1960 MGA Restoration

[hursst]

Back to the garage today.  Finished sanding down the filler I put in on the inner fenders last weekend.  Needed a little more filler here and there, so completed that, too (Photo 1).  Moved on to the trunk and added some more filler there, at the very back towards the trunk latch.  There was still a lot of pitting, but it's looking much better now.  Still have some more sanding to do and probably a little more filler, but it's just about complete and ready for more primer.  Remnants of hurricane Ian are in town, so it's going to rain all weekend, so no chance for primer this weekend. 

 

Decided to let some of the filler dry and I moved on to a side project I've been holding on to for a couple years now.  I never completed sewing the center arm rest to the carpet, so I'm going to tackle that now, for something different, since I can't do any priming.  Here's the original on the left and the new carpet piece on the right (Photo 2).  The center arm rest is sewn directly onto the carpet.  I have a repro arm rest and repro carpets, since the originals are worn out.  The repro arm rest has a piece of plywood glued to the bottom of the foam, so I removed that, as I see no reason for it to exist and it will just add more difficulty to sewing on the arm rest.  The original does not have wood there.  I took measurements from the original pieces and just transferred that to the new pieces and got to work.  I sewed the rear portion on first, then started on the left side.  This will be challenging for a few reasons. First, the original was just sewed on with a sewing machine in probably 5 minutes.  I have no sewing machine, so I'm just going to have to do it by hand.  The other issue is that the foam is thick and the arm rest material must be tucked under and sewn, so you really need 3 hands to do it.  I've removed the foam and I will try sewing about 2/3 of each side and sliding in the foam, then I can probably compress the foam with something so I can more easily sew the arm rest.  So far, I'm about 20% finished (Photo 3).  Will take my time with it, so no hurry, I'll just do a little each day.

 

Tuesday early AM, I'm off to Hershey, unfortunately, without my '97 Saab, which is still getting the new engine installed after two months of lies, delays, and problems from my shop.  No big deal, I'll try again at Gettysburg in 2023.  Have a good weekend.

[hursst]

Back in the garage again today.  Continued sanding, filling, sanding the trunk and other misc areas around the car (Photo 1).  I focused on the rear of the trunk again, where water had pooled for years, so a lot of pitting in this area.  Looking pretty good, shouldn't need much more work.

 

I then moved back to the arm rest.  I'm now about 70% finished with the sewing (Photo 2).  Gets a little rough on the hands after a while, so taking a break now.  On the original, there is a slit down the center of the carpet on the other side, directly under the arm rest, then the slit is tied up with twine via 8 holes, almost like a shoe lace.  My guess that they sewed the arm rest on first, with no padding, then stuffed the padding in from underneath.  I've decide to sew it on with the padding for the second half of the work, so I get a good fit and tightness.  I put masking tape down as a guide, as it is tougher to maintain a sewing line with the padding in.  I'll be reproducing the slit and tied area as well.  I'll also be able to reuse the original twine, which goes along with my edict to reuse every possible piece of the original car as possible.  Will complete after Hershey.

 

Everyone have a great Hershey, if attending!

Edited October 2, 2022 by hursst (see edit history)

[hursst]

I hope everyone who went had a good Hershey.  

 

Finally made it back to the garage today.  Perfect weather!  Was able to put some more primer on the body and cover up the many problem areas I've been working on over the last few months.  Here's the trunk with another layer of primer (Photo 1).  Turned out really nice so far, much better than the last round; now time for yet more sanding.  I'll probably need another round of touch up in the near future.   Of course, I ran out of primer again.  Not looking forward to paying yet another $400 or so for primer and reducer, but this will definitely be my last can.  I can probably get away with buying a smaller portion, as I won't need much more.

 

I'll let the primer dry until tomorrow, so went back to the sewing work.  Completed sewing on the arm rest today (Photo 2).  Turned out very nice.  I also was able to use the original twine I took from the original armrest back and sew it into the back in the exact same pattern as original (Photo 3).  As I mentioned in an earlier post, this was where they inserted the foam originally, from underneath, then just sewed up the cut they had to make in the carpet with twine.

