Luv2Wrench

A good starting point on the electrical side is to make sure that line (likely black) from your shop is going to Line on the motor and neutral (likely white) to the other wires (usually in a bundle). It is possible to get this switched and it still work, however, you can get a bit of "line" on the casing of the motor and thus you'll get a bit of shock. This reminds me I need to start keeping a better lookout for a TP grinder.

looks pretty similar... I don't think the bumper is stock and they both seem to have the same bumper, height, color, etc.

AWESOME!! If one has the space, one cannot have too many machines with that much style. How are you doing to hydro test the tank? What do you need for that?

This is exactly how my metalwork looks before I wake up from my dream.

Yeah, I'm probably going to pay whatever it is as it is a good lathe otherwise. It is MT5 and I do have the collet adapter, a reasonable set of collets and a drawbar. Once it is straight I should be good to go.

I've gotten more hours of work in this week and weekend than probably the entire time I've had the car... and yet the finish line seems to move further away. I think I'm at the part of the restoration where everything thing I do uncovers 2 more things that need to be done, 3 more things I don't have, 4 things I need to order and a half dozen more questions. I managed to get the wheel arch covered in vinyl and test fit the rear panel. I wasn't very happy with the fit (gap towards the front) and debated about what I could do about it as I tried to get some sleep. I awoke the next more to find that it had solved my dilemma... as it had "uninstalled itself". I guess it needed a little more adhesive. I have some ideas for removing the gap and will refit later. While test fitting the rear panel I realized that I had to hang the doors first. Of course the doors needed to be wet sanded and buffed again... and a dozen other issues surfaced. I eventually got one door hung... and it even closes. While test fitting the door handles I realized the chrome guy ground down part of the inside of the handle so the fit is very loose. I have some ideas to fix it but I'll probably order a replacement set and see how they look. I did a lot of organizing to try and verify what I have and what I need. I've spent hours and hours going over pictures of unrestored MG TDs trying to make sure I'm getting mine back together the way it was done originally. I think I easily have over 100 hours in research to make sure I get the car back the way it was built. I think starting with a car that is taken apart and missing a lot of stuff is just very difficult though at times I've enjoyed the challenge. I'll be happy when it is over.

Spectacular job! Every time I see you using collet in your lathe I get sad knowing that my spindle nose is bent. Last week I found a place here in town that should be able to fix it, I don't know what the cost will be. I'm taking it over in a week or so for an estimate. They normally work on CNC spindles but the guy is an old iron addict himself so he said he'd be happy to take the job on. I also found a 4-jaw (7.5" South Bend chuck made by Skinner) while old tool hunting over the weekend. Scored a 24x18 granite surface plate on that same hunt. I'll need to make a back plate for the chuck but shouldn't be too much of an issue once I get the spindle true. I'm pretty darn excited.

Thanks! The Metz is packed up and waiting its day in the sun. I stalled out on the Metz as I lacked skills, money and tools. The MG is a unique project as my brother is funding the parts and we will be selling it once complete. During the 3 years I've been working on the MG I've managed to acquire most of the tools I need for the Metz. The main thing I lacked when working on the Metz was metal working tools. I now have a metal lathe, shaper, planer, milling machine and a fair amount of general machinist tools. The lathe is restored but the others will need a pretty fair amount of work. Once the MG is done I will start on restoring the machine tools and setting up my machine shop. The Metz will be the next project after that. I've added painting, welding and general machine work to my skill set so I think I'll be better able to handle the Metz this time. The money situation is also a lot better so that will certainly help. Each time I drive on I-75 around White I remember your place, those great roadsters and how you took my spare Metz parts to Hershey and brought back the seat and other critical parts. I'll always be thankful for you making that trip. Thanks again!

Glad to hear you guys are doing well and fun to see you new project. As to you comments about hoarding things, taking them apart and not putting them back together, well, I can tell you I resemble that comment.

Got the windshield installed! I had a LOT of issues with the windshield. I probably put that thing together and took it apart a dozen times. That "fun" continued right down to the end because after finally getting it installed it wouldn't fold down. It took awhile to realize that the side supports the interface between the mounts on the car and the side of the windshield were swapped. As such, back off the car it came, swapped the sides and then, finally, back on the car. One of the details I'm really proud of is the etching I added. Thanks to an MG enthusiast I was able to buy a vinyl masking and etch the "Triplex Plate" etching that was on the glass when original. It even has the correct date code on it.

Great progress! Love that you're feeling some momentum now. Sometimes I think the restoration process is as much mental as it is physical. You've done a great job of getting out to the shop and getting something done on a regular basis. I could've done a much better job with that.

Thanks! It has been a learning process but a lot of fun. I'm now working inside with LED lighting above and a 7000 lumen LED work light 3' from the car. This makes it so much easier. Making sure I sand in one direction and then rotate 90 degrees with the next grit is key. With this better lighting I can easily if I haven't gotten the previous grit's scratch marks covered. I finished the rest of the tub and will start on the interior tomorrow!

I've been making good progress getting ready to install the interior and top. Before I actually kick that off I needed to cut/buff the tub. While that has gone just fine, I did the cut/buff inside rather than outside because it was hot outside... like really hot. I had read to do the wet sand and cut/buff outside because of the "great light". Well... that might be true for those with poor lighting in their shop, but it appears that I should've been doing this inside. I definitely did not get all the scratches out of some of the panels as once I brought them into the shop I could see some issues. It isn't a problem but it does mean more time as I'll need to re-sand and cut/buff some areas.

