I needed a partially crushed external sill repaired, so I have been talking to repairers. Sill is perfectly sound, just pushed in. One (the cheapest quote) mentioned no need to cut out and replace, or need to weld, he would use a £16,000 wavy / wavey machine to pull it back to straight, but would not explain more. What might this be please?
Wavey machine for pulling out panels?
May 09, 2017
10 Replies
And I was wondering how he was going to remove those clips. Easy when you know how.
What about the two dents at the ends of the original big dent, though?
Tim+ presented the following explanation :
Thanks, bet the 'Wavy machine' was their nickname for it.
I offered that if it were me trying to do it, I would be drilling a series of holes then feeding wire through and pulling on the that, he said no need to damage the sill, for welding or maybe any filler, they had a £16000 Wavy machine, but wouldn't explain more.
Nothing much original about this if you think about it. There's nothing new about tacking metal rods (using an arc welder with an unfluxed rod) and then tugging on them with a slide hammer or a dozer. So I don't see what this system does that's any different or better to how it's always been done. Note that though he's tacking on *loads* of tabs, he's only pulling on a couple of the middle ones, just as we've been doing it for decades. I could do exactly what he's done here using an old 30 quid second hand arc welder and an improved slide hammer! Maybe that's why he declined to elaborate. ;-)
Al has brought this to us :
Possibly, but his quote was a 1/3 less than other quotes and he has done satisfactory work(panel spray only) for me before.
A device that exists in the mins of the gullible.
Graham T expressed precisely :
'mins' ?
There is a porta power add on that is slid in to the end of the sill, chassis rail etc. that then expands. I was looking at a video of one in use the other day, but I can't remember where, probably an american site like NTX tools. It was called a 'rail saver' but whether it would do your job I don't know.
MrCheerful presented the following explanation :
I don't think he was thinking of sliding something inside the sill - I asked him about his rust-proofing inside the section after the work and pointed out there was a blanking grommet at the front, behind the wheel arch liner. He said he wouldn't need to disturb that, he could put rust treatment in via the drains.
It's a flatliner
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A link to a really s***ty copy of a Wheeler Dealers episode where Edd China repairs body damage on a Ferarri 308GT4
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Better copies of this episode might be available
The Other Mike has brought this to us :
Thanks...
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