 

Cheers

[Luv2Wrench]

Trunk looks new, incredible job!

[hursst]

Back to the garage.  I've had zero time for the MGA in the last 3 weeks, but only have a little bit of time, then probably another 3 weeks of no posts after this.  I retired last week, so I should have plenty of time, but I have so many things to catch up on that need attention first, that the MG will have more slow progress until I can get caught up on all my other more pressing things.

 

The weather is fantastic, so I bought some more primer (my 3rd gallon on this car, ugh), and of course the price has gone up another 15% since last year.  Was able to spray some problem areas, mostly on the reverse side of the front fenders that had scratches from me moving and placing them all the time, and some rough areas that needed a little clean up.  At this point, I believe the primer is complete, but there is some more light sanding to do on the areas I sprayed on the body last month, and on various small places on the fenders.  After some light sanding, body is ready for mock-build #3, which should be the last build, as it looked pretty good after #2.  No way I'll get paint on this year, as we're quickly heading into winter, but I should be ready to paint first thing on the spring...but isn't that what I said last year?

[Luv2Wrench]

On 11/4/2022 at 2:08 PM, hursst said:

Back to the garage.  I've had zero time for the MGA in the last 3 weeks, but only have a little bit of time, then probably another 3 weeks of no posts after this.  I retired last week, so I should have plenty of time, but I have so many things to catch up on that need attention first, that the MG will have more slow progress until I can get caught up on all my other more pressing things.

 

The weather is fantastic, so I bought some more primer (my 3rd gallon on this car, ugh), and of course the price has gone up another 15% since last year.  Was able to spray some problem areas, mostly on the reverse side of the front fenders that had scratches from me moving and placing them all the time, and some rough areas that needed a little clean up.  At this point, I believe the primer is complete, but there is some more light sanding to do on the areas I sprayed on the body last month, and on various small places on the fenders.  After some light sanding, body is ready for mock-build #3, which should be the last build, as it looked pretty good after #2.  No way I'll get paint on this year, as we're quickly heading into winter, but I should be ready to paint first thing on the spring...but isn't that what I said last year?

Congrats on the retirement, that's fantastic!!   You'll paint it in the spring and, really, don't worry with which spring it is.  

 

[hursst]

It's been a month of medical appointments, house repairs, regular appointments, part-time work, holidays, and other events, during which I think I got in about 15 minutes of work on the MG.  Today, I finally made it back into the garage.

 

I sanded down the primer touch-up/respray I did on the front fenders and revisited sanding on the trunk.  The trunk still has a lot of small imperfections, so it will need a very small amount of filler here and there, and another round of primer in the areas that needed attention.  Most of the work needed was at the section of the trunk where it meets the passenger rear bulkhead (Photo 1).  I'll have to wait for another 60+ degree day to try to get another coat of primer in before winter.  There are a few other small areas that needed more sanding, and these areas will need some primer as well.  I'm hoping this will be the last round, but that's what I said about 3 rounds ago.  

 

Round 3 of the test mock-up of the car will be once the final primer and sanding are complete.

[Luv2Wrench]

You're not painting the best picture of retirement!  Lie to us and say it is all time in the shop!!!  

 

[hursst]

Jeff, at least all the work I do now is all fun, interesting, or I don't mind it, and it's all done when I want to do it; I'm no longer beholden to anyone else's clock.  I should get more time in the garage as I get caught up on these other things.   Looking forward to getting caught up on your posts, and many of the other posters to the resto forum as I find time.  -Chris

[hursst]

Didn't think I'd get anything done with the MG today, as I have a lot to catch up on with my '74 Camaro.  Installed two drip rails, which the car would have had when it was new (pulled the drip rails from a junk yard and had them refinished), but were missing when I restored it, but took a long time to research what it should have had and to find some good original pieces.  Of course, it took way longer than expected and was not that easy, but got it done.  I then looked out the garage door windows and saw that the rain had turned to sun and the temp was 62+ degrees, so right out to the MG I went.

