313 replies to this topic

[Ben_O]

The Midget is now back from the blasters.

 

I have high praise for Martin at MJG grits in Godshill Isle of Wight. We haven't used them before and i'm very impressed with the quality and attention to detail.

 

Here are some pictures from yesterday when it was at his place.

 

 

 

And here are some more pictures i took when it arrived back to the garage this afternoon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see, the shell is in fantastic condition. There are a few areas of shallow pitting namely on the battery tray and the tops of the inner front arches.

 

There are holes on the bottoms of the quarter panels both sides which we knew about and some heavier pitting across the back where the hood attaches.

 

The underside is perfect. It has never been welded anywhere and is totally original.

 

Unbelievable considering its a 46 year old car!

 

Cheers

 

Ben

[MrBounce]

That looks REALLY good considering how rotten these usually are. Fantastic base to start from! 

[JDImini]

Very Happy!

[JDImini]

Hi Ben,

 

the toys are as per the list I sent a a couple of weeks ago I'll be paying early next week so will be sent down then. I'll let you have dates when I know

 

 cheers Darren

[JDImini]

Hi Ben please pass on my thanks to Martin, looks like he's done a great job, although the selfie was a bit scary  

[Ben_O]

Hi Ben please pass on my thanks to Martin, looks like he's done a great job, although the selfie was a bit scary  

I will do Darren.

 

I need to go over to see him next week with the front panel and radiator surround tinwear. I'm looking forward to having a chat with him.

 

I'm glad we found him, he really seems to be into what he is doing.

 

Cheers

 

Ben

[Ben_O]

Hi all.

 

Today, I have made a start with the panel work on the Midget.

 

I started off by raising it up to a working height

 

 

And then added some bracing 

 

 

I decided to start off by removing the o/s outer sill. They look pretty good but there was no real access to see inside so it's been decided to take no chances and fit a pair of new sills

 

 

I can't remove it in one piece because of the construction of the shell so it was important to keep the face of the sill as neat and intact as possible so that i can transfer over the badge and trim holes accurately onto the new sill

 

My concerns about the condition behind were due to the pitting seen here. 

 

 

And also a couple of small holes on the underside of the sill.

 

So with the sill removed, I could see how bad the rust was beneath.

 

 

Not too bad considering. There is some pitting and surface rust to deal with and a couple of sections to replace later.

 

 

 

 

After removing the remains of the sill from the base of the quarter panel and a post, there was some more minor rust to deal with

 

 

 

The next thing to do was begin cleaning up the inner sill.

 

Here is one half done

 

 

That half cleaned up perfectly so no attention is required.

 

Here is the remaining half cleaned.

 

 

 

There is some minor pitting on the outside but the inside is perfect so due to the thickness of the steel, it will only require treating and painting with the exception of a small section right at the front.

 

This is the sill closing panel at the front

 

 

It's pretty thin and crusty so will need replacing.

 

beneath it was quite a lot of rust and it had holed in a few places

 

 

 

Nothing for it but to cut it out and replace this section.

 

here it is with the rough bit removed

 

 

And after cleaning it up to bright steel, i set about fabricating a new section.

 

First it was marked out on steel

 

 

 

Then cut out and clamped into place

 

 

Once i was happy with the fit, i tacked it into place

 

 

Then seam welded it

 

 

And then after a clean up, that section is complete bar a couple of spot welds which i shall do tomorrow

 

 

The pencil line shows the position of the flange behind so i know where to put the spot welds.

 

The other section that needed replacing was at the front of the inner sill

 

 

The pitting was too deep here and it had started to go through.

 

I cut it out and then used it as a template for a new piece as before with the other section

 

 

And then clamped it in ready for welding

 

 

And that was all i had time for today.

 

Tomorrow, i shall complete these repairs and get the new outer sill fitted.

Then onto the other side.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Cheers

 

Ben

[JDImini]

Hi Ben,

brilliant work, as always!

 

very pleased that the sills are being replaced as although they looked very good they were hiding some nasties

 

thanks

Darren

[JDImini]

goodies for the midget to improve handling, stopping and safety have been ordered from frontline developments. I'll let you know when I get a shipping date

[Simont]

Would you mind if i asked how much you paid for the tub blasting?
thinking about getting my dads rubber bumper midget done,

[Ben_O]

Would you mind if i asked how much you paid for the tub blasting?
thinking about getting my dads rubber bumper midget done,

I think we paid around the £400 mark for this one.

 

Everything will be different though I expect. It all comes down to how long it will take. e.g, lots of layers of underseal or lashings of filler will take longer to remove and cost more to have done.

 

Hope that helps

 

Cheers

 

Ben

Edited by Ben_O, 17 May 2017 - 05:46 PM.

[Ben_O]

Back to the sill replacement today.

 

I started off by finishing off the inner sill repair from yesterday.

 

Here it is tacked in ready

 

 

And then welded fully and linished back

 

 

Then all i had to do to finish these repairs was to spot weld the flanges back

 

 

After a liberal coating of zinc, I was ready to start prepping the new sill

 

 

 

The old sill had several holes drilled into it for the purpose of mounting the 'MIDGET' badges and the chrome finishing trim along the length of the sill so i needed to drill these into the new sill as they come undrilled.

 

Here is the new sill after I stripped the edges back to bare metal ready for welding

 

 

And then i clamped the first section of the old sill into place to use as a guide for the holes

 

 

And here they are drilled

 

 

Then i did the same with the other half of the sill for the remaining trim clip holes

 

 

So now it's ready to fit to the car

 

 

The large area of bare metal forward of the jacking point hole is where i had to file some minor ripples in the panel. Best to do it now...

 

And then I Zinc primed the inside of the sill

 

 

Before offering it up to the car.

 

 

It pretty much fell into place with barely any jiggery pokery required to get it nicely lined up.

I placed the wing on also to just check that the gaps were acceptable

 

 

Now the welding can begin.

Here is the bottom lip spot welded to the floor inner sill

 

 

And then the top of the step

 

 

Next was the top front lip to inner wing

 

 

And then the back edge closer, B post and A post respectively 

 

 

 

 

Those were taken after i finished as i forgot to take photos during 

 

With the welding complete, I turned my attention to the front sill closing panel which as i showed before, was in quite a state

 

 

So a new one was needed and they are a bargain at £15 each. I didn't order any when i placed my panel order so decided to just make one up myself.

 

Here is where it goes

 

 

I used the old one to mark out a template onto sheet steel

 

 

 

And then after some cutting, bending, folding and welding, I had my closing panel

 

 

Which fits nicely In place

 

 

And here it is after spot welding it and priming 

 

 

So with the fitting complete, I added some slugs of mig weld here and there for good measure and primed it up temporarily.

 

 

 

So that's one side complete, Just need to get the other done now.

I'm expecting exactly the same story there so hopefully it's not worse.

 

Thanks for looking

 

Ben

[JDImini]

Hi Ben, looking brilliant

Thanks

Darren

[timmy850]

You must be pleased how good it looks after the blasting! Hopefully an easy job to do the rest of the welding. 

[JDImini]

You must be pleased how good it looks after the blasting! Hopefully an easy job to do the rest of the welding. 

Very pleased, did wonder if it would resemble a tea bag after the blasting and Ben does a brilliant job fabricating and welding