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Thanks Jeff. It's nice to be able to do things yourself and learn new skills, especially when the going labor rate in my area for just about any car work is $120/hr. Thanks for the tips about the body hammers and dollies, I can really feel the difference when I'm using the "real" tools. Now back to the garage...

Did more this morning, but took the afternoon off to do other things. I finished sanding the doors/hood/trunk and added a little glazing putty to some spots, but those pieces are effectively done for that phase. I moved on to the passenger side rear fender. It had a big whamo in it at the top. It looked like someone dropped something big and heavy on top of it (Photo 1). Kind of hard to see, but that shinny part is light from above it. It's dented in quite a bit. Was able to easily hammer it out with a sand bag, rubber mallet, and some fine tuning with the body hammers (Photo 2). Turned out quite straight, overall. It will still need some final work, but it's about 95% done. The rest of the car body is mostly dent free. I then went back to the front valance panel and finished the welding. It was really tough working with the thin metal trying to butt weld it all, but it came out well for my skill level (Photo 3). I ground it down to a reasonable level to get general contours before I start fine tuning it. Glad I was able to save this piece. It still has some thin metal and minor rust outs at the bottom lip, so may have to weld in a few small patch panels. Also finished restoring the nuts and bolts for my back number plate brackets and assembly on the side. Overall, quite happy with the progress I've made on the body work, didn't know if I could do it, having very little experience. I think I'm going to move on to the 4 steel fenders and start chemically stripping the lead paint and get it ready for sandblasting. The rear fenders look quite good, rust wise, but the fronts will need a little work at the lower front. One has some rust holes and will need replacement patches, while the other is just rusty at the extreme lower part and will need some very small patches.

Have a 3 day weekend, so plan to make the most of it with the MGA. Today I attempted to get the hood, both doors, and trunk finished with a preliminary application of body filler where needed and sanded at an 80 grit level. Almost got there, but there were a few additional low spots to fill. Here's a door and the hood, finished with 80 grit (Photos 1&2). Next will be moving on to a higher grit, probably 220 with the long board, to try to get these prepped for primer in the spring. NOS door was a mess with dings everywhere from poor storage, but not a spec of corrosion. Front of door needed a lot of filler due to it being a little lower than the edge of the door, where the skin is crimped. Really tough to get to this area, because of inner door framing. It's quite shallow, but big. I will probably rethink it and try a little more withe the slapper and see if I an get it closer before the next round of sanding. Hood was really good, too, only two spots that needed filler. I would have hammered them out, but they are behind bracing and I couldn't get a good angle. While waiting for filler to cure, I blew apart my rear bumper assembly (Photo 3). It was a mess, but is starting to clean up okay, and I will be able to reuse most of he parts. I will probably need a new bumper and definitely new bumper bolts, as most of them spun in place and I had to more or less pull them thru the bumper to free everything. One of the bumper guards was hit, but I was able to get it mostly back into shape. The bumper has been hit, twisted, and buckled, so it will be difficult to repair. I will probably look for a replacement, but keep this in case I can't find a good one. Took a break from welding the torn valance panel, so it will sit for a couple days (Also in Photo 3).

In what part of the country do you live? I think there's one of these in a yard in Central Virginia.

Here are some photos I took of a 1926 Chrysler Tool kit at Hershey a few years ago. Dodge was not a part of Chrysler yet, but this will give you an idea of some of the tools that came with the car, as well as general period tools.

That's quite a beautiful town, too, not to mention a great car.

Looks like maybe wind wing clips, one goes on each side of the glass? No idea what make/year if so.

Try SMS fabrics in California. You can google them. They have just about everything.

Looking for a 943R or 943S generator for a 1930 Plymouth 30U (fits many other cars, too). Any condition, as long as it's rebuildable.

In the new Chandler book by James Lackey, it says on p.159 "How to ID your Chandler or Cleveland car" that the motor number of cars with serial numbers 72,001 to 126,000, the number is stamped on the right front motor leg. After 126,000, it's on the left front motor leg.

This trans looks very similar to the one depicted in the new Chandler book by James Lackey on p.56, in the 1923 section. I don't know much about Chandlers, which is why I bought the book, but there's a chance it's the original trans, if that helps.

