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MG MGB Technical - Valance bolt holes.

My crash damaged V8 is in the process of being repaired, ONLY 12 MONTHS since the re-build!!!.
On both occasions when fitting the new valance only half of the punched holes line up with the captive nuts in the apron and wings. The same problem was experienced on another 2 MGB's, worked on in the same body shop, all different ages, chrome and R/B. We had to weld up the "wrong holes" and mark and drill new ones. They were that far out!

"WHY". I know we have some problems with poor product quality, particularly rubber items. But holes in body parts, I mean!!!
If they can't get it right why bother making the holes in the first place?? Most of us will have drill and a bit after all.
Allan Reeling

just copying - the holes would be put in because the proper part has holes in it
Nigel Atkins

That's alright Nigel, if they were somewhere near in the right place!
Allan Reeling

I never mentioned accuracy Allan ;)

but if the rest of valence is accurate it does seem stranger that the holes are not
Nigel Atkins

Are they Heritage panels, or other manufacture?

I replaced the front valance on mine about 25 years ago, with a Steelcraft panel IIRC. I had no problems with alignment.
Dave O'Neill 2

When fitting the new valence on my roadster a couple of years ago I can across the same problem. I had to elongate the bolt holes. More troublesome was the square hole for the bumper mounting bracket (chrome bumper). I had to reprofile that by about half an inch, but only one of them.
Steve Church

I bought a new valance from Moss (cat.number MB12, 'aftermarket' for late rubber bumper). All the fixing holes had to be elongated, and the cut-outs for the bumper fixings both required major surgery. Just as well most of it will be covered by the bumper.
Brian Shaw

Dave, Heritage. I also forgot having to elongate one of the bumper iron slots. Punching the holes must be a "random" process after pressing the panel.
Allan Reeling

I had the same issue with one I bought from the owners club a couple of years ago, I got them to check and all their stock was the same. The main problem was the bumper iron slot, I had to weld up the original and re-cut it, but only on the near side
R.A Davis

One does have to question the owners club, and other suppliers, for constantly accepting such inaccurate parts, and expecting us to pay for them AND then, to add insult to injury, just accepting that we have to remedy the poor workmanship. We're only talking about where holes should be punched, not the proverbial rocket science is it???
Allan Reeling

I purchased a full heritage roadster shell last year, I removed the front valance to replace with my sebring valance off my original 1973 car and only half of the holes were where they should be, it would appear that heritage put the holes pretty much where they want!
Ian
I K Jackson

I have just finished a Heritage Shell midget rebuild. Problems included the following

1. it is a hybrid of 1098, 1275 and 1500 in the basic structure so many holes are in the wrong place
2. Wiper motor holes missing completely
3. Clutch slave hose chassis leg bracket in the wrong place
4. Gearbox crossmember holes in the wrong place
5. Front brake hose inner wing holes in the wrong place
6. Holes for fuel pump mount missing
7. Various superfluous holes in boot floor
8. Exhaust mount reinforcements in the boot floor are missing
9. Axle rebound strap mounts on boot floor too far outboard
10. Radiator mount holes in wrong place
11. Various holes in firewall missing
12. Wings and other panels attached with metric bolts

So it's not just the MGB panels that apparently have problems, I hope that the heritage shells have improved in the 20 years since this one was made.
dominic clancy

"One does have to question the owners club, and other suppliers, for constantly accepting such inaccurate parts"

Even more so the Club since presumably they use their own parts in their workshop!
Paul Hunt

Dominic,
They haven't!!
Have been working on a Heritage GT shell recently. It was supposedly made to specification, to replace a '75 R/B V8 shell.
Major faults;
1. Steering column cone in the wrong place, had to be cut out and re-positioned.
2. Once the lock plates were installed the passenger door wouldn't close, had to "expand" the opening.
3. Oil filter bracket had to be re-positioned.
4. Tailgate hinges were so malformed we couldn't get the tailgate to close properly with the lock installed, in the end we used the original hinges.
5. The pedal holes and fixings on the bulkhead and footwell panel were completely in the wrong place.
6. The rear light fixing slots were misplaced.
7. The wings and doors didn't line up without quite thick shims on the hinges.
8. Many spot welds had "missed" so we had to "puddle" weld in many structural places.
9. One tailgate stay bracket was in the wrong place. Cut of and re-weld.
10. The expansion tank fixing holes were on the wrong side!!
11. There weren't any Zeaus fixings for battery cover.
12. Quite disappointing to find the shell was assembled without any sealer at all, neither had it been dipped.
13. Heritage had had the same problem as well with the valance, but solved it with the utmost crudity.

One feels that if they were making vehicles, as opposed to throwing bodies together, they might take more care on jigging and welding.!!
Allan Reeling

don't Heritage do the bodies for the over priced LE50 MGB GT marketed by another 'salubrious' outfit
Nigel Atkins

>>Even more so the Club since presumably they use their own parts in their workshop!<<

they probably do but not necessarily as it's a separate concern

I had work done on my cars by the garage and if the part(s) were on special offer then I had to buy them as a member and pay for them before they were fitted

was at the shop only last Saturday, I used to be quite a frequent visitor back when I had my other MGs
Nigel Atkins

Nigel,
You might be right about the LE50. But would guess Frontline buy the shell, then rectify and modify them. Hence the reason they cost an arm and a leg. Two of us spent in excess of 120 hours rectifying our shell just to get it ready for painting!!
Allan Reeling

Allan,
I'd expect a lot more rectification work after FL touches anything unless they involvement was indirect, they're great at their own PR and copying ideas but not so good with executing them themselves
Nigel Atkins

This thread was discussed between 03/07/2014 and 20/07/2014

MG MGB Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGB Technical BBS is active now.