1960 MGA Restoration

[John S.]

Chris, very nice work. Really coming along. John

[hursst]

Got a couple hours to work on the MG today.  Completed one of the side curtains (the easiest one) (Photos 1 & 2).  Touched up some minor paint trim issues with the tan paint, cleaned the vinyl up, and installed the new "window" in the front portion of the side curtain.  Took a good 45 minutes to install, although I lost track of time.  It was very difficult, much like a puzzle.  Not even sure how I got it in, but eventually I did.

 

Tomorrow, I hope to finally get back to sanding of the body.  I've been heavily distracted with many other car projects on my other cars, like a broken clutch master cylinder, broken power seat switch (it's great driving with the seat stuck too far back!), new rear shocks, general maintenance, and state inspections, among many other annoying small problems.  I also bought a $1,000 side project car (a '97 Saab) a few months ago for touring/showing with AACA and the North American Saab club. Figured it would be a good winter project, since I can't do any painting when it's this cold.   I counted 130 problems with the car after I combed thru it!  Luckily, they are almost all easy problems, so I'm down to 36 problems left, most of which are still quite easy.  Hope to have it "done" by Feb or so, and get it out of the way so I can focus on the MG when it gets warmer.

 

All this wrenching is a little too much, but I think it's the best therapy to counteract all the problems we have in the world today.  Keep wrenching!!!

 

Chris

 

 

Edited December 12, 2021 by hursst (see edit history)

[Model56s]

Just stumbled onto this post - exciting progress!

 

I drove a red 1960 MGA roadster in high school, buying it in the summer of 1969 when I was a junior (I'll save you the math - I'll be 70 in April). I loved the car, but needed something more reliable and comfortable in the Midwest winters, so I bought a 1957 Chevrolet 2-door post in 1971 in college. I miss both cars.

[Luv2Wrench]

Let's see some pics of the Saab

 

[hursst]

Prepare to be completely underwhelmed (1997 Saab, Photo 1).  Before I bought it, it had sat for about 5 years and was covered in mildew, lichen, and maybe algae.  Almost everything was wrong with it, but it ran okay and had almost zero rust.  Spent a lot of time (but very little money!) in a short period of time bringing it back to life.  Should be a great "new" DPC car and touring car.  Enough about that; not a restoration.

 

Today, I sanded down both front fenders on the MG.  Driver's side fender is good to go, but will need some very minor touchups where I sanded thru at the edges, very small, like toothpick-sized sand-thru.  The other fender, I still sanded thru in the main portion.  It's much better than the last round, but still needs another 3-4 thick coats on the main portion to allow me to sand it down without sanding thru to bare metal.  Good progress, but still more work to do.

 

Continued with the driver's rear fender.  Again, a few small areas of sand thru on the edges, but the rest seems pretty good so far.  Now, I'll be looking for another warm day sometime this winter, so I can try to get another round of primer on these fenders.

[Luv2Wrench]

Great looking Saab.  I really like those cars and I think the styling from that year (range) was really good. 

[hursst]

Finished sanding all the panels today, but there will still be some more very minor body work and primer needed for all four panels.  Can't do any more work until the temp rises enough to spray some more primer.  Getting closer...

 

In the meantime, I worked on the other side curtain.  I was able to weld in the missing diagonal fixed-window support piece back into its original position (Photos 1-3).  I later cleaned it up a little and gave it a coat of self-etching primer.  Next step will be to repaint the incorrect black bracketry back to original tan, like I did on the other side curtain, then, I need to cover the metal piece with fabric and to try to blend in the damaged fabric at each base of this piece.  I have my original top (which cannot be reused), which is the exact same original material used on the side curtains, so I'll cut a good piece out to use to upholster this piece.  Had to remove the sliding window so I wouldn't burn it with the welding.  So far so good.

[keiser31]

I don't remember having a vertical brace in my side windows on my MGA.

[hursst]

The very early models didn't have it, but later models had it, not as a brace, but as the 4th "window pane" to hold in the front Perspex fixed window.  The rear portion is much thicker than the front and slides from rear to front, so you can "open the window."

[keiser31]

4 hours ago, hursst said:

The very early models didn't have it, but later models had it, not as a brace, but as the 4th "window pane" to hold in the front Perspex fixed window.  The rear portion is much thicker than the front and slides from rear to front, so you can "open the window."

Both panels on mine actually slid.

