New floor panel fitting

 The new BMH left-side floor arrived today. I was surprised and pleased with the fast shipping from Moss UK. Ordered Friday and arrived Monday morning for shipping cost of only 33£, despite the oversized fee.
I believe Moss Europe, https://www.moss-europe.co.uk/, is going to be my go-to vendor for many parts in the future. The prices on a lot of things are lower and the shipping doesn't take any longer than buying from a US based vendor. For example, buying this floor from Moss UK saved me $120 over buying from Moss US. The total cost came to $167, versus $287 for the same part (including shipping) if I had ordered from Moss US.

Anyway, about the new floor. It's an excellent copy of the original and fits perfectly. Only difference I see in the design is that there are three additional holes that the later cars have, which get filled with plastic plugs. 

 

 

Trial fitting - it dropped into place with a perfect fit.

 

 

 

Sill inspection

 Got the old tar undercoat cleaned off from the passenger side sill area and inside the fender arches. Most of it was knocked off using a pneumatic needle scaler. Then the residue was cleaned with mineral spirit and a SS pot scrubber.

Since the sills are a typical problem for rust on MGBs, I was relieved to see that there was none here.

 

 

The front  leaf spring brackets are another trouble spot for rust. All good here.

 

 

 

Floor panels

 Starting with the driver's side, the carpeting was completely rotten, so when I removed it it just came out in shreds and crumbles. Then I saw that the floor was stangely distorted. At first it looked like it was bent up. But then I realized that it was just a very thick layer of tar that had been distorted by the driver's heals resting in the same spots. All the flooring tar was removed using a heat gun and small trowl tool. Then I went over the rusty areas with a needle scaler, which reveled the full extent of the rust. Where the tar had compressed under the drivers heels, it had formed a bowl shape that evidently served to collect a puddle of water, as that's where the worst floor rust is. Interesting thing about this rust spot -- it can't be seen from under the car because it's over the frame rail boxed section.

There's more rust at various other locations. The rear of the floor isn't terrible and could be patched, but I'm just going to replace it entirely. The forward lower edge of the tunnel will need patching as well.

 On the passenger side floor I got a lucky break -- no rust repairs needed. 

 

 A view into the underworld.

 

Rear wing repair panels

 The original factory seam where these panels joined was a butt-weld that was then filled with lead. So identifying the precise cut location was a bit tricky. I ended up cutting a bit short and had to weld up a gap.

All the rear panel welding is done. Now I have to work on the tailgate shut line. I think the bolt holes in the hinges will need to be enlarged to allow some adjustment. That and posibly some shims. 

 

Welding rear panels

 Today's job was to weld in the back panel/valence assembly. This ties into several body panels and frame members, so getting them all to cooperate took a lot of adjustments, pulling stretching, bumping and squeezing. And then the rear hatch has to close with a good panel gap line. After I settled on the alignment that I wanted, using clamps to hold it together, the outlines of the weld flanges from the various body parts are scribed onto the backside. Then I could remove it to see where to strip the primer and drill the spot weld holes. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Welding done, and rough grinding of the bumps completed. 

 

After further dressing down of the welds it gets sanded to see what's left to do. Almost there.
These joints were smoothed with lead filler at the factory. Later rubber bumper MGBs didn't bother to smooth this joint because it was hidden behind the rubber bumper. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are weld ripples due to the heavy clamping force I had to use to get the flanges into position for welding. Most of this will be hidden behind the bumper, but I'll still need to use a little filler here and there.