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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Rear wing replacement

Has anyone out there ever replaced a rear wing (complete from the top bead down) I have one to do shortly to finalise a long running rebuild. Having watched a re-run of the Mark Evans show on TV - he commented that its difficult to weld the rear wing top at the front end - under side of the top bead... due to a lack of access to get the welder in and see what you are doing..

has anyone any smart ways around this problem - he used some sort of adhesive on his rebuild?



Grateful for any advise/help...
John Barber

John -- where in uk are you??
Mick - I have started painting!!!

John what mark is your midget?

I have also been thinking about the best way to do this.

I was thinking about cutting the rear wing off about an inch and a half below the factory seam and butt welding a replacement (possibly joggled lap joint). I anticipate the usual distortion which is why I was going to cut along the middle of the radius at the top. You can probably get a dolly behind half of the panel. Tricky.

Adhesives are apparently up to the job, I just dont think they give the same piece of mind.

Pictures of other people’s approaches would be appreciated.
R T Jakeman

Am I right in thinking that the factory assembled a whole rear quarter and then fixed that on where the weld can be seen on the inside of the boot on the rear panel.,and across the rear scuttle ahead of the boot aperture? I am thinking of splitting mine along the rear cockpit flange and then dropping down an inch or so below the beading and using a joggled joint. I am fitting RWA's on to a 1500 so I will need to cut into the panel under the rear lights which would also be pretty impossible to weld normally.

Cheers Carl
Carl Bintcliffe

hello all. I chopped the old wings off my GAN4 and the old beading [the new wings had this fitted already, I ground off the old beading to leave an inward fold on the boot surround. The wing was offered up to this and the seam welded from inside the boot. Admittedly my car was upside down at the time. I remember it being a "challenge" to get the new wing to touch the body tub around its perimeter. Lots of G clamps! Good luck!
dave c

Mick - I am in Essex - not near you I am afraid....

RT - my midget is a 1979 1500cc in vermillion (not my favorite really) - the method you mention would be easier than trying to fit it at the bead it seems - however if your bead joint is rusty then probably not an option...

Carl you may well be right - I need to take a careful look at mine to see.. If this is the case then it might be better to make the weld join on the boot side metal. ie boot side of the bead seam - which means getting a part rear deck panel ( rear shroud - I think its called)

Just a further thought - could you weld the underside through the B post panel aperture if its not in place?

turning upside down sounds a good move - but I don't fancy making up the turning rig...

I going to take another look...
John Barber

Hello again - can anyone let me know if they can access the following website - I just put it together tonight to share some photo's to id discussion of the wing fixing issues..

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/docjrb

Its a few words and a pic of my midget with finished side shown ( well at least together....)
John Barber

Website works fine.
Looks like you have as much room as me to work in!!
Mick - I have started painting!!!

I can see the website to. Here is a photo showing the other possible joint line that I think may have been used in production. Has anybody enquired with BMH as to the way the rear wings where assembled and also what constitutes a full rear wing if you buy one from them? Is it the complete assembly including the beading and the inner section/rear panel etc?

Cheers Carl


C Bintcliffe

Carl,

Hope this photo helps - was taken at a visit to Heritage, you can see the weld positions - if you want a better quality pic let me know as i have had to compress this a lot to upload.

Regards,

Richard.


richard boobier

Thanks Richard, that sort of confirms what I thought.

My latest thinking after spending some time today cutting up the rear quarters that I obtained recently, is to cut off the old wing and the outer part of the wheel arch(I am changing to RWA remember). Then I think I am going to weld in the new RWA outer wheel arches,fit the replacement RWA wing up to where the beading should be,seam weld along that line,dress it all back and then bond on the beading! Any thoughts would be very welcome.

Cheers Carl
C Bintcliffe

Does antbody know how hard it might be to alter a square inner arch panel to fit to a round rear wing! The square ones are a lot easier to get hold of and there for a lot cheaper!

Cheers Carl
C Bintcliffe

The S&M restoration book suggests leaving the beading out and welding along the top of the wing/cowl join. Grind flat. Then, cut the "tail" off the beading and solder/braze the top section of the beading onto the smoothed off weld. Oooh, sounds so simple!
Clive Berry

As of today I have managed to find a pair of RWA inner arches at a sensible price, so now I just have to decide on the best way of fixing the rear wings on!!

Carl
C Bintcliffe

This thread was discussed between 21/07/2008 and 06/08/2008

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG Midget and Sprite Technical BBS is active now.