Seat struggles and material wealth .....or not !

 Well, after last post I was undecided as to what to do.

The wiring still needs resolving. The wheels need coats of Nimbus grey + lacquer the new Avon tyres.

Guess what, I did neither of what I mentioned. I set too tackling the passenger seat. 

Here's the before shot/s.

Loverley......Deckchair Orange mixed with grinding spark holes,  12 year old spider webs and gawd knows what else.

Easy enough to dis-assemble though. Trim clips prized off and cover gingerly removed. 

The foam was not in bad nick. One tear down one edge and thats it. A bit on the thin/ soft side, so I put them to one side whilst I tackled the seat base frame.

The diaphragm frame came out with pliers, the webbing looking a little saggy and worn in parts. Again that was put to one side whilst I wire brushed the base frame. 

The brass wheel in trusty old Bosch drill did the trick in about 10 minutes. A quick coat in Kurust then nice grey primer. It looked good so I let it dry and tackled the webbing frame.

The "webs" were frayed at some ends, a little stretched but otherwise good. I selected the ones the a frayed end and undid the stitching. The intention was to stretch them by - how much ?  1", 2", 3". In the end I decided on 30 mm.......................guffaw.

I decided to do it the old fashioned way, as I didn't think the ma in laws ancient Singer sewing machine would cope.

Tough going pushing the sailmakers needle through two layers of rubber twice. But finished at last and much more taut.

Here it is inserted in the newly gloss black frame. 

 

Trim triumph and wheel wins

 Just a short one today. I needed a leisurely day after another long week at work.

Started Sunday leisurely with a nice gentle 5 mile yomp from Hassop station to Monsal viaduct and back.

Home for a nap then up and pondering what to do.

Before I forget here is a picture of Workmate disaster which I forgot to include on the last post.

The replacements should arrive tomorrow, hope they fit.

Since I'd already marked out the new hardboard for the dash top I got to work with the jigsaw and sandpaper. That done I cut the vinyl and applied the aerosol glue. It was a new type, i.e not the usual Evostick so I was a little aprehesive. 

It worked a treat. It wasn't stringy and applied easily. The instructions said wait 10 mins for instant "grab" 20 mins for "adjustable "semi-permanent to permanent bond. 

It worked well. It was German, must know Mr Bosch. The dash top looked great. I'm not fitting it though until the electrics are sorted. So in the shed it went into to the RFFL  ( ready for fitting later) pile.

Whilst all that was going on I extricated the 5th wheel from the passenger compartment and set too with some 800 grit wet and dry to smooth over the debris around the rim/inner disc primer stuff. It sanded well with plenty of water and left a finish as smooth as a babys botton. The only area that needs attention is around the tyre valve, which will be adressed " en masse" when the tyres are removed.

Just a couple of shots of the new vinyl glued on.

No more bloody wheel shots as its been a long haul and they dont show much detail of the hard work anyway. 

Maybe/ deffo upload shots of the completed wheels prior to and post black quadrant attempt.

Another long week at work for me but a long weekend to follow so I have to arrange stuff.

Maybe do a bit of minor welding, maybe review the door gaps or Hammerite underside and wheel hubs.

I have some dosh to spend so front springs should be first and as another diversion I may fit front spoiler, or then again I may review rear cant rail.

Such is MG ownership and I love it.

Trim trials and workmate wobbles

 The wheels all have the first of 2 phases done. That is all the insides done in black gloss, all the outsides done in very bright silver. The silver was rather annoying in so much as the nozzle became blocked on both cans halfway down the volume and proceeded to drop big blobs in random places. 

But since they are having a final coat or two of Ford nimbus grey all that remains is to have the tyres removed, some liberal wet and dry to get the finish right, spray and have the tyres fitted.

I have purchased the Nimbus grey already ( only one can as that was all Halfords had in stock ) and couldn't resist a little test spray. It looks perfect. Just the right shade . No pictures though as I'm fed up of photographing them. I'm not sure the camera phone would to be good enough to capture the true quality as the grey primer looked exactly like the very bright silver.

After the tribulations of the power tool issues I thought all the annoying little troubles were over.

No, not at all. During the wheel refurb I had two disasters. 

1/.  With the constant flipping over of the wheels complete with tyres one of the workmate wooden jaws snapped. What caused it mostly was my annoyance of all the tiny crud wedged into the small gap between the wheel rim itself and the inner section. Despite blowing out the debris with the leaf blower ( amazing power ) still crusty bits remained. I even tried to load the gap with aerosol grey primer and silver paint but to no avail. 

I then had a great brainwave. Fill the gap with decorators caulk ( same as seam sealer) and smooth over with a tiny flat bladed electrical screwdriver. It worked a treat..........sort of.

Then excess stuff just lingered around the edges and trying to clean it off just dropped more stuff into the smooth recess. Attemts to re-smooth it just made it worse. 

So I had to remove it all, scrape away, re-sand and re-clean and think again.

Pictured is said crevice with dried gunk from seal sealer/caulk prior to cleaning. Plus a few spots of drippy silver from errant aerosol.

What I did next was again a little off kilter but glad to say it worked. 

Skulking in the shed I found a tin of  primer/mould killer/ sealer that I used for the bathroom ceiling. It was very thick and dries quickly and permanently. Using a small thin art brush stolen from wifeys stash it was applied to all five wheels and it left a smooth finish with minimal sanding of the excess on each edge.

Yet to be sanded but at least all is done. Five wheels done and not to be touched till the tyres are removed.

2/.

Next up was the workmate replacement wooden jaws. Easily found on the internet, £ 12 for a pair including delivery. The fact that a brand new workmate from Aldi is only £16 means I've saved £4. Win win.

