SiC

51 plate I think will be too early for TCC. Not sure if it was even an option then. My 2002 172 certainly didn't have it.

The bottom one looks like a car with traction control. That unit has a small round window (top left) that has a green flag that shows when the steering angle sensor is centred.

Has someone chopped out the wiring to fit an aftermarket non airbag wheel? You can code out the airbag in the wheel with a CAN CLIP to make it think there isn't one and so no light is thrown.

Doesn't look too bad but I think I'd need to see it before spending on it! Shame it's not a tad closer. Would be the easier option.

Iirc the 182 dash pulls it from the CAN bus from the ABS module. The 172 is a direct signal from the pickup as you've found.

Just had a thought. Even though I poked it out and made it worse, I wonder if the weakened hinge area is flexing in and why this door was catching the pillar at the bottom. I probably need to remount the door to get the hinge alignment in the right place before fixing a repair piece on the bottom.

I have to say, my handheld Milwaukee right angle die grinder with flap wheel attachments has been a revelation. As it's small, it's so much easier to get into tight spaces. Not only physical size but power means you can safely use it one handed without risking it being ripped out of your hand. But also the cutting area is small, so easier to get precise than a 4.5" grinder. My only complaint is that the 4Ah battery only lasts about half hour tops and then takes 1.5hrs or so to charge. Irritatingly the Milwaukee charger doesn't make a noise when it's done either. Tempting to buy a 6Ah battery while the eBay 15% offer is on, but they're not cheap for a genuine. I'm actually surprising myself at how easy this is going. Not only premade panels help massively but their cost and ease of getting hold helps too. The problem I have with the Dolomite is that many of the panels are not only expensive but extremely rare now and only available second and. This led me to staring and rechecking for a long time before I finally committed. The deadline of the garage door being fitted and it needing to be on four wheels was the final push for me to actually weld it in! The other thing that spoilt the Dolomite for me is their value increase. It almost felt like I really needed to make sure everything was spot on perfectly aligned - despite it not being that good out the factory! I'd hate to be restoring something of real value like a classic Jag E-Type, MK2, TR-something or such. I definitely prefer working on "common" stuff where panels are easy to get hold of. I'm not great at fabrication and it takes me a very long time. For me to do it properly I could do with a few extra tools like a bead roller and such. But that takes up prescious room in the garage for something I won't use that often. This is certainly much more enjoyable than the Dolomite to be repairing, not least it's not another massive weldathon. Plus the motivation is there to get it fixed as it's a fresh project. The problem is that, despite my best efforts to try making my cars look undesirable, people keep offering money for them and I find it hard to say no! 🤣 Everything I own has a price on it. Admittedly some (like my BGT) I'd only let go for much more than their realistic market value. I think I've mentioned this before a few times but back when I was 18yrs, I visited Haynes Museum for the first time. Incidentally the first time I went away on holiday with, the now, Mrs SiC. I've always been interested in aircraft and that was what engaged me the most when I was younger, rather than cars. However when I passed my driving test I started to really get interested in cars. Classics were never really on my radar until that first visit to Haynes. I do remember seeing a green rubber bumper BGT in a local car garage when I was getting some new tyres on my first car. It quite fascinated me. Anyhow in Haynes Museum there is the red room where it's filled with various sports car in the vivid red. In here was a MG Midget, Spitfire and a MGC. From that visit I decided I really wanted a classic. While the MGB GT was my favourite, the Midget most affordable and the Spitfire the easiest to work on, I would have happily had any of them. I bought plenty of books to read up on them and my fascination with them started. But the one thing I kept being told, from parents, colleagues and such is that they're all crap against modern cars. They break, they rust, you die in a crash and terrible to drive. This knocked my enthusiasm for getting one. So I went through a succession of modern cars. Some burnt me badly like an RX8 which, while fantastic to drive, lost me £3k in depreciation in a year and the same again in fuel. While some I still miss, like my Smart Roadster (that I sold to free up room on my drive for the BGT). Then around 2018, this appeared at the local classic car garage. I was in love. However pretty much everyone on here told me it was a tarted up turd. While they were right and it'd needed welding, I still regret not buying it. Anyway after a month long protracted search (thread is still on here somewhere!) I eventually got the BGT that I still have 5yrs later. That car certainly tested my patience with its unreliability (or bonding exercise as some may say). Anyhow to get back to your point on selling this. I always wanted to get a BGT, Midget or Spitfire. I'm at the point in my life where I'm lucky in that I can go YOLO, why not get all three! The problem is that I refuse to spend £10k+ on a dealer fresh example. So I inevitably get something that needs work (bonding exercise?). Hence the only one left in the trio is the Spitfire. So if I did sell this, I'd either replace this with another Midget (in red) and/or Spitfire. It would have to be a very good price for me to justify selling this, which is unlikely to happen. I'm sure once I get all three, I'd probably end up deciding to sell one/several but it's a target that I'm still aiming to get all three.

