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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Water ingress - how do you remove it

I seem to have a collection of H2O within the car. In the attached photo there is a small hole at the top of the square member running fore and aft. I managed to suck some out via a small hose BUT

how do I get it dry to then waxoyl in there?
AND how did it get there?
The other side is dry.

All this from a 560 mile round trip to midget 50

Dave


Dave Price

Possibly got in through the gearbox mount?

However I think I would be tempted to drill a hole in the crossmember from underneath to allow the water to drain out and allow access to waxoil.

Would like to hear other opinions however.
Robert (Bob) Midget Turbo

Small absorbant cloth, or compressed air

Your just in time.... What id did recently was use silicon and some cheese cloth from a sheet of drywall sanding screen, worked great.... I smeared the silicon on the hole, cut out a patch from the screen, and placed over the hole and mashed it down, and added some extra silicone and smoothed down,,, ive heard door screen material works great to
Prop

Bob
Gearbox mount? don't tell me its even more money here or is it a rubber seal etc?

Prop

I will try to wick it out using some cloths tomorrow with a heater outside to help dry it out.

Dave
Dave Price

Dave

Is the chassis rail where the water is going to or coming from?

The footwell looks wet. A common major cause of footwell water is water coming in through the footwell side. This can be via the various fastening holes for the wing (or if unlucky, corrosion holes in the footwell side) and is exacerbated by the gap between wing and sill being blocked allowing water to pool up between wing and footwell side rather than drain away through the gap.

Applying sealant to all these fastening points (under washers etc) is an effective & simple way of addressing this. Cleaning out any crud blocking the wing-sill gap helps too.

Another annoying but lesser source appears to be the wheelbox, commented on in other current threads.
Paul Walbran

Paul. I thought most came in from above when I went up to Midget 50 as it dripped in quiet well!!!

I removed carpets etc and it was not too bad so I cleaned, scraped away ready to rust proof etc. As I moved the car I saw water well up from the hole in the photo - the fore/aft member to the inside of the footwell. It is wet now as I sucked and spat it out!!

The rest of the foot well looks OK - I will wire brush down before painting etc
Dave
Dave Price

i've got holes in mine, did them when i did the 5-speed. I use em for waxoyling and also lets the water out :)
Rob Armstrong

What I can't figure is how the water only ever flows one way ... into the car and not out of it.
Paul Walbran

Rob - holes where - underneath or in from the foorwell?

Paul - You're not wrong there

DAve
Dave Price

The fore / aft chassis rails should have drain holes on the underside. Usually formed with a triangular raised metal flap just forward of the hole to protect it.
Guy

Perhaps a jack up tomorrow for a look - is it normal to get water then there Guy - the nearside is dry?
Dave
Dave Price

wot guy said.

though i made my own, they're drilled up through the bottom into the x-member. My floors tend to fill up under the seats, but I use the x-member holes for waxoyling.
Rob Armstrong

On my car (and the previous 1500) I am pretty sure that water only gets into those box sections via the interior of the car. Then when you mop out the floors it seeps back out again through the seams, and seems to be coming from inside the box sections. Certainly if you get enough water under the seats it then flows out into the sills through the cut-outs, although if it does that then it should exit via the drain holes along the bottom of the sill.
Guy

This thread was discussed between 14/06/2011 and 15/06/2011

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

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