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MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG Midget and Sprite General - Childishly excited!

Project "Midget Fiddle" officially commences on Monday!!
Got a very nice man coming down to do the sills - he's my F mechanic, and he's very much looking forward to NOT having to touch my F, which he swears is possessed. Also have extra body, so we're hoping to do a few more bits as well - I currently have a battery, many filters, slave cylinder, master cylinder seals and various other bits and bobs sitting in my kitchen!

Can't quite believe that things are starting to happen - seems like ages! Off to HSS at 6.30am on Monday to collect a Mig welder - Joy!

Ally

Good luck and enjoy the proces!
Onno Könemann

Ally, did you buy axle stands - or could you use a decent pair of ramps?
David Smith

Have fun Ally

I'm sure you will

you will get a tad grimy :)

so what!

enjoy
Bill 1

David - some decent ramps would be fab! My email address is acgau(at)hotmail.com.
Ally

I am NEVER hiring anything from HSS again!Just spent half an hour on the phone while they searched for the order that I placed last Tuesday (which they had rung me to confirm!). Idiot on the phone finally gave up and said someone would call me back. "Someone" called back - knew about my order, spent AGES telling me that I couldn't collect from Slough or High Wycombe because those branches weren't trained to hand out welding equipment(!!!) - THEN said "The only mig welder available for hire is in Southampton, and we can't get it to Reading (where the staff have been fully trained in the complexities of handing over a mig welder) until mid next week.

I'M LIVID...
Ally

Ally,
Don't hire one. It isn't worth it. Buy one instead, you will never regret it! And if you did decide that you didn't need it, use E-bay as a good storage system.

Guy
Guy

I think I may have left it a bit late - but will investigate!
Ally

Aaaaand - we're back in the game!! Had a grumble on Facebook about HSS, and a very good friend, who only lives 5 minutes away, said "I've got several welders - which sort do you want?"

Much relief - I was so miserable about another enforced wait!!

Ally

What you got your hands on then?!

Malcolm
M Le Chevalier

He's bringing a selection over in the morning!! I suspect that the gasless mig will be the weapon of choice - but it's up to Jon really
Ally

Sooo- not quite happening yet! My mechanic didn't get home to Lincolnshire til 4am, so I have given him a days grace! Welder collected, Ramps (generously donated by David Smith) picked up, and garage cleared.

The anticipation is killing me...

On a nice note - one of my neighbours stopped while I was garage clearing - turns out Fidget is not the only Midget on the block - he has an immaculate chrome bumpered one in his garage!
Ally

"Fidget is not the only Midget on the block - he has an immaculate chrome bumpered one in his garage!"


Thats good to know that there is a "spares" car in your area. ;)
Arie de Best

Gez Ally,

You have the patiance of a saint, what the heck is wrong with our planet when you have to have specialized credintials just to hand over a box, god forbid the laws and regs that would be broken if they carried said box to your car

I cant imagine why people flip out and starting mowing down a bunch of peole in a walmart or a mall , I think people have just maxed out when it comes to crap like this



Hope you got a welder sorted and good luck with the repairs, hope your getting good and greasy



Prop
Prop

Pro - I so don't have the patience of a saint - I've been going slowly mad - but as of tomorrow, things should be starting to happen!! I've also got another MG friend coming to paint my flat - so it will be bedlam, and I am going to be making an awful lot of bacon butties!

Can't wait!

Arie - I like your thinking - a lot!!
Ally

Arie is painting your flat....???....hmmm wonder what that means....lol.

What colors are you doing ???

Did you bloody there noses ???, if not your a saint by my standards


Prop
Prop

If Arie is better looking than the TF driver who is painting my flat - he is more than welcome to come and help!

I have yet to develop the skill set that would enable me to dish out bloody noses over the phone - but I'm working on it!

Only spilt blood so far has been mine - courtesy of the Midget, which didn't get out of my way as I was trying to get to the back of the garage. Must grind off the spiky bits left behind from bumper removal!
Ally

Oh Ally you disappoint me - not just with the lack of blood letting!!!

