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Today I finished the rest of the spot welding where the vertical door pillars meet the inner rocker. Turned out nicely, although the metal is weak, so may add some more small patches for support. Ground down all the other spot welds to get them looking half way normal. I'll see about maybe adding some more metal to some of my crappier welds that got a little melty towards the bottom of the weld. Also put rust inhibitor on the first section of the inner rocker (Photo 3). On the side, I broke out the Clogmaster 2000 and got in some blasting time. Lots of clogging, but I'm pretty good at clearing the clogs and getting back to it quickly. Just slow as I'm either running low on air, or the metal is so pitted that it just takes a while to do it right. Here's the brake master cylinder support bracket with two inner fender splash panels right before I started (Photo 1). Here's a few of the smalls I was working on the side (Photo 2). I should have the entire master cylinder and assembly finished tomorrow. I'll do a before and after. It started out looking like someone nuked it. A previous owner decided instead of replacing the rubber seals in and around the master cylinder that he would just use some type of crappy black caulking. What a mess. At least it was fairly easy to remove.

Worked some smalls during this week and finished the brake and clutch pedal assembly. Here's a before (October 2016) and after (Photos 1 & 2). This weekend, I'm going to focus on finishing the rest of the spot welds at the base of the door vertical supports, then grinding down the spot welds and finalizing the driver's rocker panel area with primer and black paint. No feedback from the British Car shop, unfortunately. They were supposed to do inventory of all the parts I dropped off, update their engine parts inventory for my engine and update the invoices. I'm giving them until Sep 30th and if I don't hear back, I'll have to call them again and see if they've made any progress and maybe have another talk.

Steve, sounds good. Our next trip to the yard is Sep 11th. -Chris

What a great car. If you are looking for any additional parts, I know of about 5 of them in a junkyard here in Virginia (Not SS427's, of course).

Got in a third day of work today. Was happy enough with the rocker yesterday, so taking a break from it today, plus it was quite hot today. I got out my gauges but decided these need to go to a professional. May need some chrome work and will need to be disassembled and calibrated. The fuel gauge has a mud wasp nest in it I could probably do most of it myself, but will end up doing it twice when the gauges don't work properly as I missed something. Instead, I worked on some more smalls. First, the inner support braces for the windshield. These pieces were heavily corroded, but still quite solid. I had them in evapo-rust the last two days, and that helped (Photo 1). I then gave them a flap wheel and wire wheel treatment, then coated them with rust inhibitor. I don't trust the repro stuff to fit or have the correct tapped threads in the correct location, plus any part that can be saved and reused will be saved and reused, as I've mentioned previously. I then moved on to the brake and clutch pedal assembly. Was able to disassemble them and get them either rust-inhibitor coated and primed, as needed (Photo 2) Will be able to reuse everything except an excessively worn brake pedal pivot and link, as the pivot hole has ovaled out. I started on the brake master cylinder holder bracket assembly, but didn't get too far. That's all for now. Will probably be able to finish priming and painting the rest of these parts and should start grinding and prepping the rest of the inner rocker this week as well. Hope everyone had a great Labor Day.

Got the inner rocker spot welded in today (Photo 1). Went fairly well, but will need some grinding to get the welds nice and flat, and probably a little more fill in where I burned thru a little. Still need to spend some time getting the side flanges on the vertical door supports hammered back into shape and spot welded as well, but these will need a little more time, they are quite sloppy. Outer rockers will have to wait a little longer, while I finesse the inner rocker. Also was able to drill out all the remaining brass screws on the windshield frame, so now the whole mess is ready for chrome. Will need a lot of replacement screws, nuts, and inner support braces. Tried to save as much as possible, but only able to save able half of those parts, due to corrosion or stuck/broken screws. Getting a parts list ready for Fall Hershey and for Moss to get some misc parts and continue working the side projects. The next side project may be the gauges. Haven't touched them at all.

These were used into the 80's on cop Furys and Diplomats, too.

Do you still need this part? If so, I'll be trying the junkyard again on Sep 11th.

Finally, Labor Day weekend! What better way to celebrate than...to labor. Productive 1 1/2 days so far. First, when and saw my engine at the shop. Just a bare metal block at this point. Also dumped off all my engine parts (Photo 1). The shop will start inventory and get the block powder coated and start on the work soon (hopefully). The other owner is very communicative and appears to have taken over the communication part from the other owner, so that makes me feel better about things getting done and me hearing about it. Got my windscreen apart, but still have some hardware to remove before it's ready for chrome plating (Photo 2). Had to heat up most of the interior metal with a propane torch to get some of the brass screws out. Some of them just broke off at the top when I tried to remove them. Will be a lot of work to get them all out, mostly will have to drill them out. Finished minor pin hole repair and did some more grinding and got the driver's side inner rocker roughed in (Photo 3). Fits well overall. Will need a lot of metal work at the base of the door pillars, but should be able to save most of what there after I remove the rust. Will probably have to make a few very small patch panels after the fact. The goal will be to get both the inner and outer rockers welded in this weekend.

