MGB GT Restoration

[norsa]

Most often in such areas its gaining access to cut and grind which is the most frustrating and almost requires new outer panels so you can work on the inside panels and work your way back out. Not too bad with MG as so much is available.
Nick

 

[Springerdinger]

Hi David
I put the trumpets on a while back.
One of my early jobs.
All the metal on that side is new.
My mistake was I didn't realise the engine bay was this bad.
The new piece to go in is on its second attempt and has been a real challenge.
I nearly gave up. Second attempt is looking much better but still had a long way to go

 

[Itsawindupuk]

I just read through this entire thread, its excellent!!! I just took my GT off the road, its a 1968 with a ford duratec engine and 5 speed box. I built it from a "restored" shell I bought years ago, but now it has to come off the road as ive found rust in the rear chassis rails by the spring hangers. I'm going to purchase a welder soon and tackle all the rust and get a proper respray done.

 

[Springerdinger]

A little more progress. This piece is challenging.
Tommorow more hammering grinding and sanding

 

[Springerdinger]

I just read through this entire thread, its excellent!!! I just took my GT off the road, its a 1968 with a ford duratec engine and 5 speed box. I built it from a "restored" shell I bought years ago, but now it has to come off the road as ive found rust in

the rear chassis rails by the spring hangers. I'm going to purchase a welder soon and tackle all the rust and get a proper respray done.

Welcome to the forum.
Best of luck with your repairs and thanks for reading. This is a great forum and some great help from the guys on here.
Start a thread when you get up and running. Its good to look back and see what you started with. Then see how much you achieved.
Cheers
Chris

 

[Springerdinger]

Still working on this inner wing panel
Holes drilled along the top to plug weld then seam weld the rest.

The cutout was an experiment and is folded over all round for strength. It should give me access to the trumpet for further paint and protection. On the MGB there is a plate mounted in front of the cutout

Anyway tommorow afternoon I finally get to weld. It will need more shaping as it's welded

 

[MG David]

That patch looks a good fit. Are you going to back the seem welds with a copper heat sink?

 

[Springerdinger]

That patch looks a good fit. Are you going to back the seem welds with a copper heat sink?

I wasn't but now you mention it I do have some scrap brass plate so I will try it and let you know how it goes.
A great idea that could really make a difference on this patch. Thanks - much appreciated

 

[Springerdinger]

It's Friday.
It's 5 to 5 and it's cra....
Well in the garage and the welder feed has battled me this fine afternoon.
That said panel is taking shape. Weld is not as good as I dreamt it would be last night but here's a picture. Still a lot to do on this

 

[norsa]

one of the biggest problems with wire feed is rusty wire and im not talking brown wire here but it can take on small specs of rust that you cant actually see when it gets a little cold in a workshop.

 

[Springerdinger]

one of the biggest problems with wire feed is rusty wire and i'm not talking brown wire here but it can take on small specs of rust that you cant actually see when it gets a little cold in a workshop.

You are spot on norsa.
Once I wound the tarnished wire off the spool it improved no end.
I couldn't see any rust so it didn't occur to me at first it was only after I did a a load of practice runs with different settings that I realised what was going on.
You could feel the corrosion on the wire but you couldn't see it.
It made Friday painful but you live and learn.
Luckily most of the crappy welds were on a practice plate before I started it cost me a lot of time though figuring it out.
There was a lot of pitted hollow welds with what looked like arc weld slag on the runs. Welds of shame I called them

I am going to change the sleeve as well I think just in case there is any rust sitting in there now.
The welds are much better its just the idiot on the end of the torch I have to fix.

Cheers

Chris

 

[norsa]

Lesson learned eh? Thing is, youll know next time. I think it is dramatic weather changes/ condensation that causes the rust but its worth buying the best wire you can afford. I always get mine from a reputable welding supply company locally.

 

[Springerdinger]

A couple more pics- the lighting was a bit odd for these.
I normally cover my welder over when its not in use which has always protected the wire
With the shed build Things have been stored wherever there is space so hopefully normal service will be resumed
Buy yes lesson learned to check the wire especially if it not being used much.

You can see the plug welds along the top. May have gone belt and braces on the quantity.
7mm diameter hole drilled starting the puddle nearer the top of the hole as its a vertical weld and letting gravity move the puddle down a little

One thing to note. On a pressed panel like this the metal in some places was probably less than 0.8mm thick where the metal was stretched by the tooling. It at least felt like I was welding tinfoil. Makes welding interesting so lots of quick bursts to avoid blowing holes. Also letting the weld cool and then moving to different areas.
The heat sink helped. thanks MG David.

 

[ian f]

a very tidy repair

 

[Lavo]

excellent post Springerdinger.I have a 1977 MGB which has a rolling repairs schedule on it. I'm a self taught welder and not as good as you but I do enjoy the work. Posts like yours do inspire me to carry on with it. Keep up the good work.

 

[Highway_Star]

Mine has gone around the pedal box holes. The PO let it sit for 12 years with a leaking brake master cylinder.

That's going to be fun....

 

[MG David]

When you get wire feed issues it is worth looking at the copper tip where the wire comes out. The fact that Machine Mart and Halfords sell these in packs of 5 is a clue to the need to change them regularly.

 

[atomant48]

My son has a spare chrome bumper cross member if you want to lower your MGB?

Many thanks for the kind offer I have one all painted up with a steering rack etc ready to go.
Cheers
Chris

Do th chrome bumper ones bolt straight on - are there other bits need to be changed over as well? I've often wondered about doing this.

 

[Wendelspanswick]

Do th chrome bumper ones bolt straight on - are there other bits need to be changed over as well? I've often wondered about doing this.

They bolt straight on but you have to modify the steering column as the angle changes. It's a while since I did my son's but it was straightforward enough. I think we still have the spare cross member if you want one?

 

[Springerdinger]

Thanks Lava - kind words.
Regarding the rusting mig wire I have found that covering the welder in a sheet of bubble wrap while its stored has reduced the rusting issue of the top layers
The moisture in the wooden garage hasn't helped this year.
I'm also beefing up the power supply into the garage in the next week or so if everything goes to plan.

I hope to be adding a Tig welder to the tool box over the next couple of weeks.

Next step on this projects is to completely strip all the paint from the engine bay in order to locate any more areas than need attention and then get it primed.
I have another door frame to fit a skin.
I think I am going to de-seam the top of the rear wings so I don't have any rust issues in the future with beads, Can't decide whether to do this to the front wings as well. Frontline do it to their cars and it looks good.