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I got my latest parts order earlier in the week, so I was able to begin finishing up the rest of my side projects. Thanks to Little British Car Co. for fulfilling the order when many other places are closed. The main project I did today was to restore the door top trim pieces. Here's what I started with (Photo 1). The one on top is original to my car. Half a dry-rotted piece of wood, half of the brittle leather remaining, although the metal curved piece was still good. I took the other trim piece from a replacement door I bought. The wood was dry rotted and had been broken and repaired many years ago. I took off the cheap vinyl trim to show what it looks like inside. I got two new pieces of wood from my parts order. These are Moss pieces. Guess what? Running theme here...the repro pieces are not the right shape! I had to spend about 30 minutes per piece to sand down the end where it connects to the metal, as it was too wide by a decent amount. I cannot understand why they would go to the trouble to make a fairly difficult piece, but not get the overall dimensions right. It costs the same to do it right versus doing it wrong, you still have to enter in measurements either way. It's a high-quality piece and most of it is well done, but the most important measurement was off fairly significantly. Anyway, I got it sanded down, cleaned up the metal curved pieces, bought some new screws, and attached the metal pieces to the new wooden pieces (Photo 2). Ready for "upholstery." I took more of the leather I had from when I did the other small trim pieces a few weeks ago, and cut it to size, roughly based on the red vinyl piece. Fit it and trimmed it to each piece, then attached the piping (Photo 3). I still need to cut out the trim where the hole for the side curtain escucheon piece goes, but that should take just a few minutes tomorrow. I was able to save the original front trim piece like these, that goes around the top of the scuttle, above the dash board. For whatever reason, the front and rear pieces are vinyl with padding and piping, but the side and door pieces are leather with piping, but no padding. Not sure why you wouldn't just make it all leather or all vinyl, but MG had different plans. I am mostly finished with the heater control assembly rebuild, but waiting on some specialized paint for the cables, as the aged and rusty raw steel cables will just rust again when I clean them up, so some type of preservative is warranted. This should be good timing, as I should run out of most small projects on the side just about the time I'll be getting the body blasted, in about 2 weeks.

Some small progress made this weekend, needed to get out of the house for a while, but still got a few things finished. I was successful in saving every part of the pull knobs, switches, and related pieces. I was able to unseize them all, with some help from Evaporust and penetrant oil, and I was able to piece back all the shattered knobs with the help of Loctite crazy glue and JB Weld. Here are two knobs in progress, pieced back together from about 5 broken pieces each (Photo 1). The lighter areas are JB Weld. I was able to sand them both to shape, drill a new hole (on the one on the left) and paint them with plastic semi-gloss. All that's left is to hand-paint the lettering on the front of some of the knobs. Next, I took the NOS door and drilled some holes for the side curtain mount (Photo 2) and for the top trim piece (Photo 3). I used measurements from my original driver's side door and mirrored them. I'll have to make a few size adjustments to the far rear hole as it needs to be a little oblong. I also repaired a couple dents I had missed during the first round, so I'll had to spray that bare metal area next time I do some more primering. Last, I have a preliminary appointment to get the body sand blasted in mid-May, so very happy about that. Chris

Would this just be the steel wheel? Do you have a photo of another wheel of the same design that you could post?

