After a lot of careful research and several conversations on the MG BBS i realised before doing anything, i needed to brace the shell to prevent it sagging when i removed rust. Sadly before i knew this i had removed the doors! I later found out that this was not a great move as i couldn't now tell if the shell had sagged or not. The hinges we so rusted i could not get them back on. In the scheme of things its not a major issue, but brace before you remove the doors!
So, with the doors off, i braced the door gaps using a length of angle. I then diagonally braced the bulkheads with the main length of the old exhaust!
Assessing the rust, i researched where best to start work. There are many different views on where to start, but the order is really down to you. I chose to start with the floor and cross member on the drivers side, but i ended up cutting out the complete sill, floor, cross member and foot well, later realising that i may have been a little carried away! This left me with almost no point of reference for aligning new panels.
To best remove the floor rolled the car on its side! I decided this would not damage anything more than tin worm already had! I rolled the car by hand on my own. I was surprised how light it was, but I'm not a small man!
I decided it best to replace the cross member first, getting it straight and level. This would give me a good reference point for later panels.
Using a half cross member repair panel i marked the old with a cut line, leaving excess to allow something to weld to. I cut off the old cross member and made to small cuts in the end to allow me to shape it to fit inside the new cross member. This seemed to work well, but I'm not sure if its an advised method! I drilled two or three holes and plug welded the new onto the old cross member. I then seam welded all the way around. I was please with the results.
These were my first ever welds and they just so happen to be on a major structural section!
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