Mike Macartney Posted May 16, 2021 Share Posted May 16, 2021 On 5/7/2021 at 12:23 AM, hursst said: The regular "to do" list never shrinks. I seem to remember that with all the cars and motorcycles I have restored. Before I started restoring the Humberette I restored two MGB V8's. This a link to the second one I restored. It worked out that I spent over 1,000 hours on it over a 2-year period. https://www.v8register.net/profileV8RebuildMacartney.htm Bodywork restoration is always very time consuming. Stick at it - you are doing great. After a year of sitting around not being able to breath, the hospital has at last given me oxygen and I feel I might be able to get back in the workshop when I get my strength back. Just to give you a laugh here is a photo of me with the oxygen and the new set of wheels they sent me home with! I said I DON'T NEED A WALKING FRAME but they insisted I take it with me. Mike 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Harper Posted May 16, 2021 Share Posted May 16, 2021 2 hours ago, Mike Macartney said: I seem to remember that with all the cars and motorcycles I have restored. Before I started restoring the Humberette I restored two MGB V8's. This a link to the second one I restored. It worked out that I spent over 1,000 hours on it over a 2-year period. https://www.v8register.net/profileV8RebuildMacartney.htm Bodywork restoration is always very time consuming. Stick at it - you are doing great. After a year of sitting around not being able to breath, the hospital has at last given me oxygen and I feel I might be able to get back in the workshop when I get my strength back. Just to give you a laugh here is a photo of me with the oxygen and the new set of wheels they sent me home with! I said I DON'T NEED A WALKING FRAME but they insisted I take it with me. Mike Mike, It so wonderful to see you up and about! Best regards, terry 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chistech Posted May 16, 2021 Share Posted May 16, 2021 Not to steal the thread but Mike cleans up pretty good!😁 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hursst Posted May 16, 2021 Author Share Posted May 16, 2021 Thanks for the kind words, Mike. Great to hear you are back, or close to back in action. Time to get back to the garage soon! Maybe get the walker, put some wire wheels on it, paint it BRG, put some wood handles on it, and make it proper. Cheers! -Chris 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John S. Posted May 17, 2021 Share Posted May 17, 2021 Mike , so happy to see you up and around. God Bless. John 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hursst Posted May 23, 2021 Author Share Posted May 23, 2021 (edited) Was able to do a little more this weekend. Got the front passenger fender finished with more body work, so now it is ready for more primer and should be pretty smooth after this round (Photo 1). Moved on to the passenger door and block sanded it at 320 grit. It seems to be quite straight, except for some minor areas at the outer edge, which needed a little filler. I also hand sanded the inside of the door to 400 grit, so it's pretty much ready for paint. I also test-fitted the upper door trim and it didn't fit that well, so had to expand the mounting holes a little in order to get the trim to fit (Photo 2). Seems pretty good now, should be perfect when the mounting bolts are torqued down. The next full day I get with decent weather, I'll be doing another round of primer. I will have the passenger front fender and door, front valance panel, to striker plate door jam caps, and the gauge cluster panel to do. Next, I'll be starting on the rear passenger fender, which needs a lot of work to get the lower contours correct where it meets the door. It also has some flaws in the wheel well, where the repro panel stampings were a little inaccurate and will require some hand work. Edited May 23, 2021 by hursst (see edit history) 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hursst Posted May 26, 2021 Author Share Posted May 26, 2021 Made some time after work today. Moved on to the rear passenger fender to tackle the problems at the lower front of the fender. The first issue is that the patch I welded on doesn't have the right curve to it in the middle of the radius (Photo 1). It looks far worse when the door is on, and you can clearly see the deviation. The other problem was on the lower front wheel well area, where the same patch panel was simply poorly stamped. It had a slight crease on the inside lip that went to the edge and made for an uneven and poorly contoured transition from the wheel arch curve to the bottom, and thru the bottom of the fender. The black line is roughly where the edge of the panel should be (Photo 2). For the first problem, I ground everything down to bare metal at this spot, and leaded it, to build up enough material so I can file it down to the proper curve. Here it is with the rough lead (Photo 3). I'll still need to file down the lead to get a reasonable contour, then put in some filler to make it acceptable. Should turn out nicely. The last work was the other section, where I used a hammer and dolly to flatten the crease as best as possible, then hammer a reasonable line thru the subtle curve. I then took an angle grinder and ground down the remainder of the crease to a mostly flat surface, then contoured it a little. Here is the rough contouring (Photo 4). It will need some finer sanding, a little bit of filler, then it should be reasonable. Last, I sanded the inner front fender panel to 400 grit, so it's ready for paint (although I need to touch up the primer first). I plan on doing a round of primer with the many panels that need it this weekend, as long as the weather holds out. I should be able to do a final 400-grit sanding on these panels