[hursst]

Today it got up to about 65 degrees, which is amazing for New Years Eve.  Was able to get all four fenders and the front valance re-sprayed with another four or so layers of primer.  Now I'll have plenty more sanding to do when it is cold again, so I can keep some semblance of progress going. I'm really hoping this is the last round, but it seems unlikely, the way things have been going.  I'm definitely getting closer, but it seems to be never ending.  The valance just needs a quick sanding with 400 grit and it should be fine.  Previously, I sanded it well, but the primer was too thin at that point and you could see some filler ghosting thru the primer.  No photos, it's just more of the same.

[hursst]

Another warm day today, but it rained most of the day.  I started sanding one of the front fenders, but I think with the humidity and relatively low temperature, the primer was not fully cured, so it was very slow going as the primer would marble up on the paper every 10 seconds.  Made some progress, but eventually gave up.  I'll let it cure for much longer before I try to sand again.

 

I went back to the side curtains in the meantime.  I used a piece from my original top, which is the exact same material as the original fabric for the side curtains.  My original top had multiple large tears in it, staining, and it really showed its age, so I can't reuse it.  However, the original material will be valuable for various reasons, like this.  First, I cut a strip to rough length (Photo 1).  I trimmed it so it would fit around the metal divider bar (Photo 3).  Last, I tucked in the front top side into the middle of the metal bar and secured it with some 3M trim adhesive.   I used a piece of box, folded over once, to wedge in the crevasse to ensure the fabric was pushed up against the metal (Photo 2).  I'll let this cure for about 24 hrs, then I'll try folding it over and gluing it to one of the outside portions of the metal. I'll have to get some tension on it to ensure that the fabric is nice and taught before I let it cure. 

 

The only issue I'm having is that I had to cut some of the original fabric in order to weld on this metal piece.  If I didn't cut anything up, I would have burned the fabric from the welding heat, so I'll have to be a little creative to make it look reasonably well fitted in the end.

Edited January 1, 2022 by hursst (see edit history)

[hursst]

Still warm, so more work today.  Had to spend some time with my Saab today, fixing more minor issues and getting certain warm weather tasks done before the "snow storm" tomorrow.  Getting it titled and registered tomorrow, it now qualifies for the AACA.

 

Ok, who cares, we're here for the MGA.  Didn't have much time for the MG today, but made more progress with the side curtain.  I tried various techniques to figure out covering this metal bracket with fabric.  I tried wrapping the fabric around, and pulling it from the other side with various vice clamps (Photo 1).  I heated it with a hair dryer to make it more pliable.  This seemed to help a little, but I had to be careful of melting the first round of adhesive from when I tucked the fabric into the slot yesterday.  I let it cool down a little, then tried gluing it with the same 3M adhesive after removing the clamps and unwrapping it a little.  The adhesive comes out very cold, so I had to heat up the fabric again with the adhesive on it.  I then wrapped it around again, put the clamps back on to hold it in rough place, then pulled on it by hand to try to stretch it as much as possible without pulling out the fabric that was already glued in the slot.  I did lose some adhesion at the top, but used a flat head screw driver to tuck it back in.  I ended up getting it fairly tight, I think, then I taped it in place, using painters tape (Photo 2).  (The raisin bran box is so I don't get spray adhesive all over my workbench).  

 

The temp will go from 66 to 30 in about 6 hours total, so this should work to my advantage as the fabric and adhesive should shrink and tighten up over night.  The last step here will be to trim what's left a little, then tuck it into the slot with a little more adhesive and hope is stays taught.  The process of wedging in the new window should secure it quite well and maybe tighten it up a little.  We'll see what happens in a couple days.

 

No more sanding, I want to give it more time to cure, since the temp was only mid 60's today, which makes for slow drying times.  I'll probably have time to get back to the sanding in about 2 weeks.

 

Happy New Year, everyone!

[hursst]

Woke up to 3" of snow today, which, in northern Virginia means gross panic and shut 'er down.  No work today.  So, off to the garage to try to catch up a little.  

 

Finished sanding the passenger front fender (Photo 1).  Have a couple small areas of sand-thru, but they are so small, I can probably just do a quick touch up later.  Put the fender back on the car for a final fitment.  Unfortunately, the bottom of the fender, where it rolls under to the rocker, is a little fat, so it does not conform to the rocker panel (it sticks out too much).  I think I can make a few adjustments to make it work, though.  I didn't really notice this during the first round of putting the panels back on the car, so not sure what happened.