Completed the stripping of the door frame to bare steel and painted with rust inhibitor (Photo 1). This is the one original door, so needed a little more work than the NOS door (although not much more). I'm going to leave the inside original, except for the "floor," which is all surface rust. That will be the next step is to try to clean that up and stabilize it. Very lucky that overall the door is as solid as it is. The bad part about the NOS door is that it is missing most of the holes for trim, so I'll have to spend a lot of time lining all the holes up. Luckily, I have two other doors with which to compare, so could be fairly easy. After that, I will need to put on a layer of epoxy primer on the steel frame of both doors, then the doors will be finished. Other than the doors, I'm down to searching to scraps to restore while I wait for pollen season to be over so I can have the body blasted. I went in my parts shed, and I'm down to two baggies left of parts. I broke out the bag with all the dash knobs in them. This was quite a mess when taking this stuff apart. Most of it was very rusty and I ended up breaking 3 of the original Bakelite pull knobs, as the spring-loaded ball puts were frozen solid. I eventually got them all off and I kept the shattered parts of the original knobs for future reconstruction. Here's what I've completed so far. The turn signal switch and horn button are finished (Photo 2). I took apart the turn signal switch, as a new one is $180, to restore it. Turned out to be in very good condition, just needed a good cleaning. The exterior needed a little more work, but turned out really nicely. The knob was shattered when I took it off originally, so I epoxied it back together, sanded it really well, then painted it with plastic bumper matte black paint. You would never know it's not as delivered from the factory. Here's the dash light dimmer switch in pieces (Photo 3). It was a real mess. Everything is seized, the knob was shattered, and there was a lot of corrosion on the brass innards. I'm soaking the main portion of the switch in evapo-rust, hoping to free it up so it will turn freely. I'm trying super glue to glue the knob back together, then sanding and some paint. The other parts are cleaning up nicely and should function as expected if I can get the rest working. I really don't like the repro knobs, they are just cheap shiny plastic. Although they look reasonable and get the job done, I think it takes a lot away from the Bakelite originals. Just looks cheaper. I'm hoping I don't have a scenario like Christmas Story, where he tries to glue the lamp back together, only to find it hopelessly destroyed when he tried to use it again. Really getting excited about the car now, I can now see a light at the end of the tunnel. The body repair will be the last major hurdle, and it shouldn't be that bad once I see what welding I'll have to do. I think it's possible I could have this car finished for Hershey 2021. Safety Fast! -Chris

Wow, thank you very much for the information, I really appreciate it! -Chris

Definitely 70's, from the box logo. I did some deeper diving and found that it is an arming key/switch- http://www.delcoremy.com/find-a-part/product-details/1116705 It looks like the ones that guys in the 70's would put on the front fender of their Corvette or Chevelle that was part of the factory accessory alarm system. Maybe not the some exact style in the photo below, but same concept. Chris

Wild guess, but could it be for a rear power tailgate, like a Blazer or station wagon? I can't find anything on it on the internet.

Hello, I have a couple of NOS (Aftermarket) starter solenoids I got for free from a junk yard in a large parts stash, can't find info on them. What I do know are the part numbers, they have been sitting since 1970, and a majority of the parts have been Ford. NS 9146, made by RS Automotive (first two photos) NS 8140, made by RS Automotive (third photo) Any idea what these fit? I can't find any info on the ultranet... Thanks for any ideas. -Chris

Jeff, looking great! I thought maybe I'd catch up to you during the down time, but now you're pulling ahead. Can't wait to see this come together in the home stretch. What will the exterior and interior colors be? Are you going to take this thing to shows (when they have shows again, someday), or are you just going to drive it...or both? Chris

Thanks Keiser. I will probably have to make a lot more of them, since there are tons of them that joins the rocker panel trim to the weld seem of the rocker panel, and 90% of my fasteners were rusted to nothing when I took the car apart. Today I finished the bonnet release mechanism parts (Photo 1), which cleaned up easily and nicely. I dumped a lot of other hardware such as the bonnet latch hook and some more fender mounting nuts and bolts into some evapo-rust to let them sit for a few days so I can get those cleaned up nicely as well. In between everything, I continued to work on the door (Photo 2). This is an original door to the car, so there is a lot of surface rust on the lower part of the door, but it's still quite solid. Due to the rust, I decided to clean it up in sections, then use some rust encapsulator to seal it up and prevent it from coming back (in black in the photo). The inside of the door skin is reasonable, so I will probably leave it alone and just clean it, but the lower inside of the door frame has a lot or surface rust, so I'll have to clean that up the best I can, then encapsulate it None of this will been seen, as the door panel and pouch will cover it up. Other than that, I dug out the tach drive cable and it's a little worse for wear, with some fraying of the cable and disintegration of the cable wrapping and a lot of rust on the steel cable tube wrap, where the plastic cable wrapping has come off. I'm going to replace the part, don't think I can work with this one.

