welding fitting wings

[mogbob]

Bodge ? I guess , Yes. First attempt by somebody at fabricating and welding , probably. There is a lot of weld and not a lot of it is pretty or professional. Is it the worst I've seen , no.

When we took off my mates outer offside wing a previous repair to the inner wing was something to behold !
The repair panel was from a fridge , oven or freezer ( difficult to determine what ). On the joins … visible when looking at the inner wheel arch , outer wing on , road wheel removed …. looked good underneath the underseal.
With everything exposed the story was totally different. What could be seen with the car on the road was 1/3 rd of the perimeter of the repair. The other 2/3rds not visible wasn't welded to anything... only fresh air !!
I was teaching my pal to fabricate and weld so I told him to take a photograph , so it would remind him how not to repair car bodywork safely.

Heritage wings or pattern ones ? It's a lottery in my book , with a leaning towards Heritage. If you get one that doesn't need fettling in some way shape or form , in my experience consider yourself lucky. Different Marques of classic cars have similar concerns with their supply of re manufactured panels. The machines / dies making them wear out with each pressing and eventually the initial crispness of the product deteriorates.
Bob

[ManyMinors]

One of my Minors has the Taiwanese "pattern" wings. The front ones particularly took a good deal of time and effort before they fitted well - including having to unpick the welded join at the side of the headlamp in order to re-shape the panel and re-weld it. The steel was very thin and poor quality but I did achieve a decent fit in the end. My main concern is that these wings will not last long due to the steel thickness and quality despite removing the very poor primer and making a better job of painting and rustproofing them.
For my other Minor, I splashed out on UK manufactured "Heritage" wings. Thicker and much better quality steel along with a decent coat of primer. The quality of finish still wasn't great and a certain amount of work was still required to gain a good fit. If I were to restore another Minor I would definitely opt for the Heritage wings again because despite the higher cost, I think the better quality will see them last a good few years longer once fitted. Whichever wings you fit, DO make sure you prepare and paint the insides thoroughly and then apply a good coat of underbody wax or similar to the areas where they rust - down the back seam and around the lights particularly.
If I had to compromise to save money, I would perhaps consider fitting Heritage wings to the front and pattern ones to the rear - as the rear ones are perhaps less critical? The pattern rear wings I used actually fitted quite well although the steel is very thin. It is worth shopping around for prices. Bull Motif (and others probably) were offering a good discount for a full set of 4 wings if bought together.

[mixerman22]

hi all,
the car is already to go to the bodyshop for welding as i cannot do any more until it comes back final photos b4 it goes
thanks 4 all your help(sorry about upside down)