Ralph Whitaker Posted April 3, 2020 Report Share Posted April 3, 2020 I was recently given an old AA book of the car, published in 1970, the year before I started driving. Made an interesting read, seeing the cars of "today", Austin 1100s, Mk1 Escorts etc, and not a computer in sight. I was particularly intrigued by the section on repairing bodywork, which showed how to repair rusty sills, in this case a Jag, by cutting out the rust and stuffing chicken wire in the hole to hold the body filler in place. Now I might have been guilty of such practices myself in my youth, but even back then I knew it wasn`t right, and always faced the MOT with dread in case the tester spotted it. Little did I know it was an AA recommended repair procedure. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tony_C Posted April 3, 2020 Report Share Posted April 3, 2020 Nah Ralph, surely you / we all knew ‘the right’ garage for MOT’s........ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stillp Posted April 3, 2020 Report Share Posted April 3, 2020 12 minutes ago, Tony_C said: we all knew ‘the right’ garage for MOT’s........ I remember one where you didn't need to take the car... Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nigel Triumph Posted April 3, 2020 Report Share Posted April 3, 2020 When restoring an old Triumph (or no doubt an MG), it used to be possible to check when the bodywork had been repaired. After digging out the filler, just look for the date on the newspaper! Nigel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rodbr Posted April 4, 2020 Report Share Posted April 4, 2020 Come on guys the chicken wire and filler repair was probably stronger than some of the steel used, particularly .Fiats of the day. There was a level of quality repairs, ie Baked bean can for Rolls Royce, Old oil can for lesser models and newspaper and chicken wire for all the rest. All before we became WOKE about structural integrity. Off out to repair a barrow tube with a used Durex. Ho hum Rod Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Paul Hogan Posted April 4, 2020 Report Share Posted April 4, 2020 There is indeed an element of truth in this method. When I was an apprentice we had a V12 E type in the works for a rebuild. When I stripped the pint off the cills I found it had been 'repaired' with a Castrol oil can! Further investigations revealed that the engine cradle which is bolted to the chassis tub by bolts at the top and the bottom only had the top bolts in place! And this car had been driven all the way over from Holland in that state... make you think doesn't it? hoges. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stillp Posted April 4, 2020 Report Share Posted April 4, 2020 I remember when my brother used to take me to the MG Car Club lunchtime drink on a Sunday lunchtime, in the sixties when things like MG T types were just cheap old bangers. Somebody bought an early TA(?) and found the doors filled with plaster! He stripped the engine and found a wooden piston... When I left local government in 1977 I spent my refund of superannuation on an MGB (sorry). Drove into a puddle on the way home and the passenger footwell carpet was pushed up by the fountain of water. Turned out both floors were Duckhams 20/50 gallon cans flattened out and popriveted together and to the sills and centre tunnel. Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ian Vincent Posted April 4, 2020 Report Share Posted April 4, 2020 Back in the day, I had an aged aunt who died and left me some money. I spent it on a 1964 Alfa Romeo Guilia Spider - this was in 1970. It had been undersealed at one time but it was still dissolving as I looked at it and the hood leaked like a sieve, but a wonderful car to drive. 1600 cc all aluminium, twin cam engine and 5 speed box, it was good for well over 100mph. It failed an MOT a couple of years later when the tester shoved his screwdriver through the top hat box section under the driver's seat. I drove it home jacked it up and repaired it - both sides of the car, with glass fibre formed around old Kellog's cornflake packets and then injected with polyurethane foam. I painted it with underseal and covered it in dust and muck before taking it to a different MOT station where it passed. When the sills needed replacing a year or so later, I cut off the old ones and used them as moulds to make some new ones which I pop riveted in place. THe car survived in that form as my daily driver until I went to work overseas for the first time and parked it up in my uncle's yard. Someone bought it from there for £100. Different times. Rgds Ian Quote Link to post Share on other sites
G Denson Posted April 4, 2020 Report Share Posted April 4, 2020 I was an upmarket bodger and used perforated zinc, used less filler and did not rust!! From there when I got a part time job that used fibreglass progressed to this, again rust free. One of the cars is still on the road. Yes I am ashamed in hindsight. But we all did it, or most of us. Cheers Gordon Quote Link to post Share on other sites
james christie Posted April 4, 2020 Report Share Posted April 4, 2020 In my stewed ant days in Aberdeen in the late sixties a pal had a TR3 with registration LFX something. The floors had been repaired with a Men at Work sign that had been appropriated from a roadside verge. james Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PodOne Posted April 4, 2020 Report Share Posted April 4, 2020 Always used sand and cement for chassis repairs poured it in and painted it with tar worked a treat for Morris traveller front cross members along with bean cans pop rivets and tar elsewhere. Poke all you want she always passed! Andy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Graham J Posted April 7, 2020 Report Share Posted April 7, 2020 Cookie sheet in between carpet and floor pan worked a treat. Mum did not bake that much anyway! graham Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Oddball Posted April 7, 2020 Report Share Posted April 7, 2020 On 4/4/2020 at 6:21 PM, james christie said: In my stewed ant days in Aberdeen in the late sixties a pal had a TR3 with registration LFX something. The floors had been repaired with a Men at Work sign that had been appropriated from a roadside verge. james Excellent James, I was around Aberdeen at that time and remember the stewed ants around the city. Don’t you just love predictive text. Cameron Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AlanT Posted April 7, 2020 Report Share Posted April 7, 2020 There is a Youtube video of a guy repairing a crash damaged Ferrari, that he bought for 10K USD or so. There is a hole through the floor where it landed on a curb or something. He pop rivets an alloy plate over the hole. You can do many things in the US that you can't do here. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hamish Posted April 7, 2020 Report Share Posted April 7, 2020 Some Ferrari like the 365gtc4 have fibreglass floors and interiors that could be fixed in anyway you liked. and some dodgy looking welding of panels and fixings from new I blame the siesta culture. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
james christie Posted April 7, 2020 Report Share Posted April 7, 2020 « Don’t you just love predictive text. « That phrase « stewed ants » was coined by non-Aberdonians in an effort to imitate the local city accent (quite different from the country loons) and long before the days of predictive text! james Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AlanT Posted April 7, 2020 Report Share Posted April 7, 2020 His Ferrari has an aluminium floor and he uses pop-rivets because he's scared to TIG weld. This is because it has a lot of dodgy electronics which he thinks will get blown up by welding near it. Probably right. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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