hursst
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Posts posted by hursst
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Thanks; happy with the progress, but would have been happier if I reached this point about 2 years earlier, but it's fine, it doesn't matter.
I meant to say brake master cylinder, but had brake booster on my mind.
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Wanted to install a few things to see how it would go and make a little more progress before I taped up the car again to start the wet sanding. Was able to install the windshield wiper motor, the brake/clutch master cylinder, and the brake/clutch pedals (Photos 1 & 2). I also connected the main brake fluid line, clutch fluid line, fed the tach drive cable, and affixed the fuel line, as the cowl shelf just looks like spaghetti, so a lot of referring to disassembly photos and reference books to make sure I get things in the right place and over/under all the other tubes/wires/pipes correctly (Photos 3 & 4). I discovered that the shop that did the master cylinder put the factory size adapter on the wrong side, so the clutch and brake lines were reversed. Luckily, I just had to swap the adapter and it was fine. Installing the brake master cylinder was incredibly difficult, as the brake/clutch lines go behind the master cylinder, and the pedals, linkage, and lines all have to be installed in a particular order, which I didn't know, so had to do a little work over again. I'll need to do a lot of minor touch up on many parts due to minor wear and tear on these parts during installation.
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This appears to be either a supercharged J2 or a J3. Not sure if the supercharger on this one is correct or aftermarket, as the shroud doesn't quite match up with the quick google images search I did.
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Today was the big day! Probably the biggest day of the restoration until I can call it totally complete. Had a couple of car guy friends over and we were able to complete the body drop with minimal hassle. As usual, the middle body bolts didn't line up, which we expected, but with some minor cinching of the body across its width, we were able to line everything up, just like I did the last round of body testing. Body is on for the final time, all body bolts are in, and ready to move on to wet sanding.
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I saw a ~1964-1999 Chevy Step van on the road yesterday, and I noticed that I've never seen one at an AACA show. Chevy/GMC made them for around 35 years with almost no changes, and they all qualify for AACA status within the next two months. They were once ubiquitous. I've also never seen an International Harvester Metro van at a meet, and they made a lot of those, too. Now there are quite a few milk trucks, bread trucks, mail trucks etc. that show up that are similar, but not just an actual generic step van. Would be interesting to see, just because you don't see them anymore. Any of these ever show up at a meet?
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No, that's not feasible for me, that would take too much work to do, then undo.
I had the engine bench tested and roughly broken in, so it should be "reasonable." Once I complete everything, I may try to start it myself and start testing things with the help of a knowledgeable friend, but most likely, I will take it to my british car shop and have them start it, test everything, and do shakedown runs, as I know it will have problems of some type when it's complete. Good suggestion, but not in my wheelhouse.
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Beautiful and fast work. You could eat off those parts.
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Denis,
What do you mean by "identify?" Do you mean what do they fit?
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One week out until I can get the body dropped, so working on adding parts that don't add any, or very little weight. Realized that I never bought any door weatherstripping, so ordered some original-style ones from Scarborough Faire. Was able to get one installed (Photo 1) and was able to clean up the original end-caps as well (Photo 2). Stainless steel is very easy to clean up! Am trying to clean up some rusty original screws to attach the end caps, but some may be too far gone and may need to be replaced. All hardware in is loosely, as I'll need to make many adjustments when adding the rear fenders and doors.
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Lew, nice to meet you and your Triumph friend as well! Thanks for hunting me down. Good timing, as I spent 90% of my time looking at others' cars. I hope your friend is able to press on with his restoration; it sounds quite ambitious, but he seemed very committed.
-Chris
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Mark,
I'd suggest you put this in the "Parts for Sale" section and also post at www.mgexp.com where you will have a much bigger audience. As an MGA restorer, glad you're trying to save these parts!
-Chris
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It stopped raining early this morning, so out to the garage. Was able to make my multiple shuffles and get everything situated. Removed the old original junk wheels and tires and installed the new ones. Yes, this car came originally fitted with white walls (Photo 1).
Next, I positioned the body and slid the rolling chassis under the body (Photo 2). Amazing how easy it is to push the chassis around now without a flat and shredded tire. Next step is to hopefully get some friends over in a reasonable amount of time to help me install the body. Problem is, those guys are even busier than I, so we'll see.
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Wasn't able to do anything with the wheels today, because everything in the garage is locked in like Jenga and it was raining all day, so couldn't move anything outside.
Did some more baby steps today instead. Started by cleaning up much of the garage from being a paint booth. Next, did a rough fit of the door pilar cover plates. These pieces were a nightmare to finish, as the rocker panel repro is slightly too tall due to the incorrect arc of the piece, which results in the rocker being slightly higher than it should at the outside of the rocker. Even though I had to cut and increase the arc of the cover plate, then weld it back, the piece still does not fit that well due to the above problem. Since it worked during my test fitting, it still worked now, it just wasn't that easy to get lined up with all the screw holes. It still needs two holes drilled thru the rocker panel (there are extant holes in the cover panel) in order to secure the bottom of the cover plate. The cover plate is just in loose for now as it will undoubtedly need adjustment when I do the final door hang (Photo 1).
Next, I glued in the two felt protective pieces into the trunk, so the spare tire can rest on them so it will only do minimal damage to the trunk (Photo 2).
Last, I think I finished installing all the requisite hole plugs in the firewall/shelf (Photo 3). This would have been much more difficult with the body installed, as you really need access to both sides at the same time, as the plugs have wide internal channels that are tough to seat properly.
