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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Inner and out sill replacement

I need to change the inner and outer sills on my 1500 midget.
What is the procedure for doing this repair and are there any pitfalls that I need to be aware of?
K Hughes

Weld braces across the door opening and do one side at a time. If you don't do this the body will fold up in the middle and the doors will never fit again!
Chris Hasluck

Even with braces, be very careful and ideally have the door in place as much as possible to check the body isn't moving. (yeah, I figured that one out the hard way!)

It is quite an involved job, and to do it properly you will need to cut into the bottom of the A-post and the rear wing. But if your sills are gone, these are likely gone too.

But I wouldn't say it was *that* difficult a job if you can use a grinder and a welder but it is very time consuming to do right (hence why it often gets bodged).

Good luck, I have a lot of pictures if you need.

Malcolm
M Le Chevalier

K.

There is a much better solution and extremely far less expensive, in fact may even work out to be (( FREE ))

Lawerance has a nice spridget for sale... he just went thur all this and its rust free, he is selling it for almost scrap pricing

His car will need paint. And I think your done at that point

The problem with your project, you have to gut the interior, if the damage is really bad make a spit to rotate the car on, weld in braces on the car to hold it togather, cut out the cancer, weld in the new, do all the body work, paint the car, buy and install new interior, and if like me, you start doing all the other projects ( while im there, I might as well )

What id do, is get lawerances car, transfer over any parts from your car that adds value performance, appearance ect.

Paint it... your done and driving in 7 to 10 days with very little investment... and lawerance has completely gone thur that car over the past 2-3 years

Once you have the car completed, strip yours down and sell the parts, scrap yard the rusted out old carcase, and probably be fairly close to break even on the price tag

Thats how id do it if I was in your shoes...have a look at malcomes website blog, its unreal what he went thur, and others with more experince then malc tossed in the towel and walk away after 9 months

Its a long and expensive job esp if you dont have the tools

Full discloser on my part, if you buy lawerances car, im expecting him to ship me a syrian illegal immigrant mail order bride...haha

Prop
Prop and the Blackhole Midget

" --- a syrian illegal immigrant mail order bride...haha--"

Postage would cost too much. ;).

And besides, I've withdrawn my Midget from sale until next spring.

K Hughes. How bad are your inners? Are you sure you can't repair them?
Lawrence Slater

Lawrence.

I took the car for an MOT and there is corrosion on the front and rear edges of the outer sill and some corrosion in the same location on the inner sills and the closure plates are U/S.
A small repair is required near the seat belt mounting at floor level and it will require repair panels to both rear arches.
So I have a 'little bit' of welding to do for the MOT !!
If your shell was for sale and the price is right I could be persuaded to go down this route to save some time.
Do you know if all of the parts off my car would fit your shell type?

Kelly Hughes
K Hughes

Hi Kelly.
My entire CAR, replete with a years mot, WAS for sale, but has been withdrawn due to lack of takers not worried about a bit of paintwork.

Re your own, if you can post some good clear pictures of the extent of your rust, you'll get advice on just how far you need to go to repair it.

If all that's gone are the ends and edges, personally I'd repair the exsiting, rather than replace it entirely.

From your desription so far, I wouldn't rip off inner and outer sills. A bit of welding on the inner for the belt mount is easy.


Lawrence Slater

Thanks for the replys.
I will take some photos of the areas needing repair.
I have ordered the inner and out sills so I may just use the sections that need replacing rather than the whole sill.

Do the front wings neeed to be taken off to replace the front sections of the sills?

Kelly Hughes

Front wings off? Usually, depends where the rot is though. If just the face, maybe not. But much easier if the wing is off, as then you can remove the entir front section of the sill and replace it.

If you can halt your order, I would do so until sure. You may not need the inners, and instead you can just buy some plate the same thickness. If money no matter though, of course it's easier with pre-shaped bits.

Lawrence Slater

My blog might help with some research:
http://1965mgmidgetrestoration.blogspot.co.uk/

Previous owner bodged sill repairs so door didn't fit when i bought it. Now having to totally start again. Door fitting it the key.

Good luck
James Paul

In my experience, if the outer sill is rusted then the wing needs to be unbolted to allow the footwell side wall to be checked, possibly repaired and certainly cleaned up so the upper edge of the new outer sill can be welded on correctly. Unless you are just doing a patching job like Lawrence.

But before removing the wing, take some accurate measurements between the A post and the front pointy bit where the sill and wheel arch line up. This dictates the exact fore and aft location of the new sill and with the wing removed and the old sill cut away you won't have any guide as to where to refit the replacement without some accurate measurements. When l did mine l made some hardboard templates which took a bit of time, but were well worth it!
Guy W

Nothing wrong with "just" doing a parching job. After all that's why you can and always have been able to buy repair sections. Admitedly not sill repair sections, but if done well, repaired sills are just as good.

Any pictures yet Kelly?
Lawrence Slater

Lawrence.

Whilst i agree if a repair is carried out correctly there could be no difference to the over all look of the car.
With the sills being a structural part of the car, I would prefer to change the whole of the outer sill, and maybe repair just the corroded inner sections (end sections) as it did not look too bad when up on the ramp.

The new sills have arrived and I am waiting for the rear wing repair section to be delivered.
I have not had a chance yet to take any photo's.
Kelly Hughes

Hi Kelly.

The INNER sills are thicker than the outer sills, and are thus just as, if not more stuctural.

The outers are only strong, when they are welded to the inners. They are part and parcel so to speak.

And, a weld is as strong, if not stronger than the surrounding metal.

If all you need is a repair to the outer, then replacing the whole sill is a lot of work for no reward, other than perhaps pleasure.

And going by your previous post about the MOT, all you need are repairs.

Personally I'd cut out the rust so you can get a good look before going further.

How long do you want to be off the road? How long do you expect it to take you? How much welding have you done before?
Lawrence Slater

Kelly, I think Lawrence was responding to my use of the word "just" relating to a patch repair job. I wasn't implying it was any less robust a repair, but meaning that if it were just that type of repair, then it may not be necessary to remove the front wing, which is what you asked about. Lawrence I think responded "just" slightly on the defensive in case either I or others were interpreting his sill patching work in a derogatory manner.

I certainly wasn't!

The inner sill, being of thicker steel and generally better protected from the elephants can often be cleaned up, repainted with a good anti-rust treatment, and otherwise left alone. Even in some cases where the outer sill is found to be more rust and filler than good steel.

Whilst the outer sill is off have a good prod around the base of the A post and the sill jacking point as these places do attract the tin worm
Guy W

Spot on Guy. :).
Lawrence Slater

who let the elephant in??
David Smith

Fanta or Nelly?
Lawrence Slater

Just an intentional malapropism we have always used in our family. As in "going out to brave the elephants". I thought it was common usage.

Protecting your car from the elephants will prolong its life.
Guy W

can't argue with that.
Rob Armstrong

Worms and Elephants. What is this board coming to? lol.

Americans don't help either. Trunk indeed. ;).
Lawrence Slater

This thread was discussed between 07/09/2015 and 18/09/2015

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

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