Yes, but we don't know that is correct, since these sills have been replaced. Not sayin' it's not where they should be, but, at any rate, it's only to tell you where the next set of inner sills should be.
Now, you can bodge things to fit with the DPO's bodged sill installation, if you want. However, when all is said and done, it will be easier for you (less overall work and certainly less complicated) to just cut that crap off and put it back together correctly, with new panels.

Stevyn,
Sorry to answer your questions in the wrong chronological order, here, but it's being one of those days. Between a dental appointment and the need to wrap-up a major report, today, I'm not going to be able to get to the garage for several more hours, to get you those measurements.

Now, to your Midget: Another point in favor of removing those sills is the very poorly repaired lower part of that cross member. THat cross member also houses/supports the jacking socket/receiver, which I suspect was not correctly repaired by the DPO. Part of the repair/replacement of that socket will require the outer sill being off, for access. Also, for welding repair inserts into the cross member, it will be SO much easier with the sills off.
Also, bear in mind that any short-cuts you take may well be highlighted by the paint job (paint work has a way of exposing any errors in fit or preparation work very vividly, to the trained eye. I've seen some work that looked pretty good, in bare metal, stick out like a sore thumb after it was painted.
Regarding your "limited ability". Nonesense. You can do this. Don't be intimidated by any of it, as it can all be overcome with careful planning and a thoughtful, methodical approach to the work. Just take your time and think things through, always looking several steps ahead in your planning. Your welding ability is about to improve to a level you probably never dreamed it could.

I'll check back in, later today.

cheers bud! there is no rush for anything, i dont want you spending your time measuring and taking photos! just in your own time is fine! thanks for all your help! oh and mike!
i wonder if the doors are correct? the car is blaze but under the paint on the doors is blue! im wondering if they have been bodged to fit the gap; and if i correct the sill then i need new doors?

If Bud is looking over your shoulder, I don't doubt this for a second! If you listen to just one person about welding, he wont lead you wrong.

I am amazed at how little he has said regarding the existing welding!

Thanks, Peter. You are too kind.

Re: the existing welding on Stevyn's car. I didn't want to put Stevyn into a deeper state of despair. But I suppose we could just say that the welding shown in those photos is what we should all strive NOT to have our welding look like. The good news is that it's all reversible and, when Stevyn is done with it, I am confident that the car's strength and appearance will be tremendously improved.

Don't worry Stevyn; I enjoy doing this sort of thing, so you are not imposing, at all.
Funny that, while this is going on, I'm wrapping-up a report on a major maritime incident, part of which had me running a few hundred miles downriver every week, to lay-out and oversee the repair of a barge, which required the cropping and renewal of about 150,000 pounds of steel. The previous repair job this shipyard had done (only 62,000 pounds of new steel required) had been monitored (sort of) by an employee of my client, with me being called in to witness final air testing and certify the repair work (picture your car, when you got it). Since my client's employee (actually, a mid-level manager) had approved the fit of the new steel, prior to welding, I was very limited as to what I could do about it. With the next barge to be repaired (the 150,000 pounder) being very much more difficult and tricky, I sat the shipyard manager down for a serious discussion, telling him that I would NOT accept anything like that type of work on this vessel and that I would not hesitate to have them cut out the newly installed steel and start over, again, if it wasn't done just right (knowing that a mis-alignment here and there would be magnified with each successive step in the repair process). I also told him that some of the welding on the previous job was sloppy and amaturish and I'd not accept such crap on the second barge. Also, they had bid the job so cheaply (the barge really should have been a constructive total loss) that, if they screwed-up just once, they'd loose money on the job. Since the shipyard manager is also an old friend and I never like to see a shipyard "go into the red" on any job I've "speced" and laid-out, I spent a LOT of time on their drydock, looking over the foreman's shoulder (as well as some of the welders...). In the end, the job turned out nearly perfectly and I was able to save my client some money, as well as prevent the shipyard from loosing any money on the job. It was very satisfying to me to be that closely involved with a job of this magnitude, since I normally just survey the damage, write-up a repair materials & proceedures list, put the job out for bids, award the job to the low bidder and not see the vessel, again, until it's time to do the inspection and acceptance of the completed repairs.
I really enjoy the challenging ones and it's always fun to think up ways to overcome problems which crop-up.