Assuming the rain stops tomorrow or Monday, should be able to roll out the body, drive out the '30 Plymouth, roll the chassis to where the body used to be, install the new wheels/tires, move the chassis out, move the body back in and put it back on sawhorses, drive the Plymouth back in, then roll the chassis under the body. This, of course, after I move the three other cars out of the driveway in front of the garage. I'll then see if I can get a couple friends over in the next couple weeks to help me lower the body on the chassis without damaging the new paint job. I'll be taping/papering off the trunk, engine bay, and interior and wet sanding the body on the chassis. I can't wait to get all of that space back and clean up/reconfigure the garage again!
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Back from Hershey. Still unpacking and dealing with all the things I need to catch up on over being away for a week. STILL have a lot of catching up to do! Of course, doesn't help that I got my one car fixed and out of the shop, only to have the check engine light go on and a "Restricted Mode" warning as I pulled into my driveway, so that car is down and out again. It's a huge money pit. Still working on my severely fouled plugs on my Camaro, and that's a real disaster, having to figure out the cause on my own. Trying everything I can think of before I give up and take it to a far-away shop, as there are no old-school mechanics around me anymore.
Anyway, I did have time to buy 5 new tires for the MGA and I got them mounted yesterday. They look great. I should have them on the chassis within a week or two. Wanted to get the tires on now so when I put the body on, everything will be even and balanced. Previously, I had to constantly put air in 3 of the 4 57 year-old tires and the 4th tire has the valve blown out, so had to stack some wood under it to make it level. I will probably put the chassis up on blocks once I get the body on to avoid flat spots.
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Today is by far the greatest day of this whole restoration process. I was able to complete the paint today, and on top of that, I finished before Hershey starts this coming week.
I needed to try to paint these panels vertically, as I get much better results as the particulates settle on the horizontal surfaces in my garage. I don't have much room in the garage nor many places to hang panels, so I hung the two fenders from the garage door rails on each side. I then got another cable and connected the two fenders in the middle so that the fenders would tilt out towards the center of the garage so they would be vertical enough that I could paint underneath them okay (Photos 1 & 3). Had a few minor problems like some more garbage stringy paint being sprayed out, but I was able to simply razor blade those off in between paint coats. Here are some of the fenders as completed (Photos 2 & 4).
I feel like a huge weight has lifted off my shoulders now, as this is a huge step, I beat the cold weather, and I can just relax at Hershey knowing this major step is out of the way.
Hope to see some of you at Hershey. Taking my '97 Saab 900 to DPC this year, as well as walking the ~26 miles of parts all week.
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Back in the country and now back to the MG again. This weekend is a "tropical storm" in my area, which the newscasters claim is an epic disaster and government has called a state of emergency here in Virginia. Of course, we all know, this means just light rain, which is what I planned for and what we got. Some folks have said painting when there's rain outside keeps down a lot of the outside dirt and dust, so seemed like a good time to paint in order to keep my deadline of Nov 1st, which I think I will easily make at this point.
This round was both doors and the passenger side rear fender (Photos 1 & 2). I decided to hang the doors, as they are so light and have easy holes on top from which to hang them. There was no garbage in the vertical portions of any of the painting I did, but the usual amount of particulates in the horizontal portions. I should have painted everything on a vertical plane, but that wasn't practical for my situation.
After this round, there is only one more round of painting with the driver's side rear fender and both front fenders. After that, I think there are a few misc brackets and fasteners that will need paint, but otherwise, that will finish it. My next step after that is to mount the body on the chassis for the final time, then I will start wet sanding the body in order to complete the paint process. Unfortunately, there are two stress cracks in the body filler that showed up on one of the front fenders and on the remaining rear fender when I had to flex the panels to make them fit the body properly. I'll have to grind and dig out the filler, then maybe try to tie the lower portions of these parts to the upper portions to make a stress simulation, then refinish it before paint. Hopefully I can get it to stay nice thru the paint and installation process. If not, I may have to repaint parts of these fenders on the car while everything is properly stressed.
I'm also now at the point where I think I can get tires, so I will attempt to get new tires and tubes and get them mounted on my new wheels at the Carlisle, PA swap meet later this coming week.
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One more photo. The photo with the rim bend is the last one in the previous email, FYI. IT looks like you can also see the bend at 9 o'clock in this photo, too.
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Hello,
Attached are the photos I promised. I'll send more, as they can't all fit in one message. If you need any other specific photos, please let me know. In the very last photo, you'll see that the rim is a little flat as it's slightly bent. The third photo shows some slight surface rust in the inside portion of the wheel, but it is very minor. The rest of the wheel seems very nice.
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Sorry, I will have to try in about 24 hours, as I have to work further tonight, so I have no time to get photos. -Chris
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O should be able to do that tonight
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I can ship. Let me box it up and I'll get a shipping estimate for you. I'll probably need until Saturday to get it done, as my work schedule is crazy this week.
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Yes, I still have the wheel available for sale.
1960 MGA Restoration
in Our Cars & Restoration Projects
Posted
Between yesterday and earlier today, I was able to tape up the body and get started on wet sanding. I started with 1500, but found it not aggressive enough, so went to 1200 (Photo 1). Although not easy due to the orange peel, the 1200 is working properly. Got about 90% finished with the front portion of the body. Going to press ahead, maybe up to 5000 grit.
I need to buy a DA polisher now. I have heard from friends and saw it in person, but I think I will get the mid-level Griots Garage polisher, then either buy their polishes or 3M's polishes. Any advice or opinions on what to buy are appreciated.
Once the body is sanded and polished, I'll probably just start building the rest of the car up and take a break from sanding/polishing the other panels for a little while. Easier access to the engine bay and trunk without the fenders on, plus no risk of damaging them if they are on the car at this point.