Got a call back from the British Car shop. The engine is finally back in their shop and the machine work is complete. Took 11 months and two engines. I will be delivering all the original engine parts I restored/replaced that went to the old block for installation on the new block. I'm hoping that not many parts that we left on my old block are needed for the new block, like mounting hardware. I took most of it off for restoration, pretty much just left the block and head. The shop says they have my original engine ID tag, so I'm hoping they didn't lose it in the last 11 months. Finally, a big step with the MGA, it's been a series of baby steps for quite a while now and low progress. Labor Day weekend is coming up, so I hope to complete the rocker welding, or at least get the inner rocker installed, and I hope to complete my next side project, disassembly of the windshield frame assembly. I already started, but all the screws are quite corroded and are not coming out easily. There will be lots of drilling, I'm afraid.

Hello, Unfortunately, our junkyard trip was postponed due to high heat and one of our group being out. We should be trying again in 2-3 weeks. If you still need this bracket at that time, I can try again. Is the bracket you are talking about the steel colored one that is mostly vertical and attached to the throttle cable and top of the dash pot at the top and what looks like a vacuum rod at the bottom or is it the orange panted bracket that is at the bottom of the dash pot (this may just be a piece of the intake, hard to tell from the photo)?

Well, another two-week pseudo-deadline has passed by and no phone call about my engine, as per usual. I called the shop and was unable to speak with the guy I usually speak with, he was busy all day, even though I left a message. I called back again later, since I didn't expect him to cal me back, and I was able to speak with another one of the owners (there are 3 owners). The other owner, who I've spoken to before told me that the new machine shop had mistakenly done some of the honing at ~60 degree crosshatch angle instead of the requested 30 degree crosshatch, probably due to incorrectly slowing/stopping the honing machine and pulling it out prematurely. I've never done any honing, this is just what I was told, but it makes some sense, so this accounts for the latest delay. I spoke further with owner #2 about owner #1 never communicating after he says he will contact me. I was very polite, but still matter of fact, as an FYI that this is a problem for me and probably for other customers that owner #1 deals with. He took it very professionally and addressed the problem and will have further discussion with owner #1. He then called me back before they closed to give me an update, which is a good thing. He says the machine shop should have this done again by Monday PM and that owner #1 will call if owner #2 doesn't call in the meantime. So, I think I was able to communicate with them that I am not pleased at all with their communication, but in the most polite but direct way possible. The other stuff is a combination of some bad luck, gross incompetence, and poor workmanship and attention to detail on two different machine shops. More than ever, it's hard to find good people. I guess this post is more venting than anything else. In the meantime, I finished most of the seat parts (Photo 1 & 2). Pretty boring photos; more of the same. Now, hopefully onto getting the engine built up and having the shop get it running over the next 2-3 weeks. Also, getting back to the driver's side inner rocker panel and getting that welded in during the same time frame. Fender blasting at a blasting shop will have to wait a ;little while due to funding limitations.

Another hot day here, but I had to tough it out. Got the Clogmaster 2000 out early and had almost 2 hours of run time, although many, many clogs/unclogs. The more I use it, the faster I can get it cleared and running again. although eventually, it will get permanently clogs and I have to quit. The water traps were like waterfalls today, but somehow I pressed thru and got some good strings in between clogging. Blasted the driver's seat frame, the seat bucket mesh, two seat rails, plus two of the flash-rusted dash support brackets (Photos 1 & 2). I also wire wheeled the seat sliding brackets (didn't want to blast them with slider mechanism on there) and the seat back pivot support brackets. I completed all the hardware a few days ago. Right after all this, I was able to get some rust inhibitor on the parts (Photo 3). Did fairly well, as the humidity drops just enough throughout the day to get it to work. In a day or two, I'll get some primer on all these parts, plus the rocker vertical support panel on the body. Getting close to being able to weld on the inner rocker panel. In the next month, I hope to have the rocker work finished, buy seat upholstery and foam, and get all four fenders blasted and in primer. I don't think I'll have time this year to get the body blasted and primed before the weather gets cold, probably wait for the spring. Also, I'd really like to get my engine working and back on the chassis so I can also put all the floor panels and other parts back on the car. I'll be moving the chassis to the back of the garage at that point, thoroughly clean it (it's a dusty mess now), and put a cover on it, then I can have the body up front so it can easily be moved in or out of the garage and I don't have to worry about the chassis being in the way. Overall, pleased with my current progress, even though I'm way behind where I thought I would be.

Looking great, nice work!