 

Next, I continued on with the driver's side front fender.  I have about 7 very small areas of sand thru around the edges, so same thing, I think I can just touch them up and it will be okay.  Also found a crack at the very bottom of the fender where my welding wasn't as expected.  Should be easy to shore it up again.  Will keep that fender off for now, since it needs that touch up and welding work before I put it back on the car for fitment.  

 

Next, I sanded the front valance panel, which came out very nicely.  Not being super strict on perfection on this piece, since I can barely see it when it's on the car, but the main portion that you can see if you look looks pretty smooth and even.

 

I think that last round of 3-4 layers of primer finally evened everything out where I could get a good solid sanding and still have the thickness I need for painting.

 

As an aside, here are the results of the side curtain that I glued last week (Photos 2 & 3).  Came out very nicely.  The fabric is overall tight enough around the metal frame, although I'll take a closer look at it when I get a little more time.  Last step will be to trim the excess fabric and tuck/glue it into the slot, and I think it will be good to go for allowing me to fit the windows.

 

 

Edited January 8, 2022 by hursst (see edit history)

[hursst]

Another good day in the garage.  I got my kerosene heater out today and got things up to about 60 degrees in the garage.  First, I welded up the crack on the bottom of the driver's side fender.  Of course, this was a seam where I welded in the corner of the patch panel originally, so it wasn't a very good weld to start with.  I ended up welding the crack 5 separate times, as each time I fixed it, an adjacent crack would appear.  I owe it mostly to my bad welding, but I eventually got it right, the repair seems clean and solid now.  I'll have to put some more filler on it and sand it smooth before I touch up the fender yet again with more primer.

 

I moved on to the side curtain, didn't feel like doing more sanding today.  I started by trimming the excess fabric from the new bracket I welded in, then using the 3M adhesive, glued the remainder into the slot by pushing it in with a flathead screwdriver, after heating the whole works up with a hair dryer.  I then used a piece of cardboard wedged in the slot to secure it while it dried.  I even surprised myself, this whole process worked very well and the piece looks pretty good (Photo 2).  The only thing left with the fabric is to clean up the upper and lower portions where it was originally tucked into the outer frame fabric.  I'll have to do some blending of what's left or/pieces of the original fabric to make it look right, or close to right, since it can't be perfect since I had to remove part of it to get to the welding.

 

Next, I stripped the incorrect black paint from all metal bracketry on the piece, down to bare metal, cleaned it, taped it, and painted it with rust inhibitor to start with, as this piece was more rusty and poorly painted compared to the other side (Photo 1).  Next, I'll apply some primer, then paint it the original tan color.  Last will be inserting the windows, then I'll be finished with this side project. 

 

I should have time to revisit sanding of the fenders next weekend.  After sanding, I'll have to figure out how to do another round of primer on the touch-ups, maybe in the garage, as it's too cold outside.  The touch ups are very small now, so I should be able to figure something out.

[Luv2Wrench]

The car is looking awesome with those panels on it.  It really looks straight!  All of this hard work will be so satisfying once you get the color on.  You're doing a great job and you'll be thrilled with the results. 

[hursst]

Thanks for the encouragement, Jeff.  I'll get there, even with this slow momentum.  Doing it right is much more important than doing it fast.

[Luv2Wrench]

7 hours ago, hursst said:

Thanks for the encouragement, Jeff.  I'll get there, even with this slow momentum.  Doing it right is much more important than doing it fast.

The other day in the shop my son stopped by to look at the car.  I was complaining about how long it was taking and he said "yeah, but you're doing it right" and, as you can imagine, it was the best feeling in the world.   You "know" that in your head but it gets lost at times in the drudgery of all the work.  Always good to remember it and let the process happen.  

 

[hursst]

Another weekend, another snow storm here in Northern Virginia.  Finished rust inhibitor, primer, and paint for the side curtain (Photo 1).  Seemed to turn out very nicely, back to the original tan color for the metal parts.  Last will be to put the windows back in.

