hursst
-
Posts
1,570 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Forums
Gallery
Events
Posts posted by hursst
-
-
Ok, they let me put in 3 more photos, so another update. Started work on the steel portion of the NOS door. It had quite a few under-the-primer rust areas that I had to dig out to bare metal and to remove most of the rust. I ended up using some rust inhibitor spray to condition the metal before I primer/filler any of it to make it smooth again. 58-odd years of storage and moving around did a little damage to the door, but it's still incredibly solid (Photo 1).
I'm still working on the pretzelled front license plate bracket (photo 2). I applied a bunch of bondo to it and sanded it down, but it's still quite sloppy and will need some more hammer and dolly work to get rid of the valley through much of the middle. IT will never be perfect, but I think I can fool everyone into thinking it is a nice piece with enough effort. I'll salvage this original piece yet.
I had more success with the transmission tunnel. Hours of scraping off about 1/2" think layer of sand and oil with scrapers and screwdrivers paid off. I was able to reuse every part here, from the screws in the shifter plate to the original trans filler plug and even the original U-shaped pad-like gizmo that goes on the front of the shifter plate in the middle of the whole thing (Photo 3). I do have one small section of the mounting area at front left that will need to be cut out and a patch welded in, but it's only about 2" square. Wanted to get it painted up for protection first and because it will be too cold soon, then repaint the small repair section after the fact.
Transmission is finished and ready for the engine to come back from the rebuilder. I should be able to focus on the doors for the next month or two until the engine is ready.
-
4
-
-
More slow but steady progress made. The weather has been holding out fairly well, so able to get more accomplished in the little time I find. I got my parts for the clutch release pivot, so that's all shored up and placed in the transmission.
I got the last missing carb parts I needed at Hershey and put them on, so now the carbs are finally finished (Photo 1). They will need proper fastener torquing and professional adjustment, but they should work well. Saved a lot of $ doing everything myself and they turned out very well, for being a first-timer with carbs.
I moved over to the repro floorboards. I put some holes in them based on the rotted original ones I had as patterns. I was somehow able to reuse the original seat fasteners and even salvaged, restored, and re-used 13 of the original seat fastener tacks/nails out of the original 24 that were on the car (Photos 2-3). Still committed to as much originality as possible.
Another update very soon, made more progress, but out of photo space for today.
-
3
-
-
Fantastic work and a fantastic car. I think I've also seen one Kissel in person, at Hershey. I really hope I get to see this one at a show in the near future; so much more interesting than many of the cars you see at most shows.
-
Great progress, car looks amazing!
-
1
-
-
This weekend, I continued to make slow but steady progress on the MGA. I got the transmission back, and was generally pleased with the results (for as much as I can see without trying it in the car). I was charged a fair price. The builder did find that the remote shifter linkage box and the entire clutch pivot mechanisms were completely worn out (Photos 1 and 3). I found a used remote shifter linkage box (left in photo 1) to replace my original on the right. You can see how the exit hole on the right is ovaled. For the clutch pivot, the bolt wore through the brass bushing, then stared to wear thru the lever itself (Photo 3). It also ate almost half of the pivot bolt away as well. My car must have had 2 million miles or the previous owner lubed it with sand. That's a lot of wear. I bought some new parts from Moss and found a good used pivot on ebay.
Here's the mostly completed trans (Photo 2) with rechromed original shifter lever.
I also did 5 days at Hershey and was successful in getting some chrome parts dropped off, bought some new "1600" emblems for the MGA, and found most of the original tools for the tool kit (all the smaller tools were missing). Bought some sanding long boards and sand paper, as I'll be finishing the doors , hood and trunk soon (at least with any filler or glazing putty, as it may be too cold to primer soon). Also found a wire-wheel shop near Allentown, PA that should be able to inspect and repair my replacement wire wheels, if needed. Want to get piece of mind before I repaint them and put them back in service.
Now I'm working on cleaning, priming, and painting the oil pan bolts, priming and painting the transmission tunnel, and getting the clutch slave cylinder onto the transmission. Want to get all these small little jobs out of the way so I can concentrate on the doors, hood, and trunk
-
2
-
-
When I go to junkyards and when I've restored cars, old stuff always turns up under the seats, in inner fenders, under carpets, or any number of other places. My best find was a 1925 Buffalo nickel in a 1938 Olds in a junkyard last year. I also recently found a matchbook promoting a Republican judge for election in the mid-1960's in my 1960 MGA that I'm restoring. I also found a 1959 penny. These finds are not much, but interesting, but then I thought that maybe everyone else had some much better stories about things they've found in similar manners. What have you discovered?
