Getting there

The last few weeks ain't seen much activity.

However, the A post nightmare has ended. Yes I bit the bullet and welded, cut, ground, templated, cut, ground & welded ad infinitum. + not a lot of body filler.

I must say sanding filler is not my favourite pastime. God is it boring. Unfortunately its necessary and vital to get a good look to the finished car.

So, the A post then......................see the finished result below !

This is the finished result after lots and lots of very fiddly welding in of small curved pieces of steel. Its integrity is good and the filler only hides the welds too inaccessible for the grinder.

However, its the wing join that I'm most proud of. This took some welding in of curved steel and was much easier than I first thought. In fact I pondered hours and hours on how to repair it and kept putting it off till the last moment. The filler sanded a treat and lots of offering up the wing made the join perfect.

What was a constant source of frustration is the front RH wing. The LH wing had lots of welding done on the captive nuts and a new bottom rear edge.

So I was prepared for the worse.

After venturing to the bottom of the garden and behind the shed to unearth the wing I had a pleasant surprise. The captive nuts were fine...............yipeee.....some luck at last.

Booo.................................................................. remembered the wing also had some accident damage to the front around the grill aperture.

But, thought this would be easey peasey to repair, a few whacks and job done.

Wrong, wrong and wrong again.

The area affected is in a sort of zig-zag shape, so I thought a few whacks would sent it nicely back from where it came.

Well about 2 weeks later, several bleeding knuckles, C1 compressions of the spine and picking up a fallen wing from the trusty workmate I'm somewhere near.

Panel beating complex shapes is definitely NOT easy. This was made worse by the fact that whichever way I positioned the wing it needed to be nose down ( on the floor) and tilted up about 70 degrees whilst simultaneously beating it with the precision hammer, which in turn caused the wing to fall over and/or slip sideways. I think I moved 15 yards down the drive whilst beating, and suffered at least four good bongs on the head from the wing falling.

Its back to almost as new now.

The Ironic thing is that since I'm converting to chrome bumper, this area has to be cut away and smooth pieces welded in.

The wing then has been rubbed all over, inside and out, sprayed in grey primer several times between applications of small amounts of filler.

Still, at least all the captive nuts are all ok.

Next job on the list is fitting a repair panel to the RH footwell where it joins the inner sill.

Andy from Doncaster donated this part when I bought the LH sills from him on good ol E-bay.

Even though the panel is for the wrong side I'm only using the inner 1" so it will match perfectly.

See the devil wing below, and I promise to post more often.

More soon avid readers

Rust........in all the wrong places !

Well..........removed the RH outer sill rather easily. Six spot welds and a few easy whacks with the multi-tool ( scraper/chisel/upholstery/screwdriver thingy) and off it came.

The good news is the inner membrane is in near perfect condition, as is the castle rail.

So I've decided not to replace these. The inner sill is also good too !!!

Its not all good news though.

The front bulkhead, where the sill front meets is well.....as mess !

Its really weird that the car has rusted in all unexpected places, as well as expected places on different sides.

I decided to chop off all the rust with the newly refurbished grinder ( having replaced the carbon brushes with the proper items)

So look see.............

The upturned flap on the castle rail is going to be tricky to repair. Its in good condition.

However, its the top most part of three layers of steel. The next layer is the front bulkhead ( rusty where cut away) and behind that is the upturned flap on the end of the inner sill.

Also another tricky part is the end of the membrane. I cut it away a bit and bent it out to investigate the inside.

I think I may replace the first two or three inches of this and it will allow prior access to the end flappy area.

In a fit and flurry of DIY we have re-painted the whole of the dining room.

Well, wifey started it.......all ar*e about face and in a terrible mess. Still credit to her she stuck in there and cried HELP when it got tough.

So, early last Saturday I got stuck in, moved shelves and heavy objects etc, and completed it by Sunday late lunchtime

Trouble is now though she's already planned another two rooms for the next few days, for the same treatment. Cunning devil has been saving it for my Hols without letting on. I'm sure it was all a scheme to keep me away from the MG. I think she knows how to make motor brushes wear and welding gas to evaporate ( witchcraft ?..... feminine intuition or just plain bad luck ?)

Considering I'm on holiday now for two weeks and spending them at home I can't see where the rest/relaxation is going to come................................Ha!! Wifey says...........spend a day in my shoes anyday you like Mr " I've had a long busy day at work, too tired to do DIY but enough energy to fiddle with your hobby" ( No....."hobby" is not a euphemism for that precious and rewarding universal boys toy we discovered in early teens)

Once that round of DIY is now complete I removed some more engine ancillaries and even had the foresight to "borrow" a large plastic storage box from work ( we specialise in machinery to print them so we have lots skulking around the factory)

It looks rather empty in there.