 

Also sanded down the rear passenger fender.  Had two small areas of sand-thru, again, on the edges.  A friend has a small touch-up paint gun I am going to borrow so I can quickly touch up these areas inside the garage without having to make a big production of it outside (it's way too cold for primer outside).  I hung this fender on the car as well (Photo 2).  Panel gaps look quite good (I am going for factory quality, not perfection).  Here is a before photo from May 2021 where it wasn't looking so good (Photo 3).  Here is a photo now (Photo 4).  Definitely an improvement in the curve without that divot in the middle of the curve of the fender.  Repaired that with lead and a little filler to clean it up.  I will still need to do another round of sanding the edges, wheel lips, and inner portions of all the fenders to get them smooth enough for paint, but I will not be going for perfectly smooth, just enough to knock it down to a mild orange peel, since most of it won't be seen.  I'll be so happy when these fenders are complete, this has been, by far, the hardest part of the restoration.

[Luv2Wrench]

Getting good panel fit, especially doors, is critical before paint. I underestimated the gap needed in two areas and that led to a big deal as I needed to fix the gap and repaint.   I remember thinking "that looks pretty good, I can tweak it later."  You can't tweak it later.  Your panels look good, you're smart to be taking the time to get these right now.

[hursst]

Very cold, but was able to get into the garage with some relative heat.

 

Finally finished the side curtains (Photo 1).  I guess went as expected.

 

Dug back into the fenders.  Found a low spot while sanding the driver's side rear fender, so had to fill that in with some filler after doing a little hammering to try to raise it up a little.  Will probably need just a little more sanding, but mostly complete (Photo 2).

 

Next, moved on to the driver's side front fender and cleaned up the weld repair I did a little (Photo 3), then hit the bare metal with some rust inhibitor (Photo 4).  Will need some sanding to get back down to primer in the areas where its not bare metal, then some filler to even it out.

 

Last, I spent some time on the panel gaps on the passenger side.  Was able to make a few adjustments and found the gaps thoroughly acceptable.  I don't think I need to do any more work on them for now.  When I finish the other panels, I'll put all the bolts in and see where I stand.  Right now, I just have enough bolts in to hold it together.   I'll probably have to make more adjustments once the bolts are in, as I'm not sure if the bolt holes will all line up from where I have it set up now.  Gaps will not be concours perfect, I'm just shooting for factory acceptable.

[hursst]

Made it out to the garage in the cold this weekend.  Worked on the panel fitment on the passenger side some more (Photo 1).  I think I got it about right, although I do notice a slightly wider area in the gap on the back of the door, which I will address.  Not quite good enough.

 

I then moved on to the driver's side rear fender.  This fender is kind of a mess, since it's the one that was crushed by something at some point. I found another low area on the top of the fender, so redid this area (Photo 2).  I then test fitted the panel again and found a pretty large problem with the fitment of the bottom corner of the fender, where it meets the door and the outer rocker.  Since I had to replace the outer rocker with a repro piece, and I had to replace the lower fender with a repro patch panel, fitment is not going to be good.  The edge of the panel did not quite come up far enough to clear the lip on the rocker panel, so I had to bend, hammer, and reconfigure this area so I could get it to fit around the upper rim of the rocker.  This was a lot of work.  Luckily, the area that I had to butcher at the top will be covered with a separate inner door post panel, so I am only concerned with the portion below the indentation on the fender.  So, I roughly shaped it, then covered the area I had to bend (on a weld joint, nonetheless) with lead (Photo 3), since I created some small voids, filed it smooth, then covered the remainder with filler (Photo 4).  I should be able to sand most of the filler off, the lead turned out fairly well.  I fitted the fender, but it will need a little more work at the curve of the fender where it meets the door, as the gap is too wide there, but looks okay on the way up to the top.  The more I look at it, the more picky I am getting with the door gaps, but I'm still shooting for "factory" not "concours perfect" gaps.

 

This is all progress, but it seems like this project will never end!  Pressing ahead...

[JV Puleo]

You are doing a great job. And, yes, it does seem as if the jobs will never end but, to quote my late mother, "do something every day and it will get done".

[hursst]

Thanks JV, your mother was very wise!