and have them ready for paint. Slight change of subject, but at this point, I still plan on retiring soon, but probably January. Due to various reasons, I think I'll stay in my current residence for at least another year, which means come January, my full time job will become the MG. I don't see me being ready for paint in 2021, there is still too much to do, and I have very little time to work on it. If I can get 40 hours per week on it, come January, it should be ready for paint in spring 2022. Cheers, Chris 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John S. Posted May 27, 2021 Share Posted May 27, 2021 hursst, really making progress on the MG. Looks great. John 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hursst Posted May 29, 2021 Author Share Posted May 29, 2021 Finally, a 3 day weekend at home. Was going to do yard work today, but it rained most of the day, so off to the garage. First, took after the rear fender work I've been doing. I finished getting a rough filing on the leading I did, then matched it up to the door (Photo 1). Definitely better than before, but still not even. I hit it (and the side of the fender with some filler to better work the contours and clean up the filing and sanding work I did (Photo 2). Results came it pretty good so far. I got a nice, tight gap on the door (Photo 3) and a fairly even contour on the wheel lip part of the fender (Photo 4). It probably won't look as good with the primer on it, but I'm definitely getting close. The fender is now ready for a full round of block sanding. I did the major bodywork and filler on it a while ago, but it needs a good block sanding to bring out the imperfections, of which there are quite a few small ones. Got a little bored with the fender work, so pretty much finished adding filler and the sanding of the trunk, and I finished the rough sanding of the front area behind the grille that was heavily pitted. I then continued sanding the body with 320 grit to get it ready for filler primer. I finished sanding the entire passenger length of the car, since I then had all the fenders and door off again, then started sanding the passenger side of the outside body, from the grille, to the beside the hood, up to the driver's compartment. The existing primer/sealer was very rough because of the poor job I did with the filler a little too dry, before I knew exactly what I was doing. Sanded out nicely, though, will be fine after filler primer. Will be doing at least something on it tomorrow- moving it along. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chistech Posted May 30, 2021 Share Posted May 30, 2021 I know what you mean about the crappy weather. Raining hear up in New England all weekend also, so after a party for a good friend of my wife’s last night, and a family breakfast this morning, I’ll be spending a fair amount of time in the garage on the 30’, finishing up the front axle assembly as far as I can get it until the brake shoes come in, then starting to get the rear axle ready to go to powder. I’ll probably be starting on wood work and the body by the end of June. I’m somewhat energized knowing this is the last full restoration I’m going to be doing for a while. I want to get it done so I can take a breath, relax some, and enjoy my own cars more. Sorry, didn’t mean to steal the thread but I’m sure you’ve gotten to the point where you’d like to get done with it. I think anyone involved in a restoration gets to that point some time during all the work. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hursst Posted May 30, 2021 Author Share Posted May 30, 2021 Yes, pressing ahead, I really want to at least get the the point where the paint is finished. The reassembly is the fairly easy, fun, and fast part. Kept the momentum going today, in between a lot of yard work. Went back to the rear fender; had a lot of small irregularities, mostly pitting, but had a few small dents and some waves in the repro patch panel portion, of course. Here's some of the work, using glazing putty and various other fillers (Photos 1 & 2). Sanded it all down and it's just about ready for more primer, just needs a little more work on the top of the fender where it attached to the body, still has some pitting that needs work. In between all the other activity, I went to work on the body. Found two dents and a lot of pitting. Most of it could be covered with glazing putty, but had to use some filler in a larger dent (Photo 3). Pretty pleased with the progress, as I realize how little of the outside of the body there is, meaning that the portion I have to finish perfectly is very small. Most of the inner body and the areas that will be covered just need a quick sanding with 320 grit and it's pretty much ready for final primer, since no one will see these areas. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hursst Posted June 4, 2021 Author Share Posted June 4, 2021 (edited) Left work early today and got in a couple hours in the garage. Today, I pulled off the driver's side front fender, after getting it nicely matched up with the door, and started sanding it. Those two pieces are original to the car, so I expected them to match up easily, and they did. It's got a lot of low areas, so started applying some filler (Photo 1). Haven't sanded it yet. It had a lot of pitting, just like the other fender, where the upper fender meets the body, where moisture and water collected in the low area there over 45 years. The front of the fender all around has a lot of pitting, so it may have been in an open barn and this is the side that faced towards the outside??? Anyway, shallow pitting, no big deal, but will need a lot of filler. A few small dents that have come up now that I'm doing additional block sanding. I also started the same process on the front of the