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I feel a bit conned
speedyxjs - 12/9/08 at 02:08 PM

I thought this might happen. As some of you may know, i brought a little MG Midget on ebay a couple of months back. Se had a service today and the guy i brought the car from had spot welded the new floor pans in. As of a couple of years ago, floors should be continually welded. I dont have the facilities to weld a car floor in our garage at home and i certainly cant afford to pay to have it done
Im hoping i may be allowed to strip the car for parts to get my £1300 back but if not im set to loose alot of money
Its a shame, it is a really nice car.

Hammerhead - 12/9/08 at 02:12 PM

Can't you say the panels were put in before the legislation changed? or try another garage?

Alternatively......

Come on guys...........someone with a mig help him out

gingerprince - 12/9/08 at 02:13 PM

Stick some of this on, they'll never know the difference



Sorry, someone will offer a real answer soon I'm sure

jollygreengiant - 12/9/08 at 02:20 PM

If I remember correctly the MOT testers guide line (Passed on to me at an MOT test appeal, before I became a tester, and about some welding repairs that I had done) was that repairs or in let panels should be either continuously seam welded with no lip overlaps left un welded OR fitted to the original manufacturing standard. On most vehicles spot welding IS factory standard so is acceptable.

Oh and as regards the appeal, although I had left an internal lip the welding repair that I had done was deemed OK by the ministry and the customer lost the appeal.

So I think it might be more useful to have some Photographs of the alleged offending repairs for our expert appraisal first, before you accept the other 'experts' opinion as gospel and start feeling like you have been conned.


ATB

JGG

PS going to Stafford this weekend so wont see any photo's you post, till monday earliest.

tegwin - 12/9/08 at 02:43 PM

Dont scrap the car...

If you were closer I would weld it for you...im sure you can find someone locally who can do it for you....

02GF74 - 12/9/08 at 02:44 PM

.... but if I understand you, you have not actaully gone trough an MOT yet?

Would not the JB weld and losts of underseal hide the seam so that it feels and appears to be welded in? (without prying).

You may get lucky and find the MOT place does not spot it.

I once had an escort fail due to corrsion under the battery. Filled the tray iwth fiberglass, painted red, covered with oil and vacuum cleaner dust to make it look old andtook it to another MOT place - they didn't even check it and it passed .

... but in answer to your question, maybe the sller know about the problem or not but bottom line is:

Noone ever sells a good car.

BenB - 12/9/08 at 02:47 PM

Sounds like a job for a cheapo second hand MIG welder- just think of it as a good reason to learn to weld!!!!!
Silver lining, clouds and all that....

Mr Whippy - 12/9/08 at 02:55 PM

quote:
Originally posted by BenB
Sounds like a job for a cheapo second hand MIG welder- just think of it as a good reason to learn to weld!!!!!
Silver lining, clouds and all that....


I agree totally, honest it should be quite easy for you to do that, even if you are not an experianced welder, 2hrs practice max and I bet you could do it. Main point is can you cleen the area to weld properly, to like non rusty bare metal?? you could buy a cheap gasless welder, very easy to use then simply sell it on once finished with it...welding is easy! don't sell get rid of the car for such an easy thing to sort, the Midget is a super simple car too.

oh look how easy that is to weld, it's just a box, take some pictures of you cars floor and we can give you advice on how to weld it up correctly.





[Edited on 12/9/08 by Mr Whippy]

Minicooper - 12/9/08 at 02:56 PM

If the floorpans have been replaced at a factory join they can be spot welded/stiched, if its a part floorpan repair panel that attaches were no manufacturers join existed then it will need to be fully welded although it can be spot/stiched were it meets the sill/inner sill area.

I've welded loads of midgets in the long distant past and from memory I believe the floor is one great big stamping including the transmission tunnel so it would appear it would need fully welding

Cheers
David

chris_smith - 12/9/08 at 02:59 PM

wish i was closer id do it for beer tokens, surely someone will come along to help you out.

chris

Minicooper - 12/9/08 at 03:05 PM

I think he already has a mig welder or at least had one

http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/photos.php?action=showphoto&photo=SA500048.JPG

Cheers
David

mr henderson - 12/9/08 at 03:12 PM

I would have thought that £1300 was well cheap for a midget that didn't need any welding. At that price I would have thought that a fair bit needed doing, although I would be hoping for a basically sound structure. So it doesn't really sound like a con to me.

John

Mr Whippy - 12/9/08 at 03:13 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Minicooper
I think he already has a mig welder or at least had one

http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/photos.php?action=showphoto&photo=SA500048.JPG

Cheers
David


ok so we'll slag you oh soooooo much now if you don't weld it up you woose

[Edited on 12/9/08 by Mr Whippy]

RK - 12/9/08 at 04:25 PM

Yeah, it's not like somebody has to haul equipment over to his place. He already has the gear in place, making "insert helpful LCB person's name here" easy, right?

StevieB - 12/9/08 at 05:03 PM

IfIhad the spac and money, I'd take it off your hands - then turn it into a Westy XI

As it is, I need to finish the Indy and enjoy it for a couple of years before I think about another build.

speedyxjs - 12/9/08 at 05:17 PM

Thanks guys but there is ALOT of welding. Sure i ould do it but i have no way of accessing the underneath. Aparently the law changed a couple of years ago to say that all floor pans unless complete sections have to be fully welded not spot welded. There are also ALOT of holes and filler within 13cm (or whatever the restriction is) of some major points like seat belt mounts.
He said it really needs a new shell. To top that the gearbox is on the way out.
Im not taking it to another garage because we know these guys really well and any other garage will probably come out with a longer list.
On the off chance anyone is interested, il take offers. It still has an MOT till may next year.

bitsilly - 12/9/08 at 05:27 PM

Whenever that happened in the old minis I used to run, I would weld the repair panels in from the inside, that way you don't even have to get under the car. It is sooooo much easier!
However, have a mate with a fire extinguisher to put out the underseal fires.

Peteff - 13/9/08 at 10:34 PM

quote:
Originally posted by 02GF74

I once had an escort fail due to corrsion under the battery. Filled the tray iwth fiberglass, painted red, covered with oil and vacuum cleaner dust to make it look old andtook it to another MOT place - they didn't even check it and it passed .



That panel on the Escort braced the brake master cylinder and was a well known fail point, what you were doing was not advisable.. I welded quite a few of those and it wasn't that hard to fix properly.