 

Did some quick touch-up sanding, blew the dust off, cleaned it up, and was able to spray the trunk (yet again!), front cowl shelf, driver's side upper rocker lip, and rear panels where the battery cover goes, behind the passenger compartment, which were the areas that needed some more work.  Really lucked out, didn't expect the weather to be that great, so fit it in within the 4-hour window before it got cloudy, cold, and started raining again.  Very happy to get days like this in December, so I can continue the project.  

 

Need to install a new A/C compressor on my '74 Camaro, so I'll try that tomorrow morning, but hoping to get back to sanding those newly primered areas on the MG tomorrow.  If all goes well, it should be very close to being ready for the last mock-up.  No photos today, as they would look exactly like photos from the last 1-2 months.

[hursst]

Went out and evaluated the newly-primered areas today.  Found a lot of small pitting that is still coming thru the primer, even after sanding, so I applied some glazing putty, as most of the pitting is shallow (Photos 1-3).  Continually improving these areas, but never quite finishing!  I'll keep at it.  Will need to let it dry for a little longer, as it's a little colder outside, then more sanding of these areas, then a little more primer, then repeat.

[hursst]

Quick update, got the 7 billionth round of sanding complete, so now waiting for a 60+ degree day to apply a little more primer, the hoping for a final sanding, then the 3rd round of body mock-up.  Probably no updates for a while, since cold weather.  Hope everyone has a great Christmas, Hannukah, or other celebration.  Getting very festive now!

[hursst]

Back from numerous and various holiday trips and cold weather.  Well, today it was about 62 degrees and I'm back home, so out came the MGA.  Added some seam sealer to the framing support panels around the battery access aperture, as per original (Photos 1 & 2).  About 1/2 of it had dried out and just flaked off when the body was first sandblasted.    I was then able to do yet another round of primer to the pit-filling I did about 4 weeks ago.  Now it will be another round of sanding, but hopefully the last round.

 

Am being distracted by my '30 Plymouth that needs water pump work, has a leaky rear axle, and is fouling plugs and running very rough.  My '74 Camaro needs A/C compressor work, and I've just shipped out for a rebuild.  Also got my Saab back from the shop with a "new" replacement engine, among other repairs.  Continuing the work on that car as well, trying to get everything working again and getting it ready for DPC class and touring in 2023. 

 

I've found an unlimited amount of car work to do in retirement!

[STEVE POLLARD]

On 12/30/2022 at 8:52 PM, hursst said:

Am being distracted by my '30 Plymouth that needs water pump work

Hey Chris - Happy New Year ! I didn't realized that you have a Plymouth....

 

Steve

[hursst]

8 minutes ago, STEVE POLLARD said:

Hey Chris - Happy New Year ! I didn't realized that you have a Plymouth....

 

Steve

Happy New Year!  Here's the Plymouth.  Driver condition.

[STEVE POLLARD]

Wow, very cool !!  I like the paint colors !

 

Steve

[hursst]

Quick update.  Have very little time, again.  Have continued with sanding the trunk area.  Looking pretty good now, but still have a few small areas that need a little more work.  With one more day of sanding and filling in a few ugly spots, I'll need another 50+degree day for a 5-minute primer session and I think I can call the body done and ready for third (and hopefully final) test assembly.  No photos, as it's more of the same.  This is the super-boring part of this blog.  I hope that once I start the third test build that things will get a little more interesting.  Will be shooting to have everything ready for paint by, let's say July, but hopefully much earlier.

