Very bad news !!

Good afternoon.

Stripping down the interior the redo the carpets (and seals), I came across some a very bad floor, full of rusted cracks, from the junction of the bottom channel to the floor, the jacking bracket and behind the seats. I do believe that could be an easy fix.
What is more of a concern is that I can see the tire tread from the fire wall on the passenger side (pics 8326) (I could not find any replacement parts from Moss) and that the left side panel on the driver side is rusted as well, as to be able to touch the inside front fender (pics 8335)

1- Could this be fix.
2- Would it need removal or replacement of any outer painted parts (would the car need a new paint).
3- What should I bugdet for this.

Thanks
Marc-Andre
80 B

pics 8335

Worse case situation, cut it back to the point of solid metal. Get some sheet metal and practice with a hammer or an english wheel and make a peice that fits and weld. However, keep looking. Moss isn't the only place to supply parts. Also keep looking for rust. If you found it there, it may be in a few other areas that are structural.

Also I agree with Jack. There may be a whole lot of ugly stuff if you keep looking. If so find a better car

You guys give up WAY too easily. Fix it, drive it. Been there... Done that.

(only taken 5 years though.. but....) :)

Paul

If I've got my perspective right, I don't think this is a huge deal to fix. The front fenders will have to come off. There is a whole section there that collects water and rusts. But, it isn't hard to fabricate replacement parts and weld them in. The parts don't have to be perfect since no one will ever see the area.

As to whether you'll need to repaint - hmmm - you can probably get the wings off without marking the paint if you are really careful. The area near the bead (in front of the windscreen) might chip, but you can touch that up.

I wouldn't panic yet. At least, what you've shown me doesn't cause me any panic. I worry more about rocker panels than the area you are showing. Rockers are a pain.

Looks about the same as the car in my avatar looked when I got it.

That just doesn't strike me as a big deal, and it seems definitely fixable unless there's a lot more rust somewhere. But how much it will cost will depend. If you can cut out the rusty metal yourself and weld in patches, it won't be that expensive. If you need someone to do it for you, well, you could get some estimates and find out.

The jacking point behind the seats would be my biggest concern. It would probably indicate new rocker, castle rail etc. But, all doable

Salut Marc,

There is a ton of experience on this site and much that you should heed ...

But honestly, the pictures you show beg for a visit to Canadian Tire to buy the Lincoln MIG welder (which is on sale).

If you can't do that, then cut all the bad metal you can see with an angle grinder, put some rustproofing on the edges, and then weld in some new metal.

You can find someone to do this for cheap, if not let me know I'll give you some numbers.

Pete

The only thing that would cause concern here is, you know nothing about sheet metal work, you can't weld or your not that interested in learning how. It's metal, cut it out and replace it with material of equal thickness and strength. Curves, 90s, whatever, all can be worked and welded. You can buy new floors and 90 % of all the sheet metal on the car, it just depends on how much work you want to put into it. Many MGBs out there, fully restored, were in as bad or worse than what I'm seeing in the pics. What would you do if the trunk floor was gone, the interior floor was gone, I mean totally gone, the dog legs and rockers needed replacing? I know of one car that's a show winner that was pretty much in that condition, but the determined owner refused to give up and he not only saved the car from the crusher, he wound up with a real gem. Took him 3 years, but the car is absolutely gorgeous! Don't let anyone discourage you in building the car! The main thing it takes is a willing to learn and patience. Information and help in making the repairs is there for the asking, on this forum or others. This forum alone probably has more than a thousand years of accumulated car building and repairing experience alone. There's a lot of free immeasurable talent right here on this forum alone, use it and build the car! The rewards are tremendous! :thumbup: Good luck! PJ

Very bad news turning into very good news.

I can wrench, but I can't weld.

Local shop is actually repairing with original parts.

Should be on the road again a week from now. And I can't wait. The house is full of parts, awaiting the return...


Thanks again for all your kind worlds. YES everything is fixable.

Marc-André
80 B

Very Good Marc-Andre!
That rust repair is kid's stuff for any bodyshop in Eastern Canada.
One thing I would do is cut off the factory jacking points.
It makes the car's profile cleaner and removes the temptation to use them.
If there is any weakness in the sill area or if the jack isn't inserted all the way
using the jacking point can cause a lot of expensive damage.

Rich

GT without jacking points