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One from two?

subnet_nd

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OK... Warning... this is gonna sound wierd... but I swear it's true...

Gutting my wife's "cute little red" Sprite. Got it almost totally torn down now. I notice that the interior body color under the panels is red, as is the outside of the car. In the footwells and under the dash, at least...

In the back of the car, such as the rear wheel wells and in the trunk, it's a dark green. I think, "Wierd..." Remove the doors, notice that the passenger door (inside the door, under the door panel) is the same color green as the back, while the drivers door is red under the panel.

"Wierd again..." I think. So now I go looking. The underside of the hood (bonnet??? Still learning my British) is red, but the underside of the trunk lid (boot?) I find green kind of on the backside of the ribs, like someone didn't take enough time painting it red.

Under the door hinges, red. Under the door latch striker plates, green. Under the little rubber trunk lid bumpers, green. Same with the rear side marker lamps and license plate lamp.

Then I notice a not-very-clean weld line under the door, just behind the crossmember that runs laterally across the floorpan. The areas around the weld are kind of "surface rusty", like someone welded after the paint was on there and never bothered to sand it down and protect it again... Lo and behold, behind the weld, it's green, and in front of the weld, it's red.

Is it possible that this car used to be two cars???? I haven't started inspecting under the car yet, but that's coming soon...

Has anyone else seen this in their Sprites? Do I have a Frankenstein on my hands?
 
I have a Midget that was seemed at the rear clip, and a Sprite that was seemed right across the middle. Welcome to the club. :wink:
 
or maybe it's a christmas car :smile:
 
I'd say it's quite possible you've got a 2 for 1 car. As long as the welds are solid and everything is in alignment you should be OK. There's a guy here in my area that use to do that with salvage Toyotas. The way he put them together was stronger than when they left the factory.
 
Mine was seamed at the rear bulkhead when I bought it back in 72. Green front, Iris blue back. I have a friend whos BE was seamed sideways over, right down the middle, through the shifter hole.
Neither of were done very well, but mine held until rust ate away at it. Now it's been seamed just about everywhere :smile: (see the link)
 
tosoutherncars said:
Hehe...

Better they be mismatched, than a nice even rusty brown...

-D

Oh, there's plenty of the brown to deal with too... Luckily not to the point of failure, but lots of surface stuff. Other than the lower rear part of the front fenders, of course.

Good to hear that I am not alone.
 
Alex,
You might wish to check out my web site, www.raysmg.com, and visit the 'Spridget Project' pages. There you will see what I've undertaken in order to rid this little '62 Sprite of rust, including cutting the car in half to replace the rear bulkhead and fabricate new 'B' pillars.

There are many photos of areas that are absolutely critical to the structural integrity of the car AND prone to rust. The repair phase is complete and the two halves have been rejoined into a single car. While the two original halves are from a single car, the principle would be similar if the components had been assembled from two, or more, cars. You'll also find lots of photos in information on rust repair and panel replacement.

Hope this helps,

Ray
 
Sounds like a missed opportunity...

You could have had a "stretch" Sprite.... :devilgrin: :jester:
 
mccalebr said:
JamesWilson said:
Sounds like a missed opportunity...

You could have had a "stretch" Sprite.... :devilgrin: :jester:

There was a four door stretch B at MG2006 (Gatlinburg) with a long cloth top (Boss...de plane...de plane); ugliest thing I've seen.

Ray

Found a photo...
 

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mccalebr said:
Alex,
You might wish to check out my web site, www.raysmg.com, and visit the 'Spridget Project' pages. There you will see what I've undertaken in order to rid this little '62 Sprite of rust, including cutting the car in half to replace the rear bulkhead and fabricate new 'B' pillars.

There are many photos of areas that are absolutely critical to the structural integrity of the car AND prone to rust. The repair phase is complete and the two halves have been rejoined into a single car. While the two original halves are from a single car, the principle would be similar if the components had been assembled from two, or more, cars. You'll also find lots of photos in information on rust repair and panel replacement.

Hope this helps,

Ray
Hi Ray,

Thanks for the post and the detailed website... I will be referring to that a lot, as I bet quite a few others will be as well.
 
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