Hole appeared, can anyone help

[rich71]

I have had my car MOT'd today and have found a hole has appeared in the corner of the door opening...the piece of ali was loose but next to the hole, how on earth could this have happened?

I have been back to the station, who obviously claim no responsibility but it wasn't there before and looks prised out, i really don't know what to do and am somewhat p***d off

I am also looking for a solution to filling the hole long term

https://www.dropbox.com/s/2pcntc0ph815vdu/Chassis%20hole.JPG?dl=0

[Jonathan Kay]

Deleted

Jonathan

[Jonathan Kay]

No idea how that could happen. Hard to see how a clumsy boot would remove rather than bend a piece of metal. Anywhere near where an exhaust probe would have been used?

Would you be happy with a fill and touch-up? How well does the piece fit?

Jonathan

[rich71]

Thanks Jonathan

exhaust is on the other side, the belt buckle doesn't line up either....i did perhaps think if something was in the hand (screwdriver or something) when they got in the car it may dent/scratch but this wouldn't prise out the piece which is a good fit and the edges line up, my initial thoughts were they saw a crack in the paint and 'investigated'...if i refitted this piece however there would still be gaps around which would need filling/welding, i would like a proper job done rather than a bodge, it's the paintwork which would need to be good as i'm sure i could fill

 

[simon_h]

Looks a bit like the ally has corroded away and just the paint was holding it together, the tube behind looks rusty? I think its a welded joint there, have to be a bit of filler and repaint to tidy it up.

[rich71]

chassis looks just fine (i think maybe the picture) and there is no white powder on the ali either which would indicate corrosion...the piece looks torn

 

[TomB]

I've a crack in my ali skin there. I think its either a stress crack or a point where water accumulates leading to localised corrosion. Not much you can do short of filling, sanding & painting for a proper job.

[rich71]

there was a faint crack there before, but now there is a hole....i just don't know how a hole can appear as if the piece fell out (which it has)

i will get the epoxy out and hopefully get a good paint match for the area

[Jim 123]

I would guess that the area in question is where the aluminium sheet is cut to be folded around the chassis tubes on the wheel arch bow and the horizontal door sill.  After the rivets go in, a narrow butt joint would remain and have to be filled with solder and smoothed off I suspect.  Does the reverse side of the dislodged chunk look like smooth sheet ally or a plug of solder that may have been filling a larger than expected gap? 

If the crack is propagating you may need to drill a small hole at the head of the crack and then get the area prepped and filled with solder.

[DJ.]

My best guess is that the MOT guy spotted a crack in the alloy, and mistakenly thought it was structural and investigated with a screw driver. Once he saw the solid steel underneath he probably tried to cover up by pushing it back down and cracked the alloy.

It's difficult to know how to deal with it, the garage should really repair it for you, but there's no way I'd want the average garage trying to fix that as they would just fill it with P38 filler.

A proper repair with alloy soldered in place involves heat and partial respray so isn't going to be cheap.

As a DIY fix I think I would form some thin alloy to cover the hole. The inner edge would butt up against the trim and the front edge wouldn't notice as the stainless finishes there. A slight chamfer on the other edges would blend them in a bit. Once I'd sprayed it and got it looking nice, I would then stick it on with Tigerseal (the flexibility would be of benefit). It's a bodge but would last well in my opinion and make the area water tight.

Duncan

Edit: would be a very awkward shape to make though

[Wrightpayne]

Its ally welded not soldered.

Ian

[rich71]

My best guess is that the MOT guy spotted a crack in the alloy, and mistakenly thought it was structural and investigated with a screw driver. Once he saw the solid steel underneath he probably tried to cover up by pushing it back down and cracked the alloy.

I think that is exactly what may of happened....

Incidentally i have had a proper look and the ali in that area is very thin in places, the opposite side also has the crack and suspect the same. Anyone else suffered from this?

[John Vine]

It might be worthwhile asking Arch exactly how they form that particular section.  They may have come across that type of failure before and be able to suggest the best way to repair it.  Also, no doubt James Whiting would have seen something similar.

JV