Glad I could help. If you're not there already, try this group: http://www.1948plymouth.info/28Q29U/ This portion of this forum is for 28-32 4cyl Plymouths. Some really knowledgeable folks there and a great source for tech, parts, etc. You have to register, but you should get in quickly. Chris

Hello, here are some photos of the battery access cutout and the hole where the cutout goes. As far as I know, all the wooden pieces are original. Please also note the small spring attached to the cutout piece, which holds it in place and prevents rattling. You can also see how the floorboard butts up to the kick panel. If you have further questions, please let me know.

Not sure about 4-speeds. The few real ones I've seen on the internet are all automatic

I have a 30-U Roadster built in early 1931. It has a one-piece floorboard with the battery access cutout piece in it. There is no metal piece over the trans. Not sure if the roadster is different than other body styles.

Jeff, Great work on the booth and the MG. We''ll both be back on the road before we know it at this point. Chris

I've also been working on the door top trim pieces. I took apart what's left of one original and one other one I had from a spare door. Both were in very poor condition and are not reusable. I was missing about 1/4 of the hardware for those pieces, and I can't find repros, so I made my own. Found an old piece of the correct gauge of sheet steel and started cutting it up to make 3 captive stud holders that are screwed into the wooden door top trim piece to secure it to the door. The original is the black one, my repros are in bare steel. Made them mostly by eye based on the original, so they are not perfect, but no one will see them embedded in the door trim. Next small project is the rest of the front hood release mechanism. I'll keep working on all these smalls until I finish them all, or until mid-May comes around, when I think I'll be able to get the body blasted and in primer.

1973 Chevy Malibu SS-454 Station wagon. They made around 200 of them. Never seen one in real life. Most of the ones on the internet are fakes. A true factory muscle car station wagon.

Taking a 3 day weekend to break up the monotony of not being able to do much except work and sleep. Getting a lot done with the MG recently. I started striping the paint off the steel portion of the door I have left. Taking my time with it. In the meantime, I've been working on a lot of smalls. Completed restoring the driver's side rear fender hardware. I'm down to some of the last parts now, for example, the ID tags (Photos 1 & 2). Photo 1 is the original, the day I got the car home in 2016. I took the tags, put some WD-40 on it and gave it a good once over with some very fine steel wool. I then wiped it off and hit it with some acetate. Next, I sprayed both tags with semi-gloss black paint and let it cure for a couple days. Then, I got some 600 grit sandpaper and affixed it to a long sanding board, flipped it upside down and carefully rubbed the tags over the sanding block. There is just enough relief that I could sand the paint off the graphics without touching the background. I'll have to do some minor touch ups, as the large tag was not perfectly flat in the corners. Not perfect, but I'd much rather have the original tags than the crappy reproductions that are offered. Certainly much better than where I started.

Thanks for all the tips, guys. I had a lot to order and the convenience and shared part numbers of LBC sold me. Didn't save much, as Moss gives me a customer loyalty discount and free shipping over a certain amount. I think I saved $5, which is just fine by me, plus I can actually place an order, unlike at Moss.

This weekend, I was able to finish the other rear upper deck trim piece (Photo 1). Turned out pretty well. I now have to screw in the snaps for the tonneau cover. However, I don't have the screws, as I had to cut the originals off the old piece. I called Moss Motors for another parts order, but they are closed up tight and not taking any orders for the duration, so a lot of my side projects will have to stay incomplete for a while. I then moved on to installing the speedometer cable, then on to tackling the heater control assembly. Couldn't be much easier (Photo 2). Just needed a good lubrication and de-rusting, as everything was seized up tight (Photo 2). I took the whole thing apart and cleaned it up, but I will need a new face plate, as the original bakelite version is too aged to reuse, mainly due to discoloration and that the lettering wore off. Of course, this will have to wait as well. Next, I moved on to putting epoxy primer on the outside of the doors. I had some leftover primer from the boot lid, so used the rest of it up before it went bad (Photo 3). Turned out okay, but these doors were pretty rough when I started, will probably need a little more work when I start sanding it. I still have to finish the steel part of the inner door for one of the doors, with the other one, I have some rough primer on there to keep it from rusting. Finally, I went back to restoring the rear fender mounting hardware by starting with some evapo-rust. Not many pieces left now. I think by May, I'll be left with only the rest of the body work. Just about every other part that needs restored has been restored. Very happy about the progress, although I think doing the body correctly may be a formidable task. Happy Easter and Happy Passover! Chris

