About 25 years ago, I started the (partial) restoration of my '72 Midget. The car was one I'd purchased in '82 for $500, to use as a "winter rat", allowing me to continue to store my '74 BGT (se avatar) each winter. Realizing that it was really too good of a car to just sacrifice to the salt, I used my meager resources to invest in a commercial Lincoln MIG welder (I had 15 years of welding experience, but very little of it on anything thinner than 1/4" plate). Rather than purchase new BL panels (not a whole lot was readily available, at that time, anyway), I cut whatever I needed from a totally rust-free '79 Midget, which had been totalled in a frontal collision shortly after being sold, new. Pieces of that '79 Midget have been used on three Midgets, that I can think of (any time you see yellow repair inserts, on a Midget project of mine, that's where they came from).
Besides the obvious places; the inner & outer sills, rear wheel arches, lower, rear quarters of the rear fenders, A-posts and trunk floor extensions, pictured are a few more places I found rust hiding. When I got close to being done with it, I treated myself to a pair of NOS front fenders.

The point is that, unless you harden your heart and sharpen your ice pick, screw driver or whatever you are using to probe for rust (be brutal & ruthless in finding it under carpeting and under sealant everywhere), it'll just create new headaches for you sooner than later. Ya gotta REALLY look for it, if you want to find it all.
In the photo, note the repair insert in the inner fender. That side wasn't really too bad. The other side required a substantial section of new frame rail, in addition to the section of inner fender. Since the inner sills were just flat sheet, it was pretty easy to just insert some new sections, where I'd cut out the rust. The outer sills were really pretty solid in the middle third, but weak on the front & rear thirds. So, I just used sections cut from the '70 wreck.
The round rear wheel arches were particularly challenging, because no one was producing repair panels for them and a new one was absolutely out of the question, cost-wise, assuming I could even find one. So, I had to cut out a pattern/form/buck from hardwood and hammer & dolly a piece of flat sheet into shape, for the repair insert. Today, if you look at the left rear wheel arch from just the right angle, you may be able to see where I had to insert that home-made repair panel....or at least one of them. There were a few on each side.

Next time I restore my '72, at least I'll have the benefit of new Heritage panels!

Mines not very solid at all. But I'm adding metal and shooting wire to make it that way. Uh, I hope!

I had some rust at the "Midget" letters on passenger side. When it was painted that was cut out, new welded in and used the cutout section to mark the holes for the letters. I still have that section. maurice

Very reliable, rust on the left rear quater panel and just starting at the bottom of the drivers door pillar post. The Bugeye is a different story, it is on life support and should be shot but I'm persistant and keep pumping money into metal panels.

I need floor pans and rockers real bad. But I keep driving it. My wife thinks one of these days I'll hit a bump and the seat will go right through. Maybe I will weld casters onto the seat frame in case that happens. Mechanically, it runs like a dream.

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JMac

Knock on wood, its very solid.

Dave

Solid like an oak!!

Uhhh, Jimmy, you're cutting it kinda close for making it to Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix (www.pvgp.org), in July (MG is Marque of the Year), aren't you? Better step it up, my friend .

Yeah, those door posts kinda sneak up on you. They can be fed moisture from two sources: around the seal where the windshield post enters the body (that door post has no provision for drainage or ventilation), and from the forward, bottom side (it's behind the front fender) rusting through as a result of an accumulation of moisture-holding road dust tha builds up there and eventually eats through the top pf the outer sill, the bottom area of the fender (in front of the door post), the outboard side of the footwell, as well as the inner sill in the footwell area. Unfortunately, by the time you notice any outward evidence (like rust "just starting at the bottom of the drivers door pillar post", things have been going on behind the outer shell panels for quite some time, so it's usually worse than you think. Of course, with a car being driven only in fair weather months, it takes a whole lot longer to get really critical than it did when the cars were used as daily drivers.

The good news is that all of the panels for your car are available from Heritage, are reasonably priced and not really all that difficult to install. However, you might want to start accumulating panels, when the suppliers offer them on sale and, if you aren't yet a welder, consider enrolling in a welding class at your local vocational-technical school, so that, when the time comes, you will be up to the challenge.

The key is starting with a car that spent its life in a road-salt free environment.

Many New England cars were driven through just ONE winter as a daily driver. Several years later, they are rusted through as you describe.

My 67 started as an inland S Carolina car and never saw snow road salt. We stripped it to bare metal and had no rust replacement to do.

Yup, that is where mine is and not very pretty.
Have some on the rear quarter as well behind the driver's door.
Have all the panels to put in but still looking for a semi rust free
shell for my '75.

Mike,
I'm JEALOUS!!! The 67s, whether they are Bs or Midgets/Sprites are the "holy Grail".
All things considered, however, these cars have really held up amazingly well and we've been blessed with EXCELLENT quality and selection of repair parts, at very reasonable prices.

Yep. Both my '60 & '62 Sprites are southern (no-salt) cars that have been race cars since around 1969 or 1970, have lived inside for the last 4 decades, and neither one has any structural rust. Finding a street car that's been garage kept that long is another story though.

Very true, Bud. I especially like the simplicity of the early steel dash cars, the torque of the non-smog 1275 and the convenience of roll up windows and folding top, (though I never use them).

We are "upgrading" mine to a 1380cc engine, Rivergate 5 speed conversion and tube shocks, plus a revised (effective) heater and grippy seats. Still, we hope to keep as much of its original "character" as possible.
Thanks,
Mike

I bought my Bugeye in southern California in Jan. 1968. No structural rust anywhere. Woohoo! However, my '61 Sprite came from Virginia and has rust in all the usual places. I never park them too close to each other.

Rick

Mine (the '74) got banged but appears to have a good quality professional repair, older and likely in need of re-repair as the paint over the plastic filler is wearing off (!) so it likely has absorbed a little moisture.

Luckily I'm in Nevada so environmental rust is nearly unheard of... only pockets in the chassis. So far I've not found anything to be concerned over, even at the ding-dong "roll-bar" mounting holes.

no rust, no bondo on my car !!

no rust or bondo or patch panels on my 66I attribute it to storage in a hay barn for 34 years and being a Richmond car.

I think mine got repaired in Tijuana... since I started stripping the paint last month I have found several areas with well over an inch of bondo. Most areas are rust free underneath, but I have to deal with poorly fixed crash repair and dent puller holes. I too have lower door hinge rust, but the rockers are quite solid. I have rusty floor pans also, but I was a professional autobody tech before I became a professional Soldier, so this is all easy stuff. Today I am getting a tank of welding gas so I can get this stuff done!