Good eye Chris, I didn't touch the two concave areas or the edges of the tank as both areas are covered. The concave areas (bead rolled at factory to keep the tank skin from flexing) are covered by the big straps that hold the tank onto the back of the car. The edges are covered by chrome end caps. Had those areas not been covered I would have done two things differently. First, I would have prepped those areas to an extreme before I painted... like get them absolutely perfect.. Second, while I would have wet sanded those areas as normal, I would have cut/buffed by hand. Note that all the wet sanding I'm doing is by hand and you pretty quickly learn to feel and hear the surface finish that you're working on. You should always be using very minimal pressure as the goal is to let the grit on the paper to cut down the imperfections and it doesn't do that well if you're pushing down. The biggest thing I learned wet sanding is to start with (if needed) 800 grit and just get the "tops" of the imperfections cut off. Then with 1000 grit you get it almost flat. The pass with 1500 takes everything down further and get the surface dead flat, you'll do no more leveling at this point. The passes with 2000 and 3000 are light and fast. Also.. more direct to your point, I put masking tape over areas that I feared sanding through and just didn't touch them at all. I tried doing an edge or two in the beginning and sanded through them almost instantly. Any sharp edge is going to be a huge challenge. I changed how I did filler and how I shot paint on the edges to account for that. If you haven't painted before, and I can't stress this enough, you should do one panel all the way through to the finish to get a feel for the challenges. It will change the way you do body work, filler, block sanding, prep, painting, etc. Also understand you're going to get a lot better by the time you finish the car... and want to do parts from the beginning over. That's not a problem, I re-cleared the tub and a couple of other panels.

Look on GovDeals, Craigslist, eBay and other places for used big air compressors. There's a good chance you can find an old Ingersoll Rand (or similar) with a 5HP motor for less than $500. You might need to purchase a rebuild kit but those are not that expensive. While somewhat harder to find, you might find a dedicated HLVP system like Martin has. This site https://www.autobody101.com/forums/ has a wealth of information and a lot of forum members that will jump right in to help out. Thread hijack over. Looking great Martin! I'll be in Phoenix in 2 weeks but we're flying in so we will not be driving past your neck of the "woods".

Got the gas tank finished today. Since there is a spare tire covering most of it I didn't do much if any bodywork on the tank. The paint on it is a bit rougher as well but I thought I would post some pictures to show the wet sanding to buffing stages. Starting point, fairly heavy orange peel present. You can tell this by the lack of detail in the reflections (tree branches, leaves, etc) First very light pass with 1000 grit so that you can see just how many issues there are. Now it is pretty flat and I've stepped up to 1500 grit. Final pass with 3000 and ready for cut pass with buffer. Cut complete using wool pad and Meguiar's M105 cutting compound. After buffing with M205 and a soft foam pad.

The timer broke on our large toaster oven in the house... so I moved it to the shop.

Wonderful car!!

The end caps didn't turn out that great. They look fantastic from 3' or more away. If you get close you can see where I masked the chrome off and painted. There is a definitive edge as I shot a primer, 2 coats of base and 4 coats of clear. The original way they did this was to shoot the whole thing (single stage) and then wipe the paint off the chrome edge. Since I was shooting base/clear I didn't think I could do this. If I were doing it again I would figure a way to take my base and make it single stage and shoot it and wipe it off. It isn't bad enough that I'd do it again, but it is one of those details that a concourse car would have correct. My end caps were re-chromed as well. I masked off the edges and then scuffed it up with 400 grit paper. What grit you use depends on what your base will hide so you might consult with your paint provider to be sure.

These guys. Friction drives are quite literally in their wheelhouse. http://www.paperpulleys.com/pages/home.html Their "special page" http://www.paperpulleys.com/pages/special.html

That shop... with all the space and all the cars... just wow!! Can't wait to see how this rebuild goes, thanks for taking the time to post!

you can take a bucket of hardware to a plater and get them plated. Black oxide if old hardware, zinc if newer. I blasted and plated all the hardware on my MG TD one at a time and that was nuts (and bolts)... not doing that again. The only downside is that most places have a minimum amount they'll do. My plater wouldn't even say what it was, he just said it was $175 and I could bring all the nuts and bolts I wanted.

Here in the south, our idea of "a little moisture in the air" is also called "rain without clouds overhead"... ie; 80% humidity. In those conditions your air system has to be really good at removing water or that's what will be in whatever you're trying to spray. That, Roger, might be behind what you've heard. I have a pre-tank intercooler on my compressor and it pulled out nearly a gallon as I sprayed 4 coats of clear yesterday. If I didn't have that, 50' of copper, multiple water traps, 2 quarts of desiccant beads and a sub-micron filter at the end... I would have been spraying water along with the clear this weekend. So yes, what you've heard is generally true. Where Martin lives, however, spit evaporates before it hits the ground.

Thanks! The clear lays down and flows out inversely proportional to my amount of care. If I have no cares at all and plan on wet sanding until my arm falls out... then it does a great job. If I try to get something that only requires minor wet sanding and a buff... well, disaster awaits. In all seriousness, I've given up on trying to get the clear right. My goal now is to get a lot of it on and do a "not terrible" job. I'm going to be wet sanding it regardless of how good it turns out anyway... and once you get it cut dead flat with the sand paper the next grits up goes really quick. Obviously my car is smaller than the trunk lid of your car so I can afford to do that. I'm thinking my next car needs to be even smaller and have no chrome.

Got the tub in the booth, scuffed it, fixed a couple of nicks and re-cleared it. I also had to fix/re-clear the gas tank, end cap, strap and running board. That all went well and with any luck that'll be the last paint I need to do on the car. The wheels still need to be painted and there's misc black primer on some bumper pieces but that should be all the green paint and clear. I'll need to wet sand and buff but I'l probably wait a few days on that. Very excited to, hopefully, start assembling the car for the final time.