Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi All,

Would love some guidance here. As you can see, there's been some floor repairs earlier on in Morrie's life and am having some trouble fitting the new spring hanger repair panel. Question : How much metal to leave behind the repair ? Am tempted to leave a good inch around all edges and then plug weld along side the butt welding OR cut out so a perfect fit and butt weld around the whole circumference of the whole repair panel. Any advice / steer would be most welcome. Also, because of the previous repairs, the front lead edge will not fully align, what to do here too ? (picture. 3). All advice welcomed.[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

And finally .......[frame][/frame]

You could toss a coin !!
Whichever course you choose the MOT man will want to see a " continuous " weld around any repairs.

Option two requires a lot more time to achieve a " perfect fit ".The more ajoining sides you have, the greater the margin for error.If because of poor measurement, you end up "short " correction is more time consuming to put right.
Option one.Any overlapping joins are ..long term.. an invitation for moisture to get in, creating rust formation if suitable precautions are not taken.Eventually the rust breaks through again ,years down the line.
The overlap, plug weld and seam welded, would be stronger.With the right preparation, back to clean metal, a weld thru primmer , etc.
General points The vital part of the repair is ending up with the correct location/ measurement for the centre line of the eye hole ( where the front of the spring is attached ).I trust you took measurements or have the other side to refer to ?

Decide with the repair panel sections you need, what other bodywork has to be made good/ extended to make a thorough job of it.Access is everything with welding / fabrication... decide, in what order the work ought to proceed ( to make life easier for yourself ).

I'm sorry but I'm not clear on your final comment photo three .i.e not fully aligned.Do you mean it is sitting proud or that the
normal hanger repair section plate is not big enough to meet up with decent metal towards the front of the car ?

If No 1.... use a piece of wooden batten ( roughly 20" / 43cm long ) to press/ hold down the metal close together whilst you weld.
Your car is rolled onto it's side by the looks of it.Press the batten into your shoulder and the other end onto the metal.
If No 2... you will need a strip of metal sheet to bridge the gap.Attach the strip to the repair panel off the car first. dress and paint with weld thru primer and then fix to car.

Small tack welds with the main repair plate and check measurements back / front and side to side, i.e width between to get the geomentry right/ spot on and then, if happy, proceed with the rest of the welding.
There was a bad situation on the forum where an owner paid a garage to do the repair and they got it wrong.Poor chap couldn't get his propshaft to fit because the springs were in the wrong position.
Use a brass bar behind the butt joints, where there is still access to clamp it and remove it later for the best welds.
Bob

What a cracking answer

before you do anything you need to remove a bit more floor to repair the chassis rail,because it will be difficult to get at it once the floor area is closed off.

Thanks all. Chassis rail, hadn't even contemplated that yet. I was under the impression that this is left when they do a full boxing plate / sill repair, unless I'm confused here.

Yes, took measurements thankfully and have the spring sill in its original position for test fitting to ensure that it all lines up.

Well, keep plodding on me thinks and keep a cool head. Thanks once again for the advice, most welcomed and valued.

Hi

Yes you are missing a bit of chassis at the point shown below:
All that is required is a piece of angle steel sheet.
The new spring mounting panel should be plug welded through to this once repaired and it should ideally be 1.6mm as its the extension of the step sill

Taupe
[frame][/frame]

Do we mean something along these lines ? What about the curvature of the old chassis rail. Also, I'm taking it full seaming + plugs if prepared and overlapped (as sort of the image)? How long / far does the vertical return need to be i.e up the chassis rail, as shown or higher. Could be a tricky repair due to the curve ?

Thanks for the steers thus far everybody.[frame][/frame]

Yes

Something like that but seam welded in ...and yes following the curve you are trying to replace the missing section so cut back to sound steel and then proceed as mogobobs excellent advice.

The angle facing down only needs to be the same width as the original about 16mm wide so you should be able to get a curve in it quite easily.

If you have a spare step sill repair panel you can cut a section from that for the repair and will have the correct section ready made.

Taupe

If you just repair it as in your last diagragm then its only as strong at the rusted out bit just forwards of that,next to the nut and washer shown,As you can see the rot extends further into the sill area,It will be easier to repair from where you are,its difficult to get at from the outside(Ie via the boxing /sill area)If it was mine I would be cutting the floor area back further to expose more of the rail and then make that good before even contemplating fitting the hanger section.I would go forwards untill I had cleared the box section under the the rear seat,you can then get at the rest of the rail,if the rot extends that far forwards, via the sill area.then any repair to the front of the rail will get solidly welded to the new metal at the rear.

OK all, thanks for everything thus far. Have been calling around a number of the known repairers in my quest to understand how to repair my spring hanger.

As I understand it, I hope this helps others too. The area that I have shaded in pink in part of the original inner step sill. This is often left when a rear floor panel is put in, green. A new boxing panel was put in a few years ago. Therefore, there is no need to take away any more of the floor forward of the zone than I have already cut (other than to perhaps tidy up the edge), or indeed remove the frayed edges of the inner step sill. I have marked where I intend to weld a flat piece of 1.6mm steel and cross it from the back of the rear floor panel to approximately where shown on the diagram (as guided by Taupe). Does anyone think there is a need for a small vertical section for this repair ? Seems like a good idea. Once I have loose fit the spring hanger repair plate, I shall measure and punch a row of holes through which to plug weld through to this new metal. This should stop the hanger plate flexing too much. Once this is done, I intend to replace the rearmost section of the outer quarter panel. Fit the new C post, and rebuild the front aspect of the rear inner arch and then finish the flange repair. Arrrggghhhhhh - too much thinking and not enough doing me thinks.

Would love to know if this is the/a correct order for the repair ? Thanks all.[frame][/frame]

As soon as you put a flange on a plain sheet of metal, it introduces strength / ridgitity, so I'd go for it !!

Forget about following the " correct order ", there is no one size fits all in fabrication.
As experienced restorers will tell you the " solution " depends on the condition of each individual car.

Assess, take numerous measurements from known reference points that will not be disturbed in the repair work.
See how it was all put together in the first place, clean up/ cut out *** until you find good clean metal to weld to.
**Weld in bracing bars if the area will collapse or move if you cut out a big area.
Draw diagrams to help yourself work out in what order to put it all back together again as easily as possible.
( One car I worked on, had five panels joining together in one small area.I ended up making a small model of the area in stiff cardboard to see if my theoretical solution for re-assembly would work ! ).
Bob

Forget about following the " correct order ", there is no one size fits all in fabrication.
As experienced restorers will tell you the " solution " depends on the condition of each individual car.

Don't rely on the spring to locate the front hanger correctly! The axle will certainly have moved - you need accurate dimensions from fixed points on the chassis.