Would you happen to have a photo of one, so we can see what it looks like in case we find one? I'm headed to a junkyard on Wed that has many Buicks of this era, I may be able to track one down.

Ha! The Machine shop. The next two-week "deadline" is Wednesday. This is when they are supposed to have the engine back from the machine shop and in the British Car facility. Of course, I've received no phone call about this, nor have I ever received a phone call, with the exception of once the first month the engine was in the shop. I'm quite angry at this point, as I will have to call again on Wednesday asking where my engine is and I'll get another vague response. IT has been over 11 months now! Normally, I wouldn't tolerate this, but my only other option is to burn a bridge, get the engine back myself and find another shop to help me out That's problematic as I don't have an easy means to cart an engine around, I have no guarantee that any other shop will be any better, and this shop has an engine test stand, so I'm apt to attempt to ride it out and slowly put some pressure on them to wrap this up. In addition, I see these guys at many of the British car shows, they are advertisers in our club publication and many other club members use them. They seem like good guys, too, but I can only tolerate so much. We;ll see what happens on Wednesday. Ok, since I'm updating again, the humidity is reduced here, but the heat is up. I was able to weld up most of the pin holes and I was able to grind most of the welds down to a"presentable" level. Again, I'm not too concerned with it, as it will all be hidden under the rocker panels anyway. The biggest concern is rust prevention and maintaining a solid structure. I also got the metal ground down to bare metal for the rocker area and I applied rust inhibitor, as there was a little more surface rust here than on the other side (Photo 1). I'll prime this up tomorrow and continue chasing the odd pinhole and probably continue to do some additional grinding. When I'm ready for welding in the interior rocker panel, I'll grind off the primer in that area and maybe use a little weld-thru primer here. I haven't done much to the inside portion of either side of the car at the rocker, other than grind the welds mostly flat. I'll probably just have this all sandblasted with the rest of the car. Also got one of the dash support brackets painted, one a re-rust inhibited, and the other two are surface rusted from last night (Photo 2). So far, no more surface rust on the stuff I just sprayed, although the middle of the rocker support is looking suspect.

No posts in a while. Took some time off to do a 1-week tour of some cool stuff in the mid-west. Also been working overtime and have had almost zero time, as usual nowadays. Finally got another weekend at home to work on the MGA. I've been grinding the welds on the driver's side rocker with some success. Will need to fill in some pin holes, but making slow progress. should be able to do more this weekend. Since I don't have enough time after work to do much, I've been slowly working on the seats and more side projects., as they take minimal time to process. I almost have the seat frames and hardware all finished, but yesterday and today, hit a snag due to 150% humidity. Here's what I have so far (Photo 1). I'll be able to reuse the original rubberized horse hair padding with both seats. The seat lowers will need all upholstery items, but the frames and hardware are all salvageable. Should be buying new foam and leather upholstery in mid-Sep, as Moss is having a 15% off sale for over $1,500 spent. Next side project are the 4 instrument cluster support brackets. Pretty easy. Stripped some metal and tried to prep it with rust inhibitor, but it just flash rusted after treatment almost immediately (Photo 2). Luckily, no big deal, just need to strip it down quickly and try again when humidity is lower. Putting off blasting and stripping of the rest of the seat frame parts due to humidity. Will probably focus on more welding. I've decided to get all 4 fenders into a blasting company, then prime them up before the winter. My blaster is too slow and clogs too quickly for me to strip both sides of even one fender, so will have to farm this out. Spreading it out will allow flash rust to form and I usually don't have multiple days to do it at once, so will have to pay up to get it all done at once.

Still for Sale. Now $199 + shipping...

Last update for the weekend, won't have any other updates for a couple weeks. Today was one of the most productive days I've had. Was able to weld in my new metal to the front of the inner rocket support (Photo 1); Will need a lot of grinding and pinhole filling, along with the rest of the panel, but this is the big step. I will probably hit this from the inside as well, to further strengthen the butt weld. Also got a lot accomplished with the seat. I removed the rust from the lower seat support mesh, primed, and painted it (Photo 2). This piece is ready for foam and seat covers. I also primed and painted the small portion of the seat frame upper that is exposed where it folds. Early this morning, I was able to use my Clogmaster 2000 for almost an hour before it clogged up, due to cooler temps, less humidity, and me keeping the compressor and blaster in the shade and at roughly the same temperature. Finished the instrument panel and the lower seat frame (Photo 3). Was also able to break out the spray gun and put some good etching primer on the instrument panel. Couldn't quite get the spray pattern fine enough, so ended up with a few runs, but it will be fine once I sand it. For now, just trying to get as many sheet metal panels that will have a color coat on them in primer so I can keep away flash rust. This is the passenger seat, not driver's as I said a few posts ago. I'll do some minor assembly of the seat components and all that's left is to have them upholstered, which will probably be in the spring.