body. A lot of pitting all over the front half of the body, more so on the driver's side than passenger side, so the whole thing will need filler, for the most part (Photo 2). I also sanded the backside of one of the inner fender braces, so that's now ready for a small amount of final primer. I'm actually making fairly good progress now. There's a chance I could have the body finished in primer before winter, but no way I'll have it painted. Still waiting for a full day to be available so I can apply primer to the other body parts that are ready for more, but haven't found the time, so I'll keep on sanding and filling in the meantime. I originally thought I could have the body ready for final primer in early summer, but there's just too much work to do and too little time available to work it. Edited June 4, 2021 by hursst (see edit history) 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hursst Posted June 27, 2021 Author Share Posted June 27, 2021 (edited) Have done zero on the MG since the last post, until today. Went to a Jeep festival, a college friends reunion, and the Camaro nationals, and have had no time. Got back out there today and continued, this time, I got the paint sprayer out to catch up on getting some more primer on some of the panels and continuing the process. Seems the more work I do on these panels, the more work has to be done, although I do see progress each time. Today, I was able to do bodywork on and re-spray the battery cover panel (Photos 2 & 3), three inner fender panels, the gauge cluster, and the trunk lid. I did some more bodywork on them and sprayed some of them again. You can see the ring I made of filler that was made from the spare tire rusting that goes thru the trunk and hangs over/on the battery cover. This was a ring of rust pits, maybe caused by condensation coming off the spare tire and landing on the battery cover panel over 45 years. I was able to get a couple of the inner fender panels done and ready for paint, plus I think the gauge cluster is about ready, but the others are not ready yet, they still need more work. The trunk panel appears to be in really good shape now, and should just need a final sanding with 400 grit. Here it is before I applied more primer (Photo 1). On the other panels, I'm finding a few pits that haven't filled in totally and a few small air bubbles in the filler on some of the other work. Nothing major, but more work to do. I also added some more filler on the front valance panel as well. I still have work to do on the three of the four fenders that I've been working over the last few months, but they need more sanding of the filler I've applied, plus some more primer, which I hope to get to July 4th weekend. Here's one of the fenders currently (Photo 4). This is definitely not a fun part of the restoration. When I'm finished with the panels, I'll have my buddy over who's been doing body work for 20 years, and see what he thinks of my work, just to see if I'm on the right track. Edited June 27, 2021 by hursst (see edit history) 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John S. Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 hursst ,really coming along nicely. Great work on the MG. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hursst Posted July 4, 2021 Author Share Posted July 4, 2021 Staying home all this weekend, so am able to get in about a 1/2 day on the MG each day, still am overwhelmed with many other house and other car-related tasks. Today, I continued sanding the battery cover panel as well as the passenger rear fender. It was a lot of extra work, there was a lot of damage to the rear fender in terms of very large and very small dents, plus some pitting from rust, especially on the top where the fender meets the body, so I had to use more filler than I would have liked. In addition, there was a lot of work where I welded on the patch panel at the very bottom of the fender (Photos 1 & 2). Thought I got them pretty smooth, so I broke out the primer gun again and completed round two of primer. Turned out pretty well (Photos 3 & 4). The battery cover panel had a little extra filler coming thru, so that will need some sanding, otherwise, it's ready for some sanding up to 400 grit and should be ready for paint. This panel wasn't perfect from the factory, so it will have a few minor imperfections to it. The fender turned out very well overall, but there are some minor problems with filler at the edges of the panel that will need some minor fill-in, the glazing putty at the center front of the panel isn't quite deep enough, so you can still see the small dents there, a couple scratches and pits that I missed at the back, and the accent line where I did the welding isn't perfect and will need some more work. Overall, items that can be fixed very easily and quickly, except maybe the accent line, of which I'm on my second try now. Really trying to keep at it and get this car to paint, as it will be holding me back, potentially, with my pending retirement. Can't move when I have an MG in a hundred pieces and a filthy garage, although I don't HAVE to move soon, but I'd like to. Thanks, also, for all the positive comments, they keep me motivated to keep moving this along. -Chris 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keiser31 Posted July 4, 2021 Share Posted July 4, 2021 Beautiful work! