Driver’s Inner and Outer Sills

With the floor in place on the driver’s side and some days off work book-ending Thanksgiving, it’s time to keep moving onto installing the inner and outer sills on the driver’s side. The inner sill was drilled for a host of plug welds and installed quickly. Having no drama is great for quick progress but doesn’t offer much to write about. After the inner sill was attached, I addressed the footwell skin.
A slightly different approach is taken on the driver’s side footwell sheet metal for a few reasons. First, it seems that at some point in this car’s life the footwell box took some sort of collision. The metal is wrinkled where the footwell meets the front inner wheel arch. Second, I am salvaging the majority of the driver’s door post, unlike the passenger side. These variables required me to do some trimming of the footwell skin to accommodate. After being satisfied with the fitment, it was welded up and ready for the outer sills.




Fitting up the outer sill required temporarily installing the front fender and the door so that panel gaps can be accounted for. Unlike the passenger side, the driver’s a post was more intact for the door fitting which made this fit up less nerve-wracking. I think if I were to do it again, I would’ve saved more of the original passenger side a post structure. Doing it this way gave a couple more positioning reference points, a critical one being preservation of of the bottom of the a post structure. A bit less guesstimating.
After all of the fit up was complete, the outer sill was firmly clamped, the fender and door were removed, and the panel was welded up. The outer sill work is complete when the sill closing panels are installed (not pictured). These panels close the cavity to prevent road debris intrusion.


