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MG MGB Technical - MGB GT rear wing replacement

Hi everyone, Im doing a body restoration on my 68 GT. Ive completed one side or sills, floor, rear wheel arch and wing and now working on the other side ive found it may be necessary to fit a new rear wing right up to the bead line (other side up to the chrome strip). I cant find any info on doing this and how to attach the wing in such an awkward place. Anyone with any photos or tips?

Many thanks
A P New

DO you mean replacing the wing up to the joint at the bottom of the rear quarter window? I had to do that to both sides of my GT and it is tricky. I decided it was quite impossible to weld the new wing along that top edge. There is no way to get your welding torch in there. Then I found a description on the internet of bolting the wing at the top joint, and that is what I did. I wonder if I can find the original description still?

What it involved was buying a length of steel strip about 15mm wide and 5mm thick. This is clamped on the outside edge of the hidden seam and then holes are drilled through from inside the car. I think I used 6mm socket-headed set screws, so the holes on the inner part of the car are bigger so that the heads of the screws can pass through. These holes are always covered by the car's trim so you will never see them once the car is finished.

Then you drill clearance holes through the body flange and the rear wing flange. Then you drill smaller holes in the new steel strip. Take it out and tap the holes in the strip for the 6mm screws. Put it all back together again and fix it by screwing the socket headed screws into the steel strip.

My car has been like that now for ten years with no trouble, and the rear wing is as solidly fixed as if it had been welded. I took the opportunity of dispensing with the rear wing seam, as seen on the RV8.

To help you imagine what is hard to describe in words, here is the only photo I can find from when I did mine.



Mike Howlett

Thanks very much, that's an interesting way of doing it! Ive done one side up to the chrome strip and wasn't happy with it so if I do a good job on this side I might redo the other side all the way to the bead line.
A P New

glue it!
Some of the new metal bonding compounds are unreal in their strength.
check this YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7pWRqAZIJM

Very USA but you'll get the jist

Best of...
MGmike
M McAndrew

Yep. Gluing it with the right adhesive would be a good option. Make sure it fits perfectly first! My Heritage rear wings were too long for my car and involved hours of work to get them to look right.
Mike Howlett

Not trying to change the topic, but how does a company like Heritage get a fender length wrong? Wow, that is hard to understand that your company is building replacement parts on a car that has little variation and they cant get the fender length correct?
Bruce TD4139 Cunha

Many of the Heritage panels I bought in 2006 (floors, sills, front & rear wings, boot floor, rear inner arches) were a poor fit and needed fettling to get them to look right. The rear wings took the longest time to sort. They weren't drastically too long, less than 5 mm - but that's enough to notice. The doors and bonnet lid were a good fit I'm pleased to say. Are they using the original press tools? If so they will be decades old and probably worn out by now.
Mike Howlett

I've re-built 2 B's on Heritage shells. They were "terrible". Some panels had to be cut out completely and re-welded, passenger doors on both cars wouldn't fit when the locks were installed and needed the openings expanding, I had to cut 12mm out of the grill to get it to fit in, it was either that or push the wings apart and have huge bonnet gaps. WE had many other problems including tail gate hinges, rad diaphragm position, remote oil filter position and steering column bracket position.
Mike, the jigs, as you say are probably worn but Heritage say they have been refurbished, however having decent jigs is one thing, having "skilled" operatives is another!!
As for the rear wing, brazing would be another option, adding the bead afterwards.
Allan Reeling

I built a Midget into a new Heritage shell and the doors were a problem with that. Once I got them to fit, I found that the screw holes for the lock were incorrect.

A friend built a BV8 into a new Heritage shell. That was truly a mammoth task. Even the bolt holes on the floor for the lower column mounting were in the wrong place, plus there were numerous other faults including, Allan, the rad diaphragm position.
Mike Howlett

I think Heritage's attitude is, "you have no other choice so lump it".
Both mine were V8's too.
Allan Reeling

This thread was discussed between 14/05/2016 and 17/05/2016

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