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STEVE POLLARD Posted July 4, 2021 Share Posted July 4, 2021 16 hours ago, hursst said: still am overwhelmed with many other house and other car-related tasks. Chris - that fender turned out excellent ! Your attention to detail will be rewarded at the end ! I understand where you are coming from with your comment about house and other car related task....I'm in he same boat, trying to put in some time on the SS project, but we have a lot of home updates going on ( siding garage, new deck, kitchen remodel etc...... ) but, it keeps me busy ! Looking forward to more of your updates ! Steve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hursst Posted July 4, 2021 Author Share Posted July 4, 2021 Thanks Steve! I guess I can say that all of this stuff IS getting done, just slower than I would wish. But you are right, persistence and detail will pay off. I won't be happy with the work until I'M happy with the work, so it will mean 2-5 rounds of bodywork per panel, as I keep seeing flaws as I go. However, each round produces drastically less flaws, so I'm moving in the right direction. No photos today, but I mostly finished the battery cover panel (will need one more thin layer of primer), I sanded down the trunk lid (looking really good, but will need 1-2 more layers of primer in some areas, then a final sanding), and I and doing more body work on the passenger rear fender that I primered yesterday. Sanded out 1/2 of the issues and added more filler to the other problem areas for future sanding. will be bringing two of the panels to my bodywork mentor tomorrow to see his thought on the trunk lid and the battery cover panel, since those are very close to being ready for paint, and appear very straight to me so far. Wishing everyone a Happy 4th of July; really happy to be celebrating our freedoms today, including the freedom to work on our old cars and pursue our own personal happiness. Time to crack a beer, eat some great food and celebrate now! -Chris -Chris 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hursst Posted July 14, 2021 Author Share Posted July 14, 2021 Been getting an average of 45 minutes in the garage during the week, trying to move this project along. I finished round 3 on the lower valance panel (Photo 1). I practically started over on it a couple months ago, it just wasn't up to standard. In its current guise, it is nice and smooth and seems pretty straight, although you can clearly see all the filler that I needed to save it. It will still need 2-3 more rounds after I apply primer to it, but I think I can get it right now. Also have been putting in a lot of effort on the driver's side front fender. It was just not very even, so I applied filler to most of the panel to try to get a good baseline surface. There is more filler than not, on the surface, so will need a lot more work. I'm currently trying to get a baseline of "smooth" at 120 grit, but had quite a few low spots, hence the glazing putty that I just applied (Photos 2 & 3). Looking for some advice with this, once I sand that glazing putty, the whole thing should be quite straight, but there is more filler than not, on the surface. Should I hammer down the obvious high points in the middle section where it's just bare metal, then re-sand to try to eliminate more of the filler, or should I sand it smooth and leave it be for the next round, which will be 3 or so layers of primer? I'm thinking hammering is the answer, but it could go either way. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laughing Coyote Posted July 15, 2021 Share Posted July 15, 2021 It looks like a lot of the filler is feathered out pretty good. If the panels high spots are not that bad I would just lay down a few heavy coats of high build primer and sand them down with some 220. Not sanding to hard to where you take the primer back off. The high build primer will help you in getting a more flatter finish. Then finish with 600. If you're going to paint it with a light color then that too will hide some waves in the body. I'm getting mine to where I'm happy with it and shooting it. It's a light color paint and when it's going down the road no one will notice. Besides more than half of people have their face in their phone anyway. It's not going to be a show car, but a driver I can take to local shows and enjoy driving it around. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John S. Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 hursst, I agree with Laughing Coyote. You are close, fella. Very close. All your hard work is paying off. It's going to be one nice MGA. John 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hursst Posted July 16, 2021 Author Share Posted July 16, 2021 Thanks, I hope I can get some good results at the end. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAKerry Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 Your work is superb. Def have a nice car when finished. I think most of us are in the same boat though. I know I have been prepared to have the next major step finished on my car for the last 2 months now! Summer seems to get too hot to be in the shop (although I just bought a large fan that makes a big diff.) Autumn weekends are busy with car shows and doing stuff that it was too hot in the summer to enjoy, winter is just plain too cold to be in the shop. By the time spring rolls around I think of all the work on the car I didnt do over the last year and have a renewed interest/spirit to get things rolling. By the time I get moving and start to get some things done its summer again... 