Upper Bodywork

The important safety panels on the upper bodyshell are the front and rear bumpers and all four wings, which act as crunch/impact zones. It may be necessary to replace rusted out wings, which have to be taken off when extensive inner-wing restoration is carried out.

Doors rust out when the drain holes at the bottom become blocked. Internal corrosion develops and rust eats through the lower face. This is a low structural priority, as long as the door opens and shuts safely. The appearance can always be improved by the use of filler and a spray can

It is a mistake to pay a coachworks to re-spray a panel that is already a bit rusty because however lovely it may look when it's finished the reality is that within months the rust will be bubbling through

The time to use professional help is when the panel has ended its useful life and has to be replaced. However, as long as you understand this principle, we are prepared to quote for a cosmetic respray. This will make the car generally brighter and even in colour.

The cost of wings, doors with paint for a Minor bodyshell amounts to over £2680. Labour to fit, prepare and paint the car is 80 - 100 hours. Clearly, a good example may need only a few parts replaced and cost under £2350, a full rebuild a bit over £4250. These figures appear high but remember the owner of a new or second hand car can lose over £1000 or more per year in financial depreciation and that's not counting free UK Road Tax!

Images from the paintshop

 Repairing the side panels of a van

An example of our panel workers skill of making a problem disappear. Porthole's were put into the side of this van. The new owner didn't want them so we had to make them go away. Now no-one would ever know they had ever been there.

Repairing a crack in a Morris Minor Drivers Door

Doors, Bonnets and Boots are becoming harder to find and can't be replaced as easily as they used to be. Therefore it is worthwhile to repair rather than throw away. In the following example one can see the process of making a crack disappear.

1. The crack in the door

2. Measuring and cutting a strip of replacement steel. This will be cut, bent and welded into place  

3. View of repaired door from the top

4. View of the door from the side showing the intial grinding around the strip that has been inserted