Bondo application before block sanding. The white is "clean metal" primer, the red is "rusty metal primer". The red stuff is great - sticks to anything and covers really well.
Custom speaker installation method - goes behind the front seats in the spare tire hole in the rear scuttle. I didn't want to put speakers into the doors - there is really no room there anyway.
Custom made speaker mounts for the spare tire opening.
The rear apron had been dinged a bunch of times. The bondo here is really only about 1/16" think at most, as I was able to get it back really close with just a hammer and dolly.
Friend from my online MG club sent me these slats for my grill - Merry Christmas!
This primer is rolled on - worked great.
Tried doing the roller vs. sprayer thing. Works great and there is essentially no set up or clean up. But, I have since learned how easy it is to spray using an HVLP gun, so I'd go that route from the start next time.
White areas will eventually also be green.
May 20th - finally got some color on the body. Fenders are still waiting to be repaired before they too get painted...it could be a long time yet, though.
The rear end is looking pretty good.
Another sag here at the very bottom below the reflection of my elbow.
Got greedy and put on too much paint too fast - a sag here that will need to be sanded and buffed out.
HVLP touch up gun - my new favorite toy.
Dressed to thrill...
Paint on the cheap - "implement" paint, but it works well, and about $8/qt. vs. $130/qt.
Fitting the rear dogleg repair part from Moss.
This repair part was purchased about 10+ years ago, so might not be the same as one ordered today. Some fitting required - bend, cut, weld - but better than making it from scratch!
Looks pretty good here - but I decided to cut off the flange and just but weld the piece on.
Ideally, I would leave the area still visible and just use what of the repair piece I really needed - but in this case I wasn't going to gain much since the repair piece was already formed.
fixture for sloshing the tank.
insulation under dash
Dash wiring - this is the lighter BRG - see darker color in next pic. This was too blue in the sun.
Painted tub - drying in the 100*F NH heatwave.
July 6th, 2010. Drying after painting.
Gas tank had failed Kreem in it - sloshed with MEK which re-liquid-ized the lining and adhered it back to the tank. Seems to have worked OK.
dashboard in the new darker green color.
Body and frame soon to be reunited - hooray! More room in my garage.
Old seat, new seat (restored and recovered)
Grill test fitted - slats will need to be turned in a bit for better airflow.
Gak! The hole in the mounting box doesn't line up with the hole in the frame. The frame had been repaired here and the hole retapped, but I missed the fact that it is slightly out of place. I'll have to elongate this hole. In this picture the body needs to be pulled in toward the middle of the car - the misalignment is only in the fore and aft direction, and less than 1/8". Turns out that I had to slightly elongate the one on the other side as well to get the goal post bolts to fit. This is one of the reasons that you should use your car's frame as a jig to do the initial lining up and tacking together of all the new metal when you have to replace pillars and sills. I did not take that advice, sadly.
Original dealer accessory ashtray (or spare change holder). MGA's need all the storage area they can get. Still need to figure out a cupholder - might lose the ashtray and put a cupholder/cell phone holder here.
My speaker solution - spare tire normally sticks through this hole to make more room in the boot, but it will still fit. I have all the carpeting to cover the battery scuttle and the this whole area, but I like it green better, I think. Carpet might cut down on noise though.
Speakers from the rear - nifty plastic enclosures from Radio Shack or Pep Boys - can't remember which now. I added the terminal posts (from Radio Shack) and the wires are run along the chassis frame with the rest of the loom to the firewall area. The wires enter with grommets through stock holes originally for tire hold down, I think.
got the battery scuttle in the mail from the PO recently. hard to see here but the corners in the front are bent out. I cut them and then rewelded to get the front to lie flat against the rear board.
Car is now bolted to the frame. Fenders are still waiting to be repaired and painted before installation.
New horns - hi/lo windtone. I made a harness for them - zip tied to the front extension crossmember - that looks factory by cutting up the old harness for the wire and connectors. I haven't installed the horn relay yet, though - I want to see how well this works without it (should).
Radiator is in - needed a new lower hose. The repro hose from Brit Bits (Moss?) was not very good; it was a bit too long and the "accordian" profile was incorrect. More like a straight hose with lumps in it. Had to have Miranda install the bolts on the passenger side of the radiator - with the alternator in, my hands don't fit.
Alternator conversion done. Coil now mounted on fender. Yellow wire from starter switch is in parallel with the factory wire in the harness as the alternator produces higher amperage than the stock generator.
Brake and clutch lines routed to master cylinder - what a huge pain this was, as there is almost no room to work between the m/c and the firewall. Next time, attach the lines before mounting the m/c and pedals.
Here you can see the lines routed to the m/c. I have seen (most?) cars have the clutch line going up the other side of the m/c, but in my case I did not have enough length to do that. For the brake line, I ground the cheeks off a stubby 11mm wrench. Do the brake line first. The clutch line has a banjo fitting and can be installed with a socket wrench.
Front of dash assembled. MGB fuel gauge. Also an MGB speedo, I learned. Tach is original.
Back of assembled and wired dash. Hope I did it right.
Home made cockpit padded front rail. The bottom piping is actually attached to the top of the dash (see last couple of pictures). Car is getting dusty.
Dash installed and wired. Some tidying up to do in the back.
found this barrier strip at Pep boys to replace the voltage regulator - the mounting holes are identical so no new holes in the firewall for this.
Here is the card from the barrier strip package.
Horns underneath car. Made a small harness for them.
Got the windshield and dash installed.
Looks more like a real car with the windshield installed.
Corner of original windshield was cracked off - repaired with epoxy and almost completely covered with the frame. The yellowed area is epoxy where someone drove a too-long screw into the frame, I think.
Better pic of the repaired area...the one blob up above and the triangle in the corner.
Getting the rubber strip in the bottom groove on the windshield is a complete PITA - silicone spray liberally applied and two people are required.
Trans-dapt clip on mirror. Great solution and no drilling big holes in the fender.
Back side - $25 on eBay or Amazon with free shipping. Google "peep convex mirrors" and someone is offering a pair of these for $35...which I didn't find out until after ordering this one.
One more view.
Too hot to be painting - about 95*F or more. Fuzzy dull paint is from the paint drying to rapidly when hitting the surface.
This is shiny (now also dusty) paint right from the gun, when it was cooler outside...
Dull paint part deux...try try again...
Carbs are back on - hooray! I had to ask Miranda (daughter) to reach some of the fittings on the underside, my hands don't fit...
wetsanding out with 320, 600 and 1000 to repaint
sanded for another try
rear deck lid redone...some orange peel (still too hot really) but much shinier this time!
front lid redone...
sanding doors and filling scratches they got from being bounced around from place to place in the garage - safer on the car.
repairing corner rail
corner rail covered in vinyl
rear cockpit rail made from pine
rear cockpit rail covered in vinyl
carpeting is installed
replaced leather on corner rails with 4 layers of stiff paperboard (matte board) attached with trim adhesive and spray adhesive between layers. Takes staples well.
rear rail installed - not covered yet
cleaning the shop - all this needs to be put into drawers
cleaning the shop 2 - I can at least see the top of the bench now.