Whilst Wifey is still to the forefront this holiday I used some female logic on her !!

And guess what................................................................It worked.

As I explained how much the three part LH sills cost and my joy at not having to buy all three , hence SAVING on this part of the project, I can now go and buy another RH rear wing complete like last time, you remember dear, back in May, my birthday, when we had a fun day out together and visited the MG hive............

Yes dear, what fun that was............we'll go again soon. But not until you've finished all the decorating, spent time away in Chester next week on a shortened holiday, been to see your beloved team play with No 1 son, and with whats left you can buy all the panels you want.

Well it sort of worked. Lets get in the good books first then apply more tactics.

More soon.........Thanks for the link Rick

If only I'd waited........or been a little less impatient

I've done a stupid and silly thing.

Annoyed at the the yet again death( well soldiering on bravely but intermittently) of my trusty angle grinder I decided to remove the exhaust.

Rear end not too bad.

Middle section easy.

Front end.......so far so good, five of the six nuts undone.

The last one..............Impossible.

I'm under the car looking up at the manifold join. Yes the first five were a little tricky and awkward. I can only just see the sixth, let alone get the socket and extension onto it.

The trouble is the sump edge is in the way. It won't allow the socket to sit square on.

After several attempts, bruised knuckles, rust flakes in both eyes and oil/grunge in back of head I called it a day.

Well almost.

In a fit of pique I whacked the grinder one more time and it sprang into life.

So under the car I crawled and cut the exhaust in two just after where two pipes become one at a thick flange.

I thought it the only way to remove the damn thing. The last bolt was rounded off, and too inaccessible to get so much as a finger there, let alone a grinder or wrench.

So in I went with the grinder. Grinder protested loudly but after 5 mins there it was.

In two more manageable halves........................but see later.......................

Oh I forgot, to celebrate finishing one side the whole clan helped me move the car the other way round in the drive.

This involved moving both normal cars to way up the other end of the Cul-de-sac.

Pushing a very heavy car (including tool contents inside) onto the road at 45 degrees.

Pushing a little further down road. Son armed with patented vehicle halting device ( half housebrick) There's no brakes on the car cause I've removed them and the steering is very very heavy.

Then push back into drive.

At this point I'd like to thank the newish and so far never speaking, neighbour opposite and Dutch relative/friend.

..............................................................................................For watching............................................... while this old fart, his unfit wife with a bad back and two skinny thirteen year old twins ( one of each) struggle somewhat.

They ( two males 35-45 years of age) spent the whole afternoon looking at the engine of their car and then looking at the toolbox.

I hope they enjoyed watching us from 15 feet away across the road.

Its the other way round !!

The following day I decided to remove some engine ancillaries.

Carbs came away nicely after locating the bolts.

Since the under bonnet was covered in a poor excuse for sound proofing that hanging off in most places the whole engine bay is covered in "FLUFF".

"Yes, fluff"

Well more like horeshair, but its everywhere. And mixed up with loads of rust and lots of oil.

So cleaning the carbs will be interesting. So will the whole engine bay actually.

Removed centre inlet manifold, easy.

Even the dead rusty and often snapping exhaust studs came undone.

Its then that the manifold fell down and to one side.

Yes the difficult to get at nut was now easily accessible from underneath.

WHAT A PRATT.............I cut the exhaust in two for nothing !!!

If I'd removed said items before attempting the manifold studs underneath i would never have rounded off the last nut...........doh !!!.

So, lifted it clear and deposited both halves at back of shed out of sight.

Following day removed alternator, coil and dizzy lid + oil filter. Yes. I did remember to label all the wires up................sometimes I function almost normally.

Here's a few shots of my rust investigations of the the as yet untouched RH side.

This is a view looking forward at the A Post top. Worrying and scary.

This is after my head exploded after finding more rust.

Have no clue how I'm gonna repair these little beauties.( books and toilet springs to mind)

Suppose it explains me turning my attention to the engine.

Footnote.

The grinders died well and truly. No amount of whacking makes it start. Ordered new bushes from Screwfix ( £ 6.50, robbing dogs...........the whole grinder was only £17.00)

CO/Argon bottle on MIG welder also empty.

Spotweld drill bit blunt as hell.

Time for some time off or DIY......................yipee says Wifey. Personally I want a holiday.

More soon hopefully.

Go here, It's the funniest thing I've read in a long time

Just a quickie post to share with you all, but very very funny.

Its right up my street as its toilet humour( Laxatives actually) at its best.

Stick with it and read all the posts by Blu-Tone.

Its actually from a Mountain Bike message board.

One day 'Ill tell my funny story of a hospital visit. I'd have to embellish it somewhat but it would not be a patch on how Blu-Tone tells his !!!!