Got in some time here and there to do some work. I got my one good wire wheel, blasted, primed and painted it. Turned out well (Photo 1). This will be used as the spare. I went down to Moss and got 4 new wire wheels, as it's too much cost and effort to try to piece together a full set of originals that are any good. I also picked up a sand bag so I can work on some larger areas with lots of curves (Photo 3). I got my valance panel and welded up most of the torn area (Photo 2). My welding is below average, but seems to be adequate so far. Ran out of wire, so still have more to do at the bottom, plus more grinding and shaping. The whole area is a little convex and not quite lining up at the bottom where there are multiple tears and a piece that just fell off which I need to weld back on. Should be an easy fix, just need some time to work it. I still have to grind the back side of it, as there are a lot of stalagmites that I produced back there. Any welding tips are appreciated. I'm using flux core with an Eastwood welder. I have the heat setting between A and B and the wire speed at 5. As you can see, I'm getting a lot of splatter. I also got a some burn through, of which I've been able to mostly repair as I go. The more I did the better it went. I have maybe 3 hours of welding experience thus far. Also got a bunch of new heater hoses, so I pieced together a lot of the plumbing for the heater, so it should be an easy installation later. Also got to fill in most of my NOS door with body filler. A few dings, but not too bad. Put a layer of guide cost primer on, so I'll find out what's what with the rest of the door soon.

Looks similar to 22-24 Chandler, but is similar to many cars in the mid-1920s.

I agree, in order to get the rest of the dents out, I'll need a bag to work against the curves; flat surface won't do for much of it.

Didn't have much time today, but kept working on the valance panel. Made an "anvil" out of bricks and wood blocks in order to have something to get behind the panel in order to keep working it (Photo 1). Was able to get the rough contours back of the upper crease above where the bumper goes using this method. Using various wood blocks and body hammers, was able to get the whole thing into general shape, minimized the twisting that was in it, hammered out most of the big dents and problem areas, and got the tears lined up fairly well, then put a clamp on to hold it for now. Probably ready for a few tack welds to keep it in place, then keep working the rest of the torn areas, then tack those up, then keep working the general contours and make sure things are even before I complete the weld. Bought some of the good Rage body filler, so I will start filling in any problem areas on my doors, hood, and trunk, maybe New Years Day, since it's supposed to be quite warm here. Happy New Year.

Getting close to finished. That engine color looks really good against the body color, too. This will be one interesting and unique car when it's all back together. You'll never see another one.

Had a nice Christmas, hope everyone else did, too. Picked up my wire wheels in PA over the holiday; only one was usable without a large cost/effort to make them right. So, the one good one is at the strippers now and will be used as a spare. Also dropped off more stuff to be chromed; the front bumper guards and the parking brake handle and button. Got my front valance panel and door posts back from the stripper. Hammered out imperfections on the door posts, then primed and painted the back side with etching primer and chassis black. The factory left the back side in black primer, so I'm roughly reproducing what they did. Leaving the front in bare steel until I can get a streak of warm weather to apply the good primer with a spray gun. Here's the door posts (Photo 1) and rear bumper mounts, which I stripped myself. Posts now have primer and paint on the back portion and so do the bumper mounts. The valance panel is a disaster, but since it's tucked under the car, it will be a good piece for me to learn/practice body hammering and welding. A previous owner dented the heck out of it, then caught it on something and tore it. It was actually much worse than this, this is round 1 of getting it back into shape (Photo 2). I have a good set of body hammers (Thanks for the advice, Jeff), so making some progress. I also pulled out the battery cradle cover, which is an interior sheet metal piece. I chemically stripped it first (lead paint), then blasted it to bare metal. I did the same thing I did with the door posts, I primed and painted the back side to replicate the factory black primer (Photo 3). The top side will be painted body color. Still have a few minor dings and dents to hammer out, but wanted to get the spray bomb primer/paint on the back since it was above 50 degrees today.

Thanks Jeff. Yes, just scroll back through the posts and you'll see most of what I've done over the last 2 1/2 years.

Spent more time in the garage today, so this will be the last post before Christmas. Back to work, then some needed family time off. Here's a few more photos. Here's some of the chrome I got back; MG emblems and knurled nut and bracket for the side curtains. Paul's Chrome in Evans City, Pa does excellent work. (Photo 1). Started work on the final floorboards. Was able to reuse both original toe boards and 1 of the two front floorboards (Photos 2 & 3). The one on the left is a repro. I drilled the holes for the mounting hardware and I coated it with 3 coats of special wood sealer/primer. After 2 days of curing, it will be painted black, as factory. On the right is the passenger side original toe board. I'll sand it down to a reasonable level, clean it up, and repaint the original black. Also bought some caster wheels. I'm going to make a body stand so I can roll the body out, get it onto a trailer, and get it to the sandblasting shop in a few months. Should also be convenient for priming and painting. My friends want me to try to paint this thing at home. I'm not so sure, having never painted a car before, especially one needing so much body work. We'll see. Also, thanks to all the visitors to my project and the other posters in this forum, I've been able to keep very motivated and inspired by everyone else's extraordinary work. Merry Christmas!

