Damage to sill?

[Driver+Passengers]

Not as frightening as paulv's wife's incident today (mine was my own fault), but I've done some damage to my van. I was parked next to the trolley park in a car park and despite climbing out and back in via the passenger door, when pulling away, the barrier was below my line of sight and all I saw was an 'empty space' next to me, so pulled away approaching full right lock. Crunch! A momentary lapse of concentration I'll never get back.

In case the damage is not obvious, my son is pointing it out...


Other angles here...
http://s1224.photobucket.com/albums/ee3 ... assengers/

What I don't know is how bad it is. I've read elsewhere that the sills are structural components, but a mate suggested the damage was only to the outer panel.

From these photos, can anyone comment on the potential issues I might face? Will be getting quotes on Monday and deciding whether to soak it up or put in a claim based on a) cost, and b) feedback here.

Feeling a bit sheepish,
Matt.

[Simon Jones]

Ouch! I've just been doing some work in the same area on my van and I think there is a chance the rear heater unit could also be damaged as it sits just behind that panel. Take a look under the side of the van and check you haven't lost any coolant or disturbed the air-con pipework.

The outer skin is spot welded onto the sill and floor panel along the bottom of the sill. It looks to me like a pretty tricky job to pull out or replace, but no doubt fixable. Best of luck

[Driver+Passengers]

Ouch! I've just been doing some work in the same area on my van and I think there is a chance the rear heater unit could also be damaged as it sits just behind that panel. Take a look under the side of the van and check you haven't lost any coolant or disturbed the air-con pipework.

The outer skin is spot welded onto the sill and floor panel along the bottom of the sill. It looks to me like a pretty tricky job to pull out or replace, but no doubt fixable. Best of luck

I had a look at the time, but pipework all looks sound. No leaks on the ground after parking up at next destination. I can see the spot welds along the bottom and the 'underneath' shot looking back shows only a very slight disturbance to the straightness of that seam. So re: the internals behind the panel, I think I might have got away with no damage.

[jaylee]

I just been looking at the other pictures... (The second one especially.)


What i have to say may have no bearing at all.... (& i hope it don't!?)

But check your rear heater hasn't had a shunt aswell.... Check it don't leak at any of the conections either at the rear heater matrix or the AC condenser thing..?

http://www.lushprojects.com/bongopartsm ... mgno=.html

I found a pic for you to show whats going on behind the trim...



Good luck! (Simon beat me to it...)

[Bongopoet]

Ouch! Oh we feel your pain.

Chrissy

[dave_aber]

I found a pic for you to show whats going on behind the trim...

Looks familiar!

[Northern Bongolow]

that should not be too bad to get back,they have some weld on pullers that drag it all back out.
there are some verticle strengtheners behind that panel, and they can be a problem to straighten(double skin).
as has been said the heater casing will have taken a hit, and maybe broken the mounting brackets etc. if this is the case give me a shout as i have a spare rear heater casing.
good luck.

[Driver+Passengers]

that should not be too bad to get back,they have some weld on pullers that drag it all back out.
there are some verticle strengtheners behind that panel, and they can be a problem to straighten(double skin).
as has been said the heater casing will have taken a hit, and maybe broken the mounting brackets etc. if this is the case give me a shout as i have a spare rear heater casing.
good luck.

Cheers for that. I'll open her up to inspect and see what's what. Probably worth leaving the trim off when getting quotes in.

Sounding like it might not be the end of the world after all... touch wood!

[jaylee]

I found a pic for you to show whats going on behind the trim...

Looks familiar!

I was originally looking for one of Kistys.. I love the Artex on yours though...

[kloonsy]

Thats a very strong area and very hard to get back especially as there is B post damage. You will probably end up replacing the panel unfortunatley.

[dave_aber]

Should point out to Matt, you won't find half a sheep in there like the photo of mine!

Good luck with the repair.

[jaylee]

Take comfort Matt. My Bass player put a cheeky crease just behind the door with the corner of his Passat Estate 3 years ago.
After he coughed up for the repair..! (my cill was fine though. I'd say it was just above the red door edge marker on yours...) I never knew it happened...!

[Driver+Passengers]

I removed the middle seats and trim and can confirm there is some damage to the rear heater plastic. If that's all, superglue would probably do it.



Here's what's in there...



I've just flicked through the following thread viewtopic.php?f=3&t=29530 re: removal. Clearly this is not just a case of loosening the three top bolts that go into the floor. Unless I'm getting ahead of myself, I need to get this out, right?

Anyone have step by step instruction to remove the heater? Can I get away without draining coolant, being quick and bleeding, or what's the script? I'll go read that other thread again.

Does the front aircon switch turn on aircon in the rear? I think I read that rear aircon was an option and I assumed that I didn't have it. Does this make a difference?

Matt.

[Northern Bongolow]

it will require the rear heater and aircon to be broken into to remove the entire unit. but you can split the casing half way down, if you remove the little clips,(dont loose them).

[bigdaddycain]

It's a pity the door edge reflector wasn't attached to the side sill... seeing as that seemed to survive damage free it may have deflected the impact from the sill! There's not a vast amount can be done with the sill, it would take one hell of a pull from a tack weld on dent pull bar, and may be a drill into the sill job and slide hammer it out Not great, and not a vast amount of repair options really... except getting it as straight as possible, filling, flatting, repainting, and making pretty again... That sill seam would need re-sealing. You'd be looking at about a £250 bill from my local bongo bodyshop to fix that.