Morris Minor Owners Club

You can still get to the gearbox level plug and brake master cylinder so I cant think of anything else. I've not tried to remove the gearbox without taking the tunnel off (only done it once) but I can imagine it would be a lot more awkward with it on. I can't see the harm in carrying on and sourcing a cover later if you feel the need. I'm sure wiser heads than mine will correct me if I'm wrong.

You would find it very difficult to get at the gearbox rubber mounts if they ever need doing and if removing the gearbox crossmember and the captive nuts break which with the amount of rust you have been dealing with is likely, it would be impossible to get down to the top of them with this welded in place. Are you replacing chassis legs as well? I would definately remove it now rather than leave it and have to go back at it again.

Not replacing chassis legs. Front end is all fine. Ok for the moment we have left it in as is. The area was truly badly rusted and have decided in the future if I ever need to get at the gearbox from above then I will just cut it out and replace with a new cover. But the gearbox is newly replaced and works well and I have access to all the topping up areas.

After 2 and a half days hard graft by both of us. So here is what we got done. Just one drivers side sill area left to do and the spring hangers. And also need to do each side chassis tunnels that run down the side of the car. Not sure what the panels are called yet but they just broke off as we were cutting panels out.

Following shows the boot floor done with new sheet metal and the seat floors.[frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

Also in this last picture under the front door sill where you can see the rust. Is this called the floor edge panel? As they have rusted and beyond repair. Should I get new one's of these as in are they important for structure. I think I could easily just make up the panel needed.

couple of more pictures. I will be ordering the floor edge panels all round to finish off the underside.[frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

Don't use any waxoyl or similar until after the paint otherwise paint reaction is almost guaranteed.

Thanks Jagnut, she is already getting very solid. I proved it by jumping up and down on the new cross member ends and all over the floor sections to test properly

@tysonn - what did you mean by after paint?

Ok, i'm a little confused on how to seal it all in. My cousin gave me the following advice but did advise me to get some from morris experts (yourselves). He said I should:

- grind down the welds a bit to clean them up then use seam sealer on them
- fibreglass any holes or areas where there are still some gaps and rub down with sandpaper i think he said P180
- spray all the area with stone chip paint

Any advance on this?

Don't buy a car off your cousin!

MarkyB wrote:Don't buy a car off your cousin!

Just a little teasing there for you.
What he means to say is that there should not be any gaps in your welding, keep welding and fill any gaps with weld

tysonn wrote:Don't use any waxoyl or similar until after the paint otherwise paint reaction is almost guaranteed.

Tysonn means leave any waxoyl or similar till all painting has been done and before you put it all together.
Use a good primer before stone chipping as well

Very funny guys! I will tell my cousin he does dodgy welding. He didn't mean holes in welding but more little holes in the boot area where a weld in maybe not necessary... So shall I not fibre glass at all?

OK so do all the bodywork and paint the car first then last Job wax oil and stonechip the floor and underside.

Great Job keep up the good work.
I wouldnt worry to much about grinding the welds back, most of what you've done wont be seen.
Invariably there Will be some small holes in the welds, . I would use seam sealer over the welds to keep the moisture out. I usually prime first seam seal then paint.Then stone chip on high impact areas.
I would also use a rust converter on any bits of old steel with surface rust, or take back to shiny then prime/ paint
Good Luck with the rest of the project, must start mine soon !

So shall I not fibre glass at all?

You shouldn't, rust will get worse at the edge of the hole and the fibreglass patch will fall off.

ok great seal sealer and primer sounds like the next step. Mulli you should get started asap as these restorations take ages!

Also I find it amazing that I have asked a few garages about doing the spring hangers for me as I think I will find it difficult as my cousin isn't here to weld now. They are all doing so many excuses and not wanting to take on the job. I might have to resort to tipping the car on it's side and getting some help ...

Here is a picture of one of the holes it's in the corner of the boot area behind the seats. What would you do with this? New plate weld?[frame][/frame]

nam wrote:ok great seal sealer and primer sounds like the next step. Mulli you should get started asap as these restorations take ages!

Yeah I know, part way through restoring a vw camper and landrover series atm so lacking space atm garage is rammed, and im in the army so only get weekends to play.

With your welding id deffo try and get a local enthusiast in or a restoration/ classic specialist garage in as most garages now are just so used to bolting on new parts and thats it,by time a lot of cars need welding theyre ready for the scrap heap, so good welders are harder to find in normal garages. Ive had bad experiences with 'pro's when i wss younger, so brought a cheap mig and had a play- easy to pick up and very very rewarding

Also go over that whole area in the pic with a wire brush on a drill or angle grinder so we can see the hole extent of the rot, but yes it will want chopping out and good steel put in

ok cheers for the advice. I'm going to have a go doing some more welding on the weekend as I had a little play and can do spot welds fairly easily so it holds in place at least.

That picture shows probably the worst of the holes and i did wire brush it down to that. But either way i'll brush to bare metal and stick a little plate over it. I'm just finding little holes in a few places and will probably end up with little plates everywhere which will look a little silly

Very interesting what you are doing, hope it works out as you want it to, my point to you is, why don't you have a look at your local college for welding courses, I did a level 1 C&G welding last year at night school, 2 hours once a week, they had small classes and you each had a booth to work in, all equipment was supplied. you may never become a profesional welder, but a hobby welder like me, the pleasure I get out of doing a job myself is really rewarding. going off topic I also bought a roll over rig (Off ebay) so I can turn the car over to weld,as I don't relish lying on my back welding! but not used it yet. good luck with your car though.

Thanks loosewheels. Well today I got on with the other side and had a go at welding. Here's some pictures, right now i've only tack welded them. So will be doing proper strengthing next. It was a real mission getting the sill to line up properly when your working on your own. [frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

Next little side project that my missus has kindly offered to help do is new covers for the seats. Have got a roll of faux leather and a roll of thick foam. Hopefully the home sewing machine is up-to the job with a walking foot accesory and heavy duty thread and needles ordered![frame][/frame]

Bit more work on the weekend, managed to get the drivers side sill done. Making up my own boxing plate type covering. Hopefully it will look a lot nicer once the primer and seam sealer etc is all done.[frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame]