Morris Minor Owners Club

With no welding skills and no ramp I'm attempting a restoration... lol

The only underbody part I have found which looks badish is the cross member - here are some pics - is this savable or do I have a 'roll it over and replace' job on my hands? Note only one hole and feels solid with a hammer. Advice appreciated:[frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

Hard to tell with all the old underseal covering things up. Any holes near suspension are an MOT fail and it is pretty close to the torsion bar ends. Clean it up and see how much metal is left to weld to. Could be repairable with the right skills.

Looks like it has already had new 'ends' fitted - and they have rotted out - esp at the one side.

Yes, I think it has... bum, I really didn't want to start my welding career on my back! lol, oh well, all part of the fun :0)

Don't even consider welding on your back. You need to roll it on its side.

Hi, all sorted - these are the only bits that need welding underneath, and a local welder is coming round... to do it on his back! He says he likes doing that and wouldn't drem of rolling it... horses for courses I suppose...

I suppose a professional welder wouldn't worry but I was advising you as a learning welder.
Glad you have got someone to sort it for you.

[quote="Arthurdaily"]Hi, all sorted - these are the only bits that need welding underneath, and a local welder is coming round... to do it on his back! He says he likes doing that and wouldn't drem of rolling it... horses for courses I suppose...[/quote]

Hmmmm.................

Of course, I don't know anything about "the local welder" you refer to. Maybe he's that jolly chap who really loves helping people out, and won't stop working until he's completed the task to the highest possible standard, and is so well known locally that his verbal guarantee is as solid as you need.

On the other hand..........

He might knock the flake off with a hammer, blob it all up, give it a quick grind and lavish it with underseal. Which might be enough to get you an MOT, but not enough to kill the corrosion and last.

If you know the guy, or have contacted him on a good recommendation from someone you trust, things might go well. If not.........bearing in mind that you have no welding skills and will therefore perhaps be unable to judge what he's doing...........you might get fleeced.


The central crossmember is an extremely important element and should not be bodged. It should be repaired properly, once, and then regularly inspected, cleaned and painted/sealed up as necessary.

Welding on one's back?

Masochism!

a bit more......

In my experience, when a crossmember looks like yours, there's often rampant corrosion between it and the floor, even if it all sounds solid under the knock of a hammer.

I replaced mine last year. I started off with a plan to change the ends. Then I decided to cut the bottom off along its length and replace that as well. Then I scraped all the paint off from the floor above it.......oooops!

Crispy-crunchy-crappy. It all looked great from above, initially.

It might be worth a couple of hours spent exposing the areas all around the crossmember, on both sides of the floor and where he chassis legs join to it, so you know exactly what you've got. I have a technique where I hold a smallish pointy chisel quite lightly and move it around over the metal whilst tapping it sharply with the hammer - simulating the action of a pneumatic drill. You'd quickly get the feel of how hard a blow you have to give to be able to verify that the metal is solid, or otherwise.

You might be surprised! Unpleasantly, if focussing on costs and time. But pleasantly, if your main concern is quality. You'd know exactly what the situation is, and be able to approach the task accordingly.

Good luck with it! Best not to rush into anything.