Next is to tackle this... the bottom of the C post where the lower sliding door track meets it... took a few measurements before I started cutting...
Will make up new pieces in the morning...
First bit of C post repair...
Second bit...
Next to tackle the bottom slider rail and outer sill...
First job was to remove the seal channel from the new outer sill.
I laid out the old and new parts side by side, took note of lots of measurements before I started cutting.
Note the bend in the panel along where the black line is. Will have to try to recreate that bend in the new part.
Note the surface that the vert. roller rides on has a slope outwards...
I cut the rusty worn bit out and used it as a template to mark the new outer sill.
Thanks Wookster, that clears things up for me.
I trial fitted the semi-repaired sliding door track today.
I just tack welded the repair and held the whole thing in place with three sets of vice grips.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that when I put the door on, it lined up pretty well. I reckon there will be enough adjustment in the roller arms to make it dead on.
I came across a few problems....
The lip on the new outer sill isn't long enough to cover the inner sill lip properly. Its about 5mm or so too short.
I don't feel like welding a tiny thin strip the whole way along, so it will do the way it is. There's enough of an overlap to make decent enough spot welds and I can always weld along the edge in a few places. By the time its seam sealed etc, no one will notice.
Apart from that, I've had a problem with twisting the whole thing correctly to fit and for the rollers to run smoothly. Because the new panel was flat and didn't have the bend in it (the bend I talked about before with a black line in one of the photos), when I did put a bend in it, the whole thing took a twist and has been hard to get straight again.
It'll be a matter of brute force to bend it into shape while finally welding it in place.
Welded a bit more of the bottom sliding door track....
Started to weld in the repaired sliding door track today....
Then attached the new channel for the door seal...
Attached the sliding door to check the fit....
Ran out of upwards adjustment on the front edge of the door and I think it could do with going up another bit so am considering elongating the slots in the arm a bit more.