hursst
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Posts posted by hursst
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Those parts look familiar... You are progressing quite quickly, great work. Love your shop layout, it makes it so much easier with the space. My shop only works for contortionists. Can't wait to see it come together and still interested in the Metz, when you get back to it, too.
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Wow, you'll be caught up to me and pass me by in no time! Great work, nice to hear the Clogmaster is working for you.
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Some progress to report, time for a small update. I finished the front chassis extension and the two ancillary bumper brackets on the sides. I also added the horn bracket and a repro horn (Photo 1). The original horn is an unusable wreck. I determined that the original flex fuel line going to the carbs was in good enough condition to be saved. No clogs, cracks, or anything. I polished up the brass and steel fittings and it looks almost new (Photos 2 & 3). It's now back on the car. I refurbished the original steering U-joint and put it on the steering shaft (Photo 4). Last, I set up the original cleaned-up battery wire with a repro wiring harness and the associated refurbished clips and hardware (Photo 5). I have to bend the hanger tangs on the chassis back into place a little, then this assembly is ready for installation on the chassis.
Still have more details to go, such as the front and rear wiring harness, the other battery wires and clamps, the rest of the tools I have left, the brake pipe from the master cylinder, then I think I can put in the rear floorboards and rear driveshaft tunnel. Not too much left to go on the rolling chassis. After these last pieces, I'll be starting on the engine. Next steps will be a distributor rebuild, then I'm going to try to tackle the SU carbs. I have no experience with carbs, so it will be interesting. Will be getting a rebuild kit and a book for starters.
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My Clogmaster is clogging at the bottom T. The gun I have works great. I don't have many more huge parts, so I'll probably just live with it for now.
I am using Eastwood Extreme Chassis Black Satin Finish from a spray can. It seems to be the closest to what the factory did, and it looks good and should be durable. I considered powder coating, but I am more concerned with lowering my expenses and doing as much of the car as I can myself.
Thanks jp928. I've been trying to cheap out, as my last restoration, I farmed out more of it, and it cost me a fortune. Lots of rip-off artists out there, so I figure I will attempt to do almost everything myself. As far as the rear brake shoes, I had them relined by White Post Restorations, but I'm not sure if they were radiused. I've had them do shoes on my other cars and never had a problem, so I'm not concerned with it.
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It's sieved twice when I recycle it, but you're probably right, there are some pieces that get in that are larger than the fine media.
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Worst winter ever. Spring should be starting here tomorrow, but hasn't stopped my from working on the MGA in the mean time. Started working on the ancillary chassis parts such as the wiring harness, rest of the brake pipes, the battery wire, the chassis extensions, and all the clips and hardware. Here's the brake pipe switch and proportioner before restoring the pieces (Photo 3). Nice to work on the brass brake fittings. Here's most of the finished product, going on the car (Photo 5).
I found an original oil pump on English ebay, bought it, then restored it (Photo 4). It's not quite the original color, but as close as I could get. I then used it to oil my steering rack, which was its original intent.
I'm going to replace all the wiring, as the originals are quite torn up. Lining up the old with the new to ensure everything is right and that I can line up the clips (Photo 6).
I blasted the front extension pieces, so here's before and after (Photos 1 & 2). Took a long time with the clogmaster 2000 sandblaster. I did buy some new media and that helped it quite a bit. Too much moisture I guess in the older, recycled stuff I sweep up later. Still beats paying someone else to do it.
Refinished the spare tire hold down (Photo 7).
Here's the front frame extension more or less on the car (Photo 8).
Also installed new front brake hoses. Was able to salvage the original hardware, but had to replace the hoses. Was also able to clip off the original yellow tags and put them on the new hoses to make them look more original (Photo 9).
I still have a lot of hardware to finish, like the front bumper mounting hardware, plus some more of the battery cable/wiring harness clips. I've started to search out engine and transmission shops, as that will be next, before I do the body. I think both need professional attention, although I've been restoring the outside engine attachments as I go. Should have the engine and/or trans to a shop in about 2 months, I think.
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Jeff,
Great video on the trans. Maybe I will try to work on my own trans, I had originally thought it above my skill level and I should farm it out. I'd love to be able to do it myself, maybe your videos will encourage me to give it a try.
