1960 MGA Restoration

[MjSieler]

Have you ventured over to other MG specific forums? If not, here are two suggestions. 

 

Check out the MGA Guru web site run by Barney Gaylord? Over 4000 pages of gold information. 

mgaguru.com

 

There is also the MG Experience web site with lots of documented projects to learn how others conquered the many challenges yet to be discovered. 
www.mgexp.com

[hursst]

Yes, I've been going to both a lot over the last 4 years.  Those sites are the only way I could get this restoration completed.  Thanks!

[hursst]

Today got out of work a little early and we have a stretch of perfect weather for the next week.

 

I got my leading kit in the mail, so that's ready to go.  In the meantime, earlier in the week, I cleaned up one of the bad areas and got it to the point where there were just a few pinholes and it looked reasonable, so I filled it with Rage Gold body filler (Photo 2).  Still has a little finish sanding to do, but looks reasonable.  Today, I decided to cut out one of the other areas that I just couldn't get to work.  Metal was just too thin, could not get the holes filled in without creating more and making a messy patchwork of garbage.  Cut the whole area out and tried to get into some better metal (Photo 1).  Next, I cut out some new metal and shaped it to match the contours of the hole I made (Photo 3).  Fits pretty well.  Tomorrow, I'll clean up the metal around it and get it welded in properly, I hope.  I'll probably have a few problems, but nothing like before.  Next to that new patch is another area I've been working.  I've gotten it to a reasonable level, with minimal pinholes.  I'll do a little more grinding an I may start with some leading here, since it's fairly good already.  Maybe fill some of the pinholes and see if I can get the leading to work.  Probably an easy area to experiment with the leading process.

 

Once I complete these three areas in the middle of the floor, I'll start cleaning up the upper portion and leading it in, if I can get it to work.  After that, I have quite a few areas in the corners of the trunk that need work.  Most should just need a small amount of filler, but some will need some leading.  Last, the far rear area of the trunk is a mess.  I'll probably cut a large part of it out and try to get in a nice new strip of metal, but not too concerned as this area can't really be seen.  Hoping to continue to make progress and get out of this slow rut I've been in for a few months working on this trunk.  At the very end, the whole trunk will need a skim coat of filler due to pitting throughout.

 

Cheers

[Laughing Coyote]

To save you time after you get it all welded and ground.  I would use filler on any deep pits or small low areas then go over the whole trunk floor with bed liner coating.  It goes on nice and with the loop roller it leaves a textured finish so it would hide smaller imperfections.  After it's been cured out then you can coat it with paint.  That way your not sanding a whole trunk worth of filler.  I coated mine and i'm going to do the inner quarters to match up the factory texture.  It stinks for a day or two so prepare yourself for that.  Also wear a good respirator with an organic cartridges.  I used dupli-color from Orielly's auto parts.

[hursst]

Martin, I appreciate the advice, as always, however, that would not be correct for the car and would not quite look right with a rough appearance.  I'm going to have to tough it out and get my sanding muscles in order.  

[hursst]

Today I was able to weld in the new patch with just a little trouble.  It was much easier with the better metal to work with, although I had a little trouble with the back end, where the metal is thin again.  Cleaned it all up and put some filler in there (Photos 1 & 2).  Tomorrow, I'm going to try to clean up the patch to the right of the one I just did and see if I can make it work.  There are still quite a number of holes that need to be filled.  If I can save it, I'll do the same thing, clean it up and put some filler in there to smooth it out.  If I have time and interest, I'll try to sand out these areas to a reasonable level before I move on to the rear part of the trunk and start trying some leading.

[hursst]

Big day today.  Great weather, too.  Was able to save that other section by welding up the larger holes.  I got it good enough to use some filler, so I cleaned it all up and applied more filler. 

