Assessment of Rust Repair

Miguela's Rust woes.

(I cant decide whether this car should be called MiGuela or Barnaby.)

This may seem like a lot of rust to some, but for a car that's lived in Canada, it is relatively minor. It is possible that the accident damage the car sustained kept it off the road, as it was parked for 32 of its 54 years.

Left Rear Quarter

Am thinking I'll de-rust the inner panel and cut out any weak material. I’ll then and plug and seam-weld a patch over top from behind. I many need to form a flange on the the edges of this patch.

I'm not sure if the outer left rear quarter requires a repair panel to replace the whole thing, or if I could fabricate a smaller repair panel myself

Muffler mount

The heat of the muffler caused the boot floor to rust. It is a bit thin, and the stud itself dropped out. Can patch from below I think.

Left rear corner of trunk

This tricky section below the left tail light may be better left to a pro. Converging curves at the intersection of three panels….

Right rear outer quarter -

It may look worse once stripped, but there is so little rust here that I wonder how best to approach.

Left front outer sill, forward end.

The sills are mostly solid and go "ding" when tapped along their length. The exception below. this may be a piece I can fabricate. Or, just buy a replacement and use 10% of it...

No repairs needed here, just a pic showing the general condition of the footwells and sills.

Passenger floor under seat

The seat track mount hole is elongated and the sheet metal adjacent is pinholed and a bit thin. Could patch from above, leaving the underside looking original. (The floors are otherwise in excellent shape).

Both front wings, front bottom

This may be beyond my metalworking skill but could very be repaired with marine epoxy and biaxial stitch mat, boat style.

Bottom below battery tray.

Metal is pinholed and weak under battery area.

A repair panel is available for this, but replacing the flat section looks pretty straightforward.

Comments

Engine bay dissasembly - reference photos

Firewall area

Front End Fact Find

June 15 - confirmed that the chassis is not bent! Plumb bob and chalk lines. See section R page 18 of the Bentley manual for dimensions and method. Update June 12 - more photos of frame Update - Obvious accident damage and clearly the frame horns are not as they should be. Measurement and verification required. The photo below is rather telling. The horns should be 12” apart (11” between the flanges), parallel to the car’s centreline and level and straight with respect to its the frame rail. I am not certain precisely how far each horn should extend from the crossmember. I will assume but should verify that the rad uprights are at 90deg to the horn, and should verify the height of the rad support above the horn. the threaded bosses for the grill shroud (2 in each horn, 3 in each rad upright) are the most critical location points with respect to hood alignment, as these locate the front end assembly. Straight edge clamped to frame rai...

Engine teardown and reassembly

Miguela's seized engine could not be freed in situ. After weeks of soaking, rolling etc I could not get it to budge and resigned myself to the teardown I had suspected was inevitable. The odometer reads 49000 miles. The "12CD" series engine is original to the car, and it does not appear to have been opened in the past, though it does have a copper-faced head gasket which may not be original. Some of the photos also show the light green paint colour that is particular to this series of engines. They are rare and particularly fast as a result. Ease of access is facilitated by the absence of any front end sheet metal. After more hardened mud and grease were removed, the starter, generator, induction and cylinder head were removed. The engine and gearbox were then unbolted and removed. While lifting the engine alone was possible with a helper, an engine hoist will be required for reassembly as the gearbox and engine will be ...

1968 MG Midget

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