Today I went back to the deck trim pieces and made some very good progress. I had a photo up from the other day, as I started on one and left the other one alone to use as a template. I took the one piece, stripped everything off, cut of all the screw heads (they were welded in there via electrolysis between the steel screws and aluminum main piece). I first cleaned the whole thing of aluminum oxide, and 60-year old bits of leather. Next, I drilled and tapped new holes as close as possible to the old holes, 4 for the tack strip and two on the other side for the lift -the-dot fastener. I cut a piece of buckskin leather I got from Tandy Leather, which is pretty much exactly the same as the original, cut it to size and screwed it in (Photo 1). Next, I went on Barney's MGA Guru site (Thanks Barney!) and read an article on how to recover one of these. I got some really nice leather from SMS fabrics, just like the original, plus some piping. I soaked the leather in water for about 20 minutes to make it more pliable and over about 1.5 hrs, slowly stapled the leather to the tack strip, slowly stretching the leather, removing and adjusting staples as needed, until I got it right. I then stapled on the white piping, which was much easier! I'm amazed at how well the results came out. Here's a before (lower) and after (upper) (Photo 2). On to the second one later in the week. Boy, nice leather isn't cheap! But, I think of the amount of money I saved vice farming this out to an upholsterer. Cheers!

Having to leave work at 2pm due to reciprocating shifts has given me a lot of extra time to spend out in the garage. Today, I decided to keep working on the windscreen wiper theme, so I finished just about everything. I found a set of NOS Lucas wiper blades at Hershey about 3 years ago, so I dug those out (Photo 1). You can see the original wrapping from ~1960 in this photo. Here are all the original pieces all cleaned up and ready to go, with the two NOS wiper blades attached (Photo 2). I was very happy, everything just needed a quick cleaning and polishing and they are as good as new. Still going to wait until May to start on the rest of he body to get through pollen season, so now will keep doing some misc parts, like the rest of the hardware for the fenders, and the speedo cable. I also got in some nice black leather from SMS fabrics along with some piping, so I can redo my rear deck trim.

I was able to complete the wiper motor main assembly today (Photo 1). It needed a thorough cleaning, re-greasing and rewiring. It still needs to be tested. Now I'm working on the mounting brackets and hardware. The secondary bracket that bolts through the bulkhead in the engine compartment was so badly rusted that the one side of it rusted in half. What was left of it disintegrated when I unbolted it from underneath. The part of the bulkhead where it attaches also rusted through. I'm guessing it was a low point and water had collected there over 45 years and ate through the metal. The rest of the bracket was in good shape, so I cut out the bad metal and made a new piece to weld on (Photo 2). It was a little tricky to set up for welding, since it's a fairly small piece (Photo 3). It turned out slightly off of flush but I was able to grind it down to an acceptable level. I then added in the lower 15/16th of an old screw of the correct pitch and put a washer around it and welded it all up to simulate a flat-sided threaded stud to fill the hole. Turned out really nice overall (Photo 4). No one will see it most of it, so I'm calling it good enough, although I may add a little filler to the small portion you can see to clean it up a little. This bracket is one of the few pieces that isn't reproduced, so have to repair the original.

Here's a repro of it: https://www.morris4x4center.com/speedometer-head-w-odometer-913373.html You're right, it's Jeep. Since AMC bought Jeep in 1970, it must be at least 1970. Since the federal gov't mandated 85-mph speedometers in all cars and light trucks in 1979, then it's no newer than 1979. Based on nothing but pure speculation, the order number starts with 78270, which could trans late to 1978, 270th day, which would be Sep 27th. Jeeps didn't necessarily have catalytic converters until 1979, many from 1973-1978 may have had a sticker that said "Non-Catalytic."

Amazing work. You guys make my work look like I'm building a snap-together model. Great to show how this is work done, and how it still can be done with the right tools and knowledge. There's still a great need for these skills, albeit among a relatively small amount of enthusiasts.