-
Fantastic progress!
-
Great work, as usual. You may have the cleanest car I've ever seen, everything is so finely detailed.
-
Got some time in the garage today and got some photos. Got the driver's door all stripped of paint today (Photo 1). It will need to be hand-sanded once the paint stripper dries up. Here are the mostly completed hood and trunk (Photo 2). Here is what may be the last NOS MGA door (Photo 3). I'm happy to have it, but it needs all the holes drilled and it's got 58 years of minor damage from being moved around a million times. I'll try to keep most of the primer intact, but will have to sand a lot of it to fill in some dents, scrapes, and substances spilled on it. No rust anywhere, which is great. It even has the factory metal part number tag.
The next part of the work will be flipping these panels over and dealing with the steel portions. This will take much longer due to the nooks and crannies and minor surface rust here and there.
Vote Jim Proctor! I found this matchbook inside of the driver's side door, probably from the mid-1960's (Photo 4). Tomorrow, I'm working the big British car show in the area, then I'm off to Hershey from Wed-Sun, so won't get much done at home, but will get my wire wheels to a vendor to make sure they are true, drop off some trim to be chromed, and try to pick up some additional parts I need. Let's hope the rain stays away! Hope to see everyone there.
-
2
-
-
Took a nice long vacation to South Africa, so haven't done too much recently, but time for a small update.
Turns out my transmission had a corroded rear bearing, which is why the builder couldn't get it apart. He finally got it disassembled, so we ordered all the parts and should have it completed by the end of the month. Got word back from the engine builder as well, and good news, no major problems such as cracks or warping or major failures, but it will need an overbore, new cam, new valve train, bearings, crank alignment and other ancillary internal parts, which is exactly what I expected. All in all, great news.
I was able to continue stripping the aluminum body parts and making fair progress. Hood, trunk, and half a door have the skins complete. Was able to strip the paint with heavy duty paint stripper, then clean up the remains with 120 grit, so no panel warping. Other door is NOS and is already in primer, but will need ding and dent repairs and detailing before it's ready for final primer. Will also need to drill some holes for trim. The steel framing on the opposite side of each of these pieces will be more difficult, with lots of nooks and crannies to strip.
-
Started on the body this weekend. Got out the hood and stripped it down to bare metal. Here's a few minutes into it (Photo 1). Overall, it's in very good condition. There were three small dents in it, which I hammered out a little, then filled with body filler for now (Photo 2). I then started on the trunk (Photo 3). Luckily, most of the paint has already flaked off, so this should be fairly easy.
The plan is to first strip all the paint off the aluminum surfaces of the hood, trunk, and doors, then work on the steel frames of each later, hit it then with etching primer, then work further on the dings and dents and get the panels as straight as possible using as little filler as possible, then doing a final priming before going back into storage. I'll be buying some long boards at Hershey, so I should be able to dial in the imperfections a little better. I will most likely have a professional check my work and do the final paint job, since my garage is a dust-filled disaster; no way I could get a good paint job there.
-
1
-
-
Harold, If you can't sell them, maybe a donation to the AACA library would work? They probably don't have them in their collection, or they could sell them at Hershey. Maybe a tax deduction for you thru the library, too? Just an idea.
-
Unknown yet. He says he has 5 hours of time in getting the rear extension off. I would compromise with him on it a little bit, but I'm not paying him extra for his lack of expertise. I don't have any parts costs yet. He will probably give me a list he builds from the Moss catalog I gave him, then I'll order them (with my frequent buyer's discount) and drop-ship them to his shop. I'll send you a PM once I get some costs in, but could be a while.
-
Quick update. Got word back from the trans guy. He finally got out the rear portion. Turns out that the rear bearing was rusted. He could get the rear portion about 3" out, then it locked in. The friction from the rust was holding it in and he didn't want to force it. Fair enough, I'm glad he didn't force it and break something, but we're 2 months in at this point.
He said the rest of the trans is in pretty good shape and it will probably just need some bearings, synchros, and general wear items, but the main items look good to him. It seems like best case scenario so far.
I'm a purist, so a replacement trans won't do. I plan on being a long term owner, but won't be putting huge miles on it, just gentle weekend driving, so the original trans should be fine.
