Tuesday, 15 January 2019

Cross Member Repair

With the rear bulkhead now finished (YES!!) I have started on the cross member. I needed to remove the rest of the floor which was very satisfying.



But on closer inspection it wasn't looking all that good...



Once the loose rust was brushed away I set about with the flap disk and wire wheels to clean up that rusty metal which mostly turned out ok in the end.


So I applied my first coat of rust converter which I will then remove and reapply a second coat once I have made sure there is no more rust hiding under the surface metal.


Should be able to get the cross member in soon.

Monday, 7 January 2019

Rear Bulkhead nearly finished

Over the festive holidays it did turn quite cold but I have been determined to keep pressing on with the car. 

At times I considered my madness working in temperatures hovering just above freezing, but usually with hard work comes reward. I have managed to get the rear bulkhead welding on to the MG Midget. This restoration has its high moments and this is definitely one of them. There are just so many panels that come together at this point and I also needed to make sure the spring will fit properly at the same time.

Nearly ready to move on to the cross member!





Then I had to check the springs fitted ok with the floor panel in place which is a testing moment I remember from last time.

Thankfully I needn't have worried.




Monday, 17 December 2018

Rear bulkhead continued

I won't go into too much detail about this as I have already completed this section before but on the offside of the chassis. 

I did wonder whether the MG Midget had a bump at some point in its past or if the rust was just so bad, but this whole area seemed to be misaligned where all the panels come together here on the b-post. There are a few signed on damage on the underside of the car on this left hand side. The rust could have contributed.

However with so much metal having to be cut away it gives me the chance to get it all back to how it should have been.

Before I welded in the rear bulkhead I needed to finish off the luggage floor panel to come right round the wheel arch to seal the car from dirt and water kicked up by the tyres.



Then it was time to weld in the rear bulkhead.



Next up, spring hanger!

Sunday, 11 November 2018

Rear Wheel Arch Repairs

Really trying to push on with this section and I have been making good progress. I remember from last time it took me weeks to do the same repair on the right hand side with my lack of experience, but in just one day I completed some complicated areas, including the inner wheel arch.


Back to the tried and tested method, but I actually used the same template from last time.



Next stop is the rear bulkhead section and after removing the old rusted metal it was time for some test fitting.



All looking good!

Wednesday, 7 November 2018

Tackling the rust

After many hours sanding and grinding with my assortment of tools the transmission tunnel wasn't that bad and once cleaned up and with a few layers of rust converter has come up quite well.

The photo's below show my first pass at doing this. On bad areas I have been applying the rust converter and allowing it to dry then sanding it all off again to try and expose further rust pitting. 




As mentioned in my last post I did have to remove the reinforcement panel, thankfully it came off very well with some new spot weld drill bits.



The next step was to repair the lip of the transmission panel.


And that turned out well.


Next step on the list was to repair the inner wheel arch. Now this area didn't look that bad, but there was significant rust pitting which I felt needed to be replaced.


Definitely needed attention!


Now that is in and once it is grinded down smooth I can sort out the outer wheel arch.

Thursday, 1 November 2018

Not what I expected!

Brimming in confidence having tackled this section before but on the other side of the car I have been carefully measuring and cutting back the rusted metal and with new panels ready to go I thought I would have this area done in no time at all!

But then on removing the rear bulkhead panel I find this!


Need a closer look!


Trust me it's rusted!



The transmission tunnel has rusted out right in the corner where it meets the floor panel and the rear bulkhead. You can see the hole my screwdriver made just above the hand brake cable bracket.

This unfortunately means, I think, that in order to sort this area out I'm going to have to take off the floor reinforcement plate and maybe more depending on how that goes.


This is so typical of this restoration project as I thought this side wasn't as bad and in some areas it isn't, but some areas it is a lot worse. I am going to have to drill out about 20 welds to hopefully remove this reinforcement plate without distorting it too much.

Oh well...