It's Nearly Floor Time

I got a message today from Andy Mc in Holland today telling me to keep going! He also had a link to his website of his MG Midget project which I recommend you check out: http://superspridget.blogspot.nl/?m=1

That was all it took to help me decide that I needed to make some more progress with the car and so tonight I finally got the repair to the shock absorber bracket completed after the second time of trying.

The first time the welds didn't take at all and the whole repair just popped off. I guessed because I didn't increase the voltage on the welder to accommodate the thicker metal. So after drilling out the welds and turning up the power I gave it a second go and all was well, as you can see.

This now means there is nothing stopping me from welding in the new floor panel!!

I had to check when I first tried to test fit this panel to fit and it was the 1st April 2013. 

But so much has happened since then both with the car and with life in general, especially the new garden which has been consuming my spare time since September last year. 

I finished off the evenings work by doing the final test fitting before the big weld.

I also though it would be good to see the before and after photo.

Very happy with the way it has turn out and I am certainly looking forward to getting the next section done, just got to remember to turn the welder voltage down before I start!

Floor Pan Preparation

During the last few weeks I have been preparing the chassis and new floor pan to fit together ready for welding. It turns out there is quite a lot to think about. First off you very quickly realise how many holes you have to drill. I lost count after 200!

Then there are the tube sections which will be covered up forever more. I wanted to treat these with rust protection to hopefully give them some extra life. Midget's have seemed to suffer badly around the crossmember area, probably because of the jacking point clear lets moisture into that section.

 

Another area that will be mostly hidden is the gap between the inner and outer rear bulkhead. Once I have completed the chassis the plan is to take it to a sandblasting company to take all the metal back and prime with an Epoxy paint. I am sure these gaps will be hard to blast when the floor pan is in, so any protection will be useful. Both of these sections I used rust converter or primer and then black chassis paint. 

I then spend some time cleaning down the bare metal and zinc priming all the contact welding points. This included the new floor pan and as you can see the panel on the right is all prepared. Shame really as the new panels look so nice!

I've got quite a lot of welding to do here. Best to take it slow so not to warp the metal.

It was only the other day when I realised I might have hit a problem. If I weld in the floor plan now, it will be very difficult to weld in a repair section that links the shock absorber bracket to the rear suspension mount as shown in the pictures below.

I have made it even more difficult because of my chassis tilting device that uses the shock absorber bracket for support. So the option I came up with was to weld the part to the suspension mount first and complete the weld at a later stage when I can get better access. 

  
Hopefully I can get welding soon!

Sill Welded in

All welded in!! Very happy. Next stop the floor! Got to say being able to tilt the chassis has made this job so much easier.

Sill Prep Update

Had some time today to carry on with the preparation work for the sill. Couple more jobs and I can start to drill all the holes for the sill and floor!

I also had time to make a bespoke repair which is one of the jobs I like the best.

It's nearly sill time

No I really mean it this time! I just need to finish off this small triangular hole next to the rear bulk head and I am going to start drilling the welding holes.

After that I need to weld in this section repair that might be a little challenging fitting into place. This repair below was one of the first that I made. Be great to get it in place after all these months. 

I just can't wait to get the sill and floor in! Certainly being able to tilt the chassis now has already made a difference. I think that I am getting about a a 70 to 75 degree tilt which is fine by me.

Part Tilt Midget

It has been so long since my last post, but sorting out our new house has taken priority. I have been itching to get into the lovely garage and in recent days I made a start on my new project of being able to tilt the chassis to make the welding easier.

As the photo's above show I made a mount out of 3mm steel that would bolt on to the engine stand and attach to the radiator uprights.

I then made a mount and attached it to the rear damper supports as shown below.

I then had to hope that the chassis would tilt...

Thankfully it did! It will tilt further but I didn't want to risk it on my first attempt. Hopefully I can find some more time to weld more panels in!

New Residence - Update

I have managed to grab some time to sort out the garage and get things back on track with working on the MG Midget. Things have been a little crazy with our new house, which has meant time has been limited in the garage. But I am so pleased with my new workspace.

The next challenge is to weld in the new floor, which has made me decide that I really need to rotate the chassis safely and accurately. After doing some research I decided to purchase two engine mount stands which I will bolt on to the front and rear sections of the chassis. I found two on ebay that seemed to be ok and they turned up today! I have to say that for £36 each I am really impressed with the quality. They seem high enough to allow a full rotation, but I will need to create some bespoke fitting plates with some adjustment in them just to make sure they do rotate.

Next steps will be to buy some more steel plate for the bespoke fittings so I will report back when that is done and then I will be able to weld in the floor, I can't wait for that!!

New Residence

It has been a while I know but there is good reason for the lack of progress in that I have moved house and with it now have a nice big garage!

I will update this post with photo's when things have calmed down a little.

Footwell Side Panel Preparation

So now that the triangular support is mostly finished and can start work on the footwell side panel. I have made the decision to leave the A-post repair until I am in a position where all the panels are in place that will allow me to get the gaps around doors perfect.

Looking back it did all seem to be a very scary, but after tonight the side panel is ready to be welded in. All the edges to be welded have been wire brushed to clean metal and then painted with welding primer.

 

I have left this part of the A-post (above right) to be the guide or the new A-post repair