So it is with MGs. Although on a microscopic scale, compared to what I deal with, professionally, pretty much the same rules apply to MG unibodies as to inland waterways barges and towboats. They are all just sheet steel structures, after all. A precise fit & alignment and a "sweet" weld are just as satisfying to me in either scale.

Now, as to those doors. I've found that the body panels on Midgets will exchange pretty easily between one car and the next, even if they are not the same year. The factory tooling and assembly jigs must have been very well engineered and constructed to keep tolerances so close for so long. I'm impressed with them.
If your car's doors have been bodged to fit, you should be able to (by wire wheeling the paint off the leading & trailing edges) find evidence of building-up, using either welding, lead or plastic. If they've been cut/ground down, the edges/ends will have three ends, rather than the normal outer skin floding over the inner door frame.
Please keep in mind that the chassis could STILL be twisted, from being un-braced while both sills were cut out. With both sills cut out, the only thing keeping the front and back from twisting is the transmission tunnel and the outer flange of the floor (which will offer only minimal resistance to twisting). You can imagine what that mis-alignment (if present) can do to your door fit.

unrelated to mg's but was just interested in what line of work your in? boats, barges waterways! sounds interesting. I work with conventional and fast ferry's! obviously nothing on the tech side of things! Im more along the lines of a docker! Not what i wanted as a career, but a 6 week summer job has turned into 9 years! I got a degree in sports science, and after Uni moved to the States to play rugby; thought my life was set. But work permits and injury forced me back to the uk, where i became a personal trainer, Gym manager, then set up my own business in portugal! Anyway to cut a long story short, my friend from Uni asked me to be best man at his wedding in the Isle of man, i fell for the sister of the bride, and bingo never left!

on a small island you work where you can, so im down the docks!

Look us up online! Isle of man steam packet company!

Marine Surveyor. I, literally, grew up in the river transportation industry, which makes me a 4th generation "river rat".
One of these days, I'll retire and just concentrate on old cars & vintage light trucks.
Isn't it funny how circumstances, over which we may have little or no control, shape our destiny? In my case, it was the collapse of the steel industry, with it's repercussions on supporting industries, which dictated that I leave the family business (which was not actually owned by the family....long story) and start my own business.
I'll check out IoM steam packet co.

sounds alot like my home town, Newcastle upon Tyne! Famous for Newcastle United, Brown Ale, Ship building (swan hunters), coal mines, and the steel industry! another thing to look up in your own time! Drydocks, steel works and coal mines all closed now!

Yes, I'm a big fan of "Nukie Brown". Great stuff!
Fortunately, for Pittsburgh, the region has reinvented itself and is doing pretty well, even given the current economic woes. The steel industry is still present, but is only a shadow of it's formar self. Two of the three major shipyards (one of which was the fabeled Dravo Corp.) have long since ceased building barges and towboats. What had been the largest inland port (by tonnage) in the USA and third largest port, overall, in the USA, is now down to something like 3rd largest inland port and WAY down the list, for overall ranking.
Sadly, the loss of the majority of steel & related industries has meant a slow deterioration & dilution of the culture of the region, which featured a very strong work ethic and family-centered lifestyle.
But, nothing is forever and Pittsburgh is a prime example of that.

Newcastle is still a thriving city! millions spent on regeneration, business etc! and even the docks are being rebuilt to make wind turbines! The one thing that keeps us together is our love for our soccer team! its the focal point in most peoples lives and gives us our identity. anyway enough of me bigging up newcastle, i have a boat to bring in!

Stevyn,
I haven't forgotten about getting those measurements for you. But it may be another couple of days until I get that '73 cleared-up, so that I can move it far enough to get a door open (thought I could do it where it sits, now, but I'd need to be about 1/4 of my current height & weight to get in there). Not a big deal, since I need to move that stuff, anyway, whether I move the Midget or not.
Stay dry and KTF.

