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MG MGB Technical - Rear Lower Wing panel

The rear lower wings on my '72 Roadster are in need of some repair. I've patched them in the past, but have now decided to get them repaired with lower wing repair panels (the ones that are from rear part of sill, join at chrome strip and extend to rear light).

Is there any make/source of panel to go for (or avoid)? The chap who's going to do it for me said he fitted one the other day that needed a bit of work to make good at the sill.

Any recommendations appreciated.
Peter Allen

BMH is probably your bet bet, but even they aren't perfect from the original press tools. The biggest problem is likely to be matching it up with previous work.
paulh4

Thanks, Paul. Interestingly, my welder said it might cost an extra half days work (£100) to rectify if the panels weren't a great fit. Comparing the price of BMH panels compared with ANOther panels, paying for the extra work seems like a good deal!
Peter Allen

The only issue with them usually is that the lower front edge where they butt up to the step in the sill usually isn't folded right back flat, they leave the end at right angles as they come out of the press.
Some body guys grind the rightangled piece back to fit the sill but you're better off folding it right in and tapping it back in flat to the inside of the panel, It'll be stronger and hold it's shape better when you weld the panel on.
William Revit

Thanks, William. I think that's what he might have been describing when talking about the extra work. I'm happy to hand the car over to him as his welding is so much better than my efforts and he's got very low overheads.
Peter Allen

Well thank you Willy. I never knew the edge was supposed to be folded back. On my GT I simply ground them back until the panels were flush. I'll have a go at the folding on my current project.
Mike Howlett

I've wondered what that join is for. On original cars is that an actual join? On mine the sills have been replaced and this just looks an indentation, with I presume a horizontal join just behind the door. I guess there must be different permutations on repair panels, for different repairs.

Back in '79 when I had my first B I seem to remember an outer sill repair panel from John Hill that just went from the indentation to the back of the front wing - a kind of cover sill.
Peter Allen

I did the same. As I recall the double-thickness is closer to the depth of the step than single thickness so you get a smoother overall fit.

But the work I was referring to can be a lot more extensive than just that. The attached is what someone somewhere else had to do to get decent alignment. Not the finished job, I hasten to say!

paulh4

Peter
The original sills go full length with recesses for both the front and rear gaurds to overlap them, The joint between the rear guard and the sill sits flush but is open, it's welded at the bottom of the sill and up the door jam panel but that actual vertical joint doesn't get welded at all. Some people seal the joint with something like dripcheck, others don't
Paul
I've seen that sort of stuff before,unfortunately, some people just shouldn't do bodywork---
What's happened there is whoever fitted that up has welded the bottom along the sill low at the front and thrown all the alignment out
The secret is to offer up the panel and get it in place with the gaps nice, then weld / tack the bottom edge to the bottom of the sill first, then the top of that dogleg piece can be pulled/ pushed into position to line up with the door and tacked into place then continue on towards the rear--
That really does look dodgey, happy though, it's not my car
William Revit

This thread was discussed between 21/05/2021 and 22/05/2021

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