Rust........in all the wrong places !

Well..........removed the RH outer sill rather easily. Six spot welds and a few easy whacks with the multi-tool ( scraper/chisel/upholstery/screwdriver thingy) and off it came.

The good news is the inner membrane is in near perfect condition, as is the castle rail.

So I've decided not to replace these. The inner sill is also good too !!!

Its not all good news though.

The front bulkhead, where the sill front meets is well.....as mess !

Its really weird that the car has rusted in all unexpected places, as well as expected places on different sides.

I decided to chop off all the rust with the newly refurbished grinder ( having replaced the carbon brushes with the proper items)

So look see.............

The upturned flap on the castle rail is going to be tricky to repair. Its in good condition.

However, its the top most part of three layers of steel. The next layer is the front bulkhead ( rusty where cut away) and behind that is the upturned flap on the end of the inner sill.

Also another tricky part is the end of the membrane. I cut it away a bit and bent it out to investigate the inside.

I think I may replace the first two or three inches of this and it will allow prior access to the end flappy area.

In a fit and flurry of DIY we have re-painted the whole of the dining room.

Well, wifey started it.......all ar*e about face and in a terrible mess. Still credit to her she stuck in there and cried HELP when it got tough.

So, early last Saturday I got stuck in, moved shelves and heavy objects etc, and completed it by Sunday late lunchtime

Trouble is now though she's already planned another two rooms for the next few days, for the same treatment. Cunning devil has been saving it for my Hols without letting on. I'm sure it was all a scheme to keep me away from the MG. I think she knows how to make motor brushes wear and welding gas to evaporate ( witchcraft ?..... feminine intuition or just plain bad luck ?)

Considering I'm on holiday now for two weeks and spending them at home I can't see where the rest/relaxation is going to come................................Ha!! Wifey says...........spend a day in my shoes anyday you like Mr " I've had a long busy day at work, too tired to do DIY but enough energy to fiddle with your hobby" ( No....."hobby" is not a euphemism for that precious and rewarding universal boys toy we discovered in early teens)

Once that round of DIY is now complete I removed some more engine ancillaries and even had the foresight to "borrow" a large plastic storage box from work ( we specialise in machinery to print them so we have lots skulking around the factory)

It looks rather empty in there.

Whilst Wifey is still to the forefront this holiday I used some female logic on her !!

And guess what................................................................It worked.

As I explained how much the three part LH sills cost and my joy at not having to buy all three , hence SAVING on this part of the project, I can now go and buy another RH rear wing complete like last time, you remember dear, back in May, my birthday, when we had a fun day out together and visited the MG hive............

Yes dear, what fun that was............we'll go again soon. But not until you've finished all the decorating, spent time away in Chester next week on a shortened holiday, been to see your beloved team play with No 1 son, and with whats left you can buy all the panels you want.

Well it sort of worked. Lets get in the good books first then apply more tactics.

More soon.........Thanks for the link Rick

If only I'd waited........or been a little less impatient

I've done a stupid and silly thing.

Annoyed at the the yet again death( well soldiering on bravely but intermittently) of my trusty angle grinder I decided to remove the exhaust.

Rear end not too bad.

Middle section easy.

Front end.......so far so good, five of the six nuts undone.

The last one..............Impossible.

I'm under the car looking up at the manifold join. Yes the first five were a little tricky and awkward. I can only just see the sixth, let alone get the socket and extension onto it.

The trouble is the sump edge is in the way. It won't allow the socket to sit square on.

After several attempts, bruised knuckles, rust flakes in both eyes and oil/grunge in back of head I called it a day.

Well almost.

In a fit of pique I whacked the grinder one more time and it sprang into life.

So under the car I crawled and cut the exhaust in two just after where two pipes become one at a thick flange.

I thought it the only way to remove the damn thing. The last bolt was rounded off, and too inaccessible to get so much as a finger there, let alone a grinder or wrench.

So in I went with the grinder. Grinder protested loudly but after 5 mins there it was.

In two more manageable halves........................but see later.......................

Oh I forgot, to celebrate finishing one side the whole clan helped me move the car the other way round in the drive.

This involved moving both normal cars to way up the other end of the Cul-de-sac.

Pushing a very heavy car (including tool contents inside) onto the road at 45 degrees.

Pushing a little further down road. Son armed with patented vehicle halting device ( half housebrick) There's no brakes on the car cause I've removed them and the steering is very very heavy.

Then push back into drive.

At this point I'd like to thank the newish and so far never speaking, neighbour opposite and Dutch relative/friend.

..............................................................................................For watching............................................... while this old fart, his unfit wife with a bad back and two skinny thirteen year old twins ( one of each) struggle somewhat.

They ( two males 35-45 years of age) spent the whole afternoon looking at the engine of their car and then looking at the toolbox.

I hope they enjoyed watching us from 15 feet away across the road.

Its the other way round !!

The following day I decided to remove some engine ancillaries.

Carbs came away nicely after locating the bolts.

Since the under bonnet was covered in a poor excuse for sound proofing that hanging off in most places the whole engine bay is covered in "FLUFF".

"Yes, fluff"

Well more like horeshair, but its everywhere. And mixed up with loads of rust and lots of oil.

So cleaning the carbs will be interesting. So will the whole engine bay actually.

Removed centre inlet manifold, easy.

Even the dead rusty and often snapping exhaust studs came undone.

Its then that the manifold fell down and to one side.

Yes the difficult to get at nut was now easily accessible from underneath.

WHAT A PRATT.............I cut the exhaust in two for nothing !!!

If I'd removed said items before attempting the manifold studs underneath i would never have rounded off the last nut...........doh !!!.

So, lifted it clear and deposited both halves at back of shed out of sight.

Following day removed alternator, coil and dizzy lid + oil filter. Yes. I did remember to label all the wires up................sometimes I function almost normally.

Here's a few shots of my rust investigations of the the as yet untouched RH side.

This is a view looking forward at the A Post top. Worrying and scary.

This is after my head exploded after finding more rust.

Have no clue how I'm gonna repair these little beauties.( books and toilet springs to mind)

Suppose it explains me turning my attention to the engine.

Footnote.

The grinders died well and truly. No amount of whacking makes it start. Ordered new bushes from Screwfix ( £ 6.50, robbing dogs...........the whole grinder was only £17.00)

CO/Argon bottle on MIG welder also empty.

Spotweld drill bit blunt as hell.

Time for some time off or DIY......................yipee says Wifey. Personally I want a holiday.

More soon hopefully.

Go here, It's the funniest thing I've read in a long time

Just a quickie post to share with you all, but very very funny.

Its right up my street as its toilet humour( Laxatives actually) at its best.

Stick with it and read all the posts by Blu-Tone.

Its actually from a Mountain Bike message board.

One day 'Ill tell my funny story of a hospital visit. I'd have to embellish it somewhat but it would not be a patch on how Blu-Tone tells his !!!!

Link = http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/read.php?f=2&i=3145351&t=3141618#reply_3145351