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Animal roosting problems in front wing

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EddieP Edward Pasman
Haywards Heath, Sussex, UK   GBR
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I have an MGB GT with chrome bumpers 1973 era, with ro-style wheels
I have noticed alot of leaf debris, nut shells and stuff, in the inner wing, to the left of the clutch and brake box, on my UK car.
This is a nice warm hole, that is obviously ripe for people to set up home in. I have sucked alot out with a vacuum cleaner. but some remains which I cannot get to because of the master cylinders

It is making the inner wing rust, so I want to take the outer drivers side (UK) wing off tomorrow and have a look.

I have seen some posts with truncated speech, mobile short-speak from people who might not have even done the job themselves, assuming we know what they mean and so I am confused.

I am after some instructions typed on a keyboard, from people who have really done the job themselves. I expect nuts and bolts to be rusty, though the car has had new wings some years ago.

I would love some clear instructions on where to find hidden bolts and fasteners. I can see the ones on the top of the wing that lead down to the headlights, but it's the others I am unsure about. I have a boy coming to help me, so we will be two.

Thanks very much
Eddie

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riley1489 Avatar
riley1489 Gold Member Bruce H
Great White North, QC, Canada   CAN
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1953 Jaguar XK120
1959 Riley 1.5 "King George"
1973 MG MGB
Eddie,
Save yourself some work.
Taking the wing off will not increase access to this area, unless I misunderstand the location of the 'campsite'.

B



Life's most persistent and urgent question is, "What are you doing for others?"


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46er Avatar
46er Ralph K
Coastal, NJ, USA   USA
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1968 Triumph TR250 "Eileen"
1972 MG MGB MkIII "Merck"
Eddie, I had a similar problem with mine, no critters found, but a lot of leaves. A suggestion to wear a filter over your mouth and nose as what you may find could be very unhealthy. My solution was to purchase a flexible, flat extension for the vacuum hose on Amazon. Worked very well. Image below;


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EddieP Edward Pasman
Haywards Heath, Sussex, UK   GBR
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HI thanks for all your replies.
B sent me a picture of a blue MG like mine, but it showed the passenger side of a UK car.
The inner hole to the left of our (UK) cars' master cylinders for brake and clutch is all very rusty now due to these leaves from the critters.

B are you saying that taking the outer wing off will not allow me to paint the the outer side of the inner wing?
I don't want it to perforate.

Thanks for all your replies especially the flexi vacuum cleaner head
I'm going to take a picture when the light is good

Eddie

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Peter-Sherman Avatar
Peter-Sherman Peter Sherman
Melbourne, Australia   AUS
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Removing the guard is major panel work but you can unbolt the splash guards and get into the dead space of the front guards. As well as vacuuming I also hosed it out and then when it was throughly clean and dry painted in some zinc chromate lead oxide (Killrust). The Zinc and lead is a sacrificial anode. The splashguards can be found at the back and outer of the the front wheel arch. Some obvious bolts and one unexpected one hidden one right at the bottom.

cheap to replace if warranted. The rubber seal is probably shot.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/458-400-405-MG-MGB-SPLASH-PANEL-UNDER-GUARD-FENDER-FULL-KIT-/111783341902

On my previous MGB I filled and then drained the sills with Killrust. Probably overkill. But do make sure that all your sill drain holes are free and clear.

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grahamts Avatar
grahamts Graham Prosser
Chelmsford, Essex, UK   GBR
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The reason that removing the wing doesn't improve access is that the section you are talking about is probably the "Reinf W/Arch To P/Box RH" as shown here, part F9 on the Mech Spec site. The inside of it should only accessible from the engine bay, if you can get in to it from under the wing you have a major repair to carry out!

If you go to this topic the first picture should make it more clear. Just vacuum it out as best you can, make sure it is dry and spray in loads of zinc spray, when dry, spray in any spare top coat that you have and finally finish with waxoil or similar. It is a regular rust trap under the wing also, the top of it forms a beautiful shelf for any mud, salt and any other grot that gets sprayed up under the wing, so it rots through from that direction as well as from any moisture condensed inside. You can check it by carefully reaching up under the wheel arch towards the rear you will be able to feel the section and run your fingers along the top, probably displacing a large pile of mud and leaves in the process.

In general, removing the wing to clean up the outside of the inner wing is probably a good thing as long as you are prepared to do a lot of derusting and painting at the very least and quite probably some welding as well. It is not a quick job for the weekend, the seam near the windscreen will almost certainly be rusty and require extensive cleaning and derusting as will probably the very bottom of the wing,

To remove the wing there are of course the bolts on the top in the bonnet trough, but there are also two bolts at the front behond the grill, three I think in the foot well behind the side trim panel and another two or three right up by the wind screen behind the dashboard and one further one tucked in to the top of the wing/door aperture all are removed with a 1/2 inch AF spanner, finally there should be two or three screws in the bottom edge of the wing which screw in ot the bottom seam of the sill. I can't remember any more than those, but I may well have misremembered. Quite often the wings are stuck well and truly at the upper seam with sealant and or rust and can be real pigs to get off but you can also of course have missed a bolt, so don't go at it like a bull in a china shop.
Good luck
Graham.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2017-03-26 05:07 AM by grahamts.

