Earlier, after watching your series on replacing the rocker panels on your MGB, I had written that I too was about to undertake some restoration work on the floor and castle rails of my '69 MGC and was considering having a professional body shop replace the sheet metal.. You asked if I'd let you know what it cost so you could bask in the warm glow of how much you saved by doing it yourself. I said I would and now I'm keeping that promise. First of all, this is going to be an apples to oranges comparison because, while the MGB and MGC are pretty much identical from the windshield back, from the windshield forward the MCG is a whole 'nuther ballgame because of the torsion bar suspension. This is especially true of the floor which, unlike the 'B' with it's flat floor, the C-Model has partially-raised a 3-piece floor with separate sections for the footwells, seating area, and a torsion box structure underneath to spread the torque load across the bottom of the car. Given that the repair would involve cutting into structural section of the body shell I decided it to let someone more experienced handle it. So that being said, here is the breakdown. It turns out the root of the problem was a bodge of a repair made by the previous owner. I thought he had replaced the forward section of floor with a simple piece of sheet metal but, instead, all he had done was weld a piece of metal over top of the rotting floor. In his defense, proper floor panels were probably unavailable when he did this. I had to have a pair of panels made (cost: $250.) There were a couple of small holes in the Castle Rails - a dime-sized hole on the left and a quarter-sized hole on the right - which, on closer inspection, were caused by rust falling from the old floor above raining rust down and blocking the drain holes in the front of the castle rail and causing the adjacent areas to corrode.. After taking the fenders off I found the structure of the car was basically sound. and the rocker panels solid. I got the restoration shop to install the new floor panels and they reckoned they could patch the castle rails because, other than the aforementioned two small holes, they were solid. Lastly there was a bad section on the left side of the transmission tunnel - again from the old floor rusting away, for which, no repair panels being available, they would have to do some fabrication work for the repair. I made a deal where I would do the disassembly and reassembly of the car and also I'd provide the necessary parts (I live in a hotbed of classic American Cars but few if any shops have ever dealt with old British sports cars, so they don't know where to get parts.) I ordered two British Motor Heritage castle rails from The Roadster Factory to use as material to patch the rusty section. In addition I also ordered a right-side battery mount because I didn't like the looks of the old one and thought as long as I was having body work done I might as well replace that too, The car was n the shop for two weeks and the final labor charge was $2,200. The parts from the Roadster Factory were an additional $550. So, bottom line, it cost about $3,000 to do the rust repairs and now the car is solid metal from stem to stern. Now I just have to put everything back together.
G'day Potkas...many thanks for the update and informative detail. It seems these little British cars have so much in common when it comes to deterioration then again unique in the surprises we find once we dive deep! Previous owner work has always been a bit of an enigma to me, and I have to remember to put things in context. That is pressure on our different levels of access to financial resources as well as priorities from family and others. I'm very pleased you are moving ahead with everything, it is intrinsically rewarding and highly likely the investment wont be returned in $$$ but wonderful nostalgic driving experiences! It also brings me great pleasure when the odd driver asks me about my little car and the memories they have of their past experience. Peace and health!
@@AaronG303 It was my job over 20 years ago, so i do have some experience in restoring these vehicles. Repairing what others had 'bodged up' was part of it. As the saying goes - A thick coat of paint, covers a multitude of sins. As long as your happy with the results i suppose thats what matters to you.
many thanks for your comments. I'm confident the work will last, there wasn't intent to be concours. Work carried out using this method on "everyday" vehicles used in the harsh environment here in Canada has not caused me any rework as an "unprofessional". I'm proud to say so called professional work often fails due to the lack of attention to prep and cleanliness and doesnt surprise warranty work isnt always offered on rust repairs.
Earlier, after watching your series on replacing the rocker panels on your MGB, I had written that I too was about to undertake some restoration work on the floor and castle rails of my '69 MGC and was considering having a professional body shop replace the sheet metal.. You asked if I'd let you know what it cost so you could bask in the warm glow of how much you saved by doing it yourself. I said I would and now I'm keeping that promise.
First of all, this is going to be an apples to oranges comparison because, while the MGB and MGC are pretty much identical from the windshield back, from the windshield forward the MCG is a whole 'nuther ballgame because of the torsion bar suspension. This is especially true of the floor which, unlike the 'B' with it's flat floor, the C-Model has partially-raised a 3-piece floor with separate sections for the footwells, seating area, and a torsion box structure underneath to spread the torque load across the bottom of the car. Given that the repair would involve cutting into structural section of the body shell I decided it to let someone more experienced handle it. So that being said, here is the breakdown.
It turns out the root of the problem was a bodge of a repair made by the previous owner. I thought he had replaced the forward section of floor with a simple piece of sheet metal but, instead, all he had done was weld a piece of metal over top of the rotting floor. In his defense, proper floor panels were probably unavailable when he did this. I had to have a pair of panels made (cost: $250.)
There were a couple of small holes in the Castle Rails - a dime-sized hole on the left and a quarter-sized hole on the right - which, on closer inspection, were caused by rust falling from the old floor above raining rust down and blocking the drain holes in the front of the castle rail and causing the adjacent areas to corrode..
After taking the fenders off I found the structure of the car was basically sound. and the rocker panels solid. I got the restoration shop to install the new floor panels and they reckoned they could patch the castle rails because, other than the aforementioned two small holes, they were solid. Lastly there was a bad section on the left side of the transmission tunnel - again from the old floor rusting away, for which, no repair panels being available, they would have to do some fabrication work for the repair. I made a deal where I would do the disassembly and reassembly of the car and also I'd provide the necessary parts (I live in a hotbed of classic American Cars but few if any shops have ever dealt with old British sports cars, so they don't know where to get parts.) I ordered two British Motor Heritage castle rails from The Roadster Factory to use as material to patch the rusty section. In addition I also ordered a right-side battery mount because I didn't like the looks of the old one and thought as long as I was having body work done I might as well replace that too, The car was n the shop for two weeks and the final labor charge was $2,200. The parts from the Roadster Factory were an additional $550. So, bottom line, it cost about $3,000 to do the rust repairs and now the car is solid metal from stem to stern. Now I just have to put everything back together.
G'day Potkas...many thanks for the update and informative detail. It seems these little British cars have so much in common when it comes to deterioration then again unique in the surprises we find once we dive deep! Previous owner work has always been a bit of an enigma to me, and I have to remember to put things in context. That is pressure on our different levels of access to financial resources as well as priorities from family and others. I'm very pleased you are moving ahead with everything, it is intrinsically rewarding and highly likely the investment wont be returned in $$$ but wonderful nostalgic driving experiences! It also brings me great pleasure when the odd driver asks me about my little car and the memories they have of their past experience. Peace and health!
Great to watch the progress you’re making, I think your ahead of me now, good stuff!
Thanks to you Stevie I pinched some of yr ideas...will be good to exchange video of some scenic driving this summer!!
Sorry to have to say this, but that was absolutely shocking.
No worries at all , you make one and lets compare
@@AaronG303 It was my job over 20 years ago, so i do have some experience in restoring these vehicles. Repairing what others had 'bodged up' was part of it. As the saying goes - A thick coat of paint, covers a multitude of sins. As long as your happy with the results i suppose thats what matters to you.
many thanks for your comments. I'm confident the work will last, there wasn't intent to be concours. Work carried out using this method on "everyday" vehicles used in the harsh environment here in Canada has not caused me any rework as an "unprofessional". I'm proud to say so called professional work often fails due to the lack of attention to prep and cleanliness and doesnt surprise warranty work isnt always offered on rust repairs.