 

 

[hursst]

Finishing up the trunk sanding.  Still needs some minor touchup primer in a few small rough areas.  Decided to clean up an area outside of the trunk at the driver's side rear of the body.  This area was rusted out and needed a lot of welding of thin metal  I also applied some leading to smooth it out and solidify it a little more back maybe a year or so ago.  Today I applied some body filler over the whole area as it was just too rough for me with everything patched together somewhat sloppily.  You won't be able to see it, but just wasn't pleased with it.  Now if looks much better with the sloppy welding/leading covered up (Photo 1).

 

Next step is to wait for a 50 degree plus day so I can do the primer touch up work.

Edited January 25, 2023 by hursst (see edit history)

[hursst]

It seems the more time I have, the less time I have.  Got in a good run with the MGA recently, and hopefully can continue to make some progress.  I re-primered the areas that needed attention, as shown in my last post.  Over the last two days, I was able to complete sanding as well.  As usual, I still have multiple areas that need some more primer, but most of them are so small I can just touch them up with a small paint brush.

 

So, moving on to reassembling the car for the third time to make sure everything fits properly.  First, I put the body back up on saw horses, so I can move the chassis underneath (Photo 1).  Next, I unearthed the completed chassis, which I had covered with multiple covers and sheets...which did nothing to protect it from the sanding dust (Photo 2).  I got it out in the daylight and sprayed the whole thing down with compressed air (Photo 3), which helped, but the chassis will need a very thorough detailing when I'm ready to put the painted body on.  Some areas will probably need some re-restoration, as the rubber and some of the plastic has some spotting on it, which seems a little difficult to remove at this point.  Would have been nice to have another bay to put this thing in so it wouldn't get so filthy, but I have no additional space.

 

As a final insult, I was going to use my Jeep winch to tow the chassis into the other bay under the body by using a fulcrum in the garage, but of course, my winch electrics broke, so I had to wheel this thing in by hand...with the driver's side front tire completely flat with a blown out inner tube valve.  Grabbed the spokes with one hand and the top of the good front tire with the other hand and got to work.  I'll have a sore back tomorrow.

 

Next will be either getting some friends to help me drop the body, or I'll have to do it myself with my engine hoist and a lot of patience, since my friends are all busy 24 hours a day, usually.

[hursst]

Here's the chassis under the body...yet again.  Can't wait to get this thing painted and dropped on the body for the final time.

[Luv2Wrench]

Looking good!  Body on chassis is such a good feeling!!  She'll be done sooner than you think.

 

I'm fortunate that my son not only still lives at the house with me but he is super strong and always willing to help.  He'll probably be gone next year but it is certainly nice while he's still here.

 

[hursst]

Found 2 hours to work on the MGA today and made some good progress.  None of my friends are able to help me anytime soon, so I have to do everything myself.  I took the body off the sawhorses and laid it up on the chassis highpoints using the same boards (Photo 1).  I was then able to use an engine hoist and suspend the front end so I could slowly and carefully lower the body onto the chassis (which is almost the same thing I did last time).  I had to make a lot of adjustments and movements from the front and the back, but I was able to get it about 6" higher than the body mounts (Photo 2).  The reason I left it "in the air" is because last time I fit the body, I was not able to line up the two body bolts in the front middle and rear middle of the body to the chassis.  The far front and far rear groups of bolts fit perfectly.  So, same thing with this round, as I expected, so I am going to try to sinch in the body slightly with a come along strap and then slowly lower the body to see if I can line up the bolt holes correctly and get them threaded properly, then tighten them down.  They are too wide by about 3/4", so I should be able to flex the center of the body slightly to make it work, since there are no cross-members in this portion of the body. 

 

Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and up to 80 degrees, so I plan on spending all day getting as far as I can on this, as I probably won't be able to get back to it until about Mar 11th or so, due to other responsibilities.  Hoping to at least place the body on the chassis and get all the body bolts in, which is easier said than done.  If this goes quickly, I'll start attaching the other body panels again and see how everything fits.  I still have to do some very minor primer touchup and sanding during this, before I'm ready for paint.  If everything fits well, next step is a meticulous cleaning of the garage and I will begin the process of creating a paint booth. 