Link = http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/read.php?f=2&i=3145351&t=3141618#reply_3145351

Tool trouble then rapid progress

Here's the part I'm damn proud of.

It involved bending a section of the curved rear valance ( above the square hole) then welding in place and having a 5/10mm lip to place the flat plate onto.

The large vertical weld is where the rear valance and wing end did not meet exactly.

I placed a strip of steel approx 1" wide to the rear, bent to fit the curve and welded inplace.

I managed to fill most of the non meeting edges with weld.

The flat plate that rests in the base of the pointy thing and upto/on the rear boot corner was quite tricky. I got through lots of cardboard making the right shape template.

Still, it all went very well with no probs...............the secret to welding is grind all the things nearby shiny, get a good earth and listen to the weld..............like rapidly cooking bacon.



The only Blot on the landscape was the angle grinder dying.

Ma in Law bought it for me last x-mas from screwfix. Not a top make ( NOTE..always buy Bosch if your serious) but its been the most used tool and definitely a requirement.

However, one day it just did not switch on.

Checked the fuse....ok

Checked the kitchen socket....ok

Unpluged and removed the disc and guard...........scary stuff as this tool scares the life out of me.

Then I noticed two protrusions each side of the main body with a large screwdriver slot in the end. Removed these and the commutators sprang forth with a tiny blob of an excuse for a carbon block.......................Disaster, should I persue the probably frustrating and longwinded course of new parts through Screwfix, or should I source locally.

Anyway, since the rains was still with us I decided on local. B&Q ect, shed no light or idea on tool spares.

In fact I dont think any of the staff even knew what a motor commutator was.

Now, may I get on my high horse here. B&Q ect may be cheap, convenient and always open but there not a patch on" proper" hardware places. We have two in my town.

One just like"open all hours" for hardware only. Its amazing. Ask one of the elderly staff for a lock and they will have it all, and explain about 2,3 and 5 lever mortices, ease of installation and price and insurance complications and reliability. Same goes for aluminium ladders, parrafin,

Chicken wire, hinges, wheelbarrows, hammers, bolts and screws + trillions of other stuff.

All served by people friendly and happy and willing to talk and dressed in regulation stores issue Brown smock. Thats just one place.

The other place is for things electrical/electronic.These guys know it all, have it all, but are on a slightly different planet. It scares me a little.

So in I waltz with one mangled commutator. Have you got one of these ?

No, but we have on similar that you can "modify"

Well, for £2.30 why not.

Thats when the probs started. The carbon block was too large so I filed it with my swiss file, on the worktop in the kitchen.......................Big mistake, the dust is immoveable and gets everywhere. Wifey not happy.

Moved outside to workmate and rushing due to fact that imminent heavy storm due.

Still difficult to insert and remove carbon block. Then cover screw would not screw in totally.

Snipped spring shorter. Still no joy. Bent copper ends from carbon block/copper wire in several shapes, still no joy. However, shaking said grinder did momentarily show some life.

Anyways, to cut a long story short I buggered one and re-used the old one which was OK and fiddled the other eventually after lots of shaking and "gentle taps on the plastic retaining screw".

It now works...................thank **ck for that. It was almost touch and go between throwing it away and being electricuted in the rain outside.



Now we've had some respite in the rain the progress above has been made and not a small amount of filling and sanding.

Look......................................rapid progress.

Hours of sanding the rear lower valance applied by the previous owner left no nasty horror sories. Only a 50p sized hole in the very centre of the R/H crossmember end. Easily remedied by some fancy shaping of a 1mm thick steel and good welding/ filling skills.

Even after a good coat of primer some low spots were evident, so another round of filling and sanding. I must say this is very ffffrustrating. The different grades a sandpaper, sanding block, dust, mess, armache and annoyance that a pristine shape don't emerge.

So I moved onto removing the complete exhaust. Easy enough on the length of the car.

Easy enough on five of the six nuts under the manifold although three were a bit fiddly.

The six'th (NOT SIKTH, which is how annoying people pronounce it) however seems impossible to get to. The shaft of the ratchet extension is too thick, the engine base/sump flange won't allow the the socket to sit on fully since the extension is not perfectly vertical.

So a point to ponder on whilst the wifey tries to fill my head with DIY projects and things to do of a summer day in the garden.

More soon folks......................oh by the way visit Ricks site.........He's got more money and tools than me and is making a real good job of it.

http://rick-mgbgt.blogspot.com/

A different corner

So I'm moving onto the rear corner now. Most of the LH side body is DONE !!!

The wing fits as well as its ever going to fit, and is covered in primer and red oxide. The doors in the correct place ( not quite but the Phillips screws in the hinge need drilling out and I ain't got any replacements, so its near enough for me at this stage, it closes and looks neat all round)

The all shiny new wing attaching bolts fitted.