-Chris
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Quick update for today. Basic rolling chassis is complete. Next phase is to complete the full chassis, which means frame extension, the rest of the fuel and brake pipes, wiring harness, floorboards, horn, and other misc items. Will probably shuffle things around in the garage and start on the body, then maybe get the engine out for review and rebuilding about 1/2 way through the body work. Hard to get any painting done, as weather is still freezing with highs only around 50 at best each day. Global warming is taking 2018 off, evidently.
-Chris
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Welcome back, looking forward to more updates.
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Well, we got about 2" of snow here in the northern VA area, which can only mean one thing...TOTAL PANIC AND COWARDICE. Which means I didn't have to work today. Headed off to the garage to catch up on the MGA. I got a whole lot accomplished today, and did some this last weekend as well, but nothing is ever as easy as it seems, so everything took me extra time with a few mistakes throughout.
Started with the front hubs by knocking out the wheel bearings (Photo 1). These were the original bearings and were in excellent condition, but I wouldn't feel comfortable reusing them, not having known what they've been through. I will save them as backups just in case. Here are the new bearings I got from Moss (Photo 2). Here's one of the new rotors with one old one and old old hub unit (Photo 3). The original rotors were heavily pitted and beyond saving. I cleared up the hubs and they turned out fairly clean (Photo 4). Here are the new bearings, all lined up and ready to go in (Photo 5). Also cleaned up all the hardware for the hub assemblies, on the right (Photo 6). I will usually zinc plate hardware that is in good condition with no pitting, but I will prime and paint hardware that has a little pitting, as the zinc won't stick to the pits and they start rusting with just a little humidity. Once I install them, I usually touch them up, as torquing them down usually chips the paint.
Back to the crepe myrtle for painting part of the hubs (Photo 7). I rust encapsulated them, primed, and painted, to keep them relatively clean and protected, rather than leaving them bare steel. Of course, left the threads natural. Here's a finished hub, ready to be bolted back together (Photo 8). I threw the finished assemblies back on the car (Photo 9), but of course there many more steps, putting in the washer and castle nut, torquing to spec, then feeding a cotter pin through a small hole in the hub, then through the castle nut, securing the cotter pin, then putting in the grease seal that covers up the hole from the inside (Photo 10, hardware). I had some challenges in that the passenger side hub was about 1 mm short of where it should have been in terms of being pressed onto the spindle assembly, so I had to take the cotter pin out again, which took my about 50 minutes. Leaving it where it was resulted in the brake calipers and pad rubbing against the outside of the rotor, locking up the rotor from spinning. Getting these out is almost impossible. I did get it out, re-torqued the hub, replaced the cotter pin, and everything was fine. I continued on and put the front Lockheed brake calipers on as well (Photo 11 & 12).
On Sunday, I was also able to loosely install the front and rear fuel lines as well as the front to rear brake line. Next, I have to buy new brake hoses for the front, probably before I put the wheels on. The chassis is really starting to come together, but I still have much more to do before the chassis is complete.
-Chris
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For sale is an original glass 1941 Plymouth Tail Light, part #CB-7528. Lens is in very good condition. Also has "BUK 2" in the middle of the lens. Very small chip on outer edge of glass, but would be covered up by the metal lens bezel. $1 + shipping. PM if interested.
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For sale is a 1960 Chrysler, DeSoto Window Crank. Overall good condition. Part number on it is 19007. Chrome is pitted; good for driver quality or for re-chrome for show quality. Also comes with original retainer clip and plastic escutcheon. Hard to find part. $10/OBO + shipping. PM if interested.
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For sale is a lug wrench from the 1930's. Size is 13/16". When I bought it a few years ago, I was told it was from an early 1930's Dodge truck, but who knows for sure. It didn't fit my car, so it's up for sale. Nice original condition. Nice piece to add to a vintage tool kit. $25/OBO, +shipping. PM if interested.
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For sale is a 1939 Plymouth Driver's side window regulator. I was told from a guy who was going to throw these out that this was for a 1939 Plymouth, but I'm not sure as it's slightly different than others I've seen listed on ebay, for example. If anyone knows the exact application, I'd appreciate that, too. $20/OBO + shipping. PM me if interested.
