1958 MGA Coupe

[1Michel]

As usual mr Bob great work.
I havnt looked much lately and I'm amazed by the progress.
Can I tell you that you inspired me to restart to work on the Vette?
Between you and Denpo, how can I stay idle?

 

[denpo]

As usual mr Bob great work.
I havnt looked much lately and I'm amazed by the progress.
Can I tell you that you inspired me to restart to work on the Vette?
Between you and Denpo, how can I stay idle?

I was about to comment how good is was to see Bob back at it, but I'm gonna kill two birds here.
Good to see you back here guys :beer:

 

[bobs77vet]

excellent to see us all getting motivated again....I dont force myself to work and when summer comes around it is so hot in the DC area its nice to take a break.

heres the game plan:

heres the plan from Neil McGurks (Neil MG) play book..........one of my favorite threads ever.....starting at post 123............http://www.mgexp.com/phorum/read.php?2,1990813,page=7

these are Neils photos taken from his post, i am not sure i would have come up with this idea on my own:

 

[bobs77vet]

first a product review...first time using the welding table....it didn't move at all....and chop saws through off a lot of vibrations and this table was rock solid



now to the MGA part.... with doing this repair I kind of feel like Scrooge when he meets the last ghost " specter I fear you more then all the other specter's that came before"

this will be the cut line


heres the template it will be cut in half for the two sides






so with this piece I will make it first and then do the cutting.....not that I am chicken or anything

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

 

[bobs77vet]

now that's funny.................



about an hour tonight the mosquitoes and the humidity is just no fun



easy clamping spots and you use a grinder with a cut off wheel














I thought this was timely

 

[bobs77vet]

another hour tonight







you can use the corner of the vise and a hammer to make a radiused lip





the one lap side is longer so it can get crimped over the shorter side

 

[bobs77vet]

just me and the dog today.....



prime the lip that gets crimped




spot weld



ok now to see who has the big ka hoonas







this is the ring







I ran out of coolie cups and had to improvise



so it was a dogs day afternoon, I am not sure I will have any more time until I get back from the races

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

sometimes you just need the proper leverage.... nice work

 

[bobs77vet]

heres the link......a few disclaimers, if I liked it I photographed it....if I knew you I took pictures of you racing, I also like corvettes and mustangs, if I needed to see what something looked like for my restoration I took a picture of it....I like coupes.....theres 950+ photos so heres a quick schedule.....also my camera is 12hrs off so the dates are screwy. feel free to copy these if you like them. If you like them let me know and next year I can add you to the list of cars I look for. bob

001- 113 group B Collier cup10:55 am Friday 9/5 10:55

114-124 parked MGs I stumbled across in the infield

125-388 group1 Friday 9/5 2:40pm incorrectly tagged as 9/6 2:40am

322-388 faster cars vettes mustangs

389-494 carshow down town, reenactment, the lake at the town the same lake you see in the grand stand photos

495-496-496 ex 186 experimental MGA

498- 522 misc

523- 672 collier cup race slated for 1:20pm 9/6 in correctly tagged 9/7 1:40 am

673 - 796 grp1

797 - 838 collier cup Grp A 9/7 11:35 am

839 - 867 Collier cup "fan walk"

868 -913 Collier cup Grp b 9/7 2:00 pm

914 -999 SVRA grp 1 9/7 3:40

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/bobs77vet/library/watkins glen 2014

 

[MYBAD79]

Great details, awesome photos as always...... That insulating glove is the winner !!!

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

heres the link......a few disclaimers, if I liked it I photographed it....if I knew you I took pictures of you racing, I also like corvettes and mustangs, if I needed to see what something looked like for my restoration I took a picture of it....I like coupes.....theres 950+ photos so heres a quick schedule.....also my camera is 12hrs off so the dates are screwy. feel free to copy these if you like them. If you like them let me know and next year I can add you to the list of cars I look for. bob

001- 113 group B Collier cup10:55 am Friday 9/5 10:55

114-124 parked MGs I stumbled across in the infield

125-388 group1 Friday 9/5 2:40pm incorrectly tagged as 9/6 2:40am

322-388 faster cars vettes mustangs

389-494 carshow down town, reenactment, the lake at the town the same lake you see in the grand stand photos

495-496-496 ex 186 experimental MGA

498- 522 misc

523- 672 collier cup race slated for 1:20pm 9/6 in correctly tagged 9/7 1:40 am

673 - 796 grp1

797 - 838 collier cup Grp A 9/7 11:35 am

839 - 867 Collier cup "fan walk"

868 -913 Collier cup Grp b 9/7 2:00 pm

914 -999 SVRA grp 1 9/7 3:40

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/bobs77vet/library/watkins glen 2014

so.... once you've finished up this little rust repair; are you going to cut the top off like the racecars? :hunter::bump:

 