Making bacon butties????? You're letting the side down - you should be doing the car and making them make the butties ...;)

As for Aries looks - go into the archieves and search Arie and Onnos night out ....:)
rachmacb

Sorry Arie - you know I just had to do it!!!!:p
rachmacb

Good news!! Inner sill on the side in progress are practically perfect. We've been able to do a bit of fettling, rather than removing them altogether. Jon very pleased - says it's probably some thing to do with the vast quantities of fibreglass that someone has splatted everywhere for no apparent reason - which has done a great job of protecting all the innards!
By the law of averages, the other side is probably sh*gged - but we shall see!
Ally

Glad to see you've already started to pick up the terminology that is an essential element of Spridget ownership!
Fubarred is another technical term you will need to know!

Good luck!
Matt1275Bucks

Ally, it is apparent that you are balancing out my law of averages. Everything on my car is made of rust and holes beacuse things on your car are in good nick, thus balancing out the world karma.

So its your fault! ha ha ha!

Malcolm
M Le Chevalier

I have an F - Sh**ged has been part of the vocabulary for some time! "Oh very dear" is another!!
Ally

And today just gets better!! Just picked up the hood I got for a song on Ebay. Not only did I not have to drive to the other side of Windsor - because the guy I bought it from works just round the corner from me in Maidenhead - but it's in absolutely immaculate condition, except for a tiny tear at one of the studs. Crystal clear screen and the vinyl looks brand new!!

Worrying about the law of averages now!
Ally

Glad to hear work has finally commenced Ally, it would be great if you could post some pics for all to see. Cant beat ebay some times I dont know what I would do without it.
C Carter

I've been taking photo's, and will upload later. House is in complete disarray, and have NO idea where lead is at the moment!

I have just Nitromorsed my forehead!! Interesting sensation!
Ally

Gee that tickles when it burns

karma Ally

You get the bumps the car gets better

Great news about the sill and the hood, hope it keeps going that way


and as for Arie, hundreds of pictures of him about

he he

Dont fret Arie... I wont :)
Bill 1

"If Arie is better looking than the TF driver who is painting my flat"

Ofcourse I am better looking then some tw*t in a hairdressers car! :)

But I dont work for cookies, I work for €'s or 26 year old twin poledancers.
Arie de Best

Arie - He said pretty much the same - and I'm neither 26, or a poledancer - so I've had to pay out big for his time!

Getting old sucks!!
Ally

Mmmm .....80 year old flopping titty monsters on a pole dancer.....id look for a dollar

Prop
Prop

Oi!! I have 42 years before I'm 80!! No comment about the floppy...
Ally

We have photos!!

The inner sill, in all it's glory..

Ally

A bit of fettling required - and it fits PERFECTLY!!

Ally

One side finished...but a mysterious gap has appeared at the bottom of the door. Top is perfectly level, and the front vertical gap is pretty regular, but there is something odd going on along the bottom!! Any thoughts folks?

Ally

More pics - one more session, and I reckon we'll be soundo...

1-drivers side finished

Ally

Passenger side

Ally

Cutting out the rot!

Ally

Footwell air-con, and a gift from the car - a free ball

Ally

Inner sill part fitted - before wire ran out and stopped play

Ally

Looks like the repair of the rear wing was fitted a little to low and created the gap you see when fitting the sil to it.

For better acces and a neater repair you should just take off the front wing.
Easyer to repair the wing then as well
Onno Könemann

Front wings are being replaced anyway - my parents are going to pick up Rach's spare ones next week.

It's a learning process, and we are definitely learning fast - the passenger side was worse, but took less time. I dare say it wont be perfect - but we're having fun doing it!
Ally

When fitting a new outer sill section, it is not a bad idea to drill a large hole (Maybe 5/8" - 3/4") in the top surface of the sill, directly beneath where the A post fits. This allows any water that inevitably finds its way into the A post to drain away into the sill. You of course also have a series of drain holes in the bottom of the sill! But you have these anyway don't you?
Guy

That's a good point! Will see if we can retro fit a drain hole as close to the bottom of the A-frame as possible - and make sure we make one in the passenger side sill before fitting it. Thanks for that.

We do indeed have drain holes in the bottom!

Wheel arch isn't finished incidentally - it needs more work to smooth it and blend in the repair. We've used stone chip paint at every stage to protect - hence the black shininess of it.

Ally

Looks like you are making excellent progress Ally. Your inner sills seem to be in better condition than mine :( although I was expecting the worse as the previous owner had fitted new outer sills to hide the inner ones. Why o Why dont people fix things properly instead of bodging! Pic attached.