 

This went pretty well and got done fairly fast, so I move on to the leading.  I broke open the box and first watched the supplied DVD.  I followed the instructions succinctly and started leading on the Frankenstein part of the trunk.   Amazingly to me, it worked quite well!  Here's a few photos of how it went (Photos 1 & 2).  I did a few rounds of trying to get it clean enough, as my welding was not a smooth surface of metal, it was quite a mess with plenty of pits and junk.  The thorough cleaning and tinning appeared to work, as it all appeared to stick (at least so far).  It was actually fairly easy, I'm surprised more people don't do it, it's way better than plastic filler (assuming you have a relatively flat surface that you can attach with a file to shape it properly), so plastic filler still has a place.  I also did a portion of the side of the trunk on the upper ledge, which you can see on the far left on photo 3.

 

I did a little filing as a test and some more sanding or the filler and that went well.  Here's a shot of the entire progress so far (Photo 3).  Still a lot of work to do, but I think the tide is finally turning on this trunk/boot.

 

I'd like to thank Mike McCartney for the recommendation; I think this is my ticket out of this most challenging portion of the restoration.

 

As a post script, I also got the pressboard "gasket" stapled onto the spare tire cover, as original.  IT looks like I may have to do some slight trimming and I broke the thing again, at the joint I had previously glued.  I stapled it and I'll re-glue it, plus it will not be seen, so not too concerned with it.

 

A salute to those soldiers and airmen we lost this week.  Let's remember them on Veterans Day and Remembrance Day!

[Mike Macartney]

Do watch it when using lead loading, especially if you sand it, always wear a good mask. You don't want to end up like me, not being able to breath, or play in my workshop anymore!

[Luv2Wrench]

Looking good Chris!  I think in the rush to adopt "new and better" stuff there is a lot of knowledge lost.  Most techniques have their strong points and weak points.   Body lead had a lot of weak points but it also did some things that plastic filler really can't do that well... but that knowledge was lost.  Thanks goodness for YouTube! 

[hursst]

Mike,

   Yes, I wear the 3M mask with the charcoal filters always.  I will only file lead, never sand or grind it.  I try to be very safe when dealing with these things.  I'll have to do a thorough clean up in the trunk with all the various metal and lead filings each time I work on it.

 

-Chris

[hursst]

Pushing forward with the MGA.  Today I accomplished more leading and welding.  First, I welded up the rust holes at the right front corner of the trunk.  This worked fairly well with the copper backing plate behind it.  Got it reasonable with minimal pinholes, so I'll use some filler to clean up this area after I grind it to something acceptable.  Next, I leaded the right hand side area where I welded in the largest patch panel in the front of the trunk.  This area didn't have too many problems, so it went well.  Next, I moved to the outside of the trunk, welded in a few pinholes and put filler over some problematic spots where I had filled in rust holes earlier.  I'll sand these out and have them ready to filler primer during the next phase.  The back external panel area is quite a mess with numerous dings, dents, bends, and rust-outs.  Not much protection from the "bumper."  

 

Last, cleaned up and replaced some washers that will be behind the rivets on the spare tire cover when it's riveted on long from now.  Soon, I'll have to finish drilling holes in the spare tire aperture in the trunk and get that finished before it's ready for high-build primer.

 

The next challenge will be the left hand side of the large patch I welded in.  The valley towards the back of the trunk had a lot of holes and I've been unable to weld them up, so I will probably have to craft a medium size patch panel to fix this area, the metal is just not good enough.  Once I fix this area and finish leading in the back patch area, that's about it for the primary part of the trunk.  There is still a lot to do at the rear of the trunk and there are still some holes and bad spots that need attention or more grinding and cleanup to look presentable around the sides of the trunk.  Looking good to make my schedule of having all the main metalwork accomplished by spring.  Will be very happy when the trunk is complete, this has not been fun or at least satisfying work, it's just burdensome.

[hursst]

Today, I continued on the leading in the trunk and it's now just about complete.  There are a few other small spots I may hit, but I think the heavy lifting is complete with the leading (Photo 1).  Boy is that trunk ugly.  Filled in a few more holes here and there and did some more grinding of the weld stalagmites in the tough to reach areas.

 

I took a little break and finished rough sanding of the back panel.  Turned out okay (Photo 2).  Will need some more sanding with some finer sandpaper before it's ready for high build primer. 

