Front frame Assessment

Update Oct 23 - Worse than I thought....

In preparation for repairing the frame I removed the front suspension and other obstructions, then cleaned off as much of the cement-like mixture of clay and grease. This provided the chance to check the frame rails and unfortunately the drift begins further aft than I thought, to a max of around 3/16. The good news is that - I think - the front crossmember is where it should be.

More than I bargained for but so it goes. Miguela had some rough times in her youth and bears the scars, worst of which is the damage evident in the front subframe and chassis ‘horns’ as pictured here. I first noticed this when I arrived with the rented uhaul after a 2+ hour drive (with Covid sy symptoms peaking... my excuse) I noticed a bit of irregularity and had assumed someone had tweaked something to fit an exhaust pipe. I should have looked harder, and taken a moment to think....

Fortunately the car is straight in the horizontal plane. (See the chalk lines on the floor?)

The frame horns’ tortured history….

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Engine bay dissasembly - reference photos

Firewall area

Front frame repair

Heavy metal stories... As mentioned in a previous post the front frame was in worse shape than I'd imagined. You can see in the photos below and elsewhere the bent frame rail and steering rack mounting beam, plus the really bad work on the front chassis horns. The painful kink in the frame rail. Fortunately, a few very kind folks took the time to explain to me how to approach this sort of a frame repair. So, I bought a "portapower" on sale, and a frame clamp and followed the Eugene's directions. And slowly, carefully, was able to pull the frame mostly straight. Amazing! A great first step. I also used a large C clamp to bring the box section back into square as it had been moved into a parallelogram shape at the site of the bend. As detailed in another post, I was able to salvage he front half of a parts car. Thanks for your generosity Ken! From this I cut some repair pieces required for Miguela. So far, the steering rack x-member and a section of frame...

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...

1968 MG Midget

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