Rear wing welded in position. ( almost. Need new inner outer section, see earlier re incorrect item purchased.)

I'm ignoring the 50p sized hole in the rear window edge. It looks fiddly to repair and is covered by chrome trim eventually.

That means a quick fix for me then.........maybe, and some time next summer.

Oh by the way have we had this summer yet ?????

Here's a view of what I've been up to.

Since the car is being converted to chrome bumpers I have to add the RH side pointy thing at the base of the lights. This is another item I purchased NEW from MGB Hive a few months ago on a rare spending spree. I actually comes complete, so I just chopped off half.

I have to add a couple of patches to base of rear valance where its welded to inner boot tray .

The fiddly bit is the horizontal section inside the pointy thing and up to the valance.

Mine has completely rusted away under the gauze and deep body filler that was there.

Still, I'm becoming quite accomplished at cutting cardboard templates, jigsawing sheet steel, grinding and welding. Thats for the coming weekend if we have no rain or something that resembles summer.

Must stop complaining though,as last year when it was red hot ( ah.. a distant memory) I couldn't be bothered to make a start on cutting, welding and grinding.

Just to keep it interesting here's another photo of the rear end. Note the lower valance, completely covered in filler by the previous owner. Had a little poke around and spotted rust at the bumper mounting holes. So, maybe I need to sand all this off before starting the above. If its bad news though that means a complete rear lower valance at £80 quid, ouch !

That reminds me. Since I,m over 18 months into the project I decided to have a review of the most useful tools to date. This is prompted by the fact that when I started I had absolutely no tools. In fact it never occurred to me that I would need Imperial sockets and spanners

Well it did really occur, since I'd worn out at least one toilet seat reading all things MG.

So here's the list, in order of usefulness for restoring old BL cars on a budget :-

1/. Trim tool remover.

Its a cross between a narrow paint scraper and a wide screwdriver. I got it for free as a print sample during a customer visit. I use it all the time for a/. Poking rusty holes, b/. separating spot welds, c/. smoothing bubbly paintwork, d/. removing underseal and rubberised gooey stuff, e/. prising panels and stuck down trim bits, f/. Phillips and standard screw removal. g/.wrapping J cloth round to clean inside light lenses and various parts.

2/. Penetrating Oil

As a matter of habit and long standing ritual I spray every nut and bolt I can see regardless of when I'm working on them or not. This is done at least every 2 weeks.

3/. Trolley jack

The cars been up/down so many times in so many places this has proven invaluable together with the axle stands. Remember I have no garage to work in so positioning the car for long periods is important.

4/. Electric 4-1/2" Hand Grinder

Scary tool to use. Very noisy. Needs love and attention and several types of discs. The Flappey layered one has been good but also the thin slicing disc is just as valuable. Good for heavy steel removal, light polishing of steel, de-rusting and shaping steel.

5/. Hammerite Ku-Rust

When panels are inaccessible and too awkward to remove/replace or just covered in surface rust, just paint it on and it does its stuff. I use it loads.

6/. Heavy Aluminium faced hammer. Nuff said.

7/. Quality Imperial socket set.

See earlier posts for my folly at cheap and cheerful

8/. The wonderful Mr Porter and his MG restoration guide, closely followed by the DVD of the wonderful Mr Mark Evans "Is born" series of MG restoration.

9/. E-bay My main source of tools and parts, especially the MIG welder.

10/. Time and money.....................unfortunately I have very little of either.

More next week folks,

As you can see, or maybe not some things have been achieved.

I have spent lots of time getting the wing ready and prepared, mostly on the inside and adding filler to the sill/B-post join.

Why is it that things that seem to worry you most and up being the easiest to fix.

The wing mounting holes for one.

The beading and wing fit for another.

The fitting of the of the wing for yet another.

Anyways, back to the order of things since the last post.

I had applied lots of filler to the B-post/sill join and to the scuttle where it meets the wing top.

I must say that I ended up sanding most of it off.

Then the rain came....................and boy did it, in bucket loads.

So not much happened for the last two weeks, except for the rain.

Sunday evening saw a veritable monsoon, from 8pm onwards till about 10.30 next day.

During the brief interlude I noticed..........Horror of horrors that the blue cover over the MG had blown off some time Sunday evening/Mon morning and left the car open to the elements.

Well, elements is a pretty light word so I'll say pissing heavy torrential rain.

Luckily, only the outer edges of the inner car were damp with light rusting on the floor & sill areas. And for some strange reason one bucket in the back containing all my precision hammers 3 inches deep in water !!.