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Small update for today. Got a few things done over the weekend and during a few minutes after work, but overall light progress. Would have had more photos, but camera batteries died. Was able to complete and install the steering rack (Photo 1). I have the steering shaft in steel gray, but the restoration book says black. I've seen others in "natural" finish as well, but will do some more research and figure out what is correct. I'm guessing it should be black, like the book says. Since this photo, I put on the restored clamps for the rubber dust shields on each end, and I have cleaned up the locking nuts and attached the new tie rods to the ends and then to the steering links attached to the spindle. I found an original grease gun for the tool kit in England, and it's being shipped now, so I'll pump up the steering rack with the proper grease using the proper grease gun. I'll then restore the grease gun and add it to the tool kit I'm trying to put together.
It will be too cold to paint for a while, so now working on the front hubs. Will be taking out the old bearings and replacing them, then replacing the front brake rotors with new. Restored brake calipers are ready to go on next, so hope to have this thing on two front wheels by Sunday evening, but we'll see.
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Everyone's still looking and eagerly awaiting more posts.
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Hello, do you still need this starter? I have one redone and ready to go. PM me if you still need one and I can send photos.
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Jeff, let me know if you need any detailed photos of anything, if that helps. The suspensions are very similar, if not the same in many ways. I'll PM you about the MGA parts. I bought a lot of parts already, so don't need too much else, but I'll see what else I may need. Thanks!
-Chris
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I've been reading up on coil spring compression. My "small" coil spring compressor is external, and my internal one is way too big. Thanks to the MGA Guru site and Barney, I was able to see some alternatives. I came up with wrapping a lot of rope around a jack and the upper shock (Photo 1). The "guru" folks used a chain, which I didn't have. Was able to compress the whole works with this method fairly easily and now I have the springs in (Photos 2 & 3). I have a lot of touch up to do, some of the bolt heads aren't quite nice enough, there are a few small paint chips from this effort, and I didn't get enough paint on the spindle assembly, so I need to do some detailing and then torque up all the small bolts, except the main ones (they will be done when all the weight is back on the car).
As a bonus, I redid the tire pump handle. It was embedded with grease and age, so I sanded it the best I could and used linseed oil. It will be a little patina'd, but I think it looks okay overall.
I also got the steering rack painted, but need to do some minor redos to some of it.
Now, time for a trip to Moss to get new front brake rotors, bearings, and seals, as the originals are worn out. Also need tie rods. I'll probably work more on some of the original tools while I wait to buy more parts.
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Can't wait to see your posts. I'm sure you will pass by my MGA timeline quite quickly and get in right back on the road. Good luck going forward.
-Chris
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More progress made, purely in spite of the terrible weather and all the problems it caused. Luckily, had many bad trees cut down 2 weeks ago, so no damage from windmagedon, but still had plenty of cleanup.
Thanks to a member who was viewing these posts, I was able to pick up 2 more nice wheels, since 4 of my 5 originals are trashed, due to 45 years storage in, what I'm guessing, was a dirt-floor barn. The rims of the wheels where they were closest to the ground are rusted beyond repair.
Anyway, I got back my front suspension parts from Apple Hydraulics (Photo 1). They appear to have done an excellent job. I painted them correctly and began to throw them on the car, starting with the shocks (Photo 2). I then painted the spindle assemblies (Photo 3). While I was in between prime and paint, I broke out the original King Dick jack and restored that (Photo 4). Was in excellent condition, just needed to be stripped and repainted. Have it all greased up and fully functional.
Next, I got out the steering rack. Surprisingly, it's in outstanding condition overall. The tie rod ball joints have some wear, so I will have to replace those, but the rest of the mechanism is very solid and tight, so I'm going to reuse it as is. Here it is after a little effort, still quite filthy (Photo 5). After lots of de-greasing, taping, then hit it with a fine wire wheel to bare metal, here it is using the crepe myrtle again, all cleaned up and ready for primer (Photo 6).
In the meantime, I put on the spindle assemblies, loosely (Photo 7). Needs some paint touch up and some minor adjustment, but is otherwise ready to go. I'll have to pause as I figure out how to compress the coil springs, before I attach everything together. Coil springs are small, so probably have to find a small internal coil spring compressor of some sort. I was able to reuse the original upper hardware on the spindle, but the lower hardware had too much wear, so I'm going with new parts.