[hursst]

Good day today overall, but three steps forward, one step back.  First, I gathered up all the remaining rusty hardware that didn't disintegrate or get destroyed by me cutting it up to get it off, for the front and rear fenders and trim hardware for the rocker.  I took each piece and soaked it for 3 days in Evapo-rust, then cleaned them to bare metal with a wire wheel or Dremel grinder, depending on the piece.  Here they are in bare metal (Photo 1).  The fenders' attachment to the rockers and the trim piece that goes on top's attachment to the rockers were originally secured with a curious mix of bolts, lock washers and captive retaining nuts, as well as regular nuts.  The amount of work involved with trying to locate and weld in captive nuts and their respective retainers is just not worth it for something that can't be seen from the outside of the car, so I will just use regular nuts, bolts, and washers (both  original and new).  Part of my edict with this resto is to reuse any original parts, if at all possible, so I'll reuse this hardware and buy new for the rest that is missing.  I guess this is also the "greenest" way to restore, by not wasting anything that can be safely used again.  After cleaning these up, I sprayed them with rust inhibitor.  I'll put them in rattle can etching primer tomorrow.

 

I moved on to the driver's side front fender.  First, I sanded down the filler I used to smooth the area where I welded the crack up (waste of time, as we'll see later).  I then test fit the fender.  Did not fit well at the bottom, as there was too much garbage welding material on the back of the fender from where I did the patch panel, and the end of the rocker panel has too severe a curve, which has the effect of jutting out a little and rubbing on my garbage welding junk, so the bottom of the fender stuck out about 1/4" from where it should be.  I have the inverse problem on the other side, the curve of the lower fender is not severe enough, leaving a gap there as well.  I think I can bring it in when I bolt it in, but I'll have to try a few more things with it.  Back to the passenger fender,  I took a grinder to the back of the fender, then did some cutting and hammering to the edge of the rocker panel.  Had to go for about 5 rounds, as what I thought would be enough was not enough, so I had to keep cutting and shaping.  Eventually, I got it pretty much spot on.  After that, I noticed that the angle of the lower fender lip, where it bolts on to the rocker, was not severe enough, so I had to bend this lip about 5-10 degrees down, so that it would be roughly flush with the rocker so I can get a good connection when I bolt the works together.  At that point, the fender fit quite nicely and the panel gaps lined up "factory good enough" after that, so I was pretty happy there (Photo 2).  Unfortunately, the bending of this lip resulted in cracked filler and primer, which I expected, so I will have to grind the lip back to bare metal and refinish with some more filler to make it nice again.  I will need to clean up the back of the fender and seal it to protect against rust, before I hit it with more primer as well.  I will also have to do the same thing to the edge of the rocker panel to clean it up a little (it can't be seen from the outside when the fender is on it).  Those repro rockers are garbage, too wide, curve not nearly severe enough, not bent properly.  Needed tons of work, and I'm still having to do work on them now, and I know I'll have to do a lot of finishing work on them to make them perfectly contoured as I finish the body work on the actual body.  The last step with the front fenders will be to drill holes (the very front holes remain original, as I was able to save that metal).  The rears have holes already from the repro panels.  I will then have to drill holes in the center lower rocker panel lips for the trim attachment hardware.  I've noticed that about half of MGA owners who have restored their cars tend to leave the long trim piece that covers all this up off the car for some reason, so I was able to collect many photos from others' cars that I will use to recreate mine.  I also think I have some measurements I took from my car before I cut all the cancer out 5 years ago, so I'll have to revisit my disassembly notes.

 

Tomorrow, I'll work on the driver's rear fender again.  Got it fully fillered up and rough shaped, just need to do the final sanding.  Same thing with the passenger door, put some filler on the edge to make it straighter; will need to sand that as well.  It only needs maybe 1/16" at most and I think it will be fine.

 

Have a good weekend.

[Luv2Wrench]

Great looking fit right there! 

[hursst]

Today, worked on the fitment of the driver's side rear fender.  Still needed a little more bending, hammering, cutting, filler, and sanding, but I think I'm finished with this round of fitment.  Gaps are okay at this point.  Here's a couple photos of all the main panels on during this second go-around of fitment (Photos 1 & 2).  I still need to fit the front lower valance panel, which I may do later this week.

 

I think the next step should be to blow the car up again, take the body off the chassis and finish putting primer on the body.  I'll still need to put more primer on all my recent repairs on the fenders as well.  I'm sure I'll need a lot of minor bodywork all over the actual body, but much of it will be unseen, so I should be able to complete the refinement quickly.  The portions of the body that will be exposed should be in reasonable condition at this point, and just need some good solid layers of primer to sand down.  While I'm taking off the body, I do have some body to chassis fitment issue with the bolt holes lining up, so I will probably try to figure that out first.

