Morris Minor Owners Club

from the pics on your website, the car looks lovely

As for the crossmember, personally I would attack it with a hammer and also a wire brush in the angle grinder. I that finds a lot more holes in it, then there's not much point trying to repair it - it will save more time and effort to replace the complete end, not just 50mm.

If you only want to do 50mm on the end then find some 3mm thick steel (that works well to replace the last 50mm of the crossmember - see my 54 ;-) ). The nice thing about using the 3mm steel was that you can use the MIG on full power and get a very solid repair.

Ray, the crossmember ends are 50cm not 50mm. The 50cm goes up to and covers the end of the chassis legs. I agree, 50mm is pretty useless and I would check the ends first with a hammer and screwdriver to see if they NEED replacing first!

Lux_Moggy wrote:Hello,
Inspecting the car this afternoon, I think that I need the following panels.

1 x Door Hinge Pillar-Complete R/H
1 x Floor Edge Panel (Inner Front) R/H
1 x Outer Undersill R/H (2-Door/Convertible)
1 x Cross Member End (50cm) (Less Jacking Point)
1 x Jacking Point (For RP103/104)

Any others that I should think about ordering?

Difficult to say without cutting back the metal and seeing if more rot appears. But from the photos you should be OK.

From what Chris said. I should do these panels one at a time. What order would you suggect that I do them in.

As you cut the old ones out, you'll find they usually have to go back in a certain order to make life easier. For example, for me, the sill then the crossmember end then the jacking point. Also, the floow edge panel has to be secured at it's outer edge to the boxing panel. In my last case, you could not get to this with the outer sill on, so that had to come first. Of course to line things up and make sure they fit, I trial fit them using clamps, grips etc and when I'm happy with the fit, I mark the areas, remove them all then start tacking and welding on (checking periodically that it all still fits together OK as when you have welded panels in due to heat distortion and knocking edges flat they can move slightly or be in a slightly different position from the 'unwelded' position). This does not usually cause a problem but I prefer to check as I'm going along.

Also what is the best way to clean off old wax oil and dirt?

Old wood chisel, screwdriver and wire brush in an angle grinder. I also mark the areas to be welded and only remove about an inch to 1.5 inches around the welded area back to bare metal. Make sure you remove it ALL in those areas though otherwise it will spit and you'll not get a good weld. Don't just attack it with the wire brush attachment though as you'll just move the underseal around. It needs the majority scraping off first. Also, at the weld edge I like to 'rough' it up using a grinding disc which really removes everything and prepares it for welding better.

How do I cut out the old panel, and what perperation is needed be I start welding. I have never done any body work before. Am I getting myself into deep.

Well, that depends on the panel, but mostly I use a combination of cutting disc, grinding disc, mole grips, chisel, large and medium screwdrivers as in some areas you just can't get an angle grinder in. Especially 90 degree corners (floors for example). In these cases I cut (with the cutting disc) as far as I can go and then chisel the remaining inch or so with a steel chisel (small type).

If you are doing it in pleasant surroundings and the temperature is OK and you have plenty of light then it's possible you might enjoy it! But on your back in the wet is NO fun. As for your ability to do the job? well, time will tell, but everybody does it for the first time once and if you use common sense and stop to think every now and again you should be OK.

I will say one thing that's very useful to have in mind though: Measure twice and cut once! It's an old saying but VERY useful!

oops - yes he did state 50 cm
I guess I presumed it was mm as cm are not a proper unit (maily used by schoolteachers and their badly educated kids ;-) )

rayofleamington wrote: oops - yes he did state 50 cm
I guess I presumed it was mm as cm are not a proper uin (maily used by schoolteachers and their badly educated kids ;-) )

Not proper engineering measurements eh? powers of 3 and all that! Odd isn't it that on ESM's site it's in cm not mm.

That'll be 'cos everybody without the engineering world has to convert MMs to CMs...:D:D

Matt wrote:seam sealant is like a thick paint that fills up pinholes in welds.....

you can get a tube of it from places like Frost, it comes out like sillicone sealant (but unlike sillicone it can be painted over) and keeps out moisture.

Makes your welds look really neat too!

or you can buy stuff you paint on from your friendly automotive spares emporium (ie. halfrauds or a motor factors)

Yep, I use 'Grey Stripe' from Halfords.

That'll be 'cos everybody without the engineering world has to convert MMs to CMs...

not only do we know how to use metric units, those of us in the Engineering world know also how to comprehend bad English ;-)

Bad English? I think not - Archaic-ish, but still in current use, see the church "St Michael on the Mount Without" in Bristol, or use the expression anywhere in Scotland... It means 'outside', just like 'outwith' does...

aha 'olde English'! Now I understand what you were trying to say ;-)

It isn't that weird, honest - all right, I did put it there to tease a bit...

Hello
I have got the "Restoration Manual". I will read it over the next few days. I'll post questions on anything that not clear. I'll get the parts over next few weeks. I'll be doing the preparation until Christmas and after the welding.
Thanks
Iain

if replacing the whole sill, i would strongly recommend not cutting the inner sill right out, its really thick metal anyway and the top half dosent normally rust,i did cut the whole thing out on one side but had problems , it didnnt go back spot on, myself i would go the way of the "lindsay porter" book and weld in a plate of thicker metal, the bit that came attached to the floor panel was flimsy so i cut it off, like so, its your choice mate, just my experiances,steve
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Hello,
I have found the iceberg. The bottom of the front wheel arch, the front inner wing and the hinge piller, have all rusted and have been filled over.

But I need to look on the brightside. The Boxing panel and the inner sill are fine.

Hope that I don't find ant more rust.

Iain

something like this one?
(see half way down!)

Yes some thing like that. I am taking the grim off at the moment. That's when I found How much was filler.
I have worked out the repair panels that I need. So what order do you suggest that I tackle the jobs in.


Cross Member End (500mm)
Door Hinge Pillar-Complete R/H
Flat Inner Wing-Rear Section R/H (To Hinge Pillar)
Floor Edge Panel (Inner Front) R/H
Outer Undersill Front Repair Section R/H
Front Inner Wing (Lower Rear) Repair R/H

Many Thanks
Iain

Personally I would do the inner sill repairs (if required), using the outer sill (and lots of measurements) as a guide. Then do the outer sill to line it up with where the A-post used to fit. Then do the inner wing and A-post (:D I've just looked and that's the sequence shown in my photos It's nice to occasionally practice what you preach)

I'd certainly recommend to do the front inner wing before repairing / replacing the A-post. This way you can rebuild the strength and structure, however man people ignore the sections inside the A-post and some places even do a kit of A-post cover and inner wing that completely misses out the rest of the inner wing where it goes under the A-post cover. You need to have the door in place and check that it fits properly when tacking and welding the A-post.

If the car is on a roller, you can do the crossmember end either before or after that lot as there wont be much loading in these areas (but remember to remove the front suspension from the crossmember before you roll the car as you don't want to do it in mid air!)
If you are doing it with the car on its wheels then take a lot of care doing sill and crossmember - it would be best to cut out and replace the worst bit first then do the other as then you keep as much stiffness in the shell as possible.

too right ray ,this area has too have time spent on measurments, lot of work involved in this

snap!