| Frame Restoration |
| Frame restoration: The frame that is currently in the car, in my opinion, is too far gone to be repaired. The driver's side frame rail (next to where you put your feet) has broken into two sections due to rust. The inner frame rail has a hole that stretches from the broken section in front all the way to back to where the frame starts to arch up for the rear wheels. So, there isn't really any economical way to salvage the current frame. I was able to purchase another A frame in relatively decent condition. Decent meaning that it's at least in one piece. The major problem with this frame (and why it was so cheap) is that it is bent. The front cross member has been bent back about 3/4 of an inch, and the front goal post and frame rail are bucked in one area. Other than this, the frame doesn't appear to be twisted. With the scarcity of MGA frames, I am going to try to restore this frame. The other problems that this frame has are the normal rusted areas: battery brackets, the passenger side floorboard rail and rear corner piece, and there is a hole in the passenger side frame rail. These problems should be an easy fix compared to the bent section. |
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| The frame ready to sandblast. |
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| The hole (holes?) in the underside of the frame rail. |
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| Crusty battery brackets |
| So, here's the restoration plan: 1. Sandblast the frame. 2. Attempt to straighten the frame. 3. Patch the hole in the bottom the passenger rail. 4. Replace the battery brackets. 5. Replace the floorboard rails. |
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| I was shocked to see how much battery brackets cost. So, my neighbor made these at his shop. I'll cut away the horizontal pieces and attach these to the diagonal supports. Homemade battery brackets for cheap. |
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| Floor board supports. I bought the top one from Todd Clarke. Its very good quality. But, there's not much to it. My neighbor again said he could make a copy in about 5 minutes for next to nothing. So, next day he comes back with four. I can't tell the difference, so if you have access to a sheet metal brake, you can easily make your own frame pieces and save some money. |
| Follow-up to frame restoration: My plan to sandblast the frame myself kind of backfired. I didn't realize what a mess it would make, and how wimpy my air compressor was. It would've taken me weeks to blast the frame. So, I just decided to wire brush most of the loose rust off, and paint the entire frame with Zero Rust. Once painted, I top coated with Rustoleum gloss black. As of October 2002, I haven't done much else to the frame besides painting. I'm waiting to buy a welder to patch the holes and fix the battery brackets. At that time I also plan on using a body ram to try and straighten then bent section. Here is a link to a picture of the bent section of the frame. Has anyone out there fixed this type of damage? If so, please feel free to drop me some pointers. April 2003: The frame has been straightened! Thanks to Barney Gaylord and a Chicagoland MG Club tech session, my bent frame has been successfully straightened. It took some serious heat from an oxy-acetalene torch and a 4 ton ram, but it was straighened in about 4 hours. All the details can be viewed on the Chicagoland MG Club's webpage. As mentioned in Barney's write-up, the welds won't win any beauty pagents, but since I've already have had to junk 2 other frames I wanted to save this one at all costs. And, after the tech session, it appears as this one will be saved from the junk pile also. Now that the frame is straight, I'm starting work on fixing all the other issues. I'll post pictures soon. |
| Scroll down to see the new info! |
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| Here is a close up of the section that was straightened. When pushed back into position, the cracks opened up to be about a quarter of an inch wide. It took some serious welding to fill everything in. I've ground the welds down a little, but I spayed it with prime to keep it from rusting. I'll finish grinding later. |
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| Here's a view from inside the engine compartment. Most of the ripples came out with a few hammer blows. No cracks on this side. |