 

After I primer and sand the body, I will reassemble everything again and apply all the hardware, line up the panels again, and drill the holes I need for all the fenders and for the lower valance trim.  I'll also try to rough fit the windshield, the grille, and maybe a few other parts to make sure they don't need further adjustment.  I'll do the final check for everything, then it should be ready for paint.

[chistech]

With all kinds of life changes going on I’ve been so busy that I don’t get to look at all the posts I used to. The MG is looking great. And in case someone is wondering, health is fine. When things go in full gear I’ll post about it all. Keep up the great work. And ya, aftermarket patch panels suck, even those made for the lower cowl edge’s of 30’s chevy and ford. It seems like some 5 year old was given a job making them!

[hursst]

The slightly longer days and slightly warmer temps are just enough to get me out in the garage during the week again, so got about an hour out there today after work.  Fit the front valance panel.  Pretty easy, not much concern about fitment, since most of it won't be seen.  Ended up fitting quite well anyway, although I did have to bend it slightly to get the curve of the valance to fit the curve of the body and fenders.   I look at the finished product and I think "meh," but then I do a before and after compare, and I've really come a long way from the dented, torn, rusty piece of garbage with which I started.  Really glad I was able to save this panel, as I know a repro panel would be much easier, but I know it would fit like (censored!).  This original panel fit just about perfectly, as one would expect.

Edited February 7, 2022 by hursst (see edit history)

[Jim Yergin]

Have you seen this?

 

[hursst]

Jim, not yet.  I'll add it to my to do list.  Thanks.

[keiser31]

Oh, MAN! That video sure made me feel like I was in my old 1957 MGA again. The bumps and sounds.... VERY cool. Thanks for posting.

Edited February 9, 2022 by keiser31 (see edit history)

[hursst]

Today, got all the body panels off the car as well as all the body mounting bolts.  Body is ready to be lifted off the frame again (Photo 1).  I should be able to line up some friends to help in March.  I may attempt it by myself, slowly and methodically, if I can't get the other guys to help in a reasonable time, but we'll see.  I took it off by myself originally, so I know I can do it, but now the car is nicer, so there is much more risk of damaging something. 

[hursst]

Started lifting the body off myself, since I had a little time today.  Got it about 6" off the chassis all told by doing a little lifting and putting wooden blocks under it a little at a time.  If not anything else, it will be even easier for the 3 or 4 of us to get the whole body off. 

 

At this point, I could probably use my engine hoist to gently raise the front of the body up and clear the chassis and engine, then put my 2x4 wooden braces underneath on a pair of sawhorses, then lift the rear of the body up manually and brace that as well.  The chassis will roll right out under it (easier said than done, since the front driver's side tire innertube has a blown out inflation valve).   We'll see what comes first, availability of helpers, or some more time available to do it myself.

[keiser31]

15 minutes ago, hursst said:

Started lifting the body off myself, since I had a little time today.  Got it about 6" off the chassis all told by doing a little lifting and putting wooden blocks under it a little at a time.  If not anything else, it will be even easier for the 3 or 4 of us to get the whole body off. 

 

At this point, I could probably use my engine hoist to gently raise the front of the body up and clear the chassis and engine, then put my 2x4 wooden braces underneath on a pair of sawhorses, then lift the rear of the body up manually and brace that as well.  The chassis will roll right out under it (easier said than done, since the front driver's side tire innertube has a blown out inflation valve).   We'll see what comes first, availability of helpers, or some more time available to do it myself.

Sure wish I was there to help you out.

[hursst]

Got the body off the chassis today by myself.  Used my engine hoist and a little back and forth by hand, then some slow pumping of the jack and was able to get it clear (Photos 1 & 2).  Next step will be to roll out the chassis, move the body up toward the garage door to make more room, then roll the chassis to the back of the garage.

 

Now that I see the work I did on the body up close again, I see that I will probably need more work on some of the grinding and welding of the lower rocker support panels.  There are many portions of the butt weld that aren't really welded together as seen from the inside of the body, although the welding I did on the outside, hidden by the outer rocker panels had good coverage and seemed solid at the time.  I'm going to get an expert opinion from a friend.  I think the welding is strong enough, but is sloppy and looks a little incomplete.  I think my welding skills are better now, I think I may be able to touch it up and do a better job at it.  Just have to be very careful about grinding down my bad welding and applying any new welding, not to heat things up too much as not to warp anything.  There are also lots of small spots all over the lower body and trunk area that need more work, so hopefully I can get all the metalwork done by May when the nice weather and lower pollen is here and I can get busy with the final coats of primer.

