1958 MGA Coupe

clean garage, impressive.

well you have to start some where:

of course i have 6 of them, so lets take the best 4




clean them up and paint them with the zinc oxide treatment



did somebody need these dimensions?

small bites as usual, last night i painted the brackets

dont ask me why but there are three different hole sizes for the holes for the caged nuts...one size for the bottom and two sizes for the top...of course there is



so carefully pull the tabs close together or make the small holes on the top bracket bigger



i did say carefully right?



no problem I have another one that is an original



looks like cross slotted on the outside with a washer and hex head on the inside

well i gave my welding table to my son along with the wood working equipment......so what is a poor boy to do???? 5 hours worth of work by Grandpa....those 9' pieces were heavy....

remember this, lintels from old brick houses that are being torn down.....9' x 3x5 x 5/16 USS steel... and 6'x2 1/2 x4x1/4



it will have full inner perimeter clamping capabilities and a clampng slot down the middle, top is 11"x 1/4" table size is 35 x 54. depending on how is use the 3x5 angle iron, i may do one side with a 3" spine and and the other with a 5" spine. just to give maximum vesatility. the 5" spine would be good for straightening out metal parts









wire brushed and wiped down





and sprayed with self etching primer, most people don,t paint welding tables but this is really a metal shop assembly/welding table. i need it to be clean so if i brush up against it i dont get all dirty.

another day of having fun!!





set up the legs



trued up



welded up 240v hobart handler 190 set way up high



time to lower it it was just me working today....i estimated about 270 lbs

Nice!

thanks



heres the blocking for the casters so its a rigid table....





for now its band clamped on and its rock solid, i think i will make some brackets at some time and bolt them in place.



some bracing for the top supports while i weld it in place





and my recycled top 11" x 1/4 from a parking lot repair that the contractors through in a dumpster at my sons work and he retrieved it for me



next to incorporate a trailer hitch in to the under side shelf

well since I have the MG TD with a relatively new exhaust it really has put the MGAs 40 yr old muffler to shame. i knew i needed a new muffler but with a side by side comparision i had to do something. so i have been watching for a replacement muffler and sure enough one of you guys in NC swapped your new exhaust system for a stainless steel system and your shop sold the replaced new muffler to me with shipping it was $39. the label hadn't even fallen all the way off yet



i didnt even jack up the car



i knew when i installed the exhaust system the old muffler would come off at some point so i never torqued up the clamps to crushing torque levels








and the sound test was fantastic, it took 45mins.from start to finish

a left over Hitch from who knows where, it was under my deck



i lucked out i now have some receiver tubing


the top will be my storage shelf


some i beam from fencing a neigbor was tossing



now i need to get some 1 1/2 inch black pipe to bridge the channels and then i can tack the top down and sand the new pieces and prime them and then slip it in place


with those pieces i am up to about 380 lbs

so lets wrap these windows up

where we start with two now to make one



missing some screws



take off the bottom chrome trim the other frame is the nicest



broken screw in the bracket and the other screw was missing but i had one



the tap set tells you what size hole to drill to tap new threads, for a #6 screw its number 35 or really close to 7/64 if its not it exactly



go slow and use cutting oil , you go backand forth cutting about 1/16 of a turn at a time especially for these small taps



and after hand polishing





so the only thing these window frame needs is a new inner liner for the frame. I have a new ventilator gasket but I am not sure if I am going t put that in or not



about 2hrs of work

moving on to the drivers side. so in looking at my parts, it seems the easiest path is to use the vertical upright for my old windows on the new windows

the broken tab is harder to deal with then swapping the vertical posts



i do have to drill out the one screw and probably retap



i see the camera is picking up everything other then what i want, but i am letting the two screws soak in PB blaster before i try and torque on them



first round of hand polishing

so to pick up where we left off the bracket under the ventilator window is broken on the window frame i am going to use and i need to take the bracket off so the new donor pillar will fit basically drill the rivets out and pop it out with adrift

these are the parts





kind of the way it looks on the car



one last broken screw to coax out

the boss retired early

and i was thinking about how to get the ventilator pivot bolt nut off so i decided to cut it off with a dremel










bracket screw would not come out so drill and tap it





next side






ready to order parts to put it all back together again

so lets take somemore stuff apart







remove old gasket



some times it easier to line things up using screws that are longer these re 1/2 long


all shined up and mock fit before the gasket goes in



this was a PITA two people, one pushing on the bottom and the other pushing up top with a Popsicle stick







this gets pushed in last



and a trial fit i still have to put that rivet i place right now its just a nut a bolt holding it

4 screws and 1 gasket how long can that take???



and what you are seeing is the only screw i didnt have to drill out and retap



athough i am getting good at free hand drilling



so three holes drilled and tapped, and parts polished



and we ran out of umpph to keep moving it forward will regroup later tonight

where we left off



just effort from this point forward just shove and push...and i used a har dryer to see if i could make it softer I am not sure anything other then brute force actually worked

put the bottom piece on easily



and done



Jim Cheatham pointed out to me the gaskets have to be trimmed on the side the glass folds in on











the very top needed to be seated just a 1/16 of an inch more so lets see if wedging some thing in there will let it form into the position over time




its all down hill from here, i will put in a parts order tomorrow to finish up

lets clean up the parts and place all the hardware in place



mark the parts








had one thread that needed to be retapped



that finishing strip needs to come off





paint stripped off



and polished it looks better then it did






and a teaser photo or two

show time..



1/8" split pin for the handles



clean it up with a 5/32 drill bit so its nice and tight



trial fit



tapped down with the rivet set tool


a hard surface to set it



hit until the rivet tools bottoms out, then move to flat end drift







fully set



back together



I use green grease its synthethic and waterproof really good stuff, on the spring and washers of the window ventialtor mechanism, i came to discover how good this stuff is when i went to clean a bearing grease tool and tried cleaning it with gasoline and i couldnt remove the grease even after soaking it in gasoline, then i knew i had really good stuff and have been using it ever since



the triangular trim piece also has a ridge in it to catch the gasket

lets put the felt channels in place



so why would the window channels that should be felt have a metal spiral bound liner in them?



basically fold the felt channel in half and push it in.



fully seat it with the butt of a plastic spreader



tomorrow i think i will use some thread locker and tighten up all the screws and move to put these in the doors over the next week

Is there a filler block for that corner, or do you just have a strange triangular opening next to your vent window?