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J. Hambly Avatar
J. Hambly Jonathan Hambly
Bath, Somerset, UK   GBR
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Hi all,

Few pictures of my Midget. I have had it since December, I stripped it down over a week, cleaned it and then put it in the garage. Work has been slow... Very slow! I plan to make a roll over jig before I start to weld it up. Any advice would be great.

Thanks,
Jonathan.


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mg man 75 Avatar
mg man 75 maurice sallee
Campbellsville, Central Kentucky, USA   USA
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Got a major job in front of you. I have seen worse done. A member here has done it. Just ask question.
Unsure with much work if roll over jig is good idea. Keeping everything in line is majorly important.
I leave that advice who have more metal work than me. And that is just about everyone here. Maurice

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AmishIndy Avatar
AmishIndy Seth Jones
Glendale Heights, IL, USA   USA
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1971 MG Midget MkIII "Guenevire"
2007 Mazda 3 "Porco Rosso"
First off I'm not convinced its a 72. The wheels are from a 70 or 71 car and it looks like it has square rear wheel arches. What is the vin and engine number? Second its pretty far gone, but if you're really dedicated to the project it can me done. You may want to check and re check alignment of everything. There are a lot of missing body panels and yes there is some bracing, but you have to make sure its straight.



Seth Jones

1971 MG Midget

www.SpridgetGuru.com

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Mainline Ilya Avatar
Mainline Ilya Ilya K
Ray Brook, NY, USA   USA
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You are a brave soul. One thing to remember: you will never get the money back you put in it. The other thing to remember: once you are done, she will be worth her weight in gold to you(id say somewhere around £16,538,147tongue sticking out smiley)) Time spent will be remembered fondly, scars will remind you of the time you were breaking a rusty bolt and busted a knuckle...All in all that does look like a ton of work and I wish you the best of luck. This is the place to find all the answers you are looking for. More than likely someone has done it and did a write up on it, and if not, we put out collective heads together and figure it out. Good luck, and Cheers! as they say on your side of the pond smiling smiley

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AmishIndy Avatar
AmishIndy Seth Jones
Glendale Heights, IL, USA   USA
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1971 MG Midget MkIII "Guenevire"
2007 Mazda 3 "Porco Rosso"
'corse on your side of the pond a heritage reshell is a lot more of a possibility. That may be an easier way.



Seth Jones

1971 MG Midget

www.SpridgetGuru.com

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Mainline Ilya Avatar
Mainline Ilya Ilya K
Ray Brook, NY, USA   USA
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That's the better idea but I never want to be the one to tell people not to do a project unless all you are starting with a fender and an exhaust gasket. Even then I say GO FOR IT. Our stories disclose in a general way what our Midgets used to be like, what happened, and what they are like now. If you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any length to get it — then you are ready to take on a restoration. Just remember: Half measures will avail you nothing.

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J. Hambly Avatar
J. Hambly Jonathan Hambly
Bath, Somerset, UK   GBR
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Hi,

Seth she is 71 I must have made a typo when putting it in the registry.

About the twisting and bending. I have ensured the door gaps are corect. Also that corner to corner is the same on both sides. How would you check the tub hasn't bent in other directions?

Thanks for all the help!
Jonathan.

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NOHOME P P
O, ON, Canada   CAN
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1967 MG MGB GT "Maggie (GT From Hell)"
Been where you are and survived.

First bit of advice is to stop cutting. Seriously.

Give us some idea of what your skillset and tool arsenal look like. What kind of money are you prepared to spend on this project? I assure you that you could buy a good car for less than this is going to cost in the end. You are looking at 5-600 hours of time to get that shell sorted out. Another 400 to finish.

Next, make a plan.

Since it is central to the structure on these cars, I would start on the rear bulkhead. Buy an entire new assembly cause you will be building a car around it.

Do not try and do the panel work on a rotisserie. You want the car on a flat surface supported on jack-stands as if it were being supported by the wheels. Hard to do in the rear with leafsprings removed, I know. You can set the car on some long 2.4 steel spanning the floor with the jacks at either end.

What I do when removing all the structure from a tub is build a steel surface that is flat and square so that I can weld or bolt the project to fixed points. You can make a quick jib from 2x4 rectangular tube that pics up on the front suspension mounts and the spring mount points. While it has to be level, wheels will be useful for moving the project around when on the jig.

Pete


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  owensdad74 and J. Hambly thanked NOHOME for this post
Bearsails Avatar
Bearsails Michael Lippmann
Kingsville, Kingsville, Ontario, Canada   CAN
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1968 MG MGC GT "Blewe"
1969 MG MGC GT "Uh Oh" (Rusty Red)"
1972 MG MGB "Betty"
1973 MG MGB GT "Trouble"    & more
Wow Peter - That bugeye looks awesome and I can concur on the hours spent...I have 400+ into the 72B roadster and I am just now seeing the light at the end of the tunnel....oh crap - it's a set of headlights at the end of the tunnel! So an easy 300 or so to go...

So Jonathan...good luck with it, looks like it will be a challenging but worth while project - heed Peters advice he knows of what he speaks!! smileys with beer

Mike

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AmishIndy Avatar
AmishIndy Seth Jones
Glendale Heights, IL, USA   USA
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1971 MG Midget MkIII "Guenevire"
2007 Mazda 3 "Porco Rosso"
In reply to # 2813049 by Bearsails heed Peters advice he knows of what he speaks!! smileys with beer
Mike

x2 Peter has done the near impossible and rescued a bug eye that lesser men would have thrown away.

