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Advice on damaged Gt sills...

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damaged sills
21K views 62 replies 22 participants last post by  DanGTV6 
#1 ·
Morning. I know this is a frequent and known problem, I didn't notice my bent sills on purchase and also have damaged/bent them further myself by jacking up incorrectly. Won't be jacking it up in a hurry again but say I get a flat tire and need to put the spare on, where am I meant to put the jack so I don't damage the sills further?
My main question though is, can I spray something on them to prevent further damage and rusting? The paint is starting to crack and rust. I have some matching Alfa red paint in the same code to paint over but would like to prevent them from further corrosion. I cannot afford to get properly repaired as seen prices of £500-£700 and cars only worth £6000. You cannot really see the damage from a side unless you know what you are looking at but it looks terrible from underneath!
 
#2 ·
You jack on the jacking-points which are the same as 147/156. The GT just has the daft tin extensions to widen it.
If they were the normal plastic extensions it would be obvious that you can't jack on them, but as they are metal they get frequent jack damage...
 
#5 ·
The manual tells you where the jacking points are so you should have no problem if you need to jack it up again. When jacking a car ALWAYS check that where you put the jack is going to be able to take the weight and not crush or dent.

You could hammerite them if the paintwork is damaged.

If it isnt then theres nowt you can do really other than get them filled and painted, but if the paint is not damaged then theyre no more likely to rust then if they werent dented, its just a cosmetic thing.
 
#8 ·
That is quite bad, and a sad reflection on the guy that put it on the lift because the obvious jacking point is clearly visible in that pic!!
 
#16 ·
I thought that was what he meant, however, that's nowhere near the standard Alfa mark on the actual body! Is that what a standard jacking point looks like? Can't see how my standard Alfa jack would fit onto that?
Where the Alfa garage has jacked It up isn't on the sill and is in line with the bodywork? Are you saying this Alfa guy has jacked it up in the wrong place and should have used them standard jacking points? I find it worrying that a Alfa independent garage who has been trading for over 30 years gets it wrong!
 
#17 ·
P.s. thanks for help and advice! Can't afford to get repaired, welded etc. Can't really notice from normal view, just want some clear protector or similar to spray on to protect against the elements until I can afford to get repaired.
 
#21 ·
I didnt do it all but will admit to doing some of it. (very embarrassed)

I just want to know, what i could spray or cover it with, temporarily, until i can get it properly repaired.

I saw this on ebay, wondering if a coat of this or something similar would help protect the damage from the elements until a proper repair can be saved up for.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251035501...X:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649#ht_2240wt_1396
 
#20 ·
Oh dear, that looks horrendous. What a shame.

I've always been told to jack the car up using the welded seam inboard of the sills - the top of your jack should have a notch into which the welded seam locates.

I bought my GT with all four jacking points squashed; and spent nearly £800 having them straightened out and repainted and undersealed - an expensive job but worth every penny. I now tell EVERYONE who might have to jack up the car precisely where to do so and luckily, Adie at AHM doesn't need telling!

And as my GT has the 18" alloys, I don't have a jack or even a spare wheel, so won't be making any mistakes myself...when a tyre change comes around, I'll be looking over the fitter's shoulder!!

Good luck with the repairs...perhaps it's an insurance job?

Cheers...
 
G
#24 ·
I hope you get the damage sorted soon.

When I'm working on mine, I use a sturdy block of wood on the saddle of my trolley jack.....then carefully jack up on the welded seam........by using the wood you don't deform the seam. Then you can support the car with axle stands positioned on the inward jacking points. I always keep an eye on the contact area until the car is off the ground, this prevents any unnecessary damage.
 
#28 ·
Don't worry you are not the only one with that issue. Is it me or does that image look like the majority of the damage is on the sill area of the front wing panel, moreso than on the actual body sill?

I would prefer mine beaten/pulled back into shape rather than just filled in, has anyone had it done that way and are happy with the results?
 
