Door Sills

[LateApex]

I am not sure I have seen any photos on this forum that show the FFR door sills for the Coupe.

I was not expecting these to be sent as part of the kit. That there is no reference in the part list suggests these may be a [nice] new add to the sheet metal. Here is a picture of mine in the raw:

Door Sills Raw.JPG

I believe these are laser etched. I have not cleaned these up at all yet. I am thinking there are all sorts of creative ways to finish this item prior to installation. Anything to share?

[bil1024]

Nice wish my Gen 3 came with those

[rhk118]

Agreed I haven't seen them either in photos or otherwise. Parts are nowhere to be seen on my inventory list either.

[Namrups]

I was surprised to see them with my kit also.

[David Williamson]

they look like a nice finishing part for the car. I bought sill plates and pontoon covers for my car and I think they are needed for a finished look.
FFR always improve their products over time
David W

[flyingfarley]

My Daytona kit came with those in the box with the carpeting.....The car was ordered and shipped late 2020

[edwardb]

No fair. My Gen 3 kit from 2017 didn't have them. Did get some from Russ Thompson which dress it out nicely. Nice improvement FF.

[Namrups]

Yes, they look laser etched but the etching is not very deep. Not sure how long they would last under normal wear. I do like the looks of them. I have also ordered Russ Thompsons. I'll use what ever I think looks the best.

[UpNorth]

Me jealous!

[LateApex]

The etching is indeed very light. Minor laser burning evident, so needs some clean up. Then, if I can figure a way to rub some color into those etches, polish the surface and clear coat, I may have a finished piece.

Alternatively, and this is harder, I use the etching lines to color portions of the pattern to match / compliment the steering wheel center piece. Maybe a black enamel, a fine brush and a real steady hand.

Thinking ...

I'll post when I have an example to share :-)

Thx all for the feedback!

[Ron F]

I received mine when my backordered carpet showed up.
Already had the Russ Thompsons too.
Will probably use the RTs because I like those a bit better. I may not have ordered them if I realized I would get FFR sills included. It's nice to have the option for sure.

[LateApex]

Finally getting around to finishing these door sills.

I spent a bit of time with a buffing wheel and white rouge. This takes a lot of time and it is difficult to get a consistent "mirror finish". A mirror finish on my side pipes is appreciated, but I am not convinced that it is needed on the door sills.

What I am really after is etching residue. Burn, or slag, or whatever - it is brown, and it highlights some of the etches and not others.

One website suggests rubbing alcohol and a stiff plastic bristle brush. That does not work.

What does work reasonably well is Brasso and elbow grease. I have this can of Brasso lying around since my Army days. Whadda ya know.

It doesn't clear all the etches. Some are darker than others. This is a function of the laser etching process IMO. The depth of the etches is inconsistent. But it looks decent after this clean up. Whadda ya think?

Door sills - Brasso.JPG

[Ron F]

That is a great job! I know the ones I have were discolored pretty heavily. Nicely done.

[rhk118]

That is a great job! I know the ones I have were discolored pretty heavily. Nicely done.

^ agreed.

[LateApex]

Back to this topic for just a moment.

When one gets to mounting the body after painting, applying noise and heat insulation and carpet, late order of business aluminum sheet metal and bulb seal edging, dimensions change. This may be a good thing in some ways, as I may have this solved my problem with door alignment that may benefit from the body being "stretched", so to speak.

When one stretches the body laterally like this, the door sills provided by FFR are silly small. First, they aren't long enough to cover gaps at the ends of the sills, and they are thin - they don't come even close to covering the door sill. These sill plates, which have other basic appearance problems are heading for my scrap pile. I can fab some other sill plates, or maybe not. Which brings me to my question for this esteemed group.

What are you doing with the carpet and sill interface. One option seems to be to wrap the carpet under the fiberglass for a clean look. But I am concerned about the extra maybe 1/8" to 3/16" height this creates in the body (which translates to a shift rearward of the main body as well) and pontoons and bonnet interface and the windscreen dash interface

Are you tucking the carpet under the fiberglass at the door sill, or over the fiberglass (even if it is way too short to span the sill) or trimming it to meet with the fiberglass with some edging. All ideas welcome of course :-)

[Dave Tabor]

Back to this topic for just a moment.

When one gets to mounting the body after painting, applying noise and heat insulation and carpet, late order of business aluminum sheet metal and bulb seal edging, dimensions change. This may be a good thing in some ways, as I may have this solved my problem with door alignment that may benefit from the body being "stretched", so to speak.

When one stretches the body laterally like this, the door sills provided by FFR are silly small. First, they aren't long enough to cover gaps at the ends of the sills, and they are thin - they don't come even close to covering the door sill. These sill plates, which have other basic appearance problems are heading for my scrap pile. I can fab some other sill plates, or maybe not. Which brings me to my question for this esteemed group.

What are you doing with the carpet and sill interface. One option seems to be to wrap the carpet under the fiberglass for a clean look. But I am concerned about the extra maybe 1/8" to 3/16" height this creates in the body (which translates to a shift rearward of the main body as well) and pontoons and bonnet interface and the windscreen dash interface

Are you tucking the carpet under the fiberglass at the door sill, or over the fiberglass (even if it is way too short to span the sill) or trimming it to meet with the fiberglass with some edging. All ideas welcome of course :-)

Can I have them?!

Dave
Gen III #17

[LateApex]

Sure! You will have to post your solution tho :-)

[Dave Tabor]

Sure! You will have to post your solution tho :-)

LOL - well my car is not carpeted - and has no sills.

I guess bend your own if you have a wide enough bending brake.

At one point I did find and buy some aluminum angle - maybe 1.5-2" side width and thought I could at least trim over the fiberglass body to aluminum panel gap.

Like this stuff:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt...2597/204273989

Of course it would not cover the entire sill area. I never got around to doing it.

Dave
Gen III #17

[LateApex]

Hi Dave - I may try to cut off the 90-degree bend and then place them more centered in the door sill, and covering the fiberglass / carpet interface, which I can trim to a butt joint. In any case, some clear bra is going to be needed to protect the outer painted edge of the door sill. It is a little tricky as the length of these panels doesn't cover completely the carpet cut. I can fix this with remnants and Super - 77 - Hah!

Or I'll find some stainless sheet and make sill panels to fit per my aesthetics.

If I decide to abandon these kit sill panels, I'll PM and we can get them to you to mull over :-)

[Dave Tabor]

If I decide to abandon these kit sill panels, I'll PM and we can get them to you to mull over :-)

Cool - just just don't toss them!

Dave
Gen III#17

[LateApex]

So, I installed the FFR Door sill panels. I offset them to the rear of the door opening after tucking carpet under the fiberglass sills. I will post a photo on my build thread. It looks okay. If wishes were fishes, I would wish that the etching on the door sills was done correctly. This looks like a single pass with the laser, and with stainless steel the best approach is to do multiple passes for a good consistent etching depth. I would also revisit the size of the panels to have a more complete fill of the sill. FWIW

Sorry Dave ...

[nick729]

@LateApex can you share a pic of the how it looks after you installed it? I'm also thinking what to do with the sills.. I was planning on cleaning them up and putting clear PPF over the top of it to prevent scratching...

[Namrups]

I like the looks of the door sills in my coupe!!

[LateApex]

That looks nice Scott! Just like mine, aside from my Viking Blue background :-)