Morris Minor Owners Club

The cross members on my Traveller are starting to rot along the bottom flange. The rest appears sound, the jacking points look ok, not that I use them, and the floor panels are sound.
Is it possible to replace the lower section of the cross member, including the flange, or does the whole cross member have to be cut out and replaced?

Cheers N

Anything is "possible". Because of its structural importance I would personally replace the whole thing if the bottom is failing. It is quite a big job but, once done and properly protected, it is done for good .

A job for a first timer? Or best left to the professionals?
Is a roll cage essential, or can it be done with the car properly supported on axle stands?

When my Traveller was restored ,before I bought it ,The restorer replaced the outer sections and jacking points from the chassis legs out .
I wasn't happy as the centre part where the propshaft goes through was lamanating .
I took the car to West Riding Classics to have a new crossmember fitted ,this also needed new ends to the chassis legs ,they did a very good job supplying photos of the procedure . It is not a small job ,and if like me you are not a expert welder best left to the experts .

I realise a thread like this is useless without photos! A picture says a thousand words, so here's a few of the n/s. O/s is much the same, maybe slightly better.

I have seen much worse. Personally would be in no rush to replace the cross member unless it had failed a MOT examination.
When I replaced the crossmember on my Minor - not because of rust I must add - I welded the bottom flanges to the bottom plate (original type of cross member) before attaching to the car. I did not fit the jacking points as all they do is trap crud and start the rust process over again.
Again personally I did not find replacing the cross member to be problem. Keep the gearbox cross member in place to hold the chassis rails in their correct position. You will need to remove the torsion bars to get at the welded flanges that hold the chassis rails and cross member together. I used a spot weld remover from above and puddle welded the floor to the cross member using the spot weld holes from inside the car. Use two stepped torsion bar washers to hold the cross member and chassis rails in position to make welding easier and to make sure that the torsion bar holes are aligned.
If you do not replace the cross member clean everything up and coat the old cross member in FERTAN rust killer and then paint over as per the FERTAN instructions.
Good luck.
Phil

Sounds like it's worth cleaning it all up and assessing how bad it really is first. As I say, as far as I can tell the rest is sound, it's just starting to go at the bottom along the flange.

I agree with Phil. I wouldn't be any rush to replace that. Some decent rust treatment and preventative in all the vulnerable areas and it'll last for years. It is hard to tell from the photos but the crossmember looks to have been replaced previously in any case. It doesn't look to be just spot welded into place as originally.

Yes, both cross members and jacking points, plus some floor panels, were replaced by a well known Minor specialist over 30 years ago. It's not done too badly considering all it's had in that time is a few coats of red lead and an occasional spot of waxoyl.

The good news is that a quick and dirty 20 min session with a wire brush this evening revealed no surprises, and the flange isn't as bad as it looks in the photos once it's cleaned up. I have some fertan now, and will apply it methodically along the crossmember and seams where it joins the floor. I'll also make sure the jacking points get wire brushed inside, and some fertan, before I apply primer, paint & waxoyl.

Cheers N

Question for @philthehill.
I have some fertan rust converter-the stuff that leaves a black residue. Do I just paint over that directly, or do I need to remove the residue first?

Cheers N

Lightly wipe over with a damp cloth to get rid of the residue. Make sure it is completely dry before painting.

Ok thanks. No prizes for guessing what I'll be doing over the next few weeks!
One last question-after fertan, what to apply? Primer, paint (hammerite?), waxoyl? Underseal, waxoyl? Just waxoyl, just underseal? All of the above?
Cheers N

In order:- Fertan, primer, undercoat, top coat and then underseal.

I personally do not use Hammerite. Never found it that good.

No, I'm not keen on Hammerite. I don't like the finish, and it doesn't seem to like being painted on.

Corrosion on the o/s cross member is a little worse than I feared, but probably still not past it yet.
More worrying is this hole in the o/s floor, right in the corner. It's about the size of a 5p. Worth patching, or new sill/floorpan?
Cheers N

I'd just treat that with rust converter and stick some Denso tape over it, then have it repaired when the car is due other repairs. It's not a structural area.

There is corrosion around the o/s spring hanger. 3 or 4 small holes, photos now uploaded.

I may be wrong, but looks like the Server Error that has been plaguing the site for months.
Even if I resize an image down to 1Mb
It may clear in the next few minutes, or hours, or it could be longer....

Could not upload attachment to ./files/38183_c4bafb74cf9f0f00af6ae5ec56c5ea41.

Yes, that's what I'm getting.