Passenger Footwell Update

It has been a few months since my last post. Life again has rolled its dice. A new job and a big push to finish the house has limited my time in the garage working on my MG Midget.

There was the odd time I managed to grab an hour here and there to try and keep the progress going.

Here's an overview of progress so far:

Footwell Side Panel:

After cutting out the old panel the new one fitting perfectly.

Inner Sill:

The inner sill also welded in very nicely. There was some small adjustments at each end but all in all a very smooth fit.

Test fitting the out sill:

I wanted to make sure the outer sill aligned correctly and thankfully it did. I checked with the end caps and like the off side of the chassis they fitted well. Looking forward to getting this panel in place.

Offside Floor:

Think this looks so good compared to the last time I took this photo

After nearly an hour of test fitting I was ready to start welding in the passenger floor panel today. It will take me a good few sessions to complete this large section, but again the alignment is looking good.

On a sad note my grinder packed in today, oh well, over six years of hard work took it's toll. Kind of excited to get a new one though!

Offside Triangular support:

Originally I thought this side wasn't too bad compares to the other side. I was wrong! Again!

Passenger Footwell

Been soldiering on with cleaning up the passenger foot well in the MG Midget. Overall the metal is in quite good condition when compared to the drivers side. With a couple of small rust holes that are easily dealt with by the usual process of cutting out the rust and welding in a small piece of metal.

The point at which the inner sill makes contact with the end panel though did need to be sorted out though.

Once the new section was welded back in it allowed me to check the alignment of the inner sill, which thankfully looked good to me.

Also good to check the alignment of the floor panel as well

Next job will be to sort out the foot well side panel and the A-post that looks in as bad a state as the drivers side!

Cross Member Completed

After a few recent cold days that brought some snow it has been a balmy 6 degrees in the garage so I was able to finish off welding in the cross member. It is so important to take loads of measurement beforehand to tackle this properly, but it also handy to have a good eye for a straight line as well.

Before that thought I need to make good some of the flanges on the box sections. This was were the rust had penetrated a little too deep into the metal.

It didn't take too long to cut out the old and weld in the new. Certainly looking much better than when I first uncovered this box section.

It took a while to make sure all was straight. After a short time it was in!

Ready to move on to the next area, the end of the foot well.

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.

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.

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!

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!