Ray's MG Midget

The "Spridget Project" - Bodywork (Sep-Oct 2008)
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Well, I'm finally able to get back on the Spridget project. I'll start this phase by removing the tilt nose, hanging the doors, and concentrating on the rear quarter panel repairs. I'll also be able to get some parts painted before the weather turns too cold. I've tried painting with POR-15 when it's below 70 degrees and had problems with brush strokes; the paint is too thick and does not flow and flatten out well.

September 2008

First job, set off the tilt nose and put the car back up on the rotisserie. With the chain hoist I raise the rear onto the stand...

then, with the front end still on the furniture dolly...

add the front rotisserie bracket and then...

rotate 180 degrees, hook on the chain hoist, and raise the rear onto the other stand.

The tilt front is set on a couple dollies, primed...

and then rolled out of the way.

 

With the car now up where I can work on it, I hang the driver's door.

The fit is not too bad once the hinges are adjusted...

The gap at the top was bad before I ever started on the car, I'm debating what to do with it, if anything.

The front gap is not bad...

nor is the bottom...

but it is a bit too tight at the rear. That will be fixed later.

Now it's on to the passenger side.

A similar problem at the top...

not bad at the front...

not bad at the bottom...

but there is a problem at the rear, again...

the bottom has a significant gap...

but the top is very tight; this will require some work later.

The door is also sprung outward quite a bit at the bottom rear...

and also a smaller amount at the top. Lots of work.

 

I attached the door locks with just a couple bolts for now, and also the strikers.

The driver door closes, but not completely...

a shim will be required behind the striker; also, the steel underneath is cracked and will need repair...I do both jobs together, later.

The other striker looks like it will not need a shim...

to close tightly.

The doors are primed inside and out.

 

The patch panel top is represented by the top line; I'll cut on the lower line to start.

I'm trying to leave old metal around the tail light where possible.

The front flange will also have to come off.

Here the first rough cut has been made, leaving some metal at the top and around the wheel lip and tail light.

The wheel tub backs up the outer fender and touches it; got to be carful not to cut through it yet.

The wheel arch lip is cut in several places...

then pried down for a look...

no wonder there was rust coming through the lip.

Next I cut away the outer arch lip pieces I had previously slit...

to get a cleaner lip to work with.

I can then clamp the new inner lip patch panel in place for a look. This panel will eventually weld to the wheel tub.

Here I'm trimming the patch panel back a bit from the tail light opening...

and then marking that cutline on the rear quarter. I'll scribble through all the metal that is to be removed.

 

Test fitting the panel in place...be sure!

Trimming will be necessary at the bottom.

Here I've cut loose the arch lip...

and ground the surface smooth.

This removed lip will be replaced by the patch panel.

This is what's left.

The rear valance curved outer section has some rust...not sure if it can be repaired.

I can now remove the front flange...

I'll do so gently with a sharp chisel and mallet being careful not to damage further the torn metal.

And it's gone.

The patch panel is trial fitted.

The curve in the panel doesn't quite match the outer sill, need to fix that now.

I can clamp the front of the panel for a good fit....

then move to the rear and flex the panel into place.

Back at the bench I'll work on that curve in the panel. The yellow is the area to be removed.

The cuts are made...

and the gap closed. It will be welded later.

Got to do the same to the inner lip (top piece).

Mark and shade the area for removal, then cut it out.

The inner lip and outer fender lip now fit together properly...

and for a curve that matches the sill. But, it sticks out a bit...

because the 'B' pillar that I fabricated months ago needs trimming a bit.

 

I placed the inner fender in place against the wheel tub and marked the proper fitment location on the inside of the lip...

as well as on the wheel tub.

I stripped the factory primer from the inside of the panel...

and then from the outside. I want to use my own primer and paint here.

I then primed the panel, inside and out.

I placed the panel in place and then bolted on a wheel and tire.

This allowed me to finally do a check for proper clearance. It's tight at the front, but that's OK.

The tire protrudes slightly and when fully weighted the tire will rise into the wheel well.

The intersection of the tire and sheet metal is my concern; how significant will it be?

I can see that it will touch, but how much and where?

A straight edge across the tire and extended to the sheet metal reveals an intersection...

of about 1/8". A little notching and then folding back of the lip and the clearance will be adequate, Just what I needed to know before moving on.
 