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hursst Posted July 20, 2021 Author Share Posted July 20, 2021 (edited) Completed sanding the driver's side front fender today (Photo 1). Thinking about maybe trying to sell it as modern art; that's a crazy pattern that has come thru with the sanding. Besides the colors and pattern, it seems quite smooth, so I think the next round of sanding of the 4 coats of primer should be fairly easy with minimal reworking/filling in low spots. Will probably hit it with some 220 grit, to give it a more even finish that will allow for more bite of the primer. Almost out of primer, so will have to break the bank and buy more soon. Next will be the passenger side front fender. It's already about 85% finished from the previous work I did, will just need another good block sanding and some minor touch up, and that should be good as well. The only panel I haven't done anything with except basic body work and a first few layers of primer is the driver's rear fender, which will need a lot more work, since it had some pretty major damage before I started on it. It looks like it snowed inside my garage. Will do a thorough clean up of the major areas of the garage when all the panels are finished, but do not want to get it too nice, as there will still be more bodywork with the actual body, which is about 60% finished at this point. Edited July 20, 2021 by hursst (see edit history) 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hursst Posted August 1, 2021 Author Share Posted August 1, 2021 Pretty much hit August now, and I have nothing much planned for the whole month as far as trips or significant time away from home, so I can get in some good work on the MGA on weekends (as well a never slowing to do list with things non-MGA). Today, I got out the sprayer and tried to get more primer on the panels that are ready. Of course, my sprayer "needle" that determines how much, if any, material comes out got jammed in the semi-open position, so primer just trickled out of the front. Lost about 10% of my primer trying to mess around and get it fixed, but it needed a total tear down, so I dumped the primer in another container while I spent a good half an hour taking the sprayer apart and getting things unjammed and further cleaned. Finally got it fixed and was able to spray my battery cover, lower front valance, tail light plinths, rear passenger fender, and trunk lid with more primer (Photo 1). Of course, I ran out of primer before completing the entire rear fender, so that will have to wait. For the battery cover and tail light plinths, this was about the 3rd session of primer after previous primer and sanding events. The battery cover and plinths are now complete and ready for paint. The trunk lid was looking really good before, but needed a few more layers of primer to fill in some slightly low spots. I was not able to get enough layers before I ran out of primer, but I sanded it down again and there are just a couple areas where I need some touch up, then re-sanding, and I should be finished with the trunk lid (Photo 2). The front valance panel had gone thru 3 layers of primer previously, but was such a mess, it needed a lot more work. This round, I got 3 good layers of primer and sanded it pretty straight. I think it just needs a little touch up where I went thru the primer in a few small areas, then this will be done as well. Will try to buy more primer this week. I can't wait to see how expensive it is. I think it goes up in price by the hour. After the primer session, I went back to work with the two front fenders again, sanding them down. They look pretty good and are ready for another 4 good coats of primer before I start the final sanding process. I also took off the driver's rear fender and started sanding that down. This was the only panel left that has just its high build primer on it from many months ago. Found some rust pitting, a dent, and some low spots that need filler, so will continue to work this fender tomorrow to get it ready for a final 4 good coats of primer and hopefully a last sanding to get it ready for paint. This is the fender that was crushed by a tree or accident, and needed serious hammer and dolly work, as well as some filler work. It turned out really nice so far and shouldn't need a massive amount more work. After these few rounds, all that is left for panels are the doors, which are 90% complete already, I think they will just need one last sanding at 320, then 400 grit, then they are ready for paint, too. After the panels, I'll get back to the main body, and get back to the trunk first. It's about 70% complete now, but still needs a lot of final finishing work and maybe even some welding touch up in the spare tire aperture, where it was heavily rusted out. There are still some areas in front the I previously welded I need to work, especially around the cowl panel, but these should be fairly easy. I think I can make some big progress in August since I should have every weekend available. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hursst Posted August 1, 2021 Author Share Posted August 1, 2021 Spent a lot of time in the garage today. Completed all the panels in terms of being ready for the next round of primer. Started with the driver's side rear fender. It had a large low spot in it, possibly because of what ever fell on it decades ago. I applied a large amount of filler (Photo 1), then sanded it down. Not as bad as it looks, it's not very deep, but this was needed to fill in the many imperfections from the large amount of damage it had. The doors are better than I thought, they were both about 95% complete already. Just had one small ding I had to fill (Photo 2) on one of the doors. The edges of the doors are high spots, since the aluminum skin is crimped around a steel frame; one final round of about 4 coats of high-build primer should do the job. Doors are nice and smooth at a 320 grit sanding right now. Had a lot of success with the panels today, so kept the momentum going. The trunk was better than I thought it was the last time I worked it, so moved the rear of the body. Here's the lower rear driver's side of the body, adjacent to the trunk aperture and tire (Photo 3). There was more damage here from whatever crushed the fender, in the form of some fairly deep dents. I hammered them out a little, but there is a lot of bracing underneath, so didn't get them as nice as I'd