Tag: Bodywork

MG Midget Front end resto

With the welding complete at the rear I moved up to the front of the car.

Remember this?

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Well after I ground off the rivets and bolt heads holding the ‘repair’ on this was revealed.

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I made a patch up and as well as seam welding it I plug welded onto the chassis leg.

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The Midget is going to be bumperless and the owner wants a clean look so the 1500 vents were filled in with steel. This will have a skim of filler over the top to profile it.imag1152_zpslolwpn61

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Next up will be to strip the underseal off then paint and stone chip the underside.

Bodywork, here we go!

So now the car is stripped it is now time to grind off the filler (bondo) and see what we are dealing with. I suspected there was a lot of filler and I was right. I decided to start at the A pillar and work my way backwards.

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There was quite a bit of filler on the A pillar but there didn’t seem to be any apparent reason for this. I don’t know why but the join between the pillar and sill was filled in. There are a couple of small dents  that I will have to deal with later. As I got to the top of the pillar I found a small patch of rust and a hole.imag1019_1_zpslsrccvwx

This was cut out and a patch made. I will do all the welding once I have gone around the whole car, cut out the rot and made the patches.

The B post/ rear wing was next and obviously loaded with filler. A repair section had been let in in the past and although not a bad job the panel had warped due to the heat. The amount of filler applied to this panel was way too much to cover the warped area. As you can see it is nearly 6mm thick in some areas.

I will press the area out from the other side and put a skim of filler over it.

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Further back behind the rear wheel arch there had been some more repair work done. A repair panel had been welded in but it had not been welded flush so (guess what) thick layers of filler had been used to cover the problem. I will be cutting the welding joint and welding it flush.

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Someone had also filled a rust hole in the wheel arch lip with fibre glass. Thanks….

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I cut it out.

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The rear valance wasn’t much better with rust holes and filler along the bottom. I may go with a new panel here. Maybe a smooth one off an earlier model. 

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All in all I was expecting much worse so good news really

MG Midget Resto

This weekend I started work on a 1978 MG Midget. The car is the later rubber bumper model.

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The heavy bumpers were the first to go. Out of curiosity we weighed them and they came to a hefty 96 pounds (44kg). This is the weight of a small adult.

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The plan for this restoration is to end up with a tidy everyday classic for the owner. At the moment the paint finish looks like it has been done with a roller, the filler looks like Artex and the synchromesh on 2nd gear is weak. The strip down started with the bumpers then the engine and gearbox were removed as one unit.

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The underneath was surprisingly rot free.

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The windscreen and door furniture was removed.

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There seems to be a lot of filler on this car so it will be removed, any issues repaired with old metal cut out and new welded in.

The floor is in remarkable condition. Now the rubber bumpers have been removed the mounting brackets at the front will have to be cut off so a more fitting front grille can be fitted. I will also smooth out the rear valance were the bumper mount ‘lumps’ are.

Discovery under body protection

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This 20 year old Discovery was undersealed from new and it shows. The chassis is yet to be welded. The owner was advised to get it redone at his last MOT. Dirty work but some how satisfying…

Vauxhall Viva rear drums

I have managed to re-engineer some brake drums to make them fit the small engined Vivas with 8 inch rear brakes. These have been unavailable for a while.

They are the correct diameter and PCD. They take quite a lot of machining time and this is reflected in the price of £85 +p&p a pair.

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Let me know what you think.

Thanks Chris .

Redhouse classics

Hi all,

This is a blog to document my on going interest in restoring classic vehicles and old machinery in general. I work full time so the projects are done in my spare time.

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I started working in cars around thirty years ago through necessity (poverty!) but soon realised I really enjoyed it. Now it has become hobby and has started to include restoration/ engineering  jobs for family, friends and colleagues.

Past projects include the restoration/modification of a Vauxhall Magnum Coupe. This was fitted with a Rover 3.9 v8 (Buick 215 overbored). Extensive mods were done to the drive train including a 5 link Salisbury 4HA axle, disc brakes all round vented 4 pots at the front. 8d7a29b1-05ba-4a75-b040-ebc68a9a10ee_zps8bf2beeb

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I still have this car and intend to do further work on it when I’m not so busy…

LAMBRETTA GP150

Another project from a few years ago was the resto mod of a Lambretta GP150. This was a friends from work and was an indian import complete with big box rack welded to the rear bodywork. It had had a hard life and the frame and metal work was cracked and dented. Unfortunately I have no pictures of it in this state but here are a few of the restoration.

The body and tinware were straightened and sprayed.

The engine was rebuilt with a RB20 AF Rayspeed kit and Dellorto carb.

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Hydraulic brakes ..

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VAUXHALL FIRENZA.

I have recently completed restoring a basket case Firenza with my son Joe as a father and son project.img_1166-20141212-161711583_zpszdtijsmm

As you can see the car was pretty rough and had been pretty much stripped down. Most of the parts were present but in boxes.

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Floor before and after.

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rear valance

The car came with a few bits if panels which had been cut from other vehicles. Very handy.

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Inner and outer sills done on both sides.

Joe helped with the engine freshen up.

After much prep the paint went on. imag0598_zpszlymdnpd

Then we could start reassembly. The headlining went well.

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The Firenza was finished in July 2016  and has been used this summer.  This was 18 months after we started. Joe has just turned 16  and now has a car ready for when he passes his test hopefully next year.

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