Check out his blog
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2203663/1961-austin-healey-sprite/



Seth Jones

1971 MG Midget

www.SpridgetGuru.com

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purpleGT Avatar
purpleGT Gold Member Bud Osbourne
Pittsburgh, PA., USA   USA
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1956 MG MGA 1500
1972 MG Midget MkIII
1972 MG Midget MkIII
1974 MG MGB GT "The Grape"    & more
X2 Peter and, to elaborate on Peter's admonishment to stop cutting, NOW: For those about to embark on the restoration of a seriously rust-damaged unibody, you need to resist the almost overwhelming urge to take every removable part off and cut out every last bit of rusty steel. It's important that you leave the doors mounted ON the car (for use in the constant checking of alignment that you will be doing), as well as any other panels other than front fenders. You will find that even the very rusty panels can be used for reference/patterns, plus even a rusty unibody panel will usually still have some ability to help retain the structural rigidity of the unibody, while you are replacing panels on the opposite side of the car.

At this time, waiting in a storage shed, is a very restorable '74 Midget, which it's former (sadly, deceased) owner mounted on a rotisserie and removed inner & outer sills and several other rusty panels, in anticipation of installing new panels. Fortunately, he had borrowed the cockpit bracing I had fabricated out of 1" square steel tubing and put it to good use. He didn't use the X bracing I made, for across the top of the cockpit, however, so there may be some re-aligning to do. Fortunately, the floors in this car are pretty good and will only require inserts in the footwell areas to make them good as new, again.

Since my trusty '72 Midget (the red one, not the white one) is going to be needing it's second restoration, I'll have to finish that '74 rebuild, first, so that I can remove my cockpit bracing for use in the '72.......or, I suppose I could fabricate another set. sad smiley

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NOHOME P P
O, ON, Canada   CAN
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1967 MG MGB GT "Maggie (GT From Hell)"
For every epic restoration that comes across this boars, there are 10 that follow in the footsteps of this one. I was very sad when it came to an end since the dedication was quite impressive.

http://www.mgexp.com/phorum/read.php?3,1995014,1995014#msg-1995014

Stevyn sent me a sticker from the Isle of Man TT races. I think of him often since the sticker is plastered on the front of my shops beer fridge!

Pete

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AmishIndy Avatar
AmishIndy Seth Jones
Glendale Heights, IL, USA   USA
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1971 MG Midget MkIII "Guenevire"
2007 Mazda 3 "Porco Rosso"
Someday I will likely go down this road too. I know it's madness and that there are nicer cars for less money, but there is only one GAN5UB91179G and there will only ever be one GAN5UB91179G. It is this car that I grew up with, this car that was the getaway car at my wedding. No car out there drives like it, smells like it, feels like it. I've driven a few other midgets and this one is special. Problem is I don't have the space to do it. In the mean time I am collecting parts and information. I'll probably purchase a bunch of body panels that I know will need replacement come tax time. I used to have a whole shell availible but no money to do the finish work and no time to work on it and no space nearby to do it so I had to sell the extra shell. Part of me didn't like the idea of not having any steel original to the car anymore, but already this shell is not terribly well aligned. The radiator supports are impossible to bolt to the radiator shroud for example.



Seth Jones

1971 MG Midget

www.SpridgetGuru.com

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J. Hambly Avatar
J. Hambly Jonathan Hambly
Bath, Somerset, UK   GBR
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Hi All,

Thanks that frog eye sprite is really inspiring. Skill wise I am happy doing the work. I never have worked on a unibody before, always chassis based cars. I rather the mechanical side to the body work, but I am happy to work at it. I bought the car after being told that it had been stored inside for 25 years then outside for the last summer. Mostly to save it from the scrap yard... I have a soft spot for the midget as well. The PO had 'loads of welding work' done on it, as I found out stripping it down this was just a load of pop riveted sheet steel (very, very thick for some reason) and made to look welded with seam sealer and body filler. This covered up so so much stuff. For example the outer sills were pop riveted on and the rivets hidden under filler. I'm sure the PO didn't realise.

Tools wise I am up together, I have a mig and ark welder along with a very well equipped garage. My Grandfather was an engineer at BAE working on satellites, so I got a load of tools from him and my other grandfather.

One more thing, the doors were missing when I got it, but I got the gap right with a bit of fiddling and then braced it. If the door or new skin is placed in the gap it is even and tight all around.

Thanks,
Jonathan



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-10-02 12:08 PM by J. Hambly.

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about 6 months and 3 weeks later...
Cudells Avatar
Cudells Chris U
Fareham, Hampshire, UK   GBR
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1960 Austin-Healey Sprite "Mavis"
2001 MG TF
Hello to all. I just wanted to jump in on this thread if that is ok. I have just taken on a bugeye that was brought back from the USA. Not as much of a project as Pete took on, but still the usual metalwork, engine, interior blah blah blah (Not made any easier by the addition of fibreglass on both sides of the floor pans! angry smiley

I am glad I came across this post as I was just toying with the idea of putting "Mavis" (Her USA registration was MEV12) onto a spit to work on the underside. After reading Pete's posts, I think I will now abandon that idea and just work on her from underneath. Especially as I probably need to replace both inner and outer sills on both sides!

A couple of questions to anyone who wants to answer,?

Firstly, what size box/rectangular section will suffice for holding up Mavis?

Secondly, How many axle stands, 3 each side?

And finally, a problem I have come across on Mavis is that the engine in Mavis is a 1275 (Not the original I know) but at some point the engine has been stripped down and the engine plate removed!! angry smiley Has anyone in the UK ever had to try and register a car like this, and if so, how much hassle did you get from DVLA? Do you think it is worth changing back to a 948cc with an engine number in place before trying to register?

Many thanks to anyone who answers. Good luck with your old classic cars. They really are worth it in the end! smileys with beer

Chris
"There are 10 kinds of people in this world, those that understand binary and those that don't!"


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