 

I really need to get this car in paint this year, but it will be challenging due to many other commitments, vacations, and part-time work I've taken on.  However, I do plan on doing two tours and the Gettysburg AACA event, so that should be a lot of fun.

[chistech]

I work almost exclusively by myself, I feel your pain! Getting help most times is like pulling teeth. 

[MjSieler]

Looking forward to seeing how you layout your paint booth. You’ve come a long way. All that prep work is about to pay off. 

[hursst]

Huge sense of relief today, as the issue with the inner body bolt holes not lining up has been bothering me since the last time I built up the chassis quite a while ago. 

 

This morning, I was able to get all four body bolts in their respective holes without crossing any threads.  For the front portion, I tried a number of techniques from clamps to lifting the body up and trying to coax it inward a little, but what finally worked was hanging the body about 1" from the mounts and wrapping a ratchet strap over the body and around the bottom of the chassis (Photo 1).  I then inserted the body bolt to see if I could get it to catch on the threads, without crossing the threads, after cranking the ratchet strap a little at a time.  Luckily, I was able to get both sided bolts to "catch" without having to crank the ratchet strap all that far.  Once I got both bolts hand tight, I tightened them a little more with a socket wrench.  I left them fairly loose, as I still had to do the rears (and will have to do all the other body bolts on the car).  I then removed the strap and everything seemed okay (Photo 2).

 

For the rear middle bolts, getting the front into alignment seemed to have helped, but they were both still off by maybe 3/8" of an inch.  These were close enough that I was able to eventually use a small 1 x 4 board to wedge the body over just enough to get the bolts to "catch" by hand.  I then tightened them a small amount to get them secure.  I ended up quite nauseous as I must have gotten on my back to check and work things, then get up to go to the other side, then to the back to make adjustments, and repeat about 30 times, before I was able to get the two rear middle bolts in.  Had to stop for about an hour and eat something before I felt better.  I'm going to call that a big victory and work on some other projects this afternoon; that was not fun!  The other body bolts should be quite easy now.

[chistech]

Your car is like the rest of us. As we’ve gotten older, we’ve gotten a little wider!😄

[Luv2Wrench]

Looking great!  It certainly gets easier from here on out.

 

The up/downs are brutal for me particularly since I seem to regularly find something to bang my head against in the process.

[hursst]

Last post for at least two weeks while I take care of some other things...

 

Didn't have much time today, but I got all the body bolts in and tightened them down.  Had no real problems, but did have some slightly stripped bolts that I had to clean up with a die to make them function properly.  Everything looks good body wise.  I then hung both doors, since it is fairly easy to do.  Have them in rough position, but will dial them in once I get all the fenders on (Photo 1).  Photos are still pretty boring since this is the third time I've built the body up on the chassis, but at least it looks more like a car now.

[hursst]

Got home early, got in last night, so had today available for more car work.  Not much time with the MG, but was able to rough-hang most of the body panels on the body today (Photo 1).  Noticed a few issues right off the bat.  First, the hood still needs to be sanded a lot more and is already thin on primer in some places, so I will possibly have to spray the hood in primer again or maybe be able to just do a portion of it.  Will be easy to sand, at least.  I also noticed that there are multiple areas with chipped primer on the edges of the doors, due to some contact whilst fitting everything last time.  Will be easy to just touch these areas up and lightly sand.  I'll probably sand the hood tomorrow, touch up the chipped primer on the doors, then start to do final fit of the panels over the next week or so.  Will probably take a while to get it right and will probably find more small problem areas, but at least still making progress.