The blue Poly cover is pretty porous though, particularly where its been dragged over the roof on the ariel base. I did have a tennis ball over the protrusion but that's long gone into the void of disappearing restoration parts.

So Monday lunchtime off to good old B&Q during a firm but constant drizzle.

£3.99 for same Blue poly cover, 3 mtrs x 4 mtrs with fastening holes, what a bargain.

Gawd.......................what a size !!! You could cover half of Derbyshire with it.

Try fitting it in a drizzle and breeze enough to get you out of the harbour.

It was everywhere on the drive, Still its not porous (yet) and the biggest ball of wifey string helped to keep it in place, with the old ( porous yet much more manageable) cover over the top.It did its job for at least 2 weeks. Yes, that's how much rain we've had.

The work done to the inside of the wing worried me lots before I started.

It wasn't until a work related detour via Cambridge that I actually bought some more new stuff from the MGOC. A wing fitting kit to be precise, a 5/16 UNF nut, a 1/4 UNF nut and a headlight inner re-enforcing ring.

Spent all Saturday welding the 5/15 UNF nut under the wing top inner edge, making a cage for a strange British Leyland round 5/15UNF nut and welding up in same top inner edge, welding the 1/4 UNF nut to the inner wing mountings ( having first spent ages drilling out broken bolt and grinding away old nut ).

All just so the wing can go back on and be bolted in all its places.

Sunday saw me paint good old Hammerite Red lead all the inner wing rust prone areas, sand the sill B-post area, try again( 38th attempt) to remove the door hinges from the A post.

This but was aborted yet again.........which is a pity because the great big f**k off screwdriver I have has a hexagon on the shaft where it enters the handle so a ring spanner fits great and offers fantastic leverage. The phillips head is buggered though, thus it stays put....maybe !!

Ran a 5/16 UNF tap down the wing edge holes then undid the wing fitting kit.

Yipeeeeeee...........loads of new shiney screws, washers and spring washers + 3 nuts too !.

Fitted wing in a trice.......could even do the nuts up with fingers mostly.

Only had to use jack to press up bottom of wing so I could drill 3 holes to accept 3/16 screws with nut to attach to castle rail and jobs done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yes it fits and looks good!!!!

To think I started this blog and spent ages in deep mid winter removing the wing, and now here I am still in July deep mid winter fitting the wing.

Removed it though and sanded and cleaned everything down one side.

Sprayed lovely clean Grey primer on door, wing rear wing, B-post and sill area, A post and finally inner front wing area.

Here have a look..............................................

How good it is to see it looking like a car again........Its given me a real sense of achievement.

Next session should see the door hung, sort of, maybe finally or time to reconsider the phillips screws again, maybe leave them.

Wing fixed with all new shiney screws and bolts.

Sill finished ( still some slight filler spots to add to get nice even gaps) and to wing too, suffering collateral damage from being removed and trial fitted too may times.

Then weld rear wing and turn attention to rear of car..........Yes a new chapter, hopefully.

Its a little damp outside dear

What can I say other than the title. Since last applying filler to the B post/sill join and filler to the wing/scuttle join its been........................well I'll say .................... wet!

The last two weekends, nay weeks, has seen torrents of rain fall, all day,all night and in between. During last Mondays deluge a quick glance at the MG and its forlorn flapping blue poly cover saw lots of rain get inside. Mid-day off to B&Q to get a new Poly cover( in the pouring rain) .

My present cover has a hole where the roof section has an ariel base protuding.

Despite having the clever idea of wedging an old tennis ball on it, the constant removing and tie-ing down has made it as firm as a vicars handshake. Not to mention the elastic bungee cords frayed to within an inch of their life. In fact on Sunday the poor old MG spent the evening till Mon Morn with the cover hiding between the fence and the driveway gate.

Fortunately I got the last blue Poly sheet at B&Q and cheap it was too (£ 3.99) .

The trouble was thought.................................Its Huge !!!!

3 metres x 4 metres. Seemed OK when I bought it. But try covering a car with it in the pouring rain, using frayed and limp bungee cords and a howling wind.

I ended up using about 70 metres of string, over, under, around, between, up and round the MG. It looked like a drunkard had tried to wrap up a Holly bush there was so much Blue poly cover. However, it made it water proof ready for the onslaught or rain we had, er........still having actually.

Prior to thison Saturday, I did remove the front wing several times to try and get a good fit between the curvy scuttle base and wing top edge............ Impossible............!!!!

In desperation I fixed the front wing with the 5/16th UNF bolt nearest the said position.

Then added filler to the join and bead ( I previously welded the bead to the wing)

So my thinking was if the join was rubbish( uneven with gaps) bolt them together, add filler, let dry, remove wing , sand to perfection and re-fit wing nicely.

