Saturday 9 March 2013

Floor & Sill Repair Preparation

I have been following many peoples advice when restoring a MG Midget, to take it slowly and concentrate of small sections at a time. This is very important advice, as there is so much metal work to be done and I have to learn many new skills as I go.

Today I tackled the task of removing sections of the rusted floor plan that was originally spot welded to the chassis.

First job though was to buy some ear defenders as recent grinding activities had left me with my ears ringing for hours. I can't tell you how much a difference it made to my concentration. Removing the one sense that was distracting me from the job in hand helped enormously.

Spot weld by spot weld, I drilled each one and removed a small section. These drills holes will act as my guide to puddle weld in the new panel.


1965 MG Midget MKII Restoration 1965 MG Midget MKII Restoration

It was a relief to see that the inner part of the chassis was relatively free of rust. I will apply some rust remover and finish with black chassis paint before welding on the new floor panel. 


1965 MG Midget MKII Restoration

This section though needs some serious work. I would like to repair this with steel cut to size and welded in. Give me a chance to test my very new and raw welding skills.

7 comments:

  1. I am in Louisiana and am at a similar state with my 1964 Midget

    Any more details on how you removed the old floor panels would be helpful

    Thanks

    Dan C.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Dan, thank you for reading my blog!

      To get the old floor panels off the chassis you will first need to take plenty of measurements. Many people will also weld a bar across the door to keep the door gaps perfect. Mine were already out so I am going to adjust the chassis before welding in the new panels.

      The general aim is to use a grinding disk to cut out the floor up to the edges of the next panel. If you look round the edge of the floorplan where the seat goes, you will notice a lip of metal that comes from the next panel or 3/4 tube chassis section. The floor panel is spot welded to that lip. So after I had removed the 'square' of metal either side of the cross member as close as I dared. I then used a flap disk on my grinder to go right up to the lip.

      The next step is to find all the spot welds that hold the old floor panel in place. I used my flap disk to remove the old paint and rust. Once found you then match the drill size with the spot weld and start to drill out each and every one!

      The next step is to use a chisel and start to prise the (hopefully) good metal lip and the old floor plan apart. If you used the correct drill size you should get a very satisfying 'pop' as each spot weld comes apart. Not all welds though are perfectly round and some welds will be difficult to pop free. You may notice at first that in trying to break the weld it starts to tear the good metal lip, if this happens stop and try to come at the weld from the other side. You soon work out the best way whilst causing the least amount of damage.

      The original floor plan is obviously one whole piece, you may be looking to purchase the smaller LH & RH repair panels and so will notice that you have to work out when to stop cutting, as to where you want the new panel to fit in. Take lots of measurements to ensure your fitting!

      I would recommend having a look at other restoration projects page. There are some very good step by step photos on there. I like this one: http://www.ppcmag.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=10826&sid=c9fab3305df0eba1e5f0c258f96deede

      Good luck

      James

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    2. Hi, I am so pleased to have found your page. I have a MG that is almost all good apart from the floor pan on drivers side, sills and part of the wheel arch need replacing as they are totally rusted through. I have found all the parts I need but am scared to take a grinder to it myself. Its so difficult when you cant really see whats involced through all the rust. I dont want to give up on the project but im worried its too much for me to take on. I too have only just learnt to weld and looking at your pictures it seems that possibly i wont be taking on too much and that it is possible to DIY this. Do you have any more advice? To do the floor do I just need the seats and carpets out? Any other pictures would be fantastic!

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    3. Hi James,
      I glad that you have found the blog useful. I have to admit that I am still at the stage where I need to pluck up the courage and get welding. I am sure you will find that when you start to cut away the rusted panels you will gain more confidence. Just take it slow and use the pictures in my gallery as a guide. There are also many other blogs (I have listed some in other restoration projects) that will help you. Also there is www.mig-welding.co.uk where you can pick up tips to improve your welding, but I found that just keep practising is a good way to learn from trial an error.
      With regards to the floor if the inner and out sills, the cross member and rear bulkhead is all ok then yes, no reason why you cannot just remove the seats and carpet. If you are lucky then you may not have to replace the whole panel. You can always send me some photos and I'll give you the best advice I can. There are also many forums that will give you far better advice than I ever could. The one I regularly visit is http://www2.mg-cars.org.uk/cgi-bin/gen5?runprog=mgbbs.
      Good luck
      James
      P.S. I'd better get back to the workshop now the summer is over!

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  2. what is a good paint to cover the floor of my midget, floor is not rusted just want to replace the carpet with some paint that can be used without a car cover,so it can be wet by rain and dont get damaged

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    Replies
    1. Hi, I would use something like Eastwood Black Chassis paint. Give it a few coats.

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