[hursst]

Got in a few hours today, made decent progress:

 

1) The fabricated bar and lip combo I made to replace the rusted out original metal at the bottom of the spare tire storage aperture was about 1-2 mm too tall.  I taped off roughly where the edge should have been (Photo 1) and was able to grind off the excess metal.  I then deburred it and I'll put some primer on shortly.  The "long" lip was hanging up in the middle of the battery cover, so I could not push it all the way back and secure it with the two fasters on either side.  Here's the fitment after I fixed the lip (Photo 2).  

 

2) Next, I focused on the passenger rear fender.  I installed the two inner supports first (Photo 3), then installed the fender and attached all fasteners.  Everything went on quite well, but I do have a problem with the gap between the very front bottom of the rear fender being a little far from the rocker detente (Photo 4).  It's about 1/2" too short.  I may be able to force it over a little if I loosen up all the fasteners, and then I may have to make some new holes/fill some old holes, as I was able to get it over more during previous fittings, but those did not include attaching all the fasteners.  Not much room for adjustment after all the fasteners went in.  I could also weld on some new metal if a re-fitment doesn't work, so I'll wait until everything else is fitted to see what I'll do about this.  This is what happens with repro garbage.

 

3) I was able to finished sanding the hood.  It looks great, but primer is too thin/showing thru at about 30% of the edges, so will require some more primer.

Edited March 8, 2023 by hursst (see edit history)

[hursst]

Today I continued with fitting the body parts to the car.  Started on the driver's rear fender (Photo 1).  Was able to get all body bolts in and got a pretty good fit on everything.  Did have one issue, the top lower edge of the fender where it meets the door and top of the rocker panel sticks out a little (Photo 2).  This is because the bottom of the fender is a repro patch panel and needed a large amount of cutting, welding, and bending to get it to fit reasonably and I guess it's not going to turn out perfectly.  Since there is another panel that secures over all of this in the door jam, one choice will be to tack weld the top inner lip to the inner rocker panel to get it flush with everything, then it will be covered and will not be seen.  Any future removal of the fender will require a quick grinding of the tack weld, however.  The other option is to install the door jam cover panel now, get it as tight and flush as possible, and it may pull in the fender lip in enough to be within tolerance.  I'll probably try the non-weld option first, since this will need to be done anyway at some point.

 

Next, I moved on to the passenger front fender.  Here's a photo with the inner brace installed (Photo 3).  This fender fit great, although I am having a problem with one of the bolts being a little cross-threaded or boogered up a little.  I chased the thread on the bolt, but the captive nut is also a problem, so I'll chase that when I remove the fender again.  I then worked a little more on the door and on the passenger rear fender.  I was able to refit the lower portion of the fender and move it a little closer to where it should be so the gap is not as bad by applying some force and a little bending torque to the whole front of it, but I was able to get it in and it looks much better.  Probably within tolerance now, but not perfect.  I got the door gaps quite good at this point, but the gap at the top front is a little wide and the rear top of the door is a little high compared to the rear fender, as you can see in the photo.  I'll be able to make it a little better with more door adjustments, but I may have to shim the hinges to get the rear of the door to drift down a little and make it a little more even as there is not much room to lower the door anymore.  I will also try to raise the rear fender a little at the same time, which should get in within tolerance at least (Photo 4).

[chistech]

Fitting the sheet metal is the thing I like the least. Bending hinges, shimming hinges, shimming body mounts, etc. A ton of this and a ton of that to get the best results we can. Sometimes it goes easy………..a least that’s what I’ve been told!

[hursst]

On a roll now, was able to apply all fasteners to the front fenders.  I made more adjustments to the passenger door and got it slightly better.  Will still need some more work, probably raising the rear fender slightly and shimming the top hinge slightly, as mentioned before.  I then went back to the front fenders and matched the bottoms up with the bottom lip of the rocker panel.  Since I had to replace all this metal, there were no holes for the fasteners in these areas, so I had to set the fender for door gaps the best I could, clamp it in place, then drill holes for the fasteners.  I had about 75% original fasteners, but used 25% repro stuff, as the originals were broken or too far corroded to reuse (Photo 1).  I also fit the taillight plinths, and they fit very well.

