Don't you just love previous owners
Discussion
NormanP said:
Re-assuring to know that a previous owner of my Jensen ensured that the side frame was repaired using only genuine English parts:
Pieces of a cardboard box mixed with filler….
I had a Mk 5 Cortina that had J cloth soaked in (presumably) filler stuck to the inner wings to provide a solid backing for the normal filler to go on top. The quality of the finish on the outside of the wings was actually superb.Pieces of a cardboard box mixed with filler….
In the early 80's I was a forman in a garage... at the time, after market glass sunroofs were all the rage and we were fitting a couple every day.
one of the fitters came into the office and said he had a problem with a Morris Marina... He had marked out the hole to be cut with felt pen, as he normally did, and started drilled the hole for the jig saw blade. As he drilled, it was powder... for 2 inches!
someone had put a HUGE amount of body filler in the roof! strange as the rest of the car was straight. we told the owner we could not do the job, filled the hole and touched it in, and sent him on the way, wondering what the hell had happend to the car!
one of the fitters came into the office and said he had a problem with a Morris Marina... He had marked out the hole to be cut with felt pen, as he normally did, and started drilled the hole for the jig saw blade. As he drilled, it was powder... for 2 inches!
someone had put a HUGE amount of body filler in the roof! strange as the rest of the car was straight. we told the owner we could not do the job, filled the hole and touched it in, and sent him on the way, wondering what the hell had happend to the car!
Dear God! I don't feel quite so bad having seen all these ghastly bodges, many downright dangerous to anyone nearby and criminally irresponsible. I've come across misused fibreglass insulation as stuffing for the lower wings on a P4 Rover I ran for years, and been annoyed to find drain plugs chiselled to undo them - this on a car with miles of garage maintenance receipts. I think the worst one, which reiterates the comment about danger etc. was on a Pug 205 bought to teach our kids to drive in. My daughter came in crying and shocked having lost control just outside the village where we live. Purely by chance the car avoided collision and ended up next to a wall. The bottom of the N/S strut had popped out because some incompetent dimwit had replaced the pinch bolt which locks the bottom arm onto the strut with a screw - same thread and head size, but not secure, and thus failed. It's an example of failure to think about how things actually work and also, how would you know to check? I did, and the other side was OK. Not so funny really.
and assume nothing 
really no excuses here even using a jack and axle stands You have to remember that many cars from the 70s and 80s were routinely repaired with filler. Cars used to rust badly, but would pass an MOT if the rust was not structural.
So things like wings and doors could quite legally be repaired using filler.
Nowadays any kind of hole in a panel is structural,in those days it was just sills and sub-frames.
MOT testers also were less inclined to prod your car, so sills that had been filled and under-sealed were often not investigated.
Welded patches on floors and chassis rails were routine,nowadays you cut it all out and fabricate to fit.
Newspaper was often used when filling a hole, just to stop the filler falling through the hole until it set.
There was also a whole industry supplying new tech,kenlowe fans and fancy stereos etc to car owners. Many installed by keen but not necessarily competent amateurs.
Newer cars dont lend themselves to bodging in the same way,an MOT tester will just send you away,but in the 70s and 80s when cars were still expensive, people were very inventive in extending the life of their car.
So things like wings and doors could quite legally be repaired using filler.
Nowadays any kind of hole in a panel is structural,in those days it was just sills and sub-frames.
MOT testers also were less inclined to prod your car, so sills that had been filled and under-sealed were often not investigated.
Welded patches on floors and chassis rails were routine,nowadays you cut it all out and fabricate to fit.
Newspaper was often used when filling a hole, just to stop the filler falling through the hole until it set.
There was also a whole industry supplying new tech,kenlowe fans and fancy stereos etc to car owners. Many installed by keen but not necessarily competent amateurs.
Newer cars dont lend themselves to bodging in the same way,an MOT tester will just send you away,but in the 70s and 80s when cars were still expensive, people were very inventive in extending the life of their car.
bristolracer said:
You have to remember that many cars from the 70s and 80s were routinely repaired with filler. Cars used to rust badly, but would pass an MOT if the rust was not structural.
So things like wings and doors could quite legally be repaired using filler.
Nowadays any kind of hole in a panel is structural,in those days it was just sills and sub-frames.
MOT testers also were less inclined to prod your car, so sills that had been filled and under-sealed were often not investigated.
Welded patches on floors and chassis rails were routine,nowadays you cut it all out and fabricate to fit.
Newspaper was often used when filling a hole, just to stop the filler falling through the hole until it set.
There was also a whole industry supplying new tech,kenlowe fans and fancy stereos etc to car owners. Many installed by keen but not necessarily competent amateurs.
Newer cars dont lend themselves to bodging in the same way,an MOT tester will just send you away,but in the 70s and 80s when cars were still expensive, people were very inventive in extending the life of their car.
Spot on So things like wings and doors could quite legally be repaired using filler.
Nowadays any kind of hole in a panel is structural,in those days it was just sills and sub-frames.
MOT testers also were less inclined to prod your car, so sills that had been filled and under-sealed were often not investigated.
Welded patches on floors and chassis rails were routine,nowadays you cut it all out and fabricate to fit.
Newspaper was often used when filling a hole, just to stop the filler falling through the hole until it set.
There was also a whole industry supplying new tech,kenlowe fans and fancy stereos etc to car owners. Many installed by keen but not necessarily competent amateurs.
