Morris Minor - floor and sills
Symptoms of problem : Completely rusted floor pan - beyond repair. Completely rusted sills - beyond repair.
Vehicle : 1957 Morris Minor 1000 Pick-up (LCV) - a CKD MM built in Petone, New Zealand. (part Series II, part Minor 1000 I think!)
Time : 40 hours Difficulty : 8/10 Parts required : New floor pan with sill step, new boxing plate, new undersill (combined 'outer sill' and 'inner sill') - 2 of each required - 1 left side, 1 right side. B-post repair piece - 2 required (fit either side) Cost : £120 approx per side - check prices carefully.
Special tools required : MIG and TIG welders, numerous angle-grinders, needle-gun, etc..
I knew that this Morris Minor had some bodywork problems when I bought it, but the extent of the problems still came as a shock. Some previous owner(s) had covered all rust and decay with pop-rivetted-on metal patches (if you were lucky) and then covered everything with fibreglass - the whole floor, both sills, and both bases of the B-post (= B-pillar = the one at the back of the door) were completely rusted away. Surprisingly, this does not alter the structural strength of the vehicle as much as you might think, because the chassis is in good condition - still I would not like to have an accident in a vehicle weakened by rust in this way.
I soon decided that my welding skills were not up to doing this job properly, so enlisted the help of Percy and Alan Rackham, a father and son team of expert mechanical engineers. Alan is doing most of the work, with me as the labourer. We started work on the left hand side (passenger side) of the vehicle.
Alan working on the project Percy
Some photos of the old panels before removal :
The old rusty floor - removed in 2 separate halves The old rusty (left hand side) boxing plate and sill
The old rusty base of the A-pillar - see the fibreglass with a hole in it The old rusty base of the LHS B-pillar
The old rusty base of the LHS A-pillar before final removal of rust. The old rusty base of the RHS A-pillar - worse than the LHS !
Some photos of the new panels :
New Boxing plate New undersill (combined inner and outer sill)
Front end of left hand side undersill, seen from below B-post repair piece - thin (and expensive) metal !
B-post repair piece
Some photos of the new panels in position before welding :
Left hand side B-post repair - with new boxing plate Left hand side new floor pan, with sill step and new boxing plate
Seat fixings before welding onto underside of new floor pan
Some photos of the new panels in position after welding :
New base of left hand side B-post, new boxing plate, new undersill New boxing plate, new undersill and new floor pan
New base of left hand side A-post, new floor pan (with sill step) New base of LHS A-post, before welding on small cover plate
New floor - underside, showing bracing piece welded on
Page under construction - 29th August 2006 A full written description of these repairs will follow a.s.a.p.