Finally got to the end of my first rear wing repair! I’ve always seen this as the biggest hurdle to completing the MGB shell restoration. This has taken me over 6 weeks of evening and weekends! I’m reasonably happy with the result. There is a small amount of distortion near the chrome strip line as I just didn’t have the patience to wait for the panel to fully cool between each 10mm weld. Anyway a bit of shaping by someone with a good eye should hide this.
This repair included:
New rear chassis rail closure panel
New rear lower valance
New boot outer floor
New outer arch
New rear lower wing
Inner arch repair in three places
Repair to area under tail light
Repair to chassis rail near bump stop
And of course all sill repairs before starting!
Now I’ve got to do it all again on the nearside! Hope it doesn’t take another 6 weeks…
Three ‘before’ shots to show the corrosion…
Rear chassis rail closure panel fitted. This is not an easy job as the panel has to line up and weld to the tubes for the bumper arms and the leaf spring shackle mounting point.
Trial fit of the lower wing panel to assess each of the joins.
Removal of the rear lower valance.
Boot floor outer, lower wing and rear valance removed.
Preparation of the internal panels.
Final trial fit of the lower wing.
Boot outer welded in.
Lower wing welded in place
Boot floor and lower wing seam.
Repair to base of rear lights. This is tricky area as three panels have to meet…
Finally the outer arch is fitted…Just a bit of tidying and I can move on to the other side!
