MG Car Repair: 79 Midget towing capabilities?, body bolts, angle iron

Question
I have a 79 Calif Midget.  I would like to add a tow hitch/receiver.  How/Where is this best mounted?  I prefer to use a bolt on style but am willing to consider a welded one.  What are your thoughts & suggestions on this?

Answer
Hi Jay,

The sheet metal of the body is not sufficient to handle trailer loads so if it were mine I would run a piece of angle iron all the way across the four body bumper mounts thus distributing the load on the body to eight body bolts. If it is not flat across the four bumper mounts you may need to put a slight bend in the angle iron. You may have to relocate the license plate a little.

I don't remember what the four bolts on each side look like in the trunk area but it might be a good idea to make a steel plate to fit each pair of bolts so as to distribute the load to a larger portion of the body sheet metal. If that is not possible you should at least put larger washers on all eight bolts.

You can mount the trailer ball directly on the angle iron.

Howard