1949 Tourer from Aus

[RobThomas]

Ground down and etched. I'm going to put stonechip on the underside so it will hide the imperfections, I hope![frame][/frame]

[Neil MG]

Yes, hopefully the stonechip will do the job... ...or it could be embarrassing if you happen to run over a concours judge!

Seriously though, that is an extremely nice job, a credit to you and a model for the rest of us!

[chickenjohn]

Great job, Rob. Looks like that car is in the best hands! I can barely see the repair, so I expect a few coats of stone chip and then some body colour paint and the repair will be invisible.

Stone chip as i'm sure you know has to be overpainted as it is porous to water.

[RobThomas]

Thanks, guys. The Midget had a gloss coat under the stonechip and then another above it. 6 years later and there is nothing coming through under the wheelarches so I guess the effort paid off.

I wasn't aware that stonechip wasn't waterproof!

This is the pivot for the MM clutch arm. Is it a solid pin or can the centre be pushed out? I can lathe a new one up but wondered if I actually have to cut the entire thing out from both sides.[frame][/frame]

[chickenjohn]

I've just looked at my BMC workshop manual and it looks like it should be possible (once you've removed the cotter pin that retains the MM clutch pedal to the shaft) to drive the shaft out from outside of the chassis leg with a club hammer and large drift. (Replace the retaining nut if it has one to protect the threads). Plenty of penetrating fluid and perhaps some heat might help!

I should point out, I've never done this job on an MM as I don't have an MM but have done it on 1000's, I just happened to have the manual handy! Section E, page E.2

It looks from the manual as though the only difference between the MM and 1000 pedal shaft arrangement is that the 1000 has the clutch pedal integral with the shaft, wheras the MM has a removable clutch pedal on the shaft. All the bronze bushes are available.

[RobThomas]

OK, not the most elegant bit of bodywork at the bottom. The floor was a bit out of shape due to the proximity of the repair panel edges from the previous bit of welding. I added a door since it seems a shame not to make some use of this box section for some sort of storage. It has a frame inside the hatch and a sprung flap that snaps closed at the moment but will be replaced with either a magnetic or key-perated catch when I can find one. A bit of grinding and maybe a thin skim of filler paste should cover the top weld nicely and make it almost invisible.[frame][/frame]

CJ. That pin isn't the clutch pedal shaft but is a sort of pivot for the 'secondary lever' (?) that sits about 6 inches forwards of the pedal shaft. I'm not even sure if this particular pin is found on later models.

[chickenjohn]

No the 2ndary shaft is not found on the later cars! Please ignore my suggestion. There is no mention of this in the workshop manual at all.

[RobThomas]

So, the BFH gets a night off!

Close up with the microscope camera thingy suggests that it is non-replaceable. What a stooopid design. Each side has 3 tack welds on it so I might be able to carefully grind them away to replace the peg.

[RobThomas]

Hartwell catches, as used on aeroplanes for the oil filler panel holes. They are stainless steel flush fitting catches that are operated with just one finger. It would hide nicely behind some carpet with velcro on and thus provide a handy place to store stuff like keys and cameras[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

[MarkyB]

Whoa! At least copy the edge design from the holes under the sills!
I can almost see stress cracks coming off the corners of that hole.

[RobThomas]

Sorry, what holes under the sills did you mean? The doorway has a reinforcing lip welded inside it to double the thickness and the corners have been stop-drilled 3/16 prior to the box being cut out.


Editted. On reflection I think you mean making rounded edges to the doorway like the holes in the sides of the sill panels? I cut it out with a superthin grinding disc and used the piece I cut out to make the door itself, hence the square edges and the need for a reinforcing ring inside the doorway. I pre-drilled the corner holes so that I had something nice to line up on when cutting.

[MarkyB]

The rounded edge is exactly what I meant, I just couldn't think of a name for that panel .
My understanding is that it spreads the load all the way around the hole and stiffens that panel.

I'm not a structural engineer, and don't even play one in a TV series, but I'm sure that a hole like you have made has substantially reduced the strength of that box section.

[RobThomas]

Rolling a flange into a hole and putting a huge radius WILL reduce the stress raiser on a corner but isn't really needed if there aren't any loads through the panel. This particular Morris seat crossmember panel (now 2mm thick fresh steel round that doorway) carries a tiny proportion of the front spring shackle loads and a bit of the loading from the rear seat passenger weight but not enough to make me nervous enough to do stress analysis calcs on it. If you look at the rust holes that were in the panels beforehand (and in most Minors? ) you'd see that no cracks had propogated through an area riddled with small holes and stress raisers. I promise you, if it ever cracks round that doorway I'll eat both my own buttocks.
When I made the cowlings for my aeroplane I ran large radii and flanges just in case the vibrations through it were too high.[frame][/frame]

[chickenjohn]

I agree with Rob, the box section is there 90% just to support the rear seat and passengers, It is not structural. The floors and especially the sill box section with it's near 2mm inner sill step bears the suspension loads.

[MarkyB]

Fair enough, I'd always thought that section acted like a cross piece on a ladder chassis, if it mostly holds the rear seat up it won't be a problem.

[RobThomas]

The other side of the car. Again, welded with MIG from the underside but with a pulsing action this time in an effort to try and reduce burn-through (mostlyyyy worked) Hopefully not too much grinding this time as it as it seems quite flush. Later, after a coffee and a chocky bickie, I'll have a got at the area under the spring hanger where it needs to be spot welded on, although I have already splodged a bit of MIG at the end where there was originally a splodge of gas weld holding the end of the shackle onto the floor prior to spotting it.
Looks like I didn't clean back far enough with the thinners to get the etch primer off.

The rear edge (left of pic) is Migged and the leading edge (right) is Tigged from above due to it being a butt weld rather than a joddled lap weld. A lap weld allows the next panel to sit down flat on it without me having to f4rt about with my mallet to get it sitting right. I wish I'd done the first side this way.
[frame][/frame]

[RobThomas]

Minor aggro in the garage today after work. The left chassis rail is (was) kinked in by about 1/4 inch at the eyebolt. Collision damage in the past? Anyway, a bottle jack, a large bolt, a long piece of angle iron and about 20 minutes of fluent swearing saw it bent back into shape. I guess it explains why it had more spacers on the eyebolt on that side when I took it apart.
Is there an official dimension between chassis rails? I recall it being in one of the previous messages.

[Neil MG]

That looks extremely neat Rob!

I use the same pulsing action for sheet with my mig and if anyone wants to know more there is a good explanation on:

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/thin-metal.htm

I can highly recommend the website and forums. I got a Portamig welder from one of the main sponsors of the site and cannot praise it highly enough.

[chickenjohn]

Yes, the Mig-welding.co.uk site is the best for mig and general welding advice on the internet! I visit there daily after looking at this forum.

And the "thin metal technique" is in practice what most restorers and mechanics use when welding thin car material.

[RobThomas]

A bit more lead loading in the bootlid dents and then a quick blast of colour to get a feel for the final tint. Not sure the boss is going to go for a colour this light. I've compared it to her 'sample' colur at the bottom of page 3 and hav concluded that this colour is probably a tin of Aircraft Cockpit Green that I had left over. It doesn't have a label on it. I wonder where the Landrover colour tin has gone?
Filling in the scuffed sections of original lead has been the worst part of the paintwork so far since it gets a bit cratered by the grit.[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

Wish I had a wider garage!