like to. I hammered down the high spot a little to shrink it, and that helped, but the dents still remain. Gave a large part of the rear some filler, but I either didn't get my filler mix quite right, or I'm having some adhesion problems with the green sealer/primer, but probably both. Had to strip it all off again and start over. Very wasteful and time consuming, but mistakes are made. Hit a small section again after stripping most of the primer/sealer down to bare metal and did an extra special job of cleaning it. Worked okay this time (Photo 4). Have since sanded this down and it stuck. Did some touch up as the low spot is still a little low, and will continue sanding the next session. Body is rougher than I thought, so will need some extra work. It appears folks may have sat on the rear deck a lot, as the areas in between the bracing underneath are all low and will need some hammering and filler to be even. Overall, pleased with the progress, but still a lot of work to do with the body and panels. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luv2Wrench Posted August 3, 2021 Share Posted August 3, 2021 Great progress! Love that you're feeling some momentum now. Sometimes I think the restoration process is as much mental as it is physical. You've done a great job of getting out to the shop and getting something done on a regular basis. I could've done a much better job with that. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hursst Posted August 4, 2021 Author Share Posted August 4, 2021 This week, hit it pretty hard after work. Got the upper rear body about 95% ready for primer. Had some issues because it is now obvious that folks had been sitting on the back body behind the seats, as it's all slightly dented in in this area. Was able to knock some of it up higher, but couldn't make it perfect because there is a lot of bracketry underneath, so very hard to get much up there to bend it all up. It doesn't seem too bad, but requires a good amount of filler to make it all even again. Here it is when I just put on a ton of filler (Photo 1) and two views after I sanded it down and applied some glazing putty to the imperfections (Photo 2 & 3). You can clearly see how the middle, where folks would have sat, is lower than the surrounding areas by all the filler still remaining. Very pleased overall, as I'm realizing how little there is left with the body, at least as far as exposed areas that need to be "perfect," as opposed to 75% of the rest of the body that can't bee seen and doesn't need extreme detailing and smoothness. The bottom rear area will need a little more attention, I think, because it had tons of dents when I started out, although it should be somewhat straight from my last rounds of bodywork in that area. Too busy this week to get to the next town to buy primer, so I'll try again next week, maybe. No hurry. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hursst Posted August 9, 2021 Author Share Posted August 9, 2021 Missed about 3 days, had to go out of town after all, but got back in the garage after work today. Finished sanding the top part of the rear body (Photo 1). This portion is ready for primer. Moved on to the lower part of the rear of the body, where there was a lot of damage. I repaired most of it many months ago, but there are still a lot of dents and imperfections. I sanded it down to the bumper mount holes for now and it's not terrible at this point (Photo 2). Since there are a lot of support brackets behind this area, I couldn't get behind every dent to hammer them out, so had to do the best I could, then I'll have to go to filler. The dents aren't that deep now, so I think they will be okay with filler. I decided to just cover the whole area in filler and will start sanding shortly (Photo 3). The passenger side was in pretty good shape and didn't need any filler, at least at this point. We'll see how it turns out, I think it's probably not quite as bad as I first thought. Cheers, Chris 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hursst Posted August 12, 2021 Author Share Posted August 12, 2021 Been getting out to the garage most days this week, but can only get 30-40 minutes in before the 100 degree heat starts me sweating uncontrollably, then I start sweating on the car, no matter how hard I try to avoid it, then I have to stop as sweat and bodywork don't mix. Here's the further progress as of today. Added a lot more filler to the passenger side and am now sanding it down (Photo 1). This is about 80% finished, still more sanding to do to get the big blob of filler on the right where it should be. Having some trouble in the upper left portion, where a tree or something fell on it. Can't quite get this area smooth enough. I will probably sand this area out deeper, do some more hammering and try to make it more even, then re-apply (hopefully) lighter filler to get things a little more even. I also filled and sanded in the heavily pitted lower trunk lip, where water had collected. Luckily, no holes, just pits, but they were pretty easily filled in. Seems to be moving along. Good to be making this constant progress, but still so much more to do; also very tough to make good progress in this heat. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hursst Posted August 15, 2021 Author Share Posted August 15, 2021 (edited) Great weekend for me. First, I have never driven nor driven in an MG of any kind, just never happened, yet I've now owned one for 5 years and been in a the local MG club for 4 years. Saturday, I was finally able to be the passenger in a '58 MGA, driven by a woman from England, none the less. Fantastic experience, plus learned a lot of how things fit, where they go, etc. Between the rest of Sat and Sunday, was able to get a lot of work in. Spent many, many hours sanding, applying filler, sanding, more filler, more sanding, and some hammering for good measure. I am now generally finished with the external body work, at least in terms of it being ready for 4 good coats of high-build primer. The very front was pretty much finished already, so I worked on the front cowl area (Photo 1). This area was sunken in as well, but to be expected, as the windscreen goes across here, so that weight plus 55 years will probably make it sag a little. I did some light hammering with a rubber mallet in the places that didn't have bracketry underneath, and that helped a little, but there is not much I can do about it. Since there are so many pieces in this area (windscreen, defroster vents, wiper arms, etc., I decided to sand in more of a width manner, rather than a length manner. I found that when I sanded from front to back, I would get the high spots at the very front and rear of the panel, leaving a canyon in between where my block sanding would not reach about half of the filler. Since it doesn't matter if this dimension is perfect, I then starting sanding with emphasis across the panel, from driver's side to passenger side (sanding at 45 degree angles, alternating from time to time). This method worked well, but I had to make a few minor filler re-applications. So, the panel will still be a little low towards the middle, but it should appear nice and smooth, as the low areas will be covered by the windscreen and defroster vents, so I think I'm in good shape. The back header panel was finished last week, so just a quick photo (Photo 2). The tail panel area was a mess. It had numerous dents, dings, and had been lightly hit or just tweaked at the passenger side rear. I had to do some hammering where there is a large amount of filler to try to get the whole panel somewhat straight. I made a few new dents in doing so, but the overall shape ended up much better, so I had to fill in a few shallow dents that I made in hammering it back to shape at the very bottom. Worth it to get the overall contour better (Photo 3). I also ended up hammering lose one of the spot welds on the outside, right around the corner on the passenger side. Should be an easy fix wit ha quick spot weld on the same area, then some cleanup afterwards. From the looks of the whole mess, it looks like the license plate frame was pushed back into the body, hence the two dents that are now filled in in the center of the panel. It also looks like the bumper support bracket may have been pushed into the body, as there is a light crease to the driver's side, which really only cam out after I filled and sanded the area, so it's fairly shallow. Overall, I'm pleased with it, considering a tree branch landed on the upper part, and it's been hit in some fashion multiple times all over this panel. I guess, pretty big milestone, all the major body work is finished (I hope!). I think at this point the thing I look forward to the most is finishing the sanding, so I can thoroughly clean the garage and everything in it. It's now covered in sanding dust everywhere; very dirty and annoying. Next step will be to buy some more primer and filler this week so I can continue priming the other outside panels and hopefully, sand them down to 400 grit with minimal or no filler or re-priming (yeah, right). After that, I will attach all the panels again and do another round of fitting to see if the adjustments I made will allow everything to fit together correctly. Once that's done, I'll have my friends over and take the body off again, so I can access and finalize the remaining bodywork I have to do to the inside areas, mostly where I welded in patches and did the lead work. -Chris Edited August 15, 2021 by hursst (see edit history) 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MjSieler Posted August 16, 2021 Share Posted August 16, 2021 Love your work and faith that you will enjoy driving your master piece when completed. Glad to hear you had a recent ride. If nothing else it will be inspiration. Something to consider. The rear of the MGA around the bumper area has compound curves. The obvious one is how the body, length-wise, slopes and wraps around past the bumper area. The other curve is not so obvious but it curves slightly from side to side. I’ve seen pictures showing this slight curve relative to a straight edge in another forum on MGExperience but can’t find the exact thread. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hursst Posted August 16, 2021 Author Share Posted August 16, 2021 Thanks! Yes, I am aware of the compound curve. I'm using a moderately flexible long board for sanding in this area, I think 2 feet long, so the curvature should remain clean throughout. Had to factor this in for the thin areas next to the trunk as well, since it's not just a straight drop. Thanks for looking out for me! -Chris 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hursst Posted August 17, 2021 Author Share Posted August 17, 2021 Continuing to get out to the garage after work for at least a little time, but had a setback today. I noticed that there was a small crack in the filler towards one of the edges. Upon further exploration, it appears that the filler is not sticking to the green primer I originally laid down, mainly in sections where the primer is still somewhat intact. I noticed this happening before, but I thought it was because I made a bad batch of filler, but it's primarily or completely caused by this incompatibility. That's what happens with an amateur like myself, I guess. The good news is that for the exterior body panels, I sprayed them with the gray primer over the green primer, which are made by the same company and seem very strongly bonded. Any filler was either placed on bare metal or on the gray primer, of which the filler seems