Matt/Terry, Thank you, that was very helpful. I think this clears everything up for me. The generator does not run when the car is turned off. I pulled the cover on the cut out switch and the points are not touching when the ignition is off. Also, I always disconnect the battery when I park the car. Too many stories about fires, so that couldn't have been the long term issue. Wasn't sure about the cut out switch always being on when the car was running, but since that appears to be normal, I think everything is back to working correctly. I think my issues were a weak battery combined with a very dirty starter. Once I took care of both of those problems and adjusted the third brush to put out less power from the generator (only up to 12 amps), I think I'm good to go. Time to put on the side curtains and do some cold weather driving. Regards, Chris

Thanks Jeff. I'm a stickler for originality, so I will generally choose to rechrome pieces rather than replace, because 1) Original pieces always fit 2) It's wasteful to toss out reusable original pieces 3) Repro pieces are quite often "wrong." Attention to detail matters greatly to me. For example, the repro "MGA" vent trim on top of the front body is incorrect, as it has later-style grille bars. However, I try to be somewhat sane when fixing/reusing originals is way too cost prohibitive. I bought repro "1600" emblems, as my originals were either broken, or I would lose the textured appearance on the background of the emblems. Repros are about $12, while rechrome would probably be around $60. Yes, I'm spending much more money on chrome than buying repros, but it's as original as possible and the rechrome shop probably has thicker chrome and better warranties. I also don't want my car to be like George Washington's hatchet, where I just replace everything, then it becomes just a kit car. I save and reuse any part than can be saved.

Hello, I have a 1930 Plymouth 30-U that's been having electrical issues. It's had trouble starting and then draining the battery. So far, I have a battery that's about 3 months old and has been draining, even after I drive it, to the point where the car won't start. The same thing happened with the old battery, which was about 3 years old. Next, I had my starter tested, as it would fire up about 1 out of every 12 times I pushed the starter pedal. It tested fine but needed to be thoroughly cleaned, so that took care of my starting issue. I then recharged my weak battery this morning. The car fired right up within a nanosecond. Great! Now concerning the potential battery issues, checking the Amp gauge, the amps were about 3 at idle, then would go right up to about 22 when I revved the engine. I made some adjustments to the generator and now it idles at about 1 amp, and will not go above 12 when I rev the engine, which is what the manual recommends. The one thing I've noticed is that my cut out switch on top of the generator always seems to be on, no matter what the engine speed. The generator has been professionally rebuilt about 2 years ago. According to the owner's manual, it should be off at idle and only switch on at a certain engine and/or road speed to charge the battery. What could be causing this? I would think if the cut out switch was broken, it would just always be off. I'm guessing that since this is always on, and I was running at a high rate of charge, that I may have fried my previous battery or done other damage to it. Any suggestions on why my cut out switch is always on? Thanks!!! -Chris

Thanks Jeff, that's good insight. I think I haven't been able to get out as much during the week, plus the weather is bad now. I think I need a little more practice, could work a little smarter, gain more expertise, and a little more time, and I could make some faster progress. My rotten fenders and body are going to slow me up as well. I guess I really have no deadlines, which is nice, but I do want to finish by the 5 year mark. I'm half way there now. Thanks!

More minor progress to post. Caught up with my engine builder. The engine is at the machine shop getting line-bored. I am told I have to wait in line and that the machine shop that this was farmed out to is a little slow, but does excellent work. I'm in no hurry, so no big deal for now. Was thinking to have the engine back by mid-Jan, but now looks like mid-Feb at the earliest. No worries, plenty of other work to do in the meantime. I sent out the front valance panel and the two door posts to the sandblaster to get the lead paint removed and down to bare metal so I can begin some welding to fix tears in the valance. I'll also use them as a test to see if they will keep with heated inside storage without getting too much flash rust before I can put the good primer on it in the Spring when it's warm enough. If it looks okay after a month or so, I'll do some of the other panels, too. Should be able to do the flatter panels with chemical stripping, then sand the residue to bare metal. Finally finished the pretzeled front license plate bracket. Here's the before photo, its the first thing I took off the car in 2016 (Photo 1) and the finished product (Photo 2). There are still some fine scratches in it, but I think I'll call it good enough. Was even able to reuse the original nuts from the back, after drilling out the broken-off original screws. Very happy with the results, and also it was a good learning tool to get some practice with body shaping with hammers and filler, since I'm an amateur with body work. Restored the original front driver's side footwell piece with original accelerator pedal stop (Photo 3). Piece has slight warping at lower left from water damage, but it's still solid and the warping is minor, so reusing the piece. Will be able to reuse the driver's side one as well. Also got back some chrome pieces (the rear deck "MG" badge and one of the knurled lock nuts for the side curtain hold-down). Farming out 3-4 pieces of chrome every 3 months to try to minimize the damage to my credit card to space it out.

Fantastic work! How often do you get to work on your car? My progress is deathly slow on my MG, but maybe it's because I am not putting in enough hours? Maybe I'm just a slow worker or need more time to do things than the experts. Just curious.