Morris Minor Owners Club

Guys - I am getting closer to the rear end end of things. I need to be organized when doing this. I need to visualize, just like Schumacher does before a GP race.

Care to help me along? Please protest if the sequence is wrong or if there are matters I overlooked. Suggestions and improvements are valued highly.

I have

1) 2 x semi-rotten outer sills that need replacing (mostly to give the quarterpanel something to lean on). One section of inner sill/floor that needs replacing. Outer sills ordered. Floor bit = homemade

2) LHS rear wing mount arch totally rotten - ONE wing nut survived the disassembly. LHS arch kit (in 2 sections) ordered - we´ll see if the LHS closing panel is included.

3) RHS wing mount arch has 3 or 4 minor (sic) holes that can be cut clean and and small bits let in, all nuts still there and OK. RHS + LHS closing plate incl nut can be homebrew too.

4) both rear spring hangers (the rearmost ones) are shot, including their box sections - panels, hardware and bushes ordered

5) both rear inner wings have the usual patches. Rear repair panels ordered on both sides. Frontend holes in rear inner wing can be done manually.

5) the boot rear floor is totally rotten. Panel ordered.

I have been thinking about the sequence of things. I need reference points and whatever strength I still have in the body. Furthermore, at one point I will need to jack up the body itself, and I need to let the rear axle down in order to fix the rearmost box sections/panels.

Suggestion:

a) Cut out outer sill bits, including the small floor bit and the bit inside the quarterpanel bottom(s), one at a time. Replace outer sills and floor bit, re-check door fit. This will give me symmetric reference points and add floor and A+ B post stability.

b) with sills and floor in place: separate (chisel) rear inner wing from boot floor and boot floor from spring hanger box section. Cut out and replace rear boot floor, without - of course - doing anything to the inner wing ends of the boot floor repair panel (yet). Just to make boot floor stronger for now. This gives solid and accurate reference/end tie points for the rear inner wing repair section and the box sections

c) Cut clean and replace quarter panel closing plates, with new nuts in correct positions. Cut clean and replace forward-facing rot in inner wheel arch. This should mean a main body strong enough to almost support itself.

d) time to find a suitable alternative support area - the area closest to the front spring hangers is still good. Just forward of it, I can support the rear end of the car by putting a piece of 3x3" timber across/underneath the car, letting the timber rest on jacks just outside (or even inside) the inner wing. That should distribute the load enough for me to let down the rear end of the rear axle package.

e) let down rear end of rear axle/spring assembly. Leave front end in. Check body for stability. Support under new boot floor stabilizing plate if necessary.

f) Measure/triangulate the position of rear suspension shackle fixings. Cut out and clean up everything related to these box sections and the rear inner wing repair sections. Tack & weld in box sections, then inner wing sections, don´t forget the ending plates (joins) to the boot floor repair.

g) Hang up rear end of springs again. Reposition car on axle stands for safety and accessibility. Cut and replace any remaining small damage forward of the rear spring hangers(bump stop and forward, not covered by repair plate)

h) Patch up the RHS wing nut arch in 3-4 places. Use LHS arch kit as template! This is for practice. Check wing fit.

i) LHS wing arch: measure up and cut out just as much of the wing nut arch that is necessary to get a good weld. Maneuvering space for grinder necessary, I´d love to avoid damage to the outer surface - requiring exterior paint work (which is NOT in my plans for this year). If all else fails - go for broke, and cut out to solid metal, even if it means an "outside" weld and exterior filler/paint work. Check wing fit.

j) Go over entire floor area again, from under the car. Use the pointed hammer. Find any reamining rust holes and fix them NOW. There is no "later".

k) LHS door: carefully measure, think over twice, cut out and let in LHS bit of door skin with hole for a LHS lock. By now, I should be good enough at welding to master a butt weld on a door skin.

l) Go on with rustproofing etc. Find those last-minute small fixes - the bonnet stabilizer ends need spot welding....

m) Think again. Have a look around. Then return rented gas bottle. Whatever small fixes might turn up, they CAN (and will have to be) done without gas.

So..guys - thanks for reading. Is this halfway correct? Let me know.

Cheers /Richard

Um, run that all past me again - I think I got confused 1/2 way through

That's a lot of work, I'll need to draw mesself a diagram and look at an exploded body to work out what your plan actually means !!!

Plan looks good, well thought out. Would be a lot easier with a plasma cutter though

Yup. Want to donate yours? I am SO out of cash just now, will have to make do with angle grinder, air chisel and drill. Thanks for looking over my plan!
/R

Yes - looks like a good plan - it's going to be a 'new' bodyshell when you are finished! Timber support across the floor is the way to go. You must have plenty of time on your hands for all this work !!