Just had a thought. The car search came back when I bought it that the colour changed from (the original factory) Red to the current Iris Blue in 30 June 1992. So not only is the last major restoration likely 30 years ago now, it's actually spent longer on this "non original" colour than what it left the factory with! I have considered changing it back to the original Red or even Old English White as I'm not a huge fan of (baby) Iris Blue. But the under bonnet being a different colour would annoy me. No intention (just yet!) of doing a full body strip down and repaint.

Ah yes was going to say I wonder if it was brazed. Did think a brazed joint be softer though. I did hit it with a heat gun to see if it was solder, but I didn't have a blow torch to see if it was brazed. Some of the repairs on this pillar have been quite questionable in their strength. The floors have been replaced in its past and I have been jumping on them to test the welds are up to the job. Still tempted to strip some of the paint off and put a few more beads along it just in case.

Finished welding this side panel on the inside and out. Inside side was a pain with trying to push the warped edge right in and then having the wax in the cavity keep smoking off/catching fire. The right hand side of this panel going near the A-pillar only has a few tack in for now. I'll weld down there once the new A-pillar piece is on. Not only will it make it easier to weld with a piece on the back, it should also make a strong box section. Some impressive paint runs too. Won't see this with the wing on though. Put a jack under the pillar just in case. Tbh I don't think this will be an issue here, more that the dash could sag down There is a fair amount of metal holding that to the rest of the car though. Chopped the outer A-pillar piece off in two pieces. One mid and then the top. This allowed me to slide the panel sideways as the right hand edge is only bent over, not welded. Then chopped into the welds at the top and prised it off. Noticed the welds here were gold - I've not seen this before. Googling suggests that's because of the temperature of the welds or possibly not enough shielding gas? With the other piece off, I cleaned up the area with a wire wheel. Interesting to note that the old A-pillar is from the same company/one-man-band as the new one going on. Probably a good 26+ years difference. The new piece lines up really well. No major fettling needed. Only slight cut to take into account this excess weld blob being in the way. At the top it pretty much lines up perfectly. I need to grind down some of the welds on that side panel at the top, as it's stopping this going all the way in. The bottom sticks out a tad but I suspect that's more because the panel needs a bit more natural bend in it. This should come from when I bend that side edge back over. I need to fashion a repair on the bottom of that hinge panel. Thinking I'll do a patch on the bottom to fix up those holes in the sill as a t-piece that meets the bottom of that hinge mount. I'll be welding it over the sill rather than cutting the sill, as I don't want to be cutting too many holes into the sill and weakening at this point. Might drill a hole where there is already a hole anyway to make a cavity wax injection point. I reckon fabricating that t-piece is probably going to take longer than getting that A-pillar panel in.

Iris blue apparently. Correct for early (pre 65) cars iirc

Interesting to see tube dampers. I'd have thought this would have had lever arm dampers.

Yeah, I've just posted what I've done so far with the aim of it all not falling apart on me. This inside edge will stay in place once the outer section is removed. It's (pigeon shit) welded in both sides onto that back piece. This is why I cut the panel down to do in two sections. The outer piece is just folded over this side, welded at the top And welded at the bottom. Admittedly there isn't really much here keeping this on So far nothing has moved. I'll get that big panel welded in before I touch anything else on the pillar. Hopefully this will keep things rigid. This piece is pretty rotten and I want to replace it. The bottom I'll weld a piece to strengthen it - possibly after removing the A-pillar. But I'll get the outer piece done first before I remove the other bit with the hole in the pillar.