 

Next, I wanted to move this project along and get away from this trunk that's bogged me down for a long time now.  So, I got the two rear fender front splash guards, which I can now install as a rough fit.  The driver's side one is rusty at the bottom, so I'm attempting to weld up the holes to a point good enough for some leading or filler.  This will be seen if you look in the fender well, so want to make it presentable at least.  Here it is right before welding, with a copper piece stuck to the back for support under the holes (Photo 3).  Will have a lot of grinding and re-welding to do I think.  Here's the passenger side one on the car (Photo 4).  These do not attach to the fenders, they will have a rubber splash guard fastened to the edge to make a flexible barrier.  Finally putting a part back on the body!

 

Still a lot of work to do on the trunk, but I think I'm over the hump now.  

[Laughing Coyote]

You're getting there.  Keep plowing ahead and victory will be yours.

 

[hursst]

Haven't done much because of leaving town for Thanksgiving and being so busy at work.  Just a quick update; today, I made it out for a quick 45 minutes and was able to file down most of the lead filler.  Next step will be to put some rust encapsulator around the remaining bare metal to stabilize it until I do my final filler of Rage Gold.  At this point, I have two small holes in the upper right corner, two very small holes at the lower left corner, then some more grinding and cleanup and most of the trunk will be complete.  This will leave a fairly large bad section, maybe 3" x 8" that I will need to finish cutting out and and replacing, at the very rear left of the trunk where it almost connects to the rear valance area at the far rear of the car.  A felt piece was stapled (yes, stapled thru metal) to fit between the trailing edge of the trunk floor and the rear body of the car, which I will try to recreate after the car body is painted.

 

Cheers!

[hursst]

Made some reasonable progress yesterday and today.  Saturday, finished welding up my driver's side rear splash guard holes, was able to save it.  Here it is with some filler (Photo 1) to smooth out the welding and pitting in the metal.  Here it is sanded and primered and temporarily placed on the body (Photo 2).  Turned out very well considering how bad the rust was.  I will need to drill one new hole as I had to weld up an old one due to rust-out surrounding it.  I also cleaned up various holes I had welded up in the trunk area, applied rust inhibitor, and put on some spray-can high build primer as a temporary measure, as these areas can flash rust quickly, and it was already starting (Photos 2 & 3).  You can now clearly see the additional dents I need to fix at the lower rear of the that were not as obvious with the sealer primer.

 

Sunday, I welded some more holes with some success, but didn't get too far.  I then used a grinder to grind down the absolute mess that is the underside of the trunk.  Lots of welding stalactites down there, a real train wreck.  Since it won't be seen and by trying to grind it perfectly smooth, it will just create more holes and/or more problems, I got it to the point where it is reasonable.  If someone in the future ever restores this car again, they will wonder what this crazy pervious owner was thinking.  Given my constraints, I think the results will come out good enough and look good to the unassuming eye.  I then hit the whole area with some rust inhibitor to stabilize it.  Grinding this area created a few more pinholes, so I applied two more areas of leading inside the trunk to fill in these holes.  I'm still filing down some of the previous leading I did, it's not quite flat enough, so still more work to do there.  

 

I still have some problem areas at the extreme corners of the trunk with rust holes that I couldn't quite get filled in the first time.  However, I think that my welding skills have actually improved a little after having to deal with trying to weld the thin metal in the trunk and having at least a little luck with it.  I think I may be able to complete the trunk welding by January, then it should be cake fixing the few other rust holes on the body after that, plus repairing the sloppy rocker panel spot welds I did.  Now that I have a little more confidence in my welding, I may revisit some of the work I did on the rockers in welding in the vertical backing metal.  May need to touch up the backsides of these welds, as my penetration could be a little better with my butt welding.  We'll see when I get there.

 

 

Edited December 7, 2020 by hursst (see edit history)

[Luv2Wrench]

Looking good, you're certainly getting the hang of it!