WRONG

On removing wing all the filler broke off, some filler stuck to inside of wing beading and some filler was well just ..........crap.

ABANDONED...................................time for a re-think.

It needs all its bolts and holes in wing ready and clean so it can be clamped tightly, then re assess.

So, on a trip to the far SE corner of our wind and rain swept counrty I diverted via Cambridgeshire to the MGOC.

I actually bought some new ( YES NEW ) stuff, a wing fitting kit containing all the correct screws , washers and bolts. Nice and shiney.............Lovely, and only £ 6.25 !

Also got the 5/15th UNF Nut which I had to gring off the wing when refurbing it and another nut 1/4 UNF which has a sheared bolt in it on the wing.

Whilst there I also bought the headlight re-enforcing panel. This part took the best part of a whole day to remove from the wing as it was rusty and deep inside the wing.

So...............................My plan is simple.

Fit both new nuts by mig welding them in place.

How to remove the existing nuts with broken bolts in is another story.

Then fit the wing with all the bolts and nuts. To assist matters I even bought a 5/16 UNF tap.

Please dont faint, its not new. It was £1.99 + 99p p&P on..........yes you've guessed good old E-bay.

So when the rain and wind stops I'll get busy. Oh and do the sanding of the B post too.

A little more of all life's joys and irritations

Not much has happened so far. MG wise I've pratted around doing nothing spectacular.

Well that's not exactly true.

I did set to to fit the inner wheelarch a few weeks ago. If you remember it was a panel I needed and was one of several bought as a birthday prezzie from MGB hive.

Anyways, I did all the correct things and lined it up, marked it + 1/2 inch and cut to the desired shape. Cut away the rusty wheelarch inboard of the 1/2 line.

I then set to attaching the wing, all well and good.

I spent the next few days(nay weeks) trying to get the inner wheelarch to fit the shape of the wheel arch and align front and back.

Impossible, so I left it for a further few days.

Then one bright and sunny Saturday I attacked it with renewed vigour and enthusiasm.

Gawd............................I know why it don't fit......................its the wrong side!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, I had actually been given a RH side when I needed a left. No wonder in didn't fit.

I've not told wifey yet........No need really since I can use the panel for the RH side , but all in good time.

What I have done is welded the wing around the B post seam/door and sill area.

See Below..............................

I know the gap between the sill and b post base is a little large, but, well there really is no answer. When taking off the old sill the gap was even larger, I remember distinctly seeing all the lead loading ( Yes Lead Loading) running away as I ground through it. So It must have been made that way at good old Abingdon ( Swindon actually is where the bodies were assembled)

The front wing gap at the same spot is also same size.............WE really did know how to build cars, eh !

The gap is now full of the dreaded filler ( No I,m not going to spend several months learning how to lead load) and its waiting to dry as I write this.

I did go a bit mad with the filler and covered several spot weld and the rear wing top beading seam. So next post will be all about sanding filler........maybe.

One job leads to........fivethousand others !

So, the wing fits great with a regular gap around the door.

How to weld it on though.

This I must admit had scared me for months and months, In fact since I bought the car.

According to all the readings I've done it is really tricky with access very restricted or nigh on impossible. Even the wonder kid Mark Evans resorted to "Glueing" his on.

But since I now have the wing, its easy. Access is good to the door surround, the top front edge can be welded on the outside as a whacking great chrome strip covers it.

Access to the rear top edge ( Which is supposed to be Impossible) is easy.

Easy for a midget with nine foot arms. Not exactly.

By looking down the hole for the rear light all the internal seam is there to be seen and a welding torch fits in nicely. Will I still be saying that when I've actually welded it !

Spent most of the last few weekends offering up the rear wing, grinding shiney mating edges,

offering up and pondering, even more pondering and offering up.

Especially last weekend when it was all systems go for wing welding.

Bloody weather............wind, wet, dark........and that's only me.

Rain on and off every 5 minutes and gusts of wind between. So frustrating. Hence the offering up bit and pondering.

The rear inner outer wing (wheel arch) needs repair so I cut away the rust, and more rust and even more.

The boot corner where it fits to the inner and outer wheel arch has gone at its fitting point.

I'll need to fabricate a repair panel for this and rely on the wonderful Hammerite rust killer at the very rear behind the rear valance/wing join.

