention 12 month ago. Worse than that, the garage has quoted around £500 to do this work but can't fit me in until June!

I am wondering if there is a point where it is more sensible to scrap the vehicle. However, as I have already had a fair bit of welding done, I am also wondering if there is a point when I will have more good than bad metal.

Thoughts please...
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Re: Chassis Welding / MOT

Postby Brains_transit » Fri Apr 07, 2017 9:41 pm

I was in the situation where it was scrap it or fix it then I found a welder at £20 an hour and prepared everthing myself so I got a lot done for the times I was there. Now it's solid again I'm selling it on before more rots away. The front bit sounds like the front chassis legs that you can see front the wheels arch. Also a lot can happen in 12 months especially in damp conditions
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Re: Chassis Welding / MOT

Postby ABA » Sat Apr 08, 2017 1:38 pm

ive got a mk 3 just took it of the road a couple of years ago fail mot on welding and they showed me what needed welding so as I was under neath had a good look around for any thing else no it all looked solid 12 months later it failed on front cross member went under to have a look and basicly there was not much of it left it had disintergreated so yes rust can do a lot of damage in 12 months
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Re: Chassis Welding / MOT

Postby Robo70 » Sat Apr 08, 2017 8:29 pm

Thanks for your replies. I was planning to just get it through the MOT this time and then over the summer, get some panels off and give it a good going over. It seems to be a continuing effort from what you both (and the garage) say. Shame really, apart from the obvious problems with the bodywork, they are really good vans.
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Re: Chassis Welding / MOT

Postby ABA » Sun Apr 09, 2017 2:26 pm

the only problem ive found with transits is rust
my other transit I hade on the road for 15 years it was 10 years old when I got it apart from rust never had any other fault
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Re: Chassis Welding / MOT

Postby Brains_transit » Sun Apr 09, 2017 2:50 pm

The problem with every vehicle is rust and good engine or no rust and engine knackered :lol:
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Re: Chassis Welding / MOT

Postby smiddy » Sun Apr 09, 2017 10:37 pm

Brains Transit got it spot on, you either get a solid body knackered engine or good engine knackered body, so how good is the mechanical side of yours? If its good I think your best getting it welded. I do a lot of welding and new metal should last longer than 2 years! if you`re getting chassis, crossmember or a sill anything where you cant get to both sides to paint once its welded get some wax-oil, I cant stress this enough, wax-oil is VERY important.
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Re: Chassis Welding / MOT

Postby Robo70 » Sat Apr 15, 2017 11:04 am

Hi Smiddy, I had the sills, wheel arches etc done a couple of years ago. It was a major job and if I was going to scrap it, I should have done it then. It was waxoiled which is why I was at a bit of a loss as to why there seemed to be new rust every year. I have been to a couple of other garages since, one asking for £1400 to weld the spots (claiming there was 40 hours work) quoted on the MOT. Another garage I visited has basically said all the van needs is a couple of plates welded and definitely does NOT need scrapping. They seemed bemused by some of the quotes I have received so far. Just goes to show, opinions vary. I have since had a good look under the van. There is a hole in the crossmember, one in the gator (both of which can be replaced) and a hole in each chassis leg. While I appreciate that there is some work to be done, I don't think it was quite as bad as I was first led to believe. Mechanically, it is pretty good for a 53 plate (slight oil leak to be fixed after the welding) and I've thankfully, not had to worry about that side of it.
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Re: Chassis Welding / MOT

Postby stevo » Sat Apr 15, 2017 1:43 pm

My old van was really bad underneath, pretty much everything was rotten and so bad on the drivers side that the actual outer skin had come away from the body where it met the sill. As already stated, it's a real shame they rust as bad as they do because they are such nice vans to drive and really well thought out and put together. I'm a postman and see a lot of Transit's on my travels and it surprises me at how bad some of them get and even 5/6 year old mk7's are starting to show signs of rusting. It also seems that certain year bans don't suffer as bad but maybe that's just my imagination lol


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Re: Chassis Welding / MOT

Postby ned » Sat Apr 15, 2017 3:00 pm

Brains_transit wrote:The problem with every vehicle is rust and good engine or no rust and engine knackered :lol:


Never a truer word spoken, my van has minimal rust and an evil, evil, EVIL engine :lol: It wont be transit life without one or the other. N
RUST IS LIGHTER THEN CARBON FIBRE

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