[bobs77vet]

you mean like this one, that's and actual Sebring car from the 50s

well after much contemplation I said #$@% ^* and got out the grinder and a cutting wheel, after all its just metal

I am relieving the stretched metal so I can hammer form the fender back into shape, and make sure it lines up nice to the body lines, I am also folding over the crimped flange on the piece I made and tack welding the repair panel in place

 

[bobs77vet]

some more welding and grinding and fabricating





to put some tension to close the gap





getting closer

 

[bobs77vet]

about an hour tonight , this fender is coming to an end, maybe one more hour....

filling pin holes







these are the backers to stop burn through...copper wrapped sheet steel

 

[bobs77vet]

another hour tonight fixing the lower valance attaching strip to the drivers fender






maybe a little more time grinding and then we are done with this fender

 

[Sam Cogley]

Incredible work! What are you doing to replace that mounting ring for the parking light/turn signal?

 

[bobs77vet]

Incredible work! What are you doing to replace that mounting ring for the parking light/turn signal?

thks, I was actually thinking about this yesterday....I have to look and see if the passenger side has the ring still attached to the fender. my options include buying two new ones (approx $20) , reusing the old ones and drilling and tapping new holes if necesary, lastly making new ones, they arent much thicker then big fender washers. thats almost an easy night time task

 

[bobs77vet]

the pass side fender has the light ring still attached it is in rough shape though....

doesn't look like 3 hrs of work but it was, tapped 3 fender bolt caged nuts, luckily I had drilled them to the correct diameter previously and then fought with the fender to pull it into the correct shape. it has to be close to the correct shape before I start cutting out the bad sections





it may not look like a big difference but it is

 

[Sam Cogley]

That fender is enough of a mess that I'd be looking for a replacement, or at least a damaged fender with a good front section to graft onto it. If you rebuild the entire front of it, you're more of a glutton for punishment than I.

 

[bobs77vet]

That fender is enough of a mess that I'd be looking for a replacement, or at least a damaged fender with a good front section to graft onto it. If you rebuild the entire front of it, you're more of a glutton for punishment than I.

are you just realizing now that I am a glutton for punishment....although if these fenders weren't so outrageously expensive I would be with you

lets make a form and transfer it over to the pass side and see what we have to do to start repairing this fender



cut some 18 ga steel and make a 90* bend in it



and this is what its suppose to look like.....just flip the template over



so we will use a shrinker and stretcher to make the curves



note to self...resist the temptation to see what the smooshed metal feels like...because .it feels like little slivers of metal pressing into fingers

final form




playing around with the planishing hammer....you know the painting the Scream? I wish I had some artistic talent. I think I will need to make some of the curves of the front fender so I wanted to brush up my skills.



test fit on good side



and a test fit before dinner

 

[bobs77vet]

well today was playing around with the passenger side fender some more, you would be surprised at how strong fenders become when you start stitch welding up the holes and tears...



























where we started

 

[Sam Cogley]

So you're just welding reinforcements behind the headlight ring rather than cutting those rotted areas out and replacing them?

 

[bobs77vet]

not sure yet on this side just trying to bring it back to a reasonable place to start the repairs.....for some reason the previous owner cut the curled lip off of the head light ring in opposing sides probably to make it round after the fender bump.....the headlight ring is in pretty good shape just misformed because of that hack job.

you know the routine by now....use template to make sure the sides are the same, and spot weld the piece in place



make some adjustments



very close



weld in bottom lip


finish fit



cut away













enough for today

 

[denpo]

 

[bobs77vet]

that's excellent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

this is really a nice set of clamps







I didn't like how the seam lined up so I cut the piece out and relined it up





I had to stop the grinding it was kind of loud in the neighborhood for a sunday

 

[Sam Cogley]

Meh. Your neighbors should be proud of living in such close proximity to an artiste.

 

[bobs77vet]

Meh. Your neighbors should be proud of living in such close proximity to an artiste.

I mean I get it .....grinding metal I think is even more annoying than a circular saw. so when the neighbor lady asked my son in law how long I was going to be making the noise for I just stopped and cleaned up. my daughter was saying that at 10:45am on a sunday anything is fair game and she even pointed out that my granddaughter was asleep in a stroller in my bedroom which is the window right out side the garage and it wasn't bothering her. my view is more neighborly.....I know that my hobbies make noise and generally I grind with the garage door closed but there was so much grinding to do I wanted to have the mess be outside. so I cut short my work by an hour or so. I guess my next house if it has to be in the city will have a dedicated dirty bay that has nothing in it so I can sand grind etc and keep the mess contained.....

 

[Sam Cogley]

That's one reason why I want to build a detached garage/workshop. Need funds first.

Some people are too sensitive, though.

That said, I guess I'm lucky that I only have neighbors on two sides, businesses on the other two.

 

[bobs77vet]

test fit the headlight buckets , drill the holes for the adjusters, wirebrush them and paint them