Morris Minor Owners Club

Since getting my 2 door splitie a couple of months ago, I've become aware that the average quality respray that was done in recent years has been compounded by the removable parts, i.e. doors, bonnet and wings (the boot seem OK) being thrown back on.
While one of the rear wings is the most noticeable poor alignment, I've now realised that the bonnet is rubbing on the nearside wing. Since it look like the bonnet is already a bit skew to try and stop it rubbing, I'm wondering if the wing is the problem. So I guess the real question is, if the bonnet and wings have been removed, in what order do you put them all back on and how do you ensure the wings are far enough apart for the bonnet to close....??

check the adjustment of the hinges and the brace under the bonnet may just need it there.

Thanks Stevey.

I already know the doors are going to need adjustment, it was reassembled with the wrong door seals, with this profile instead of the B style.
The door bottom edges even have some sort of aluminium strip, edged with 'fuzzy felt' (suspect it's supposed to be window seal) instead of the rubber seal that should be there. Absolutely useless as door seals!

The car is certainly proving to have met my purchase requirements of being 'Sound in major areas like body welding but requiring some TLC'...

stevey wrote:check the adjustment of the hinges and the brace under the bonnet may just need it there.

So at the weekend, we tried all manner of things to get the needed clearance on the nearside wing, but no change. The bonnet is now sitting a bit squarer in front of the windscreen, but still rubs on the wing.

Stevey mentioned the brace, but I see no way that can be adjusted?

The nearside wing is mounted further forward than the offside, it's not very clear from the photos, but basically the n/s is forward of the gutter line, so about 1/4"+ gap from the door, while the o/s wing rear edge is in line with the gutter line, so about 1/8" gap from the door.

The n/s wing also seems to be a slightly different profile at the front, between bonnet and headlamp, with a pronounced angle to it. I'm guessing this is because they are 2 different generations of wing?

I've literally got around 3/8" clearance all along the bonnet/wing on the Drivers side, whilst it's rubbing on the passenger side. I suppose the easy option is to make the hinge fixing holes a little larger, but that seems a cop-out when there must be another way to get it all sitting correctly.
If I take the glove box linings out, to get up behind the dash, is there any sideways movement in the hinge to body shell mounting holes?

I think the holes allow the bonnet to move back and forward but not sideways. You can spend hours juggling panels on a Minor. That's where robots score!

If you think minors are bad for panel misalignment,don't ever get an old Landrover!

There is a small amount of lateral movement on the bonnet holes and wings almost always have ovals to allow for adjustment, if not they are easy enough to oval out.

Adjustment is all very well assuming that the wing is the correct shape. It looks to me as if the wing itself is out of shape either through poor manufacture or damage. I doubt the car still retains its original wings and it is quite likely to have received replacements at some time which simply do not fit very well without a certain amount of re-shaping - particularly if the cheaper "pattern" panels have been used.
It looks as if the wing line changes at the join, so that is where you will have to carry out some rectification if you want straight panel gaps.

the only fixed reference point you have on a splitty is the Centre line of the bonnet and the v on the scuttle if these are lined up then you should be able to see which bit need fettling, that's of course assuming the bonnet is square.the wings are easy to do,just open out the holes with a round file. But as others have said,the panels could be copies of copies of copies,and unless you have done all the work on the frame in the past,you have no idea what has been done or how accurately . you may just have to make it as good as possible and put up with slight misalignment .Is there any sign of the inner wings being repaired or replaced ,if so you may be able to jack them in or out if you have a body jack,if not easy to rig something up . good luck.

Thanks for all the replies.
As kennatt has said, I'd guessed that the best alignment datum is the V of the centreline, which was off by about 3/8", towards the side that is rubbing. I've managed to align that a bit better and get the scuttle/bonnet gap a bit more even, but still there's a rub.
I suspect it is a combination of several small things, including the inner and outer n/s wing installation.
The car has had extensive replacement metal in the past, so it wouldn't surprise me if the inner wings have received attention.
I think removing the outer n/s and jacking the inner one out before reassembly is probably the way to go.

There's no obvious line where the outer wing sits against the inner; is there a particular 'filler' or sealant that's used to seal the gap up when fitting?