[hursst]

Was able to get most of the day in today and had a few sessions last week, so time for an update.  I got tired of the trunk, so I moved up to the front "shelf" area where the master cylinder, wiper motor, fuse box, and other functions are located.  This area suffered from water accumulation in the corners especially, so the metal is fairly pitted, and rusted through in the corners and other areas that were low-lying.  Here's one area that I'm about 1/2 way finished plugging (Photo 1).  This area was closed up later.  Here's the other end, shown from the inside of the car, that shows the rust hole that developed here (Photo 2).  This area was later plugged up as well.  I've been using lead if I can't quite get all the pinholes filled in, which is most of these holes.  The metal is very thin here as well, but I'm getting better at welding with it, with all the experience in the trunk.

 

Here's a shot of are area where water pooled up frequently (Photo 3).  This is where the windshield wiper motor mounts.  I cut out the area that was rusted thru (I'll have to drill 1 hole for the wiper motor mount).  Unfortunately, the metal all the way back to the cowl is very thin.  I made a replacement patch and welded it in, but had some problems with burn-thru near the right where it meets the vertical, so I am still chasing it (Photo 4).  The patch went in fairly well, but the surrounding area is a little tough to get solid.  I'll grind this area up and keep welding a little more, then I'll have to apply some lead.  After this, all the major spots are complete in the front of the car, but I keep finding more thin metal and pin holes.  Most of them should be able to be fixed with just a little body filler, but there are a few other places that will probably need a little welding.  Once I chase all of these areas, I think I'll work the passenger side rocker spot welds, since this will be an easy fix, then go back to the trunk.

 

[John S.]

Really nice work on the MG. It has come a long way.

[hursst]

Got another 5 or so hours out in the garage today and made some good progress.  First, added some more welding to the rust out below the wiper motor area and got it to a point where I can lead the rest of it.  Turned out very well.  Here's a photo along with another section I completed a few weeks ago (Photo 1).  I've been filing the lead and it's fairly close to being smooth enough for final finishing. 

 

I then moved on to the passenger side rocker panel, to clean up my poor spot welding from last year.  About half of the welds were a little too hot and/or I placed the welder there just a little too long, so the welds had some holes in them as the first layer of metal was burned right thru, in some cases there was nothing connecting the outer rocker flange to the inner vertical structure, just a hole.  Here's the area cleaned up, but before welding.  Photo is a little blurry... (Photo 2).  I made short work of these as my welding has improved.  I filled in any holes where needed, then smoothed them out afterwards.  Still not perfect, but about 98% good, so I'll call it good enough.  I then moved to the back part, behind the rocker where there was a lot of thin metal, pinholes and small holes, plus some more sloppy welding of some patches I made.  I filled in the holes using the copper backing technique, plus I filled some holes up on the rocker where I did some very sloppy welding.  It's much better now, no holes in the main panel, and less sloppy overall, but still sloppy.  Cleaned it up and applied some rust inhibitor to keep it from rusting while it waits to get a final cleanup and primer.  It won't be seen, so my goal is to get it solid and at least presentable (Photos 3 & 4).

Edited December 20, 2020 by hursst (see edit history)

[hursst]

Found a couple hours after work today and worked on the front shelf.  Found some more pinholes when I put some light underneath.  Will probably do some more leading to help reinforce the thin metal, rather than use plastic filler.

 

The main project for today was that I have two captive nut retainers that are bad.  One was rusted right thru, so I ground it down to level a few weeks back.  Another one was in good shape, but unfortunately, had a seized nut in it, with both ends broken off from when I tried to remove it during the original disassembly.  The only solution was to cut open the retainer and extract the captive nut and bolt remnants.  I was able to extract the bolt remnant after I got the nut removed.  I made another captive nut for the destroyed retainer and I'll reuse the nut from the retainer I had to cut open.  I'll grind down the remainder of the other retainer to level as well.  

 

Now, I have to replace those two retainers, so I have to make them from scratch.  I roughly sized them based on the originals, then got to work with some sheet steel and a cutoff wheel.  Here's the pattern I made that I'm cutting out (Photo 1).  Here's the other pattern with the half-complete home-made retainer (Photo 2).  Here's another phase to it (Photo 3)...