Time? Nah, it´s just a matter of shutting down other hobbies for a while - analogue photography, valve amplifier building/restoring, MC riding, ladies, beer drinking...and it´s also handy to have some saved-up vacation days left

Thanks for looking at the plan. This rear-end effort starts off tomorrow, all the bits have arrived.

Cheers /Richard

valve amplifier building/restoring,

I'll send you my Fender AC30 when it needs a service

Now there's a rarity - I've only ever seen the Vox AC30 ;)
a

Ditto my Marshall Bluesbreaker re-issue and my Selmer Crockskin.

BTW It was Vox that made the AC-30.

As for the Minor, I would do this:- (I can't remember off hand if your car is a 2 door or 4 door)

1 repair boot floor and rear floor pan.
2. Jack up car from axle and with beams of wood on top of axle stands (I used old door post or fence post) support car under rear boot floor (now sound) and under rear floor pan. Also support car on timbers/ axle stands under front chassis legs and an axle stand or jack under gearbox crossmember. Get the car level on the sills with a spirit level. The idea is to support the car evenly to help keep it in shape.
3. Drop rear axle/springs (remove completely) then you can repair both rear chassis legs /spring hangers. One side at a time.
4. Repair rear wing mounting flanges and rear arches (small section at a time to preserve the shape).

the whole car except sills is now solid. Brace the door gap with an angle iron welded between a and b and b (and c pillars if there). On the convertible project, I also used a jack and block of wood under the cross member to set the door gap (gap had sagged previously due to bad repairs in the past).

5. Cut out sills, one side at a time (keep inner sill step if savable) Replace the long boxing panel and use this/ door/ wing to position the outer sill piece. Weld this in, then the front and rear floor edge panels (trim to remove overlap), then rear boxing panel extension and finally (if 2-door) the B pillar pieces.

There are other ways to do it, but thats what i did (am doing)- my method- on the current project, which is a convertible so even more prone to losing the shape of the body.

chickenjohn wrote:BTW It was Vox that made the AC-30.

Errrrrrr, yes, that's why I said what I said. Sorry to use humour I even used an emoticon to try and make that plain to people who might miss that...
a

Sorry, I took 8 mins to type and post my post so did not see yours! I was replying to Moggy tech about the amp and Bluesman about the car.

The AC-30, I think was based on a 50's fender. Do we have a group of old guitar valve amp fans? Maybe an off topic discussion is in order.

I like humour in real life but find it can go horribly wrong on message boards.

bigginger wrote:Now there's a rarity - I've only ever seen the Vox AC30 ;)
a

Yup my bad. Fender Strat through a Korg AX3000 effects board and into a Vox AC30. Also Stag Bass and Technics Synth and a multitude of wires to trip over

John - and the rest of you musicians/vintage amp friends - thanks for the suggestions and moral support. And yes, let´s take the amp discussion to the OT section - there´s a lot to be said in that matter!

Cheers /Richard

I like old valve amps. The only new one I tried and liked was a Cornford (made here in Kent), that thing SCREAMS! yet you can hear all the detail.

I also like old cars too.

I started the rear end today. Decided to follow your route, John. Jacked up level, supports everywhere. rear end of rear suspension came off and down without any issues. Looking good. I started cutting out the rearmost boot floor bits. Found yet another bunch of no-good spot welds (joint between rear boot floor and the bit under the boot lid), I´m a bit surprised with this car in this respect. Either it´s totally rotten (where there´s rot), or it has excellent steel - often just millimeters away from the total rot.. No halfway rot. Strange stuff.

Anyway - come tomorrow evening, the rear end is solid, and I will probably have started fixing the RHS inner wing and chassis leg. I need the practice - LHS is worse, it also has a bad wing nut arch.

Goodnight lads - wish me luck in days to come. Vacation days ahead - 5 long days of intense welding coming up.

*dive dive dive*

/Richard

Admire your dedication to this task !

I don´t know, BMC..dedication, or just mule-headedness? Once we had started working on this car there was no way back. You simply cannot abandon a charming lady(48) in distress just because she is a bit saggy in the bottom, can you?

It´s a matter of principle. Man over matter? Pride? Stupidity? Beats me. Anyway, we´re soon done. Or something And THEN it is the time to enjoy cruising.
/Richard

BMC, this kind of rust is present in most project Minors these days as they are 40 years old- unless you have very lucky and have a well cared for dry use car.

The convertible I'm working on has simmilar rot, or worse, sills need total replacement, and I'm limited to how much time I can spend on it.

Good on you bluesman for dedicating so much time at once to the project.