1946 Morris 8 Series E - off to storage

I was pretty confused about all the bits of metal bar and tubing when you were building the frame up, now I see some panels going on it makes a lot more sense, at least in photographs. This is going to be a really smart little car.

Bloody Hell! Just looked at this thread for the first time 'cus I thought Morris 8 was just a little too old and boring . . . how wrong was I !!

That's one of the most handsome inner arches I've ever seen.

It is worth it, if only to add depth to the panel yes. Excellent work. Have been watching but not commenting. Enjoying seeing this progress.

--Phil

Agreed. with the attention to detail that's gone into this so far, it should be seen by a wider audience!

Well... as usual things look better in strategically angled photos than they necessarily do in real life.

Today's limited progress.

Trimmed panel to size



Created return lip at top







Welded in







Just the front closers on both these to do now, but i want to set the wings first and then work from there.... so i decided to jump back to the front

Welded in the first of the closer panels





Then made up some stiffeners to help support the lower end of the panels



These will be closed inside when the front closer plates are put on

Then start the tie back from the inner wing mounting panel to the chassis

Paper template



copy to steel



forget to take photos for a bit....

The welded on





Due to the somewhat poor photography its not so clear to see, but this acts as the support/shape for the closer panel which will hopefully get made tomorrow.

Thanks. People keep saying complementary things... i better not balls it all up then!


Today's pics

Start with cardboard



Transfer to steel



Swage and punch plug weld holes



I then held it in position to check final fit. It was at this point i thought "balls, you've forgotten to check if the wheels clear on full bump and lock"......



Oh, they don't.....







Now... i could probably get away with accepting there's only limited lock on full bump (at ride height and mid bump its all clear).... but more lock means its easier to save the car in a spin, and sods law says it'll be on bump just when you need it.

Do it properly. Nothing a grinder, hammer, and few hours wont sort.

more clearance



Gives more lock



But there's still more to get.

Trim a bit more



It's now limited by both upper and lower wishbones, so this is enough clearance

forget to take pictures....



Panel made, welded in, tacked to the internal reinforcing piece i made but forgot to photo. Needs cleaned up to blend it in.

Un-cut passegers side for comparison.



Internal pic showing reinforcing plate



On full bump. about 10 - 15mm of clearance





loads of lock.



The front inner wing needs a nibble out of it as well



... and then completely forget to take pics again until the next infill panel is tacked in



This has a horrible curve to it that too a lot of faffing , followed by partly tacking in and using the "adjuster" on it.

I made a step along the edges it touches other panels, so when fully welded and ground back it should blend in nicely with little indication its a separate piece.

I then decided i should replace the captive wing nuts with M8 versions, rather than the present imperial? witworth? other pre war "standard" threads... I drilled all the cages out, and just need to fab some little plates with nuts on to weld back in. This is a job for next weekend...assuming I'm not drunk somewhere.

Once they're done I can fit the panel I made at the start of the post. Then its onto the other side.

i think most would just chanced it, wise move to take a fillet out of the inner wing.

even if it never gets to that extreme articulation you still have a bit of tyre wall flex, elasticity in the bushes and suspension that could put it close

Pretty minimal progress this weekend as i'm away out. i'm also busy for the next 4 weekend so likely to be a while till there's progress again.


Captive nut plates for the wings.
I wanted to make sure the nuts ended up centred in the holes, so i turned a small collar onto a nut as a spacer. This ensures they were central when welded.





nuts welded on



I then used the centering tool to make sure they were centered when I welded to the shell.





with these done i could then fit the closer plate to the inner wing







once its all ground back and filled it should look not bad i think.

Otherside to do next.