[hursst]

...Here's the final piece next to a good original one on the shelf (Photo 1).  Turned out nicely and didn't take too much time, since I've made a few in other areas of the car.  Will have to complete the other one, then get them spot welded in, after I drill center holes in each of them.

Edited December 29, 2020 by hursst (see edit history)

[MjSieler]

Hursst,

This suggestion may be in your case many days late a more than a few bucks long but I thought of you as soon as I saw the work he is currently doing. Here is the link and a sample picture.

https://www.mgexp.com/forum/mga-forum.2/1957-mga-roadster-restoration-with-an.3898051.4269502/page-47#msg-4269502

[hursst]

Thanks, I'll have to check out the blog!  

[hursst]

Finally made it to 2021!    Can't believe I've been working on this car since 2016.  Looks like this will be a 6-year restoration at this point.  I thought I could have it completed in 4.

 

Anyway, great way to kick off the new year by spending most of it in the garage.  Finished up with the two captive nut retainers and got them welded in.  Used a little too much heat, even though I dialed it back from what the spot welder manufacturer recommended, still too hot, so had to do some touch up and grinding after I burned thru some of the metal.  Turned out good enough in the end; the worse one will be hidden behind the brake booster.  

 

In addition, I positioned and drilled the missing hole for the wiper motor in the area I repaired and leaded earlier.  Here's a photo of one of the captive nut retainers along with the hole I drilled (on the right) for the wiper motor (Photo 1).  I could not get the hole as large as it should be, due to very limited access from both above and below the shelf.  Had to use a 90-degree air tool and use the largest bit I could fit.  Luckily, it's big enough for the fasteners, and won't be seen anyway.  Here's the test-fit of the wiper motor mounting plate (Photo 2).

 

I kept motivated and moved back to the trunk. Not sure how I'm staying motivated, as it seems like an endless project!  I cut out the rusted out metal at the very rear of the trunk so I could patch it.  Here's a loose test fit of the template I made (Photo 3).  I kept rolling with it and cut out the metal piece and bent the bottom to the required angle.  Here's a loose test-fit of the final patch (Photo 4).  I then coated it with weld-thru primer for now, to keep it from rusting.  As you can see in the photo, my welding of the rust out to the right, adjacent to the patch is very poor and will need to be reworked, the metal was very thin.  I think I can save most of it, but it will need a lot of grinding and rework.  This area, and and area behind the patch will have to be cleaned up more before I weld in this large patch.

 

I'll be pretty happy when this patch is welded in, as that's the last of the extensive metal work.  The rest of the body will be a lot of clean up, minor welding of small holes, filing, sanding, and then some body filler to make it all look nice.  The good news is that the portions of the body that will be seen on the outside of the car are in pretty good shape and don't need too much work.  I'll probably start sanding and applying the final primer coats piecemeal on the areas of the body that are pretty much complete (during warm spells) as a break from the metal work and to fool myself into making it look like I'm making greater progress.  I guess I'm still on track to have the metalwork complete by spring.  With any luck, I may be able to apply paint before fall.  I'm now leaning back towards doing the paint myself, with encouragement from a friend, plus I can save a fortune by doing it myself.  We'll see.

[STEVE POLLARD]

Looks great Chris ! 

 

Steve

[chistech]

Just this past week, a similar MG came up on Facebook Marketplace close to me for what seemed reasonable money. After watching Chris’ progress following his restoration, it was hard to hit “back” on the iPad and not inquire about it!  Then last night while the wife and I were out in the Villages in Florida, we walked by one parked in a square and she stopped to look at it. She likes convertibles but said “nope” doesn’t do enough for me. Phew, glad I didn’t ask and go look at the one for sale!😄

[hursst]

Your wife is looking out for you!  Mine was "reasonable money" too, now I know why. 

Edited January 2, 2021 by hursst (see edit history)

[hursst]

Got another few hours in today. Dipped into the last bag of parts that has not been restored, which are the original body mounting bolts.  Surprisingly, they are in excellent shape, with just a little surface rust, they will clean up nicely.