Look...........No rust its all gone

Next post should see the wing welded on and maybe the inner outer wing edge welded on.
The title e.g five thousand other jobs refers to the chopping down of the whole inner outer wheel arch panel purchased. The cutting/ shaping of above wheel arch edge, removing boot tray rust and having to remove a small portion of the inner wheel arch. All this means extra work fabricating, cutting, bending, shaping, clamping and welding. The remnants of the new outer wheel arch ( about 70%) will do for the inner arch repair ( I hope)

Not much fun and frolics away from the MG. Works been very busy with me visiting strange places like Hampshire, Kent and Guildford as well as Teeside, Borders Reigon and Hull.
France and Switzerland are also in there too, as well as too many nights away from loved ones.
Maybe next post will be on the problems of having teenage twins, since they, but one in particular is morphing into Harry Enfields "Kevin" before my very eyes. Cheeky bugger even says I'm turning into Harry Enfields dad !
An neither will help with the car !!...........................Wifey's up to her armpits in Plaster for her final Piece for Arts College......I've been plastered about four times, Ma in law at least three, sister in law twice........all in a good cause.
I must explain. She's taking moulds of our hands and arms. I've also had my face done and it has to be done again this weekend...It cracked, how funny ...............Hope it rains !!

It's not so bad after all

Another fruitful session on the MG after a rather frustrating 3 weeks of staring, pondering and musing. The weather has been great but alas not the finances or work. I've been travelling the length and breadth of our fair Isle with a very busy and demanding work schedule plus no cash to impart onto the project. Added to which the demands of family life and their finances have taken priority, all on Ideal sunny days on which to work on said project, but c'est la vie, as the French say.

Happy birthday Fufferfour...............I'm now 50...yes five ohhh. Still feel like a 29 year old though perhaps with 21 years of experience. Some would argue with that and I'm not one to cause an argument........least yet whilst I know where my bread is buttered !!


The MG has had some giant strides of late ( only the last two days actually)
On my birthday I took the day off and sallied forth with wifey to the MGB Hive to buy new panels...................Oh joy of joys. A proper garage/business who it is apparent are very dedicated to ensuring your pride and joy is catered for. All with a free cuppa and friendly service too. Even rounded down the sum total of new rear wing, new inner outer wing, 1 mtr of wing beading, front wing repair section and rear light bump Plus a free beaker !!!! Fitted repair section to front wing easy peasy. The MGB Hive even let me "joggle" the panel whilst waiting so that made it much easier.
Depression only set in when I came to cut the rusty section from my front wing with the scary grinder with cutting disc inserted. All went well for two thirds of the way from front to near the back, then clouds of white dust billowed forth .

Yes you've guessed it, the rear portion of the wing was full of filler. How much filler though ?
Bloody lots........and lots ...........and lots. There must have been one eight of an inch covering up one hell of a depression. Funny that it was not visible from the inside though.
So welded on new bottom half repair panel leaving only slight kink in shape of curve of wing near door gap. Remedied this with expertly applied filler.
God................aint sandin filler borin ( best Yorkshire dialect.....I am from Sheffield !!)
Anyways, after what seemed like an eternity it looked good and fitted a treat with good gaps etc. Even ventured into bowels of shed to find wing retaining bolts.......this took approx 70 mins as most of the contents had to be removed then replaced to much sweat and cursing.
The net result is the wing fits almost perfect, the door has the quarter light fixed, sort off to aid alignment and some gentle persuasion of the bolts for the wing should see it all tickety boo.
Here it is in all its glory. The rear wing has been added for show as a giant ego boost fro me.

The car was bought with it missing so to see one propped up there is a major boost, even though its only duck tape keeping it attached . It looks wonderful and a real sign of progress.
I'm really looking forward to attaching the rear wing and inner /outer wing.
Please take note though...........when welding be sure that the panels are perfectly aligned.
Otherwise adding and sanding filler is messy, dirty and very very boring.

More soon............!!!

I've got a Fan

Yes folks, hard to believe but I got it myself after a lot of hard work.






The fan is actually the heater fan removed from the MG with no little effort, lots of sweat and pondering and probably even more swearing.






For once I didn't read the the MG bible by Mr Porter. I read another publication I bought on E-Bay for a fiver. It's very good, don't get me wrong. But removing the heater is a dirty job so I popped indoors and got said book because its a little grimy ( For our colonial cousins read dirty)






Read instructions and away I went. Some inventive blows with the hammer onto the large screwdriver in turn resting on Phillips screws very rusty, managed to free them without loss or damage. Removed two hoses connected to front of heater, easy peasy.

Should be free to be lifted up and forward, perhaps with some gentle persuasion.

Grrr......


puff.......


pant......


ouch !..( screwdriver slipped)


wrestle...


rock........


Time for a re-think. The bloody little thing would not budge.


Looked under dashboard to see if any pipes are connected......No, not much is actually connected dash-wise anyway after its removal and a few heater pipes last year.


Pokes around into where base of heater feeds to....nothing.


Back to wrestling then, but re-positioned to LH side of car.


Slowly some movement but then static and unmovable.