If one of you other guys following this thread has easier access to a Mk III Midget, for getting the measurements discussed above (in earlier posts on this thread), that would be helpful. Thanks.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/15/2012 11:56AM by purpleGT.

hey no hurry! ive been stuck down at work for 3 days since our fast craft came out of drydock! have had some guys down welding aluminium all day today, there welds are fantastic and in a gale of wind! ive also been trying out my rust bullet paint but its been i bit of a disaster! i'll do a thread later about it and show the results!

thanks...

As I have done a lot of this lately on my 79, and have been learning OTJ, I'll offer my $.02.

I used a wire-feed welder with Argon/CO2 bottle. I set it at the lowest possible voltage, and still burned through quite often. you have to be really short on the trigger.

Also, I found, through trial and error that the ground location had a lot to do with the neatness of the weld. Good, clean spot to put the ground clamp, and as close to the welding area as possible, and I got a much more satisfying 'sizzle' and not so much crack and pop.

An auto-dimming helmet is mandatory, even a cheap $40 from Harbor Freight. When i burned through, i would just reposition the tip to aim at the previous bit of weld, and build off that.

thanks clay!

Clay,
Welding on 18 or 20 ga. should not require the lowest voltage setting, on your welder. Something's not right. Even with my big, industrial MIG machine that I use on structural steel, I need quite a bit more juice than the lowest setting to weld 18 ga. I'm guessing that you are trying to weld a continuous pass, rather than multiple, short, welds, spread out over the length of the joint. I'm also guessing that, with that very low voltage setting, you are not getting very good penetration, but are staying on long enough to build up enough heat to burn through?
On the plus side, you are right in placing your ground close to the area you are working and making sure it has a very clean surface to connect to.
I suggest you get some scrap metal and turn up the voltage & wire speed, while running welds of about 1/4" in length, for starters. Your welds should be nearly flat, once you get the machine set correctly and you should be getting FULL penetration. If the weld looks like a worm/caterpillar crawling along the seam, it's time to turn the voltage up. Also, cool the steel down, after each weld. I use compressed air. Don't fall for the heat-sink stuff, as that will just concentrate too much heat on too small of an area, which means warping, for sure, unless you REALLY know how to work with it.

Also, if you really want to see what you are doing, get an auto-darkening hood with a range of adjustment from 7 to 12. Most of the units I've seen advertised only offer 9 to 12. 9 is still too dark to autobody steel. Of course, it helps to have bright light focused on the work, too.

that harbor freight place sounds great! you guys are lucky over there to have so many places to buy from; everything is so bloody expensive over here! i have a new fiat 500 and it costs me £45 to fill thats $70 for my tiny car! anyway its the weekend so enjoy!

Hey Bud, guys! well looks like i may have found a garage with a chassis jig/measurer what ever its called! going down later to have a look! Do i need to give them any base mesurements or will they just measure from there own settings? also i assume they will measure from the 4 sus points, do i need to attach anything back onto the car? i.e front bracket for rear spring mounting?

Oh also i have been looking at some pics on here of A-posts and repair sections and all seem to have a small L-shaped notch taken out bottom inner where it joins the outer side wall! My A-post didn't have a notch in it so maybe thats why it was sticking out over the sill!

Stevyn,
THe alignment/frame shop will tell you everything they need to have on the car. They may have the chassis dimensions in one of their manuals. If not, they will tell you that you need to provide that information. It's in the factory workshop manual, as well as in the Bentley manual, which is a factory-authorized reprint of the factory workshop manual.

Yeah, that notch, at the inner base of the A post, needs to be there, for sure.

Well left my car with classic car restorations today to check alignment! Results were were good and bad! On the good side they said the measurements were within spec with only minor faults!

They said the right hand rear is slightly lower than the left; and that is because the of the P/O welding of the right rear wheel arch and possitioning of the rear right 1/4 panel (Arch to luggage floor).

So in my eyes all good! so my plan is to get my A-post and door lined up and screwed into place, and work from there! I think im having problems as the filler/bondo is so thick on doors and wings that nothing is matching! The P/O bodged the a-post hinges and used bondo to get the gaps and panels in possition! i have some rear repair patches for my wings as the captive nuts and corner have rusted out!

I see the light, and im heading for it! I hope!