#31 ·
Sill and alloy damaged by tyre centre

I've just had a leak in one of my front tyres repaired, and got the car back with a nasty gouge taken out of the otherwise mint alloy, I took it back as soon as I noticed and they apologised and have agreed to have it refurbished. It was only after taking it home after and washing it that I noticed they'd also damaged the sills. Quite how you can be that hopeless at such a simple job is beyond me. I'm due to take the car in tomorrow to have the alloy fixed and due to the bank holiday haven't told them about the sill. I've got a nasty feeling they'll deny it. If they don't, what can actually be done to fix it?
 

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#33 ·
They still need evidence to decide in your favour. An admission of fault at this stage = great. Denial = tough.

I still think that it is one of the worse design failures of the car as the 'standard' markings for the jacking point ie. that little arrow shaped blob points right at the sill extension and not the hidden flange that is supposed to be where the jack goes.

Mines are slightly flattened too, but not bad enough to be noticeable and I've made sure they are well undersealed.
 
#34 · (Edited)
Theres no design failure at all, its clear that you jack on the solid parts behind the sill, not the sill, its obvious that the sill is hollow and cannot take the weight.

The 156 skirts, which are plastic, not integral, also have arrows. But again, its obvious that you do not put the jack on the plastic as that could clearly not take the weight either.

(By the way if youre not sure wheteher your car is an JTD M-Jet or a JTDm, then check the V5, if its 165 CO2 then its a JTDm, if its 176 then its a JTD M-Jet.)
 
#35 · (Edited)
Theres no design failure at all, its clear that you jack on the solid parts behind the sill, not the sill, its obvious that the sill is hollow and cannot take the weight.
I make no apologies for the tone of what I am about to say. The above is a hubristic and ignorant statement - the prevalence of damaged sills on GTs is evidence enough that it is not clear that the sills are not the jacking points. When the majority of people are making the same mistake then the minority who took the decision to design things that way did something wrong or failed to do enough to prevent it.

It's all fair enough sitting here in the fount of Alfa knowledge claiming that you always knew, but I'll bet my house that if you hadn't been pre-warned by being a member here you could quite easily have fallen into the trap. I know I would have had I not registered here first and done some homework.

Every GT (and I mean every) that I looked at had damaged sills at the jacking points, and I realised it was something I was going to have to factor in to the asking price to get sorted if it was bad, or look for the one with the least amount of damage, which I did.

This sort of prevalence is a marker of a design or communication failure. Saying otherwise is, as I said, hubris.

(By the way if youre not sure wheteher your car is an JTD M-Jet or a JTDm, then check the V5, if its 165 CO2 then its a JTDm, if its 176 then its a JTD M-Jet.)
I know already from my VED disc that the DVLA think it is a JTDm (and a quick glance at the V5 confirms what you say), but I'll not elaborate as to my reasons why I still have doubts....
 
#36 · (Edited)
I have heard of similar situations with GT owners and the DVLA not certain if the cars are JTD M-Jets or JTDms. I could possibly help you to find out which it is for certain if you DO elaborate, although, if the V5 says 165g/CO2 then its highly likely it IS a JTDm.

As for the GT sills, I have only ever seen one with damaged sills and I was horrified at the stupidity of the idiot that did it. Even the op of this thread admitted it. I am not a font of Alfa knowledge-this is the only thread I have taken part in that discusses this.

The prevalence of damaged sills on GTs is down to the ignorance, stupidity, total lack of care and sloppy workmanship of mechanics who work on them and do the damage.

I make no apologies for my tone-if your are stupid enough to jack the cars up on the arrows and not on the weight bearing rails behind them, then frankly you should not be let anywhere near a car, even to drive it (sorry MattyC).

It shows a total lack of common sense and is in no way indicative of bad design. The jack in the boot has a groove in it to fit round the rail on the chassis member behind the sill and the handbook clearly shows this.

Rather it is an indicator of stupidity, lack of care, lack of thought and people not bothering to read the handbook.

Trying to shift the blame for other's stupidity onto the designer of the car is ridiculous. There are things on the GT the are not that well designed, the arrows indicating whereabouts the jacking points are, are not one of them.

The arrows are there to show where the jacking points are behind the sill, they do not mean "place jack here"

And further to that, no cars have the jacking points on the visible part of the sill - they are always behind on the chassis rails.
 
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