Time to strip down the components; first to go is the fuel cell.

This is also a good time to remove the tank studs for the stock tank that I'll not be using.

The rear axle comes next. First, take off the brake drum.

Then, with a 1 7/8" socket and breaker bar, remove the axle nuts.

Here's a tip; turn the brake drum around and start a couple nuts onto the lugs. A couple quick jerks will usually remove the rear hub, if not...

the drum provides a good surface for a few hammer blows that will do the job. Then, remove the back plate.

Next comes the radius arm bracket and rear axle.

I use a jack to support the axle while the bolts come out, then to safely lower it to the ground.

Before removing the steering rack I marked the position of the brackets. A section of the support tube will be removed later.

The hardware is bagged by assembly; doors, steering column and rack, and rear axle.

I then removed as much metal as possible from the rear quarter; final trimming will be done later.

Again, I found significant rust at the lip. Replacement was the only viable solution.

The lip was trimmed like the other side had been done previously.

All parts that had been removed were set aside for now.

I've decided to go ahead and do some sand blasting of the underside of the car. Here I've assembled the media, hose, mask, and blaster.

I'll also put the brace across the bottom of the rotisserie since I'll be rolling the car outside to the driveway.

 

While waiting to sandblast I have time to fabricate the angle iron that will replace the front tubular brace; it will allow access to the crank nut.

After transferring the cut lines from the template I go to work with the grinder.

Then it's to the vise for some bending with a big hammer.

A quick check against the template...

and then the front tube; fit is good. I'll set it aside for now and install it soon. Those gaps will be welded shut eventually.

 

I'm ready to install the rear fenders on the Spridget, but needed to paint the inner fender wells before covering them up. Before painting I needed to clean off the old coatings and rust, thus the need for the sandblasting. I figured that since I'd be setting up the equipment anyway I might as well go ahead and do all the blasting now.

I gave up on the bottle blaster the last time I used it; in my mind, the basic principle is flawed...placing sand in an enclosed tank (very cumbersome), pressurizing the tank, and then trying to feed air and sand (mixed) out of the tank, though a hose, and on through the nozzle. The thing would jam every few minutes and never did give the right volume of air/sand. I'm junking it.

The new sand blaster is an old school solution. It is an open hopper type, 50 lb capacity, and provides sand through a dedicated hose to the venturi in the handle and out the ceramic nozzle based on the pressure provided via the dedicated air hose. It works! Total cost was like $50. I operated it at 120PSI through 100' of hose. I also had the old compressor and hose for use in cleaning up; blowing off the work, the hood, and the mask, which you need to do every 15-20 minutes.

The media I'm using is graded (medium) silica. YES...I am aware of the hazards of silica (silicosis)...and I used a quality canister type respirator and full head/shoulder cloth hood. The hood is white; fortunately none of the neighbors panicked for fear of cross burnings in the yard.

About three hours a day was enough for me, especially last week when it was warmer. Cleanup was easy; I used a shop broom to simply sweep the silica out into the yard, which is mostly clay and will benefit from the sand content. Following up with the leaf blower got the driveway nice and clean.

The car had several coatings that I wanted to remove; these were on the underside of the car, under the hood, the passenger area, and the trunk. I had previously stripped the major panels; exterior of the monocoque, fenders, hood, and trunk lid. The top layer (white) was a homegrown respray; thick in some spots, thin in others. Next was the factory color coat, red, and under that, but not readily visible due to the color, the reddish pink primer. Under that is the nasty stuff, the black seam sealer and undercoat. It is petroleum based (tar) and NOT removed by sand. I suppose that if you went to a commercial blaster their equipment would remove it, but also likely damage the surrounding metal. I found that working slowly with my smaller blaster I could lay my hand on the just blasted surface and it wasn't hot...no damage.

After finishing all the blasting this week I gave all of the raw metal a good spray of Metal Ready. Metal Ready is a product from POR-15 that is primarily phosphoric acid with a small amount of cleaner added. You apply it with a spray bottle, it foams up (shows the acid is working), and then drips off and air dries in a couple hours. The result is clean metal with a thin protective film that inhibits flash rust. You can wipe the dry surface with a rag to remove any resultant dust and it's ready for paint (POR-15). I used it on the front suspension of the TR3 and it did great.