The vinyl I purchased was another matter altogether. I'd used some for the rear armrests which worked great. After reviewing the state of the current dash top I decided to replace that too with new vinyl, together with a new hardboard backing as the earlier new one didn't come away cleanly.

Well it looked awful. I'm sure glad I decided to replace it with lovely new vinyl. £18 for a large peice and I only used a small amount for the rear armrests. Also I was going to use it for the door cards. The cards themselves are rubbish with lots missing/ disintegrated areas but enough to fashion new hardboard backs .

The big question was though did I have enough vinyl to recover the dash top and two door cards ?

Well in short....... did I f ***. Not by much but still not enough. I must have been trying at least an hour to try in fit the three pieces on the remaining vinyl but every way I was about 2" short  in one small area.

Typical. Here's a shot of my best attempt.

So a big decision had to be made. I decided that the bottom 5" or so of the door card vinyl would be made up of black carpet. That way using less vinyl I would be easily able to cover all the new hardboard pieces. BTW the door card hardboard has not been purchased yet but I did have enough hardboard to make the new dash top. Well at least draw out the shape. The weather looked a bit iffy so I resisted in cutting the board with the jigsaw and did a lot of staring at the parts and rooting around in the shed. Thats maybe for tomorrow.

Here's a view of the boards with the  (theoretical reduced size ) of vinyl layed out. 

Loads o room.

Next big thing is the ordering of the tyres. What size though ? I'm thinking 176  x 65, although 165 x 65 would work. I have the advantage of having several sizes of tyres fitted to the wheels and the 175's look the best. Avon tyres look competatively priced and were originally fitted to many Birtish cars of the era.

In still yet to have to set a date with the mobile auto electrician, need to remove the tyres so I can do the final wheel colours and glue and fit the dash top and fit the dash complete. 

I'm hoping to get these done in the next few weeks, along with then dreaded cant rail then start on.........

Well loads.....new proper road springs, new heater matrix, chrome bumper mounting bolts, etc etc.

More soon folks, its picking up pace.

Wire wheel woes

 The trusty Bosch drill finally gave up the ghost.

The Draper grinder was hard to use due to the on switch always wanting to be off.

Then, after finding a Bosch grinder in the shed ( a gift from uncle Bri ) together with a drill chuck Bingo !

Alas not for long. The best wheel for getting to the corners, of which on Rostyles is many, was the acorn shaped brass wheel thing. It would only fit in the drill chuck, not the grinder, or so I thought until I discovered the above.

At that point I vowed only ever to buy Bosch tools, I was impressed by their robustness, build quality and operation. I was in love with them.

But, after using for 10 mins or so that too gave up the ghost. It was vibrating like billyyo.

With the normal wheel or the cup wheel it was fantastic, smooth, quiet and lighter than the Draper monster. The rpm of the Bosch is lower though but with the steel wire wheels it did not matter at all.

That left me with ONE of three tools, the Draper which was no good to get in the corners. 

I was waiting delivery of the Bosch drill brushes and Lo, they arrived monday evening.

So after work I got to grips with replacing the brushes. It was a doddle to replace them, if not a little fiddly. The case popped apart like a dream, no broken tabs or tangs, no loose parts all stuff secured for life.

It went back together even better, with a resounding click and used all the same screws to hold it all together.

I then went on to investigate why the Bosch grinder stopped working. I had a fairly certain idea the vibration had caused a loose or broken wire.

In was correct. A wire from one of the brushes had parted company from its brass end spade. The brushes were held in by a curly clock type spring on each side. I attached a new spade terminal, attached another only this time soldered on and re- assembled.  Bingo.....fast and smooth...game on. 

But not tonight. Monday is the only day I work till six pm, home and fed for seven thirty and it was now nine pm. 

Rather than post more pictures of wheels and tools I thought I'd outline whats been done so far, how and whats left to do on the wheels.

I started by using the drill and circular brass wheel, then brass cup. Changed to grinder with large steel wheel and paint guard for doing round the outer edges. 

I tried to work in a logical and orderly fasion by doing the inside edges tops , outside edges and inner edges bottoms.

Changed to the steel cup wheel in drill for larger edges then the acorn shaped brass wheel in drill for the inner quadrants. I probably changed over several times depending on weather it was the outside or inside wheel face.

Coated with Kurust, left to cure a few days. Coated with primer and left to cure ditto. Sprayed with very bright shiney silver.

So as it stands now not one wheel is complete, yet. The intention is to get all five with paint on them ( Black gloss on inside, very shiney Silver on outside ) then give all the outsides a coat or two in Ford Nimbus grey. 

Then have five new tyres fitted........yay .

Then proceed to paint the quadrants in Satin ( or matt ) Black. 

Wheel one.  up to speed and can wait for the others. Black inner, silver outer.

Wheel two.  Kurusted and primed on back with Black gloss applied. Front primered and Silver sprayed on, badly, a few runs and some slight crazing because I rushed it a bit tonight.

Wheel three. Back kurusted, primered and black gloss applied. Partially wire wheeled old rusty primer off and applied kurust.

Wheel four.  Untouced sice applying primer years ago. Needs lots of work.

Wheel five.  Ditto......I think.

Thats enough of wheels for now.

 I may divert onto the rear cant rail " paper mache" as its looking rather flimsy and "wavy" . I may have to use the same technique but with proper resin and mat directly onto the cant rail. 

I may move on the replacing the door cards with new hardboard.  I have some, but guess what, they are 2" too narrow. Pffft. Hardboard is cheap enough though. And I have the vinyl......oooooh.

Lets wait and see.

Cheers !!!!!!!!!