to work with very well. So, I don't think I will have to redo any of the removable panels, but I am going to have to strip the filler off the main body in most of the sections. Not a huge deal, but a setback and waste of time and resources none the less. I stripped off most of the filler on the front of the body today and tomorrow I will sand off most of the green primer to get to bare metal so the filler will stick. IF I have time, I'll apply what's left of my filler (I'm almost out). I'll have to assess the rear area, where I took most of the green primer off already, so I may be okay there, but I'll have to inspect it. I guess some good news out of some bad news. I am going to quit my job for various reasons, and due to more various reasons, after I give my notice, I will have a "free" 6 weeks off, so I will be working on the MG almost full time for at least 3 of those weeks. We'll see what kind of progress I can make. Hopefully, I can at least finish the remaining external body work, get the panels back in more primer, have them sanded down, and have proper fitment on the body. I think I'd be happy with that. That would just leave taking the body off the chassis and completing the filler work on the welded and leaded areas, then it should be about ready for paint. No photos today, nothing new or good to see. -Chris 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hursst Posted August 21, 2021 Author Share Posted August 21, 2021 Got the upper cowl area re-filled and sanded down today (Photo 1). Wasn't too much of a disaster. No problems with cracking or peeling of the filler at this point. The rear looks to be fine, so just a little more work on the very front of the body and I should be back up to where I was before. Going to buy new primer and filler Monday. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zimm63 Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 Curious as to what you are using for spray equipment? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hursst Posted August 22, 2021 Author Share Posted August 22, 2021 I am using a Devilbiss kit with two spray guns that I bought from Eastwood. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hursst Posted August 22, 2021 Author Share Posted August 22, 2021 (edited) Pressing ahead today. Decided to take a break from the main body exterior and moved back into the trunk and spare tire aperture. There are still some areas in the trunk in the corners that were welded up, but were unfinished in terms of grinding and some very small pin holes. I continued to clear these areas up by doing some grinding, a little welding where needed, and applying some filler to smooth everything out. Didn't have too much in the trunk, so I switched to the inside of the spare tire aperture/battery access area and did the same thing; some grinding, some welding, and some filler. Here are the areas almost finished, just needs sanding (Photo 1). Las , I went back to the trunk and cleaned up the bottom of the aperture area. A lot of pinholes here, but welding is solid. I cleaned the bottom are up and applied seam sealer, as I believe the factory did here. Most, if not all the trunk pan has seam sealer, of which some still remains, but I've forgotten each and every area since I've done a lot of reconstruction in the upper area. It won't be seen because of the spare tire cover and I think it needs it (Photo 2). Photo is dark, because the repaired area has black rust inhibitor and black seam sealer. Edited August 22, 2021 by hursst (see edit history) 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hursst Posted August 23, 2021 Author Share Posted August 23, 2021 Pressing ahead with my 1 hour a day during the week policy. Bought some new primer today. It's unbelievably expensive! Also went out to the garage and continued. This time, went to the front shelf in front of the firewall. This area was severely pitted, but still quite solid. I had to make about 3 medium-sized rust repairs a while ago, which I leaded, as the metal was so thin I could not get a very good repair without a lot of pinholes. Replacing this panel was a no-go for me. Turned out okay at the time. So now, I'm removing the green primer/sealer, as I learned that the body filler does not stick to this very well, so took most of it down to bare metal, although it still needs a little more grinding/sanding to clean it up a little more. About 80% of the panel will require filler to fill in the heavy pitting. I didn't make it that far, but got the two problem areas with the leading cleaned up pretty well, then I applied a heavy couple coats of rust inhibitor, as there was a little surface rust slowly developing because of the welding work (Photo 1). This should stabilize the area enough for me to continue working in this area and get it to a reasonable standard. The good thing is, most of this area, in black now, will will be hidden by the master cylinder and wiper motor, so that's to my advantage since this area will not end up being perfect. I'll continue working at the unfinished areas where I welded/leaded around the car, until I can get a good day to apply the primer to all the exterior panels. It's going to be in the mid-90's most of the week, so maybe this coming weekend, when it cools down a little. Really motivated to move this project along. Making progress, but still so much to do! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luv2Wrench Posted August 24, 2021 Share Posted August 24, 2021 It is looking great! Getting in time during the week is an awesome way to keep and build momentum. I like to save a thing or two that I'm dreading and get that done during the weekdays. Seems like a double win. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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