Morris Minor Owners Club

Ive been meaning to show these pics for a while now. I always expected my B to have rusty sills under those nice shiny covers, thats the only reason they get fitted, but....












A wee bit of welding needed!

no not a bit of welding you need to replace the whole sill section by section,the inner sill may be ok,they usually are.but the castle section closing plate and outer sill need renewing. They are an integeral part of the structure and if just patched up will add nothing to the rigidity of the frame, If you havent done one before(Iv'e done about 10 bgt rebuilds over the years)be warned,not a job for the faint hearted. The outer sill is one piece from inside the front wing(Wing off to get at it )to right up and to the rear of the rear wing,which need the lower section to be cut off to get at the old and weld in the new.You may know this but just a friendly warning when you cut off the old sill the frame WILL open out unless you weld strengtheners across the doors,Its one of the reasons I stopped doing mgbs,stick to minors much easier.

I quite agree! Ive done a couple of Spitfires before and braced the door gaps before doing any cutting. This will be the first B sill i've done. I know about removing the front wing and cutting the rear wing open to access the outer sill, just not done it before. I must admit to having second thoughts when I saw just how bad it was, but its a nice original car that drives well and doesn't owe me a penny so 'Im going to go for it.

I would hate to see what the castle sections are like under the front wings

I belong to the MG Owners club as i've got a MG as well as Morris Minor and I know a lot of MGB owners and they would'nt fit crome sill covers as one had and had the same problem and ended replacing the inner and outer sills.

I quite agree. This one had them fitted when I got it a while ago, so either they were fitted to conceal the rot (likely) or were fitted for looks and trapped moisture over time.

A minor I scrapped not too long ago- This was after I sat in it!
[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

Its parts have kept others on the road! (It did not have an MOT-don't worry)

Lay off the pies!

MarkyB wrote:Lay off the pies!

-Lol

The rest fo the car wasn't that bad, But it had sat in a leaky garage for 10 years.[frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

Its owner emigrated to australia in 2000 and left it behind in a garage. The scary thing is is that it was restored in 1999! Shame.

"Restored " isn't an exact term, it can mean anything from cleaned to rebuilt and everything in between.

I see your rusty sill, and raise you this:-










Shame as it's a really rare car.

Blimey!
Was it parked in a pond?

here's my offering:
[frame][/frame]

that's how Bluey was when i got her!

StaffsMoggie wrote:I know about removing the front wing ...

Including the 2 horrid little 7/16" headed screws right up in the top rear corner of the scuttle, that you can't even see, let alone get anything more than a short open ended spanner on at a nasty angle Good luck with your knuckles!

What are the castle sections like on the Mg ?

irmscher wrote:What are the castle sections like on the Mg ?

Just like the rest of the sills, totally rotten and could be pulled away by hand..

Its hard to believe this had an mot until fairly recently.

it might be worth getting another shell .

Ive seen far worse Bs repaired and at least the panels are cheap enough! A small matter of a Mini to sort out first though..

Definitely worth doing the sills. As it's a nice original car everything should still line up well and you won't have to undo all the previous bodges! As long as you're systematic it's not too bad a job.You may also find it's a little soft where the front spring hanger meets the rear of the floor, may require a little plating.
All the sill parts are available individually or as a kit per side.
If you can revive a rusty Mini, the MG should be straightforward!
All Best!

Thank you wilfred! The fact that the B is so original and not bodged up (apart from those sill covers..) is why I decided to keep it and get stuck in to the work. I will check the area around the spring mountings, no doubt it will be a bit crunchy!