Newer cars dont lend themselves to bodging in the same way,an MOT tester will just send you away,but in the 70s and 80s when cars were still expensive, people were very inventive in extending the life of their car.
V8 Fettler said:
Haven't the days of real bodgery gone? Cars comprising two halves from different cars? Solid struts instead dampers? Small planks of wood as replacements for leaf springs?
I've seen a closed loop coolant header tank. Just the header tank was in the circuit, so the coolant level always looked OK.
An old friend of my father was a bit of a spiv in the war and claimed he sold a Morris 8 with a wooden piston that he had made for it as metal and spares were hard to find.I've seen a closed loop coolant header tank. Just the header tank was in the circuit, so the coolant level always looked OK.
I thought that it was another of his tall stories until I met a bloke years later who told me about a Morris 8 his father had bought in the early fifties. It was not running right so they took the engine apart and found the remains of a wooden piston. It had lasted for quite some time, it was probably a bit quieter too!
Did you ever experience any shorts or bad earths with that part of the body? I'd bet not, so proves electrical tape was the correct choice by the OP...
Thankfully all the bodges (I've found) on my cars have been the too-lazy-to-bodge-it-properly type. Why cut out the rust from the floorpan and bodge it when you can just sandwich it between 2 thick pieces of fresh steel? Stronger than it left the factory - if also somewhat heavier.
Thankfully all the bodges (I've found) on my cars have been the too-lazy-to-bodge-it-properly type. Why cut out the rust from the floorpan and bodge it when you can just sandwich it between 2 thick pieces of fresh steel? Stronger than it left the factory - if also somewhat heavier.
Edited by //j17 on Tuesday 5th April 14:15
I assume we include "modifications" in this thread ..
The previous owner of my Gilbern Genie planned a "V12" conversion involving removing large sections of chassis floorpan and bulkhead .. of course he completed the removal but then gave up .... follow the inner chassis rail on the driver side ..
And I give you the Ashley "power bulge" ..
The previous owner of my Gilbern Genie planned a "V12" conversion involving removing large sections of chassis floorpan and bulkhead .. of course he completed the removal but then gave up .... follow the inner chassis rail on the driver side ..
And I give you the Ashley "power bulge" ..
I had a brilliant one of late, which is yet to be repaired. Although technically not a true classic...
On my pembleton someone obviously started to strip/rebuild the steering rack, knowing little of what it all was for.... The castellated nut that pushes the rack guide bush up against the pinion was not inserted properly. So much so that the rack wouldn't fit in the chassis. Not a problem as 2 of the castellations were ground off to clear the chassis rail! So no split pin either.... This led to a brown trouser moment on a roundabout when I turned the steering wheel to be greeted with the clicking sound of a pinion gear skipping on the rack!! YIKES!
It should look like this....
Unfortunately to get to it, its an engine out, gearbox out, suspension arms off job... Fml
On my pembleton someone obviously started to strip/rebuild the steering rack, knowing little of what it all was for.... The castellated nut that pushes the rack guide bush up against the pinion was not inserted properly. So much so that the rack wouldn't fit in the chassis. Not a problem as 2 of the castellations were ground off to clear the chassis rail! So no split pin either.... This led to a brown trouser moment on a roundabout when I turned the steering wheel to be greeted with the clicking sound of a pinion gear skipping on the rack!! YIKES!
It should look like this....
Unfortunately to get to it, its an engine out, gearbox out, suspension arms off job... Fml
Ambleton said:
Unfortunately to get to it, its an engine out, gearbox out, suspension arms off job... Fml
Is there some reason you can't do it the easy way?Unbolt gearbox mount from rack. Jack gearbox up a bit.
Unbolt column from rack and detach.
Unbolt rack from chassis.
Remove one suspension arm (prob passenger side, so the pinion doesn't have to go all the way across).
Pull rack out the other side...
Pulling the engine and box isn't going to be a particularly hard or slow task, anyway - it might even be quicker that way. If you need to detach the exhaust to jack the 'box, then it's really only the front mounts, driveshafts, a little wiring and a couple of cables and pipes, and heave-ho. Engine's liftable with one person, easily with two. Gearbox is lighter. No need for a crane.
MoggieMinor said:
Aren't 2CVs too expensive to be used as donors now though?
There's still plenty of cars about that have been rechassised but which have utterly shagged bodyshells, with patch-upon-patch-upon-patch. Mind you, some of THOSE look very pretty and are very expensive, too...I used the hacked up metal lining of an old freezer to hold the filler together on a Renault 5's back arches.
And I know of a vandalised Minor that was completely reglazed before being sold on.
Reglazed with glass. Not toughened, not laminated. Just glass.
Both the above are decades ago.
Last night I changed my TVR's panel air filter. Always good to know a previous owner was conscientious enough to get a good airtight seal round the filter by bloody siliconing it in. Five minute job turned into nearly an hour of stanley knife, chisel, scraping and swearing. Scabs are forming nicely now....
And I know of a vandalised Minor that was completely reglazed before being sold on.
Reglazed with glass. Not toughened, not laminated. Just glass.
Both the above are decades ago.
Last night I changed my TVR's panel air filter. Always good to know a previous owner was conscientious enough to get a good airtight seal round the filter by bloody siliconing it in. Five minute job turned into nearly an hour of stanley knife, chisel, scraping and swearing. Scabs are forming nicely now....
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