I love preformed panels! They're even better when they're cheap. This panel I think was £12.50 or something like that. I spent just as long cutting out the old and cleaning up than fitting the replacement in. I didn't want to cut too much off here and loose strength. The bit with the hole in the bottom I will cut separately once I get the big side panel in. I'm fearful that if I cut the whole inside off, the pillar won't have anything there to hold the gap and this side will drop. Old panel lined up onto the new. The holes and edges matched up perfectly. A quick scribe and then chopped down with a jigsaw - my favourite tools for cutting metal sheets. Clamped up This poor hammer has gone through so much abuse over the years. In this use, the handle has a habit of catching fire. Then weld A few bits left that I'll do tomorrow. I need to bash it closer but it's late now (11pm) and I don't want to annoy the neighbours. Penetration decent. Warped the fuck out the panel at the bottom. Not too bothered as I'll bash it back into place and weld the bottom. This is all covered by trim. The welds at the top were crap because the underseal and paint on this panel kept catching fire, which messed up the argon shielding gas mix. I cleaned all the filler and paint off this A-pillar. Plan was to cut off the crusty bit at the bottom And cut+weld this panel into place. However I've got this panel now that is both a full length and does the side section. There was a piece on the left but it was cut short and didn't have the bits with the holes left on it. The other side is just folded over. Currently not welded. I might run a few short beads down to hold it in place strongly. The top welds look a bit parp, which made my decision clear that I will just replace the whole panel. Tbh I think it'll be quicker than trying to cut the other panel and line up the bottom bit. I need to effect a repair on this bottom piece. You can get replacement hinge mounts pretty cheap but that will mean lining up the door. Given this is in very good condition apart from the very bottom, a small piece welded here I think will be perfectly fine.

Panels arrived yesterday. This lot cost £95 delivered which I reckon is an absolute bargain. They are Ashley Hinton panels which seem well regarded. This lot cost nearly the same from Moss. Not sure how I managed to spend so much there - I do it everytime. As a side note, if you live near a Moss UK branch, they've got an open day at the end of the month. A chance to look inside the warehouse and also get 15% off too. Carried on stripping the interior this evening. Finished taking the driver's seat out and most of the carpets. I'm not sure whether to put them back in after or replace them. They are a little threadbare in places. Also pondering about rubber mats instead but I think that might look rubbish. Unfortunately I seem to have forgotten to take many pictures. So here are the soft top bolts I removed to get the carpet out. Underneath I found this conveniently placed bung which I presume is for accessing the prop shaft grease nipple. Not sure if this is stock? Took the wing mirror and bottom light off the wing ready for that to be repaired. Mostly to make it a lot lighter and less likely to get damaged because of that from bending and distorting it. Debating how much to cut off the bottom. I have a large repair section for the bottom but it doesn't need that much repairing. I could have almost got away with fabricating a repair but the panel was under £35, so not even worth my time doing that. Also took the windscreen off. Just six bolts to remove and the whole thing comes off. Haynes say you need to remove the dash. However the left side had plenty of access and on the right I just had to remove the Speedo to allow me to get a socket in. Electric ratchets are handy for this sort of thing as a hand ratchet you're going back and forth a click or two everytime. I am a bit nervous about having the screen off and cutting too much. With the screen off it is easier to clean up this whole area. I'm debating what I'm going to cut out. I have a complete panel for the left flat piece. However that goes right to that A-pillar panel. Likewise I've got a complete A-pillar. But I think if I cut both out too much, I'll end up having it all go out of shape. I don't have any metal stock to brace and to be honest, I didn't want to go that far either. I think I'll cut out the side panel first. Weld the replacement on and then do the A-pillar. Again I could have just patched up the crusty bits and rewelded the poor welds on the side panel but that replacement piece was only £23. It has a bunch of holes in it that line up with the wing fixings. Just getting them right and then drilling out a flat piece would be a time consuming job, along with making a replacement piece the right size. This A-pillar I could replace completely. However I think I'll wire wheel it right back heavily and see what the state is like underneath. Then go from there.