Strut top welding ?

[muley]

Hello to all, i have been to look at a MK4 which has failed it's m.o.t on can you believe it Rust
the van looks to be in good condition untill you have a look underneath, the bit that has me woried is the strut tops on the front suspesion, can i buy a panel for this repair or do i have to make one ?


as you can see it is clean other than the underside, so can i get the repair panel ?
regards Muley

[shadow48]

My mk 4 has just failed mot on rust above rear shock on body Did you get an answer about the panels? Brian

[MinorMatt]

no panels avaliable as far as I am aware for that - but its not a particularly complex shape

[shadow48]

Being charged £260 for body welding near seatbelt mount and body above rear shock Does this sound a fair price?

[MinorMatt]

well we dont know what needed doing so cant comment

[ginsambo]

Difficult area. Kills many vans. Tommos do the inner arch with the mount on it as I inquired, not cheap though, it would be a pig to replace also as about three million panels are spot welded to it so if you not chucking it out getting to the spots is a pain in arse. What you could do is either weld a load of plate to it or take off the 2mm/1,5mm support lap panel and repair the underneath, add some strengthing, repair the lap panel and refit, or would it be strong enough with a patchwork of welded material under it? Either that or make a bigger lap panel.

Its a pretty important part as the shock, macpherson strut which supports the hub is tensioned against it, take it away and you wheels will look like something from back to the future.