-
Great to see the FOR back o' the forum again. If I recall articles I've seen about the FOR, didn't it have a lot of accessories, like farming implements, dually wheels, and items like that available? Do you have any of those accessories or do you plan on finding any? Would be interesting to see this thing plow a field, like you see demos of the Farmalls and John Deeres doing sometimes. Maybe I'm just thinking of early CJ-3 ads, too.
Also, great work so far!
-
Got the engine block off to the rebuilder today. ETA for the complete block is late January. Shop will also break in the engine before it's delivered back to me.
Here are the finished carbs, minus the right carb's lower brass lever (on backorder) (Photo 1). They turned out very nice, cosmetically. Decided to paint most surfaces due to minor surface rust or corrosion on just about every part before restoration. Will leave it to the experts to tune them properly.
Got quite far on blasting the trans tunnel (Photo 2). Only stopped as the clogmaster 2000 sandblaster clogged up, but did last for a good 30 minutes, so I think I have it dialed in the best I can, considering the high Virgina humidity. Should complete it next week, depending on rain or humidity outside.
Here's the top or the trans tunnel (on left, in black) and the front license plate braket now in primer (Photo 3). Used high-solids primer and will try to fill in the pitting and low spots. Will probably need to do a little more hammer and dolly work to make it nice. Trying to avoid body filler, but may have to use some due to pitting and the fact that this thing was a pretzel before I started.
I now have a lot of nuts and bolts to de-rust, seal, prime, and paint for the engine head, valve cover, and oil pan, as they will be needed whilst the engine gets put back together in a month or two. Shouldn't take too long. Then, time to start on the hood (bonnet!) and get this body in good shape again. Will probably take me a full year, as it's in rough shape an I'm an amateur body man. First step is to strip and etch-prime the aluminum body parts (hood, doors, and trunk), then send the body and fenders out for stripping/blasting to bare metal to reveal all the rust damage, then prime, to prevent flash rust, then start welding in repair panels. In the meantime, I can work the lesser body panels, such as the dash, inner fender pieces, brackets, valence, and smaller pieces.
Have a productive Labor Day weekend working on all the great classics on this forum.
-
Quick Labor Day Weekend update, but no photos today. Still doing something on the car each day, just mostly small pieces or nothing too interesting to put here.
I completed the other carb today, but I have one of the connecting brackets on back order thru Moss, so won't be 100% complete until late Sep, when I get that piece. Will get more photos up soon.
Still having issues with my transmission guy. No progress has been attempted in the last month. I will give one more month, then I will pull the trans (now all in pieces) out of there and find another shop. Getting tired of every shop taking on business, no matter what, then lacking the time and the expertise to actually do the job. I don't understand this business model; it causes big issues for me and for the shop, and usually ends up with bad blood, destroyed or missing parts, and loss of money on both ends. Just turn me away if you're backed up or lack the expertise.
Engine goes to the rebuild shop tomorrow, so very excited about getting that started. Shop says if everything goes well, should be complete and bench tested around January. Sounds good to me, but there always seem to be problems where ever I go...
Started sandblasting the transmission tunnel to get it ready for installation once the engine and trans get back. Should be starting on the hood as the first bodywork part any day now. Will start with the aluminum panels, since they are naturally rust free and should be the easiest to get into primer.
Should have some photos included later in the weekend. Cheers.
-
2
-
-
Fantastic and fast work!
-
1
-
-
Jeff, we both did the same exact project yesterday, except I had to farm my throttle shafts out. Great work! Nice to have all those great tools, so you don't have to deal with some of the bozos I've had to deal with. My first machine shop drilled the hole too far away (so the shaft and throttle plate would move laterally in the bore) and he drilled the hole in the idle stop lever at the wrong angle, so destroyed both parts. Found another machine shop that did the job perfectly in 3 hours. The first place took 3 weeks and destroyed all my parts.
Again, fantastic work. Now I can start copying what you are doing since you've just about passed me by.
-Chris
-
Thanks for the recommendation, but have to see where the current guy goes. Should be fine in the end, just hope he doesn't charge me for his time not knowing how to completely disassemble the thing. Been thru Bally many. many times, but it's a little far. There are plenty of other trans shops closer to my area.
-
Had a small setback. The machine shop that I tried in order to drill the holes and cut to length the repro throttle shaft for one of my carbs took 2 weeks, didn't call me, and when I called them, they had no idea what I wanted. I explained it to them in great detail when I dropped the parts off. After I went in and hashed it out, they proceeded to drill the holes in the wrong place and at the wrong angle, destroying the pieces. Of course, they didn't call after the work was finished, I had to call them. why is that? You would think companies would want to get paid, but not this shop. The stuff will sit for 50 years before they would decide to pick up the phone and call a customer. I've been to other shops who do this as well. The job is finished, and they will just sit on it until the customer calls or stops in. I don't understand this behavior. Needless to say, I need a new machine shop for the next attempt.