[hursst]

Just some baby steps today.  I'm a little limited on what I can do while the chassis takes up real estate below the body.

 

First, I had historical remnants of what used to be body screws that attach the bottom portion of the front rear fender secure bracket.  They had rusted so badly that I broke all the head off the screws when I first disassembled the car.  I was able to back out two of them with pliers, one was just gone and replaced with new metal, and I had to drill out the last one (4 total).  I will reuse 3 of the original 4 holes.  I'll have to drill out a 4th hole in the new metal I welded in once I match it to the fender support bracket.  I got some new screws that look correct and fit well (Photo 1) that will be ready to go when the 3rd and last round of body test fitting occurs.

 

Next, I did some touch up welding, grinding, and rust inhibitor on the driver's rear body, which had some of the worst rust-out (Photo 2). 

 

After that, I collected up all the fender mounting hardware that secures portion of the fenders to the lower rocker panel.  I will be able to reuse 95% of the original hardware.  I also mixed in new hardware that fastens the lower trim pieces to cover the fasteners, spot welds, and general sloppiness of the lower rocker panel area (Photo 3).  My original hardware was 95% disintegrated for the trim pieces.  I will just use new hardware for all of this as the new hardware is of a slightly different design, due to lack of use of welded captive nuts on the inside of the body.  (Photo 4) is a photo of the new trim pieces I bought from Moss.  I will have to clean and primer them to prep them for eventual painting in body color.

Edited February 27, 2022 by hursst (see edit history)

[hursst]

Had my friends over today and was able to move the chassis to the back of the garage and reposition the body toward the front of the garage so the chassis would fit (Photo 1).  From the looks of the photo, looks like zero progress over the last two years!  Same exact thing, really.

 

Now it's time to reassess the body and get it ready for final primer.  There are many, many small areas on the body that need attention.  The weld seam line on the inside of the body at the lower vertical rocket panel support is rough and will need more welding to make it more secure.  I think I did and adequate job of welding from the outside of the body, but I need to do more welding from the inside on that same seam (the entire lower 1/3 of the inner rocker vertical support panel that I had to cut out).  I actually got a lot of that work done today.  

 

There are many other areas, mostly underneath the cowl panel and around the upper trunk area, that need more attention.  The places where I leaded, cut, grinded, and welded were never quite finished and there is now a lot of minor surface rust, grinding, a little welding of pinholes, filing of lead, and sanding of filler to do to get these areas acceptable.  After that, there will be some rust inhibitor to add and some minor filler to make it reasonable before primer.  Here's an area under the cowl panel that I cleaned up, but it will need a little more grinding to be flatter, then some rust inhibitor on the bare metal (Photo 2).  This area would only be seen if you crammed your head down to the brake pedal and looked up, so just want to make it cleaner and prevent rust, not looking for perfection.  The last area I have not touched yet.  Probably the worst area for now, under the same cowl panel (Photo 3).  Will need a good grinding and wire brush to remove the surface rust, then some good rust inhibitor to seal this area up.  Again, it will not be seen, it will somewhat be covered by the upper chassis member and it will be toward the very back underneath the dash.  There are about 10 more areas like this, although this one is the worst.

 

The good news is, it is a relatively minor cleanup, since it hasn't been that long since I did the original repairs, so I should be able to blow through these cleanup areas quickly.  I think I will end up doing much of the body primer piecemeal, starting on the good areas on the outside, so I can catch the good weather and keep the momentum going.  I may just wet the floors and primer some of it in the garage, as moving the body is a huge hassle.  I may also consider making a quick body dolly so I can easily roll it outside.  I'm leaning toward the body dolly, as primering outside is preferred.

Edited March 13, 2022 by hursst (see edit history)

[Luv2Wrench]

I made a dolly for the MG out of wood.  I modified it multiple times to fit whatever part I was working on at the time.  In the middle of the project I converted it into a rolling table.  It was wonderful to have.  Some variation were a bit tall so I didn't have to bend over as much.  When I was all done I just took the screws out and put the lumber back in storage. 

[hursst]

Jeff, I think I will build one, I think it will save me a lot of time rolling the body in and out.  Shouldn't take too long to build.  Thanks for your thoughts on this.