 

Next, I will need to bolt on the front valance panel and double check the grille (it fit perfectly last time), then I think I can be confident that after painting, I can reassemble this car and everything will fit as well as just about any other MGA I've seen on the showfield (which isn't that great!), so I think I will be within factory spec, but nowhere near Pebble Beach spec, like some of the other great resto work I've seen on this site.  Here's the almost completed body mock-up (Photos 2 & 3).

[Luv2Wrench]

That really looks great!  With a car that has nice body lines getting the panel alignment and gaps correct really adds to the beauty.  You've done a fantastic job with your's!

 

[hursst]

Thanks Jeff!

[hursst]

Everything looks reasonable with the body panels, so I took them all off yesterday.  Next will be body removal (yet again).  I will have quite a bit of small primer touch up to do, but should easily be able to get that all done in a couple hours on the next warm weather day that I have time (which may be a while).

[Randiego]

Chris,

 

You havew come a Looooooong way from the first time I saw your site.  This MGA will be first rate as a main concern with quality bodywork is the fitment of the panels and the proper spacing of the gaps.  You are doing an excellent job.  Bravo.

 

Randy

[hursst]

Thanks for the kind words, Randy.  Although I'm anxious to finish this car and am not exactly sure how it will turn out, as I've never painted a car, I do look back at the photos from when I started and realize how bad the car was and how much better everything (so far) is now.  I continue to be amazed at all the other cars on this site and the absolute craftsmanship and artistry that some of the other cars have, and that motivates me to try to go the extra mile (for my skill level) to try to get results that are at least somewhat close to the pros here.  Cheers!

[Randiego]

Chris,

I am looking at several other restorations going on right now.  Another "newbie" is the fellow in Canada, Skvitt who is restoring a 49 Buick Super sedan.  He is an eingineer who has mechanical skills, mainly metal fabrication methods, but has never restored (or painted for that matter) an automobile.  He recently purchased an English wheel from Harbor Freight for metal forming.  Before that, he was pounding the sheet metal against a sandbag.  Many dents that he had to contend with.  Welllllll, with the English wheel, a whole new ballgame came into play.  The pieces that he has fabricated are amazing.  We thought that we were watching a seasoned auto body man at work  ! ! ! !  Fooled me.

 

Chris, just like you, he is learning as he is going.  And you BOTH are doing an amazing job.  What he started with is a much bigger project as the dimentions of a full sized sedan in comparison to the nifty little MGA is all about scale.  His too was a "rust bucket" and a lot of hidden rust inside the panels that he was dealing with.  Just like you.   

 

So don't cut yourself short.  When the MGA is finished and looking like a jewel (no matter how many mistakes you make along the way.  (You can't learn without making them)  And hopefully, the paint will be applied only once.  :-)  But if you have to respray it, you will have learned from the first go around.  Paint today is soooooo damn expensive compared to a couple of years back.  That is why I do not paint.  I could not afford to mess up and then have to do it again.  I farm that portion of the restoration out to a very good body/paint man here in my area.  Sure it costs more, but in the long run, I get a premium job from him.

 

When you are done with this car, you can look at this beauty and say;   I DID THAT !  A sense of pride all of us share when we do what seems the impossible.  I bet you have a whole different outlook about your project this many months later, eh?  But the day will come when you can finally say......It's finished.  And you can look at that car with satisfaction that YOU did it.  

 

This is why we all tune into AACA Forums.  Just to see projects like yours.  It gives us all inspiration and enjoyment to see them coming along.  Never sell yourself short Chris.  You are doing an amazing job.

 

Randy  

[hursst]

Got the body off the chassis again (Photo 1).  Now waiting for dry weather and a good 3-hour window so I can pull the chassis out and swing it around the other garage bay into the back of the garage so I can put the body back on the dolly.  Next up is continuing to touch up more of the primer work during the next warm and sunny day.