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MGB567 Avatar
MGB567 Barrie Braxton
Ninderry, KabiKabi country, Queensland, Australia   AUS
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1966 MG MGB MkI "Money Guzzler"
1979 MG MGB GT V8 Conversion "Darkside"
Have you looked at this for it shows some of how the wing is attached? Fortunately taking a wing off a GT is easier than a roadster as the latter requires removal of the windscreen. Graham's last paragraph covers it but do note that the GT has a bolt holding #16 which the roadster does not. There is a line of 5/16 bolts - I think 4 - hidden by the kick panel ahead of the A pillar that go into captive nuts on the wing. Also you have to remove the splash plates that Peter mentions because you have to undo the nuts holding the hinges on - you don't have to remove the hinges from the A pillar. And don't forget the headlight and indicator wires need disconnecting. Do you have enough to go on now?



Mk1: CKD 11/66 first registered 8/5/67; owned since 3/77. 18GB +40 balanced. Peter Burgess BVFR head. Piper 285. 123. FidanzaFW. 4synch c/r box. Lots more as I did a nut and bolt rebuild; finished 2015. Tartan Red.

GT: December '78. VW Golf guards, flush fit front and rear valances. Torana XU1 vents, frenched indicators & Mk1 rear lights. 'Worked' Rover V8 with Monsoon ECU for EFI. GM4L60E, Lokar tiptronic & Quick4 controller. Vintage Air A/C. FC IFS. CCE 4 link rear. Salisbury with Quaife. Jaguar Storm.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2017-03-26 08:10 AM by MGB567.

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grahamts Avatar
grahamts Graham Prosser
Chelmsford, Essex, UK   GBR
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Quite right Barrie, I'd forgoten those two hinge nuts, 3/4 inch AF I think, you need a 3/4 socket and a long extension to get at them, plus soaking in plus gas for several hours prior to removal.
Graham.

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albeegreen1 Avatar
albeegreen1 Silver Member bob tresch
bordentown, NJ, USA   USA
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1972 MG MGB MkIII "ALBERT"
A simple fix to any roosting problem: Eliminate the food source. That area is common for critters. I took the bird seed out of the garage and along with the bird feeder, trashed it all. Case closed. smiling bouncing smiley



"Only those who have patience to do simple things perfectly ever acquire the skill to do difficult things easily"
James J. Corbett

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EddieP Edward Pasman
Haywards Heath, Sussex, UK   GBR
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Yes the picture of the blue MG showed the inner wing area and the outer.
I am hopefuly the outer (inner) wing is still strong and will Hammerite it aswell once the wing is off.
As regards getting the stuff out of the inner wing, I agree a vacuum is the best way to go and will continue with this.

Thanks to all who took the time to be voluminous with the procedure,

Eddie

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EddieP Edward Pasman
Haywards Heath, Sussex, UK   GBR
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Thanks Graham, that bolt description really helps a lot, and now I have a list I can tick off.

Do I need to remove the plastic wheel arch liners at all? These are riveted on badly on my car and are not smoothly round following the arch nicely, rather more hexagonal ! The last guy who did these was a muppet !

Bolts
I have done the ones on the top of the wing, two behind the dash ( with small oblong /rectangular plates ) plus One in the door recess at top wing level
Lower ones at front of wing behind bumper are seriously seized and I need more bravado.

Eddie

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grahamts Avatar
grahamts Graham Prosser
Chelmsford, Essex, UK   GBR
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Hopefully the plastic wheel arch liners were fitted to protect the inner wings but quite often they are fitted to hide a multitude of sinsangry smiley
The answer to your question is yes, as the two 3/4 inch nuts are on the front face of the A pillar hidden behind the splash plates previously mentioned and held on by a number of 7/16 inch AF bolts and sometimes a couple of phillip head screws, this is another mud trap if not fitted properly and the bolts will need a lot of soaking in plus gas to get them out.
Good luck, Graham.

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EddieP Edward Pasman
Haywards Heath, Sussex, UK   GBR
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OK thanks Graham,
Eddie

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Peter-Sherman Avatar
Peter-Sherman Peter Sherman
Melbourne, Australia   AUS
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Hammerite has phosphoric acid in it that creates a hard layer. Mechanical protection. crack that surface and rust starts up again. It is no where near as effective as using a sacrificial metal like lead or zinc. That chemically prevents rust.

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MGB567 Avatar
MGB567 Barrie Braxton
Ninderry, KabiKabi country, Queensland, Australia   AUS
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1966 MG MGB MkI "Money Guzzler"
1979 MG MGB GT V8 Conversion "Darkside"
"Lower ones at front of wing behind bumper are seriously seized and I need more bravado. "

You mean #19 (which I forgot to mention). At least you should have hex heads unlike on my GT which are Pozi the majority of which I had to sacrifice. If all else fails undo them until they either snap or the captive nut comes away. A substitute whilst not oem is easy enough to find. EG snap them and drill the centre out carefully and tap to UNC or go up a size or use a rivnut or....It's usually the three at the base of the wing (where it covers the sill) that are the hard buggers.



Mk1: CKD 11/66 first registered 8/5/67; owned since 3/77. 18GB +40 balanced. Peter Burgess BVFR head. Piper 285. 123. FidanzaFW. 4synch c/r box. Lots more as I did a nut and bolt rebuild; finished 2015. Tartan Red.

GT: December '78. VW Golf guards, flush fit front and rear valances. Torana XU1 vents, frenched indicators & Mk1 rear lights. 'Worked' Rover V8 with Monsoon ECU for EFI. GM4L60E, Lokar tiptronic & Quick4 controller. Vintage Air A/C. FC IFS. CCE 4 link rear. Salisbury with Quaife. Jaguar Storm.

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