Moss Motors, Ltd

Hi All,

I live in Perth western Australia and have noticed some of the memeber are also Australian ... I am after a body repair shop that deals with MG'S as i was thinkin of getting them to do the Castle rails rather than me. But the quote i got so fare was 2000 min to do the rails and floor pans. NOT inc parts and the car has been stripped ready to go ... Any one got some suggestions for body shops ????

 

Cheers

 

G-day Mate-

 

I'm here in the U.S. and I need an American translation for the term "Castle Rails"! Plus you said it would cost 2000 "min". I thought you Aussies used Dollars, what's a "min"?

Welcome!

LCJUTILA 

 

I think  you refer to them as the Sills/side member. Runs from the front guard to the rear and under the doors. MIN is just shotened for MINIMUM..

Part number 12 side member

http://www.mossmotors.com/Shop/ViewProducts.aspx?PlateIndexID=29038

Just a little concerned about doing it myself .. and 2000 aussie dollars sounds expensive just to put these in. ...

 

MGB67-

I knew "min" was short for minimum. I was just having some fun with you.

We also call the part you are referring to "Rocker Panels" .

I do not know if you can weld but if you can you could make three runs at replacing the parts in question yourself and still come out ahead. One thing you would want to make sure and do before you start is get all the body panels lined up and the gaps around the doors even. Then fabricate braces that you can tack in place so the body won't move/ flex before you remove the bad parts. Then, keeping the  braces in place, tack in parts and trial fit other panels before final welding. I would also do one side at a time for reference.

 Here in Los Angeles it is hard to find body shops that will even touch an old car. They make their money off insurance claim work instead.

LCJUTILA
 

Ha cheers,   

Yeah i did allot of welding back when i was at shcool ... and was very good , however havnt  done any since but i think i will be able to do some practise and it will come back to me.

I have noticed that some people cut the dog leg out of the rear wing, is this nesessary ? Ive had a look at it and it looks OK . 

 

The dog leg area will most likely need to be removed to gain access to the rear portion of the castle rail and sills before it's reinstalled. Take a look at these photos from the Eclectic Motorworks site which show the area in question and how the dog legs removal allows access to the rear of the sill and castle rail box section for repair. http://www.eclecticmotorworks.com/jamgb04.html

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'73 Midget (V6)
'59 MGA (I6) under construction
'73 Lotus Europa

"There is a fine line between a hobby and mental illness"

Hi everyone. Look at this page at the parts in the circle showing a cross section of the sill.

http://www.mossmotors.com/Shop/ViewProducts.aspx?PlateIndexID=29038

 Part # 13 is the inner sill, # 11 is the inner panel, #10 is the "rocker panel" and #12 underneath the inner sill is the "Castle Rail" which is a proper factory term. To change the rocker panel does require cutting off the dog leg which will most likely be bad as they are the very first place to rust out on a "B" because the dirt gets trapped between the rocker panel and the dog leg.

We have done dozens of these when we were in Canada but very few since we moved our shop to Ventura California. I have 2 B's in the shop right now. I had to do one car years ago that had nothing connecting the front to the back except the tunnel. No floors or braces and no sills whatsoever. One piece at a time and careful fitting with the doors hung.

Cheers, Dave

WELLWOOD AUTO RESTORATION, INC   Ventura, California

wellwoodautorestoration.com

Dave at Wellwood is spot on. If you don't do this repair in a thorough manner, you will be driving a weakened car besides having to do it again later. We have an MGA in the shop right now that was so bad that we are having to replace the entire chassis, and the body isn't much better. I swear that if this car had been hit even softly it would have broken in half. And that's saying something with an MGA. They are one of the strongest sports cars of that era. I've seen them take a heck of a wallop and still be repaiable.

In American dollars right now, what you have been quoted is roughly equivalent to $1736.00. Let me be the first to inform you that this extraordinarily CHEAP for this job, or would be in this country. For what you have described we would have to charge at least $3500.00. If that sounds expensive, let me show you my operating expenses!

What is the labor hourly charge there? Maybe we'll ship all our repairs to Australia, and just mark them up when they get back!

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Motorbill
From Lola to Land Rover, If it's British and has wheels, it's likely I've bloodied me knuckles thereupon

Cheers everyone,  ive been looking at it every night pondering what to do , and i'm not that happy about doing the rails myself mainly because its structural and also that i have to cut the dog legs,  its very tempting but i think it could be a slippery slope to " WAY OVER MY HEAD" , i can handle the floor pans no worries. and all of the other bits and peices but maybe this is best done by a professional. No point crying over an extra few $$$ at the stage i am at.

I'm thinkin i'll remove the floor pans  ect and then take it over to them to do the rails. I'd happily do it myself if i had somone who knew abit more about it helping me...

 not sure of labour costs in Asutralia, but it is exceptionally hard to find people who know the car and will do the work. Most of the time it just too hard and all they are interested in is easy smash repair/insurance jobs.

 

 

 

MGB67-

Have the shop explain exactly what is involved in the work and justify the cost to you. After hearing what they have to say to you you will have a better understanding of what is involved and they will be responsible for doing the work as stated. This is very custom work with a lot of unknowns for the people doing the estimate. They have to charge accordingly.

If you are not comfortable doing the work yourself, which I perfectly understand, you will be happier having a professional do it. You will be able to hold them accountable in the end.

I'm wondering, is there any M.G./Car club in the area that can give you a recommendation? 

LCJUTILA 

Here is a deal for you!! Fly me and my wife to Perth WA (Western Australia) and provide the parts and a welding machine and I will install all your parts for FREE!! I've always wanted to go there since my first trip to OZ back in the 70's. We are pretty close in California!!  Maybe a diving/fishing day thrown in and a Barbie on the beach. Maybe I can bring the parts as carry-on since Moss Motors is just up the road from me.

Let me know as my foreign job assignments are filling fast.

Cheers Mate,

Dave

 

WELLWOOD AUTO RESTORATION, INC

wellwoodautorestoration.com

Darn-it, Dave.,

You beat me to it. Well, watch out for sharks

Bill

The Motorway, Ltd.

motorwayltd.com     

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Motorbill
From Lola to Land Rover, If it's British and has wheels, it's likely I've bloodied me knuckles thereupon

MGB67,

I'd suggest that if you find a good body shop, let them remove the old floor pans. This takes little time, therefore money, and puts them instead of you in the position of making it right rather than being in the situation whereby they might indicate that what you left them compromised the work they were able to do. It seems a small thing, but believe me when I tell you that it could loom large down the road..

For what It's worth,

Bill Wardlow

The Motorway, Ltd.

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Motorbill
From Lola to Land Rover, If it's British and has wheels, it's likely I've bloodied me knuckles thereupon

What you can do to save yourself some money and help the shop is to remove all the sound deadener and under coating from the floors and sills yourself. Will make the shops job quicker and easier to do and you'll  get an idea if there is any more damage involved as well so there are fewer surprises down the road.

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'73 Midget (V6)
'59 MGA (I6) under construction
'73 Lotus Europa

"There is a fine line between a hobby and mental illness"

Ha ,, wouldnt that be nice.. somehow i think the airfares would be more expensive than the shop .....but you never know ....