The guys on the MGA forum say it's around Mar-Apr. I'll wait. Haha. I've been messing with when and how I blast, so this morning, I got up very early and had everything set up outside in the shade, where it was fairly cool. I kept the blaster and compressor next to each other, so they were the same temperature. I cleared the water traps frequently, and was actually able to get a good 45 minutes of blasting before it clogged. In the past, I had the blaster in the sun and compressor in the shade, or vice versa, or blasted during mid-day, so slowly learning what it like and doesn't like. Today was very successful. I'll probably shift to welding this afternoon. The real life stuff is difficult. I keep progress by trying to do at least something each day, even if it is something like moving bolts from storage to the work bench for 1 minute. Everything adds up and keep the momentum going, no matter how small. Hope you can find some more time and keep the progress going. Chris

In addition, I cut out the rot on the front of the inner rocker support and cut out a new piece to weld in (Photo 1). Didn't get it welded in to day as it was very hot and I had many other projects. I will try to at least get it tacked in tomorrow. Also, here is the seat back for the driver's seat (Photo 2). It still has the original rubberized horse hair padding, which was in excellent condition, so I will reuse it with my new leather upholstery. I think the Moss Interior sale is in Spring, so I will probably refinish everything I can and leave the upholstery until the spring. I'm also repainting the portion of the metal seat frame to remove some surface rust and make it look nice again, which is why there is blue tape on it. Tomorrow will try welding and try to break out the Clogmaster 2000 to see if I can get more than 3 minutes of blasting in before it clogs up tight.

Made more progress on the driver's seat today. Here's a closeup of the broken wooden seat base (Photo 1). I took some sheet steel, cut it to fit, painted it black and screwed it together with some wood screws to make a repair (Photo 2). Actually worked quite well, it's fairly solid now. A lot of extra work and money to replace it, so better to fix it.

Really enjoying the last part of this resto. Interesting how everyone hits a tipping point where it seems like just a pile of junk, then one day, you have most of a restored car sitting there. So much more fun to bolt on restored parts than to disassemble and redo parts. Great work!

It's been quite a while since I've posted, been out of town and just incredibly busy. My cable box, computer, router, TV, modem, and GPS unit all broke in the same week, both coincidentally and due to power surges. What a huge hassle to get that stuff fixed/replaced/diagnosed, etc. Almost back to normal. Was able to dabble with the MG, but not much progress until today. Got the middle portion of the vertical rocker support welded on. Took some extra effort, as I cut the piece a little too short at the top, so had to make some thin pieces to fill the gap. Turned out okay actually, just extra work (Photo 1). Of course, have a lot of grinding and finishing work to do before it's ready for the inner rocker panel. My side project is the seats. I took the driver's side seat apart today. Refinished the mounting brackets and sliding mechanism, so those are ready. Upon taking apart the lower seat, I found that some of the seat cover still had its original leather attached, although most of it had replacement vinyl sewn in. I also discovered an almost perfect circle drilled by a rodent (Photo 2) in the foam padding. The original Dunlopillo foam was still in the seat (Photo 3). The wood frame is broken, but I should be able to make a repair on the inside to keep everything as original as possible. I'll be getting all new foam and original style leather seat covers, probably when they go on sale. In the meantime, I will refinish and repair the wood lower seat frame and repaint the metal mesh middle support to get it ready for upholstery. Still have the actual seat frame to refinish. Should turn out great. It's been yet another month since I got an engine update. Today was the day it was supposed to have final machining and be back at the British Car shop. Of course I received no phone call. I called and had to speak to one of the other guys and he said "we found another shop, so we think we can get your engine to this new shop soon." I was speechless, as that's the same thing told to me a month ago. I said "there must be some mistake, check your records again." There was a mistake, my engine is actually at the new shop, but it is now expected back Aug 7th instead of today. More delays, but some minor progress. By the time I get the engine back in the car, it will end up being over a year. Terrible. I'm going to try to hit the MG hard this weekend and get as much of the rocker work done as possible. I really need this to be finished so I can work on the rest of the body. Once I get the engine back, I will have to move the chassis and body around in my garage so the body will be at the front, while the chassis is tucked away at the rear. IIt's now situated with the chassis about 10% under the body, which is up on saw horses. I will have to detail the chassis, as I have left it uncovered and it is coated in a thick layer of dust and grit at this pint. I should have covered it up while doing the hard metal work. No big deal, I guess. It will be cleaned and covered once the engine gets back in it. The side projects are working well. At the rate I'm going, once the main body and paint are finished, I should have almost all the other parts ready to just bolt in. Cheers to the weekend!

Thanks again. I bought these and they will need a slight bit of adjustment, but they are almost perfect. I appreciate the information greatly!