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MG MGA - Sanity Check (for those who've been there before)

OK, late last year I posted about my MkII needed some dog leg repairs and I was toying at the time of doing a restoration. Opinions were mixed, by most said go for it.

I've have the car 14 years and it is time for a repaint, new rubber, dog legs, front suspension, and a new wiring harness at least since the harness in the car is original.

Anyway, cutting to the chase, I removed the dog legs and about 1 quart of dirt came out of the bottom of each "B" pillar and the sills are shot. The upside is the frame is good and the rocker panel near perfect.

For those that have been where I'm heading, is this what you saw?

I've checked out Barney's job and wish I had the tools/talent/time to do that.

I have a couple questions:

1) A local metal fabricator who works old cars has agreed to do the job but I don't have a quote yet. Should these parts be fabricated or are the Moss replacements any good?

2) For those that have seen the "B" pillar replacement parts do they go high enough to manager the repair based on these pics? The rust stops where the dog leg cut is.

Cheers,
Christopher
(In need of some moral suport about now...)


Christopher Wilson

Image # 2 the "B" pillar close up.

Christopher Wilson

Image #3, a better view of the sill, or what there is of it.



Christopher Wilson

Been there, done that, repaired my entire tub including the B pillars and sills. Even fabricated some replacement metal. Moss parts are iffy and will require modification to work.

I didn't have the skills either (at the time). But I sure do now. I took Carl Heideman's MGA Sheetmetal class and the rest as they say, is history. They can also do the work for you if you want. I was just curious enough to want to learn how to do it myself. It was very rewarding and gave me a lot of confidence. I highly recommend these guys. Here's a link:

http://www.eclecticmotorworks.com

Safety Fast!
Rick Gregg
Elkhorn, NE
Rick Gregg

Chris,
What you show is most usual, and is quite repairable. Just takes time and money, as all the parts you need are available. You will have to remove the doors, wings (fenders), carpets, seats and floor boards, at minimum, but if you are planning a repaint you probably knew that you will be removing everything.
An original wiring harness can continue to work well as long as it still has all the smoke in it.
Go for it, and you will get help and encouragement from the readers here.
Peter.
P. Tilbury

I agree with Rick, you can do it and it's not as hard as it looks. I did mine last year and they were in about the same condition as yours. Just be patient and work from the inside out. I followed Carl's site at Eclectic Motor Works and it came out fine. You can see how the inner sill, inner portion of the dogleg and lower section of the B pillar were all patched and replaced in the photo.

Bill Young

Thanks fellas.

It would probably cost as much in equipment and such as either buying replacement parts or having them made, but it is good to know I am not alone in having to have this done.

I will likely go with a frabricator, he has said he can take the car next week.

It is good to know the Moss parts are iffy I would have hated to order them and not have them fit.

If I knew how to weld and had metal working equipment I'd probably at least try but I do not.

All the body/paint work on this car is going out to one shop.

This repair was supposed to be only for the dog legs, but when I saw this I decided it was time to do something now rather then wait until the fall when the body will come off the car. I plan to get one more summer of driving before tearing her down.

Cheers,
Christopher
Christopher Wilson

Chris,

Make sure the shop you take this to has DONE THIS REPAIR BEFORE. There are all sorts of horror stories out there about shops that don't get how critical the dimensional and structural integrity of the pillars and sills are to this car!

As an example, I took my tub to a local shop that completely bodged the job. That's when I decided to take matters into my own hand and learn every aspect of how to do these repairs. I completely tore all of the repairs apart (that I had paid for) and completely rebuilt the tub myself. You know the old saying ... "if you want to do it right ...."

Also, didn't mean to disparage Moss parts, but they do require some amount of modification to fit right. It's just part of the fun!

Safety Fast!
Rick Gregg
Elkhorn, NE
Rick Gregg

Christopher
I agree all these comments. Did one sill a few years ago and suspect I need to do the other one soon.
Make sure the fabricators get the door fit right before removing things and then have them fit a bracing bar. If this is not done then the A and B posts can go out of alignment causing huge problems when you come to fit the wings. Not saying it will but the likelyhood is big.
I would actually advise to chop out all the sill componants while you are in there and get new metal in. Also make sure you can get some cavity wax into all the sectiuons to stop this happening so quickly next time (not that 50 years is quick?!!).
I did the whole thing in 2 weekends so should be no problems for a pro.

Neil
Neil Purves

Chris because ALL MGAs were hand made, everyone is different. So the parts from Moss and others are simply made by a fabricator to somewhere near average. Naturally therefore those who work at it in their own garage, do get a good result, as do the workshops who take YOUR car and have the skills to make panels that fit your car.

I suppose therefore that if you take your car to a fabricator/repairer, I would not insult him by giving him parts that will at best be a nearly fit. If he is skilled let him do the job well.
Bob (robert) Midget Turbo

This thread was discussed between 20/02/2008 and 21/02/2008

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