Hi,
I have spent most of today removing my passenger rear wing, I intend to replace both anyway, as they are later wings and some time ago I acquired a really nice pair originals for free .
Well I'm paying for that bit of good fortune now...........
I have bought a passenger side inner wing, as I could see that it was going to need surgery long before I got round to taking it off.
Anyway what I didn't anticipate was the level of bodgery I would find.
Now some members may have encountered this before and I have heard about / read about this sort of thing but this is the first time I have experienced it on a Minor first hand.
Someone from 'planet clever' decided to 'repair' previous issues in the area by using some sort of compound to 'bond' some offcuts of metal in place over rust holes, without even treating the rust first as far as I can see, then covered the whole lot over in a thick layer of filler, roughly to shape, so at first glance you wouldn't realise how deep the rabbit hole went......
Then to complete the camouflage, a layer of underbody black gunk was applied, inside the boot area, as well as outside, so until the area started to obviously come apart at the seams you would think it was pretty solid.
This creates a whole world of pain for the people who then end up trying to put it right, as the whole mess has to be unpicked first, revealing a worse case of rot than would probably have been the case if they had left it alone.....
All they did was seal it in, cover it over and leave it to fester!
They even thought it would be a good idea to weld one of the wing bolts in place!
If anyone is on here, who is new to classic car ownership, has just bought a rusty Minor and who might be tempted by a 'quick fix', PLEASE DON'T.
It really isn't worth it and just causes a major headache further down the line......
Rear wheel arch bodgery 1.JPG (1.35 MiB) Viewed 1248 times
Rear wheel arch bodgery 2.JPG (1.36 MiB) Viewed 1248 times
Rear wheel arch bodgery 3.jpg (2.25 MiB) Viewed 1248 times
Rear wheel arch bodgery 4 The sin bin.JPG (1.29 MiB) Viewed 1248 times
What can be seen in last 'sin bin' picture is only part of it, I have left the other metal & filler patches in place for now, as it will be simpler to cut out one large area with the grinder. As I said above, I have an inner wheelarch panel that can be cut to suit and better one large piece than a series of small patches. I will consult Dave, who is doing the welding and take it from there.
Unfortunately, from what I have seen so far, it looks like the drivers side could turn out to be the same, I will find out when I remove that wing tomorrow.....
I am intending to get a welder and accessories at the end of the month, as this and painting (a whole car) are the two skills I haven't acquired yet, although I think I will leave the painting (other than small areas) to the experts.
I am glad I have a friend who can weld for this though, as it will take me a while to build up to the skill level required to fix the mess I am unpicking here.....
Best wishes,
Mike.
1954 Series 2: 4 door: "Sally" -- Back on the ground with (slave) wheels and waiting to be resprayed......
1970 Triumph Herald 1200: "Hetty" -- Driven back from Llangollen in Wales (twice.....)
That's a disheartening discovery. But at least, once you have it done properly, will last for many years to come. I'm currently collecting wings for my own Traveller which is in need of some work.
I seen worse ...... actually, i haven't ! Just trying to empathise ... although I had a pickup that had been fixed by another person from planet clever, lower rear cab corners had five layers of metal (rust) welded on top of each other I fixed it properly myself, it wasn't even expensive, very time consuming but had a satisfying outcome. At a rally some time after I found some bloke admiring my handiwork and explaining to his buddy that it was either very well looked after original or expertly repaired. Take your time, i'm sure you'll do a good job.
The drivers side rear wing is off now and it's the same story..... I've ordered the inner wing for that side now.
As you say it's time consuming, which I wouldn't mind except the real reason my time is being consumed by this area is that I'm stuck with having to unpick somebody else's stupidity.................
Best wishes,
Mike.
1954 Series 2: 4 door: "Sally" -- Back on the ground with (slave) wheels and waiting to be resprayed......
1970 Triumph Herald 1200: "Hetty" -- Driven back from Llangollen in Wales (twice.....)
Mike
I sympathise with you, I'm going through the same thing with my 65 Minor.
Have a look at my short videos showing the bodges on my car and the amount of rust I have encountered.
My car had an MOT when it came into my possession.
Frustrating though it is, you have to remember that on a sixty year old car this bodging is likely to have been done at the stage when it was an old banger being nursed from MoT to MoT. Back in the day there simply weren't amateurs with the skills we have acquired, or the internet for the information needed. And professional repairs weren't viable when the cars had low resale values. If it wasn't for the bodger your car probably wouldn't exist now! Some of us might even own up to having been bodgers earlier in life...
As regards your acquisition of skills, I've learned both welding and painting during my protracted Traveller restoration. Although after a lot of compounding I'm satisfied with the results, with hindsight I'd have the painting done professionally, as celly isn't very durable and 2K isn't safe to do without the equivalent of a professional setup.
Ours was very similar, lots of small patches tacked on and smothered in filler, the floor also had 4 layers of metal in some places.
My old Range Rover was even worse, most of both footwells was what looked like old oil cans stuck together with a bucket full of a green coloured filler then heavily undersealed, it had an mot too.
Have a look at my short videos showing the bodges on my car
Thanks Dermot,
The video proved useful in another way, as I didn't realise the rear wheelarch flanges were available.
I have the passenger side rear inner wing already and the drivers side on order but I was debating with Dave on the best way to repair the lip with the cage nuts in it.
The flanges from moss will make things allot more straightforward, in that we will now have something to work with, in which the fixing points for the wing itself are already located.
Once their positions are fixed on the wing, the old ruined flanges can now simply be cut away.
I have included the links to the rear wheelarch flanges below, for anyone else who may view this and be in need of them.
Best wishes,
Mike.
1954 Series 2: 4 door: "Sally" -- Back on the ground with (slave) wheels and waiting to be resprayed......
1970 Triumph Herald 1200: "Hetty" -- Driven back from Llangollen in Wales (twice.....)
.
I fixed it properly myself, it wasn't even expensive, very time consuming but had a satisfying outcome. At a rally some time after I found some bloke admiring my handiwork and explaining to his buddy that it was either very well looked after original or expertly repaired.