 

Got the large patch panel in the trunk cleaned up and tacked into place.  Here is is with some weld-thru primer and some high build primer at the bottom portion (Photo 1).  Here it is tacked into place (Photo 2).  Very happy with the fit.  Not much burn thru so far, so I may be able to get a reasonable weld this time. Will need a little trimming at the bottom to even out the bent-down portion bottom line.  Will try to finish the welding tomorrow.

[hursst]

Wrapped up the three day weekend with a little more time in the garage.  Got the patch piece welded in.  Turned out so-so.  Has a few small holes in it, so will need some more work to get it better.  May have to put a little leading in it to fill in some pin holes before it's complete (Photo 1).  Only worked on it for about and hour and a half, as welding and grinding above you whilst laying on your back puts a lot of strain on the neck, so had to stop.  Hope to hit it again next weekend and clean it up, then apply some rust inhibitor to keep the flash rust off.  Will need to make another patch for the interior far end support, close to the end of this patch, but it will only be about 1" x 1/2".

 

With my sore neck, I decided to move back to the body mount hardware.  I soaked the first set in Evaporust for a couple days first, then used a wire wheel to clean them up.  I tried zinc plating them, but some of them still had a little bit of pitting that didn't clean up 100%, so decided to just use some etching primer, then I'll hit it with some steel or zinc spray paint to get it close to the original plating (Photo 2).

 

Neck feels better now, a few hours later.

[hursst]

A little more progress this weekend, but most of my time was spent catching up on other projects.  This weekend, I was able to finish welding up the many small gaps I left in the large patch panel I put in the trunk.  Turned out nicely, I think my welder is dialed in for this type of work and I've progressed to maybe a D+ in my welding skills.  I have tad bit more grinding to do, then I'll cover it with a little plastic filler to blend it in better underneath.  Will probably do the same on the top of the weld, doesn't need any leading.  That's it for the heavy welding on the car, now it will just be cleanup and a few small patches here and there.

 

Next, I kept working on the mess that is the back driver's side corner of the trunk.  I smoothed out the horizontal surface fairly well.  This will get some lead and should look okay.  The vertical portion is getting better, but is still a mess and will need more grinding and more welding of the holes I will end up making by getting it to look reasonable.  I think I can make it work out, rather than starting over again with it.  There was a small rust out area that I hadn't worked with yet (Photo 1).  I cut more of the bad area out back to reasonable metal and made a patch panel, which is just placed in there for a test fit (Photo 2).  Before I weld it in, I took the patch out and hit the area under it with some rust inhibitor, and there will be an air pocket underneath that ridge line.  I'll then hit it with some weld-thru primer, as well as the patch piece itself, to help with future rust as well.  Should be an easy job.

 

Last, I continued on cleaning up the body fasteners.  I have bolt assemblies taped up and labelled with things like "rear under, driver," which are not very helpful notes I left for myself 3+ years ago, but since they are all body bolts, they can only be in so many places, so figured it out and it's going well as a side project.  I'll put all the bolts loosely in their respective positions as to not lose them and keep them where they will end up in the end.

 

Feel like I've crested the mountain and things will be downhill now, the work should be a little easier from here on out, and hopefully faster.

 

 

 

 

[hursst]

Some progress from last week and today.  Got the small patch panel welded in last week and fixed some other very small problem areas around it (Photo 1).  Next, I continued to grind and clean up this general area, including work on the other side of this mess, on the outside of the body.  I got it to a reasonable point, then leaded in some of the areas that had some remaining pin holes (Photo 2).  Overall, very pleased with the progress, but still have more detailing work to do.  I'll probably do a little more grinding on the sloppy welding, then use some plastic filler to give it a smoother look.  There are still two nice holes underneath the horizontal support bracket where I put in the patch, so still a lot more work to do in the this area, but making good progress.  There's also a lot of minor grinding and finishing work to do under the trunk in these problem areas.  Will hit it again tomorrow.

