578 replies to this topic

[Junior Mini]

I would be interested in seeing the MGB's progress please Ben.

[MacGyver]

So would I!
Maybe a thread in the "other" section?
Might have a Mgb gt for you too but not right now... ?
Good to see you can actually get some work done in these particular times, altho you'll soon run out of space if no one can actually collect them... ?

[Ben_O]

Cheers guys.

I'll post up some general progress here in this thread.

 

I think collections are going to get easier now and one of the recovery drivers we use has started doing mainland work a few weeks ago so that can be helpful for some.

 

Cheers

Ben

[Ben_O]

This mornimg, the MGB showed up for its partial restoration.

 

The car has been restored a few years back with photo documentation but there is lots of holes in the documentation which leads me to believe that there was more filler than fresh metal gone into it.

 

 

Its still a pretty looking car though.

 

 

First stage as usual is to strip it down. Only doing a partial strip on it to start with as plan A is to sort some cosmetic issues and then give it an external respray but there may have to be a plan B.....

 

 

 

Here are the obvious bits that need addressing

 

 

 

And the same the other side as well as a poorly aligned door and some scabs here and there.

 

First thing I want to do is remove the front wings to see how good or bad they are

 

 

 

 

And the body is pretty bad beneath too

 

 

 

What a shame. We weren't expecting it to need this much work before the strip down.

 

The other side is marginally better

 

 

 

Both wings are toast but I do have a pair of used ones that I can use on it although they are for rubber bumper cars so will need modifying slightly.

 

As for the rest of the car, we will have a better look tomorrow.

 

Cheers

 

Ben

[JXC Mini GT]

Looks like a nice project Ben, it will be good to see you work your magic on this one.

[Ben_O]

Like most restoration jobs, the MGB has lots of hidden bodges and extra corrosion that you can't see on the surface.

 

I made a start with repairing the A post on the N/S

 

 

 

 

First up is to clean back the areas and mark out where i'm cutting

 

 

 

And then rebuild it

 

 

 

With that done, I removed the windscreen shroud panel to see whats beneath

 

 

Pretty rough so I rebuilt the end

 

 

 

And then turned my attention to the other side

 

 

 

Bit worse but rebuilt it

 

 

 

 

And then after removing the last remains of the shroud panel and a clean up, thats done and ready for the new shroud

 

 

Cheers

 

Ben

[Ben_O]

I have made some more progress with the MG

 

The new shroud panel has been welded on

 

 

And then I turned my attention to the o/s a post.

Initial inspection showed it would need a few repairs but it turned out to be much worse and now I'm going to replace it. There was a lot of terminal rot hidden under filler so this was the only sensible way forward 

 

 

 

 

This is where things quickly escalated. The plan was to fit half an outer sill as The front end of it had rotted out but as I started cutting, it quickly became apparent that the rot was far more set in further back along the sill.

I ended up having to cut off the entire sill, the b post and the rear wing due to rot, weak and missing welds and a real horror show of patches at the back of the sill and the outer inner wheel arch.

 

 

 

At this point, I cut an inspection hole into the inner sill to check the castleation 

 

 

It looks pretty bad but is rock solid and will clean up just fine.

 

So off came the inner sill and the messy patched part at the back along with a section of the lower front arch

 

 

And then after a clean up, de-rust and some fiddly repairs at the back, it's now primed with zinc

 

 

Before welding on the new inner sill.

 

 

Still quite a way to go but the worst is behind me now.

 

Cheers

Ben

[floormanager]

Good grief.  What lies beneath eh?  Can you detect that sort of thing if you were going to buy the car?

Paul

[Ben_O]

Good grief.  What lies beneath eh?  Can you detect that sort of thing if you were going to buy the car?

Paul

You can to some extent but this one had a lot of filler and stonechip hiding the surface issues and the majority of what I have found was beneath in the box sections etc.

The owner checked it over, bought it from an enthusiast and had a photographic record of the work done but there are lots of missing photos. Kind of before and after shots 

 

Cheers

Ben

[Ben_O]

The MG is still being a troublesome.

It seems everytime I cut a piece away, it reveals even more horrors.

 

I've now finished repairing the bottom of the splash panel

 

 

And welded on the outer sill

 

 

And now it was supposed to be a case of weld in the new A and B posts followed by the new rear wing.

 

Unfortunately, the previous restorer had fitted the rear wing poorly and caused so much distortion at the join that 20mm of filler was nessacery to tidy things up.

 

 

 

Oh well, it's not the end of the world. I just cut it off leaving the good upper half in place

 

 

At this point, I discovered that the rear wing was only welded along the join to the upper half and no attempt had been made to weld it anywhere else at all. As soon as uncompleted the cut, it fell to the floor.

 

Here is the lower half removed

 

 

Frightening stuff!

 

And here is what lurks beneath

 

 

The outer inner arch is going to need work which I expected but more grot lurks in the back corner

 

 

Hopefully I won't be chasing corrosion any further than that now.

 

Cheers

Ben

[floormanager]

Has the owner stopped crying yet?

[Ben_O]

Has the owner stopped crying yet?

He is disappointed that it wasn't as good as he thought but pleased that it's getting sorted out so he can end up with a better example.

[sonscar]

Sadly that is typical MGB rust,I own two and am not at all surprised.You are doing a grand job.Steve..

[Ben_O]

The mini neon I did some bits on is now complete and waiting on the lawn with its stable mate which is also waiting an mot.

 

 

 

Cheers

Ben 

[sonscar]

While you are down there cast an eye over the rear spring hanger and the front mount of the rear spring under the carpet,typical rust spots which need the rear wing off to repair.You may be lucky.Steve..