C Carter

Where is the best place to buy the inner and outer sills from? I have looked at moss/Mg owners club just wondered if the parts were of the same quality etc?
C Carter

The bit I struggle with is getting some sort of paint protection on the inside of the sills after welding! I give all the surfaces a good coat of zinc based paint before assembly, and use a weld-through primer on the bits that are going to feel the heat. But I am sure that a lot of it burns off during welding.

I have experimented with extension tubes and 360 degree spray nozzles on the end, withdrawing steadily from the sill section whilst spraying. I believe that the best method would be to dunk a ferret in paint and poke it in one end of the sill.
Guy

I'm getting those sort of problems at the moment with my resto... how the chuff do you stop things rusting from the indside out when you cant get a paint brush or anything inside to paint them!

One of the solutions I came up with was to seam weld everything to everything else to that water (hopefully) cant get in through any gaps.

I have already decided that if anything goes rusty again in the future I am not bothering fixing it again so I'm not too fussed about things being permenantly and utterly irreversibly welded together!

Cheers,
Malcolm
M Le Chevalier

Just keep this inner sill wax oiled it should last for years to come or you could connect a small tube with lots of holes in it and connect it to a paint gun that might work?
C Carter

I bought my sills from www.allcarallparts.co.uk - and they seem to do exactly what they say on the tin.

Regarding rust proofing - we have just used can after can of stonechip paint - squirted everywhere we could possibly reach. The "air-conditioning" holes helped!! I dare say that it won't have got everywhere, but we've done our best.

Project stalled slightly as my son has been ill, but will be getting Jon back down to finish the sills, and to re-pipe brakes and clutch. I've now chosen the new body colour as well - after much deliberation!
Ally

orange

no, yellow

no, orangey yellow, no yellowish orange :)



ohhh, red then :)
Nigel At

Wrong!!!
Ally

blue or green

or bluey green or greenish blue
Nigel At

The ish bit is correct. It's going to be something-ish
Ally

Oh no, not another pinkish car...
Arie de Best

Arie - you know you're only jealous coz you REALLY REALLY want a barbie pink one :P
rachmacb

Looks brilliant.

Great thread.

Simon
Simon Taylor

Arie, am I right in remembering you are colour blind?! How do you know your car isn't pink? Perhaps we were all just too polite to tell you! ;-)

Malcolm
M Le Chevalier

Fidget has had his first visitors! Dave has just been down to rip bits of Autumn leaf interior off him. I think they bonded..
Ally

LOL Malcolm!!!!!!!!

Wings sat all washed and waiting ... :) Think your parents might be lost though!

Roadster is sat with it's hardtop on as it was driven down to have it put on to bring back. It was kinda big, so I'm not to sure it would have fitted anyway!

Horses all mucked out and fed so they don't eat your mum as well <grin>
rachmacb

Yayyyyy - all collected and starting their trip over to Berkshire .... see them on Saturday :)

I'm so glad that you're painting them £$)_(*£$)(@*£*$_)(£*$@!£()$*£)$_£@(*$_£)$*V - they will look much better than the poo brown they currently are ;)!

LOL - course I won't tell this lot what colour you've chosen!!!!!
rachmacb

Car is going to look awesome with orange body/doors, brown wings and a cream bootlid - I don't think I can bring myself to drive it looking like that - Respray moving up the list a few places.
Hope Mum had a lovely time patting noses!
Ally

lol your dad did - will e-mail you ....!
rachmacb

As to painting....id still love to paint mine in black and white like a police car .... But as a transformer police car.

Instead of " protect and serve " it would say "Destroy and Enslave "


But I love my fairway green metallic to much to get rid of it , There is just something funny about the idea of a midget police car .... Sorta like a vespa police motor scooter or a police skate board or golf cart

Prop
Prop

Prop - the MGBs in Roadster and GT form were used as police cars in many counties in England - in fact, my dad's midget which was totally black was used to imitate them many times, as he would follow lorries up the road the requisite mile to wind them up ..... as they couldn't tell from the front and high up which was which!!!!!
rachmacb

I think it's great that Ally is relishing the prospect of restoring what will be a uniqe and eye catching (F)idget. The surprising use of the colour ......... and when she adds the ........ will turn heads whenever she's out and about. Can't wait to see the end result, I'm sure it will be one of the highlights of MG Live 2012.
Dave & Bernie (Fidget appreciation Society).
DW Warren

Dave I told you not to mention the "...." or the "..."!!
Ally

This thread was discussed between 12/08/2011 and 26/08/2011

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