Grrrrr


Reads book again


Wrestles again.............more Grrr


Looks at mess under dashboard again.


Re-reads book......................................Ooooops "REMEMBER TO DISCONNECT THE HEATER CONTROL WIRE AT THE DASHBOARD CONTROL LEVER"


Yes it said it there right in the first paragraph. How can you not understand that !!! doh!!


So here is a picture to prove it.

There on the transmission top was a rather rusty and forlorn device dangling like an ignored heater control lever. Two small nuts undone and away it came from the brake cable type wire and sheath. Round to the heater box, a few wiggles and plop. Out it came.

Well bugger me, it was the wire holding it in all the time. Don't let that fool you though.

Apparently they are quite difficult to remove, and even harder to put back with nice new fat and not very spongy foam seals. The heater don't look too bad. It would never have worked though. The large flap at the base of the fan, which directs air down to the four internal pipes/vents was rusted shut and stuck with manky foam. The bracket that the wire attaches to on the flap had also parted company with the flap so not all was in vain. The rest of the heater looks in good nick. It just needs a good clean and new seals/foams. The wonderful MGOC offers uprated heater matrix and larger fan as the heater on the MG is not the best. In fact our American friends think its the heater from hell. Hey-ho, you have global warming now.

I'm tough though and can stand a little cool air in winter. ...................Ha. Not true. I cant afford or won't spend the money, on what I see as a pretty pointless mod.

Here is a view of the base of the heater box.

Great Innit !

Next few week should see some major strides in bodywork additions. Wifeys allowing me loadsOmoney to spend as a birthday prezzie. New L front wing base repair section, new L rear wing complete, repair panels for inner outer wing. Hope it don't rain then as we've not seen any for a few weeks..yippeeeee.

Sods law though. I've got no money so not much work has been done.

I'll be 50 next post.................almost one of Wogans T.O.G's

see you all soon

things went to plan......about bloody time !

Well look left, some progress to show and it ain't half bad.


The doorskin bought on E-bay looks great and was fitted by me, myself all alone and with no help, no disasters or dodgy happenings. Twin No 1 did hold the door whilst I hammered down the curvy bits near the top, however he got bored after approx 15 seconds so spent at least 3 minutes arguing with recalcitrant teenager on father/son bonding issues.


However, back to the progress, this is how it happened.......all according to plan, almost.


Once said doorskin had been purchased I set to work removing old doorskin by grinding the edges on three sides ( Most of the top is open to accommodate the window)


I had done this before last summer remember when practicing on a scrap door ( again bought on E-bay, this time I was conned somewhat as it was beyond repair, under the filler was new panels welded directly on top of the old rusty ones)


The old skin came away fairly easily since there was rust around all three sides. The front corner was probably the worse with nothing their at all.


So, some skill, logic and experience came to the fore. Most of the lips of the door, but not all, were rusty so needed replacing. Thus at strategic points I left parts of the lip in tact and welded on new lips. This was tricky in itself as I kept blowing holes when welding next to the remaining lips as it was so rusty. But with time and patience I managed to get a full ( almost) lip with only about 3 cm total ( 1" for non metricated) missing in two places. Used a excellent product called "Kurust" from Hammerite on the remainder of the lip and inside door bottom.


This stuff looks like milk but dries quickly to a dark Blue/Black and stops rust dead.


I think I'll need a lot of this. I literally poured it into the windscreen pillar base and on the rear window surrounds till I get chance to repair them.
Anyway, after it has dried a liberal coat of red-lead ( another Hammerite product) all over lips, inside door frame, outside door frame and inside of doorskin, we were ready to fit the skin.

So, a few days later ( actually Easter Saturday 2007) I set to fitting the skin.

I must admit this worried me as I did not want to make a balls of it as a new door would be over £100 quid. After reading the fantastic Mr Porters book on how to, I did as he said.

Tapped the edge all way round a few degrees in, taking it slowly and steady. After about eight circuits of the door it was ready for the edges to be bashed down firmly using a short block of wood and keeping the doorskin side supported underneath.

Hey presto here's the result..............................

My biggest concern was how the door bottom would line up with the sill I fitted. I expected to have the same gap as the old door which was around 10mm ( 3/8")

But NO it looks good. with some taps and bangs on the hinges I'm sure Ill get a good fit.

The waist swage line is a little high according to the wing but what the hell. The wing needs extensive repair and won't fit or go back on as it came off for some reason.

Below is a shot of the wing I've moved on to repairing. The bottom half will be replaced with a new panel but the inside double wall strengtheners and mounting nuts need attention.

Also the front headlight orifice needs a new inner piece ( available for £4.40)

The rusty double wall panels have been treated with kurust already.

More soon folks ! I'm off to scoff the kids easter eggs.