Last, here's a photo of the steering rack in primer (Photo 8). Ran out of warm enough weather, so called it a day. I'll need some new steering rack components from Moss, such as the rubber grease seals and new tie rods, among other misc parts, so will probably make a trek down to Petersburg soon, since it's cheaper than shipping costs.
-Chris
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Maybe I'll catch Metz envy soon...
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Jeff, Wow, great find! I hope you post the restoration on this site while you do it. I think I used about 7 months in taking mine apart, so that is some time savings, as long as everything is labeled correctly.
Chris
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Continuing to be productive, dodging the bad weather when I can. Lots of nice days popping up here and there. Finished with the fuel tank I bought at Hershey. Had to respray some of the paint on it to make it look right, but no big deal. Was able to apply the rubber noise seals and original fuel tank straps after I repainted them (Photos 1 & 2). Finished tank (Photo 4). Can't install it until the body is on, as it looks like the filler neck won't clear if the body is dropped if the tank is installed.
Finished the rear axle area, pretty much completely (Photo 3). Torqued everything down and filled the rear with the proper gear oil. No leaks yet! Everything turned out really well. Will still need to do some touch ups on some paint chips and on the nuts on the axle pumpkin. I added a "before" photo from Dec 2016 (Photo 6) for perspective. It's come a long way in the last year, but wish I had more time to get it further. Starting to imagine what it's like to drive it...
Got my front suspension pieces back from Apple Hydraulics (Photo 4). I asked them not to paint the shocks. There is still work to do in painting the shock arms black and I will probably clear coat the shock bodies as a protectant. I kept all the original parts, so I may swap back on some of the the original nuts and bolts for some of the hardware store stuff that may have been put on by the rebuilder. The axle trunions and spindle will need all the rest of the shafts, seals, and hardware installed so that I can hook everything up, but that appears to be an easy job. I'll also be painting most of it black, as original.
Once all this stuff is completed and installed, I'll work on the front hubs, seals and bearings, then I'll be starting on the front chassis extension and the steering rack. The steering rack is filthy, but everything looks to be in great operating condition. I may just be able to clean it all up as is, repaint it, and put it on the car. We'll see.
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1960 MGA Restoration
in Our Cars & Restoration Projects
Posted
Been a while since my last update, but have made more slow progress. I'm pretty much finished with the complete chassis at this point (the parts I can do without the engine and trans installed). I installed the chassis and rear wiring harness, clips, and fasteners. Here are the rear connectors freshly installed (Photo 1).
For some reason, I'm limited to 9.77MB of photos this time, which is strange, so I can only do 3 photos. (???!)
I was also going to go to the Carlisle import nationals today, but the monsoon made me just go into work instead.
I finished the brake and fuel pipes at the front. I restored the drive shaft. Got new U-joints and was able to clean everything else up, including getting the sliding front pinion properly lubed and working. It's currently finished and at a shop getting balanced. Here it is about 1/2 way finished (Photo 2). I blasted and painted the rear drive shaft tunnel, then got the rear floorboards out and drilled the fastener holes and the seat mounting holes. I discovered 1 welded-on nut for the floorboards is missing, so not sure what I'll do about that. I have the nut, but welding it on with the chassis finished and no lift may be a bridge too far. The wood still needs to be treated, I'm going to try some wood preservative of some type, and then they will need to be painted black. They are loosely installed in the car (Photo 3) as it's a good place for them, but can't screw them down until the front trans tunnel is in, and can't do that until the trans is in, and don't want to do that until the engine is in, so it will be a while.
I still have to find one battery clip and I have to finish restoring the battery cables and fasteners, which appear to just need a good cleaning. I have a few more tools I want to restore as well, but that should be quite easy, just blast and paint. Finding the time to do these things is another story.
So, I will start shopping for a transmission shop next week, then start on the rest of the engine components, starting with the distributor, then the carbs, then the intake manifold, then the air cleaners, and then a few misc brackets, tubes, and whatnot, and everything for the engine should be done, except the engine block and guts itself. After that, I'm going to try an MG engine guy in Richmond and I'm going to try to have all of this finished by the end of 2018. I hope to complete the body in 2019, then have the whole car finished in 2020. Press on...