With 95% of the coatings now off I can now go back with the chisel (for hand scraping) and air grinder with a fiber abrasive disk and complete the job. I also need to finish weld some panels that I had previously tacked (floor pans and trunk floor) and patch some holes. When the grinding is done I'll hit it again with the Metal Ready and it will be ready for paint. I hope to do some painting before the weather gets too cold. The POR-15 is either brushed or rolled and flattens nicely, but only if the temp is above 80.

One last comment. The new compressor worked like a charm. It's a two cylinder (low/high pressure cylinders), 12.6SCFM @ 90PSI, 175PSI max pressure, 80 gallon unit. I could hold the trigger open for ten minutes continuously, the compressor would come on after about 2-3 minutes, run for two minutes, shut off, then the cycle would restart. It actually produced more air than the blaster was using...no having to stop and wait for it to pump up...WOOHOO!!!
 

Now to the sandblasting! I decided to try the new sandblaster on a small part first, the driveshaft...

but first, some basic protection is necessary, especially since I'll be using silica.

It worked great...clean as a whistle.

The sand goes into the yard and will help aerate the soil.

The blaster hose leads to the new compressor out at the new garage. The other hose goes to the old (small) compressor and is used for cleanup.

Now on to the car. The objective is to remove as much old paint, new primer, and old seam sealer as possible...down to bare metal.

The rotisserie gives me good access to the car, top and...

bottom.

Here I have blasted the bottom rails on one side and am preparing to do the other.

The blaster does a good job on all but the hard black tar like material. It will be removed later by hand.

Looks like winter came early! A few minutes with a shop broom and the leaf blower and the drive will be clean again.

I'm pleased with how clean the metal is, especially in the corners.

There is still a little paint...

and sealer to remove...

the driver's side front wheel well is the worst.

Here I've started blasting on the inside.

The tunnel is easy, but the footwells difficult.

I then moved to the "A" pillars, firewall, and cowl.

The rear inside wheel wells were a mess...

but they cleaned up quickly.

Off came the white respray, then the original red...

and finally bare metal.

I then hit the gutter around the boot opening.

I've rolled the car inside to dry after spraying all the bare metal with "Metal Ready" from Por-15...

It is a mix of phosphoric acid and a cleaner.

When sprayed on it foams, then drips off and dries.

You can wash it down with thinner and then paint right over it.

The "metal Ready" leaves a protective film that should minimize rusting until I'm ready to paint.

I've still got some work to do with the chisel and grinder on a few tough spots.

This side came out pretty well with just sand blasting.

Here's the entire front end; the blasting and acid cleaning represents about a week of effort.

I'll move on soon to some small jobs, cutting out the front tube and installing the fabbed piece...

and patching up some holes.

I also have more welding to do on the roll bar attachment...

and some of the body panels.

 

I have attached the steering rack and marked the location of the cutout for the dropped brace...

the dropped brace will facilitate access to the crank nut with a socket wrench. Here, the angle cuts have been made...

and the tube removed.

The fabricated angle brace is dry fitted...

and then tack welded in place.

Measurements are taken to be sure it is square in all directions...

and then it is finish welded...

and the welds ground.

Now it is on to patching some holes; this one is where the battery tray was removed from the engine bay side.

It is first marked and cut out...

then a patch is welded in.

There's another, a bit larger, on the other side.

The hole where the heater hose passed is patched as well; this car will not have a heater.

The front frame members are next. On this one, the internal tube is welded back to keep it from rattling. It is not functional.

Here's one of the patches I'll use on a front frame member; two are required.

It's a matter of dry fitting...

and doing more grinding until it fits flush.

Now is a good time to do some hammer work on the metal below the vertical support,

Then it's on to the other side.

The raised metal to the rear is cut off with a grinder...

then sanded flush.

Here's the patch finish welded and ground.

With the welder out, it's a good time to do the finish welding on the footwell floor pans...

and the tunnel area. This was just tacked previously.

October 2008

One more quick job, stripping off the rear fender beading. I had already done the driver's side...

so the passenger side went quickly.

The only tools needed were a grinder, sander, and a pair of pliers to pull out the beading strip.

 

E-mail Ray at ray@raysmg.com about MG interests you may share.

This site was last updated 05/05/09