Monocoquing around

When I wrote this last, I was starting out on the structural work on the nearside. Before I did so, I welded up a couple of holes cut into the gearbox tunnel, which were reckoned to be for a gearbox conversion of some sort when the car was used for hillclimbing. Then I removed the console frame, and welded in one which hadn’t been hacked up as well.

Transmission tunnel, having been altered, possibly for a different gearbox.

And the same tunnel after some welding, panelbeating and a new metal console support.

I inspected the sills, and they were perfectly sound, in fact they were lovely and glossy black inside, apart from the floor-to door step sills, which were lightly corroded but would have been fine with a wax coating. But I needed to remove the outer sill to replace it with a new panel, as it had been welded on badly, it was dented and the vertical indentations had been filled in with weld for some odd reason.
The car was returned to level on the spit, and locked in position. A bead of weld ran along the top of the sills in the door gap, which is why the door seals never fitted properly. I presumed this is how the outer sills were held in place when the sills were done last. So I got out the grinder, and went along the top of the sill pieces to remove the bead of weld along the top. A chisel was inserted between the inner membrane and outer sill, and I started to hammer the outer sill off.
Then I noticed the inner membrane was parting from the step sill. Rubbish. I quickly clamped everything back together, hastily welded it up and got the car back on the ground, and levelled it. The nearside door, hinges and striker plate was fitted, and it shut. Phew, I hadn’t distorted my car.
I wondered what the best option was. I could remove and replace the outer sill, but I’d have to also remove the inner membrane, and clean it up, dress it and refit it. After some work to the step sill, and the castle rail to allow me to put it all back together. But then it would be so much effort to go this far, I might as well do new sills on both sides and make a good job of it.
So for probably the first time in the history of MGBs, I am going to remove and replace two perfectly sound, corrosion-free sills. Because some idiot had fitted them incorrectly. A seam weld along the top does not make for a sound car.

The door is back on... but not in a good way!

Before hacking the sills off, I braced the body shell in that area. First, a jack was placed under the cross member, and I jacked the middle of the car up a tiny amount, to give a perfect door gap. Much better than what it was before, what they managed last time the sills were replaced. I welded a piece of 1 inch square steel tube into the door gap from the A post to the panel behind the B post, to keep everything square. Then I made a diagonal reinforcer from the heelboard to the bar, to add a bit more strength. What with the fact the car has a roof, there’s no chance she’ll move out of shape. I do keep refitting the door at regular intervals though, to ensure that all is well with the door gap. You can’t be to careful, for the sake of a little effort it seems silly to bend a car.

Then I cut out the floorpan.

1. Cut a big hole....

2. Seperate the floor from the crossmember and chassis rails...

And there, it's gone. Excellent!

The new sill components turn up... Ready for action

Removing the sill took ages, and it was a huge amount of effort. There is still some to come off at the back. It’s especially difficult on a car that’s been hacked around as much as mine, I had great difficulty working out which panels were which, what should be there, what actually is there, what to keep, what to remove, then how to remove it. I cut off the inner membrane, castle rail, and step sill, and a large part of the rear wheel arch because the sill had been patched to it and it was impossible to tell what was what.

After about an hours work, the rear of the sill and wheelarch area is finally beginning to make sense, after I have hacked away an awful lot of metal.

There! That's much better! On the right is the rear chassis leg, with the step sill in the middle.

Then the dash side panel had to come out, because it was patched along its bottom edge and it would have been difficult to locate the new sill properly. I had planned to replace this panel anyway, alone with a new footwell end, inner wind, trumpet and such. The panels had been patched and bodged, and while technically they’re sound and fine, I’m stupidly pedantic and want the best for my little car. While I was waiting for a few hundred pounds of panels to arrive from Mech Spec, I welded in another diagonal piece of 1” steel tube from the cross member/chassis leg joint to the lower A post, to keep it in position while I too the dashboard side out. (Dash side= footwell outer side panel)

My rather groovy (if I say so myself) bracing system. The door clicks shut better than it ever did, like a proper sports car door!

Even more metal had to come out. The footwell end panel was hacked out, and so was part of the bulkhead. My new bulkhead has been reduced into three pieces, the outer two I will use to repair the bulkhead in my car. There is not feasible way to replace the complete bulkhead, so I will only replace the corroded outer parts. The new bulkhead chunk is nearly ready to go in, after I spent an afternoon welding up new flanges where the originals had corroded, so it’s nearly ready to go in.

Removing the footwell end panel, dash side panel, and parts of the bulkhead...

What a mess it was in! This is going to be quite a bit more solid when it's done, rest assured!

The same area, looking from the top. PATCHING DOES NOT WORK! Anywhere which has a double layer of metal will corrode from the inside out. I'd have thought that's fairly obvious, as this photo demonstrates, where someone has tried to patch between the dash side panel and the footwell end panel. Eh eh eh!

A huge panel delivery! Yay! That's a nearside floorpan, chassis leg, inner wing, trumpet, dash side, footwell end, outer sill, crossmember and front tray amongst others.

The new footwell end panel has been welded in place, with puddle welds in place of the original spot welds. Whether I will attach all the new panels like this, or whether I will add reinforcing seam welds is yet to be decided. But either way, the first new panel is in place, and oh what good feeling!

What an awful photo! That's besides the point, NEW METAL!!! Tally-Bally-Ho!

Next on the list of things to do was to repair the bottom of the A post. The theory being that with the new footwell end in place, the A post repaired and the bulkhead repaired, the dash side panel can be put in place. Then it’s sill time!
The A post had been butchered a couple of times in the past for sill replacements, and it looked awful. So I cut off the bodges, then cut back to sound metal. I measured up a friend’s GT, so I could repair the A post to the correct dimensions, otherwise attaching the outer sill would be difficult, and I don’t want a wonky car. So I made my own A post repair panels, and set about welding them in place. And even without any lead, it looks like new! I’m quite proud of this!

Eurgh! Still, I am utterly fearless now when it comes to bodywork. Bring it on!

I cut back to sound metal which the factory put there, and made up repair sections. These were drilled for puddle welding, along with the holes for the door hinge screws. I weld-through primed the edges which were to sit against each other, then removed the paint where the puddle welds would take place, by clamping the placte and puting a wire brush in a drill through the holes. Hopefully this will give good protection from corrosion, without compromising the strength of the weld.

Two side pieces in place and ground back...

The middle part clamped in place ready for welding...

And there it is, flanges and all!

I'm really quite proud of that!