Had a setback with the transmission shop, too. The builder can't get the tail shaft off, as he doesn't understand the "English" of the shop manual. He says he's done one MG trans before and that he will be able to get it, but he spent 3+ hours on it last week and couldn't get it. I hope he's not charging me for that, but I'll find out soon. He has a really good rep, so I'm not getting bent out of shape yet.
I should be dropping off the engine either this week or next for its rebuild. Hopefully the block is not cracked or seriously corroded, since the coolant was left in it for 45 years, from what I can tell.
In the meantime, I've disassembled the other carb (Photo 1) and was able to clean and paint the carb body. This one should be finished in about 1/3 of the time as the first one, as know I pretty much know what I'm doing (or so I think).
This leaves no other engine parts to do, so time to start on the body! I bought some etching primer that works with both steel and aluminum and will be using that with my new paint gun to prime some of the ancillary body pieces. I decided to start easy with the front license plate bracket. It was twisted like a pretzel (Photo 2), so I put all my hammers to work and got it in pretty good shape (Photo 3), before I sandblast the paint off and do final shaping.
Excited to start on the body. I have minimal body work experience and am looking forward to the challenge. It needs a lot of metal work on the front fenders, rockers, and rear trunk sides. The goal is to have the whole body restored, painted, and on the chassis by May 1, 2020, or earlier.
-Chris
-
2
-
-
No, the belts are fine. Took the car to my old car mechanic to get his thoughts on the power steering problem. It works at speed, but does not work at all when the car is stopped and heated up. Works so-so when fluid is cold. My mechanic theorized that the fluid is not viscous enough. Asked me what I used, and I used synthetic PS fluid, so his theory may be correct in that it's a simple PS fluid issue. I never would have thought of that. He recommended Lucas power steering fluid, so will try that this weekend. Sounds logical, as the pump was rebuilt last year and nothing else appears to be wrong with it.
Also buying a rebuilt A6 compressor to replace my always-leaking one, from another AACA member who seems to know his stuff. I'll try it out and hope for the best. May be easier repairs than I first envisioned. I think a lot of these problems are lack of knowledge on my part, such as with the viscosity of PS fluid and the fact that the A6 is apparently designed to weep a little oil (although not dump it all out or spray it throughout the engine bay). This is why this forum is so valuable, to pick up knowledge like this that can keep our old cars on the road. Thanks again!
-Chris
-
I feel your pain. I ordered a new throttle shaft, as the old one is very worn. The shaft is too long and does not have a hole drilled for the idle stop lever, nor does the idle stop lever itself have a hole in it to pin it to the shaft. I took it to a machine shop to have it cut to length and the holes drilled. I've never seen a group of people so confused by such a simple job. I guarantee they will screw it up, so I'll probably have to take it elsewhere. Will end up losing at least 3 weeks of time for 5 minutes of work if it was at a competent shop.
Please post photos of the carbs when you're finished!
-Chris
-
Thanks for all the replies, great input.
Xander, thanks for the vintageair tip. I will keep that in mind to see if they have any decent rebuilt A6's in stock.
John/Spinnyhill, I will probably replace the unit. I think after 5 tries, there has to be something wrong with the shaft or other component, and it's time to give up. It's a huge money pit at this point.
David, yes the high pressure switch works as far as I know. The compressor disabled itself because of low pressure before; not sure if this is the same switch or not.
Dan, very concerned about originality, just won my Senior at Spring Eastern Nationals, so won't go modern. These compressors worked great in the past, just have to find one that is sealed properly. I used a modern 1-piece seal, but I did not soak the seal; didn't know that was a thing. Could have been the problem as well. Compressor has a wick.
I think the best advice here would be to buy another A-6 with a warranty, and start over again. No sense in trying to put yet another seal in, when nothing I've tried has worked, whether I did it or some "pros" did it. Starting over. Thanks for helping me make a decision on this. Now on to the faulty power steering pump that has failed 3 times. Ugh. Time to replace that as well. Thanks!
-Chris
General questions
in Plymouth
Posted
Fantastic car! I have a 30U Sport Roadster, so a little different, but feel free to PM if you have questions.