 

Also continued with the body bolt restoration, now over half way finished with that.

 

I should be ready to test-fit the body and various panels to the chassis in February.  I've lined up another car friend to assist.  I should have the main metal work on the body mostly complete by then.  Don't want to get too far with the body if I discover that certain things are way off and need surgery.  If the test fit goes well, I should be on track to be ready for final high-build primer in spring, spend the first part of the summer sanding, then try to set up a paint booth situation in my garage (after a THOROUGH cleaning), and with some help from friends who paint their cars at home, then at the very least, get the undersides and areas of the car that won't be seen painted before the end of summer.  It will probably be easier to paint those areas first, then attach the body to the chassis, then paint the rest of the car on the chassis after blocking off everything that doesn't need paint.  If I can make these milestones, maybe I can have the rest of the car painted in the fall, then it will just be assembly of all the other parts, which are 99% finished.  I think a completion date may be Spring, 2022 at this point.  Ugh, that will be almost a 6-year restoration.

 

Chris

[Luv2Wrench]

Doing it right at home takes years unless you're retired and can dedicate the hours needed.  I think you've made fantastic progress on the car.  A lot of skills have to be learned and mastered and that just takes time, there's no shortcut.

[hursst]

Just a quick update for today.  Fixed some problem spot welds on the front part of the rocker panels that I didn't get to earlier.  Also, continued on the body bolts.  Didn't get to the small hole in the trunk this weekend.  Maybe next weekend.  

 

 

[hursst]

Today: More boring photos of bad welds!  

 

Today is a big day, as I am calling the major welding/rust hole repair complete!  I leaded in some small holes on the front of the rocker (Photo 1) and I patched a quarter-sized (10p-sized for our UK friends) sized hole in the bottom of the trunk underneath that messy area in the bottom driver's side corner of the trunk (Photo 2).  As you can clearly see, there is still a lot of work to do in correcting things like the atrocious spot welds on the front of the rocker, and grind all the giant welding stalactites in the second photo.  I'll probably have a lot of pinholes and some touch-up welds to do, as you can see a few gaps in the photo.  Most of the trunk photo area will be on top of the rear chassis member, so I'm not that concerned with perfect looks, but it's an absolute mess right now.  I'm embarrassed to show it, but I want to show other folks that even amateurs can at least make this work, continue their projects, gain better skills over time, and still have a good restoration at the end.  My free labor and sloppy work is way better than great work at $150/hr, in my opinion.

 

I'll keep on with the detail work until mid-Feb, when I'll have some car friends over to help me test fit the body and panels on the chassis, to see what other work I'll have to do.  I'm hoping everything lines up well.

 

Last, I am almost finished restoring all the chassis bolts.  That's been a good side project in taking me away from lying on my back doing sloppy welds underneath the car from time to time.

[Luv2Wrench]

I looked up the definition of weld to see if it had a requirement for looking good and my memory was proven correct... it does not.

 

"Weld: join together (metal pieces or parts) by heating the surfaces to the point of melting using a blowtorch, electric arc, or other means, and uniting them by pressing, hammering, etc."

[hursst]

Haha, fair point.  

[John S.]

Love the progress on the MGA.  Great work.

[hursst]

Small update for today.  Completed the restoration of all the body fastening hardware, turned out great.

 

Also started on cleaning up all the sloppy welding and leading, applying some new leading, and applying rust inhibitor to the areas that are still bare metal where I've welded and/or leaded.  Starting to look a little better, slowly.  Will easily be ready for final primer in the spring time now, I think.

[hursst]

Been a few weeks since an update.  Weather is too cold to do what I need to do with body filler and rust encapsulator, since I'm left with working these details for the body.  This Friday, weather depending, I will be test fitting the body and panels, so hopefully that will go well and I'll get some photos of the whole mess looking something like a car again. 

 

Weather should recover next week, so I hope to be able to start applying body filler to the trunk to clean up my welding and leading, then start applying the final coats of high-build primer if it is warm enough.

[hursst]

Weather is a disaster, so postponing the body test fitting for another week, at least.