1966 2 door saloon Milly restoration project

[David JM]

this is where I'll be working on the worst hole, once I get it up on axle stands.

[David JM]

Gave each of the axle stands a tap to check they were all loaded, always a time for care and attention.


once it's up and firm, I can turn on the workshop radio and enjoy Gold Station playing 1960s Sunday hits with appropriatly the Monkees playing pleasant Valley Sunday. Ideal track for working on a 1966 Moggie.

[David JM]

with the stands up at max height, it gives me plenty of room to work under there.

[David JM]

sliding out the rear seat back off the splines and pulled out the seat base placed them both away somewhere dry.


rolled the rear carpet floor forward to see the area to be welded up, It'll be far more doable welding downward from above. But I'll need to protect the interior from the welding gas and sparks.

[David JM]

seats and carpet out, three seat bolts for the front seats came out dead easy, one sheared off, deal with that later. I can see a pax side floor repair.


starting here on the Front offside floor leading edge, cut open like a door, bend that back and forth to break it free.


using cardboard held against the hole and marked out and cut out with scissors as a template.


held against the new sheet steel, marked out with a pencil


initial welds in, more work on this area tomorrow.

[svenedin]

After the trouble I had re-fitting the metal surround that holds the rubber gearbox gaiter I can't help but notice that somebody has given up and drilled extra holes on your gearbox cover as well........not as many holes as mine has though. Makes it a ghastly job to re-fit the metal surround. If I were you I'd ascertain which are the correct holes and weld up the incorrect ones. A tiny thing but it will save annoyance and frustration later......

Stephen

[David JM]

Thanks for that spot Stephen, I'll take care of that later.

Welding in the third piece, tapping this with a hammer it sounded of solid, so I'm building a strong corner here.


a box of parts from ESM

[les]

Well done for taking it on, however, and this is just my thoughts, to achieve a more durable repair, considering the extent of the corrosion, have you considered replacing complete panels instead of localised repairs. That might take care of hidden issues yet to reveal themselves.
Incidentally I had a Pickup myself for nearly thirty five years, great vehicles !

[David JM]

Hi Les, thanks for the comment, I'm not going too big with repairs, it is isolated spots rather than whole floors. Thank goodness, I won't need to strip it right out and weld in bracing bars so it doesn't sag and loose it's original shape. The bigger the piece cut out the more weakened I'd find the structure. Lucky for me it is only small areas that need to be cut out and new metal welded in. I'll be including detailed images of all the work, any advice is always welcome.

[les]

Fair enough and hope you make good progress.

[David JM]

George checking out the spares, probably looking at it as a box. he just loves a box, of any description.


I had to take a tea break as George wanted to sit on me while I was getting ready to weld, placed him somewhere safe and comfortable before going onward.

[David JM]

test fitting new metal cut and shaped using a cardboard template, saves metal in the long run, once I'm happy I'll coat the inside with rust converter and paint in chassis black when it's all dry, no time at all in this heat.


closed off and given a skim of body filler to even it all out flat, when that's hard I'll sand it back and coat it with a couple of coats of chassis black.

[David JM]

The nearside corner will be up soon, but for now just a little more work on the offside corner just to square it all away.

[POMMReg]

the engine bay was next, lots of dust and flaking paint, some botch wire repairs but generally in order, the engine needs an oil change and the radiator drained and refilled, but it ran like a trooper yesterday, all the way from the new forest to West Sussex. Quite an achievement for a car that's been sat in a garage unused for three years.


the body pressing number from Longbridge


chassis number?

Yes, engine number should be around the early 193000s?

[David JM]

Thanks Pommreg, I'll check out the engine number and post a picture of it here.

[David JM]

Oh Dear, the engine plate is missing.


the seat belt anchor nut recovered from the cut out section of floor side.


cut out and ready to weld on to the new panel.

[David JM]

After a full day of nudging, joggling, tapping ,banging, finally got the panel into position ready to be welded in.


tac welded into place, ready for seam welding it in Tomorrow.

[David JM]

welded in nice and solid. Now for the really big hole underneath behind this....


A to B is 18 inches, C to D is 5 inches at the widest point. C also points out a small hole to fix first.


the remains of the floor panel back plate, is more than 18x5 and is made from a nice gauge of steel.

[David JM]

"Ohhh Betty I've had a bit of trouble" trouble getting in here on the MMOC Website over the last few days, still, never mind I'm here now, to bore you all with further updates on my floor and underside welding.

I'm a big fan of making cardboard templates then using them to mark out metal, metal expensive, cardboard cheap. That's my way of thinking.


I know you're probably all calmly saying under your breath, doesn't he know ESM do a plate for that and he should do it in one go. I know, it's not the approved pro way to repair a hole in the underneath, I'm tackling it in three separate parts using the same floor repair panel I've only used part of, cheapskate, no economist. I hate to see good steel go to waste.

[David JM]

ok it's rough and ready, a bit battered, but with a coat of weldthrough on the inside, and a few holes drilled in the flange it'll be ready to weld in and add strength to that area between the new floor and the sill. That's my plan, this is part A of a three part repair.