1958 MGA Coupe

bobs77vet · Oct 14, 2015

well there is one little dimple in the top end/middle of my bonnet that I just don't think I could look at each day ......so we fix it,

spot repair the area and everything is sanded with 600 wet

now admittedly this is for fun.....so how flat and shiny can I make my panels??? the boot lid is so small and manageable I am playing with it so I sanded one more time with 600 wet

this is with 3 more coats over the repaired area and then 3 more coats over the entire bonnet and boot

so I think that's 8 coats of clear on the boot and it was sanded twice with 600 in between clear coats 3 and 4 and then between 5 and 6 with two more coats. I probably could have done just 7 clear coats and sanded it only once, but playing around with different methods/techniques should be done on the small panels to perfect the technique and then import that to the bigger panels.

bobs77vet · Oct 15, 2015

this is about 45 minutes worth of work

wet sand with 600 and three coats of clear, that's 8 coats of clear total. once this has a chance to harden in a week or two it will get color sanded and buffed.

bobs77vet · Oct 15, 2015

push on to the rest of the fenders

these are in good shape with not much orange peel and I am cleaning them and then getting 5 coats of clear on them . usually I like putting on less product and doing it twice just because I like the solvents to evaporate and shrink but I am running out of cooperative weather, these will get clear coat sanded and then buffed. I like to sand and then let that sit for a week before I cut and buff.

before

after

SuperBuickGuy · Oct 15, 2015

where's the "like" button?

bobs77vet · Oct 16, 2015

i seem to have big body panels scattered all over my garage......I need to get them up and out of the way before I scratch them, so we scrounged together 3 2x6s, 1 2x4 and 18" piece of 5 ply 1/2" plywood and two scrap oak 4 x 6 pallets that were being saved for the oak....

this will let me get at least the doors , boot and bonnet up and maybe even the two rear fenders, I have some moving blankets I can put down on the pallets....the car will fit under the shelf

ok now this is just folly......I sanded my nice bonnet with 600 and I am going to try a different painting technique to see if I like it, the boot is perfect and I will compare the two against each to decide which I like the best. lacquer will always melt into the previous layers and adhere very well, the technique is called intermixing , its intermixing the base coat and clear coat in diminishing ratios.....first is base coat, then a 50/50 base/clear, then 25/75 base/clear then 100% clear. its suppose to make the paint really deep. we will see.....

SuperBuickGuy · Oct 16, 2015

I love the part of the project where everything starts getting permanently hung on the car.... a few more months for mine and I'll be doing the same :bounce:

bobs77vet · Oct 17, 2015

SuperBuickGuy said:
I love the part of the project where everything starts getting permanently hung on the car.... a few more months for mine and I'll be doing the same :bounce:

I agree I was looking at the fender piping in the catalogs deciding which to buy and that's a good sign.....

the day starts early......its cool but low humiditiy and a huge difference between dew point and temperature. this is important since if the temperature and dew point are close to each other the solvent flashing drops the temperature down a lot and if the temperature on the body part is less then the dew point you get "blushing" and it looks cloudy, that's because the moisture in the air is trapped in the clear coat. sometimes it evaporates away sometimes it doesn't.

I use an intermediate soft pad and I put a hole in it for the water to come out. I use a gasket punch

and the body gets wet sanded with 600 and 4 more coats of clear, due to the cooler temps I paint it half in the garage and half outside and then push it in side and close the garage door for the 10 minute flash time.

I chickened out on the intermix paint on the bonnet, I am too close to change things up

keep this covered so theres no overspray

theres a drivable chassis just begging to get a body on it

tucked away for the night, I think every thing needs to harden for about one week.

Sam Cogley · Oct 19, 2015

Have you considered turning this into a series of articles, or a book? "How To Turn a Pile of Rust and Junk Into a Classic Car." :1st:

bobs77vet · Oct 19, 2015

Sam Cogley said:
Have you considered turning this into a series of articles, or a book? "How To Turn a Pile of Rust and Junk Into a Classic Car." :1st:

well I write it journal style and its on two other forums that I frequent an MG forum and Hotrodders.com.

its as much for me as it is for others, I learned alot from others and had a particuarly good mentor named Mr Ginther that i liked alot and he taught me alot. so hopefully theres some one out there thats get some courage to tackle a project based on what they see me doing. thats really what i am aiming for, to show people that it is doable in your back yard with your own hands......and you can do anything if you bring the project size down small enough and eat it one bite at a time, most of the guys here can do this and better.....i know because i see it in the threads

SuperBuickGuy · Oct 20, 2015

I see those builds where people build a camper or a car out of Legos - I point them to you, Bob, and say "that's great, but can you build a car out of MIG wire?" Wisely, they hang their heads in shame, kick a rock and walk away mumbling about not being good for anything. While I think they must be good for something, they do have a point

bobs77vet · Oct 20, 2015

it was the first time I ever had to get the big MIG spool....

got home early today and it was surprisingly warm......lets bring everything up to 10 coats of clear....

bobs77vet · Oct 21, 2015

another 73* degree day what should I do????????????????

I know you guys must be wondering when the painting will possibly be over........here the last three coats of clear on the body making it 10 coats for the top side and 6 for the engine bay boot and sides of the car. next comes clear coat sanding and final buffing, I will let paint sit for a while before I do that.

any where there was over spray got scuffed with 800 soft pad, the car got tacked rag down and then prep wiped down then painted.

bobs77vet · Oct 22, 2015

lets push on since we have another nice day....three coats of color on both sides

three coats of clear, maybe 5 on the top side of the battery tray

bobs77vet · Oct 24, 2015

I have been waiting to sand the clear coat and buff for what seems like and eternity......the boot has been in my heated garage for 10 days now since the last clear coat was applied.....so its time to play around, I am not being too aggressive because I know the clear will still evaporate a little more. so a quick hit with 1000 paper and then followed a little more with 2000 paper, then buffing with an orange foam pad, blue foam pad and lastly a white pad with 4 different meguiar mirror glaze compounds (85, 84 83 and 82) on a DA polisher set to a slower speed. I don't want to push the polishing just nice and gentle and the paint can hardened on its own. tomorrow the doors hit 9 or 10 days too so they are next on the to do list....

theres no glaze or wax on this

bobs77vet · Oct 25, 2015

now to the doors...the paint is 10 days old which is not old for lacquer so I am going light on the buffing. look at the clarity in the upside down gable and the window

the starting point

sanded with 2000

first hit with wool pad and #85

then orange pad and # 85

then #84 and blue pad

then #83 and yellow waffle pad

then #82white pad

next door

bobs77vet · Oct 25, 2015

just wrapping up loose ends ......not hard just takes time, I am not getting these coated with zinc again and I am not replacing them, so one option left is to clean prime and paint. luckily I had sanded and primed the big fender washers previously.

Red77 · Oct 26, 2015

I think I'm a Bob's MGA thread junkie. Is there a support group for us? ;-) Keep up the awesome work!

phantomjock · Oct 26, 2015

I'm thinking that buff/polish routine might salvage a R&R paint job (Roller & Rattlecan)!
Nice - very nice.
Cheers - Jim

GoVetteGo · Oct 26, 2015

Red77 said:
I think I'm a Bob's MGA thread junkie. Is there a support group for us? ;-) Keep up the awesome work!

I am right there with you. Kind of jealous of all Bob's progress and my 78 project just sits in the garage - ignored!!! LOL

JPhil · Oct 26, 2015

Bob

It's probably way too late now, but do you know about Parkerizing? It's a rustproofing process of very old school which I learned about from old Harleys. I never used it but it can be done at home. Basically, you cook oil into the metal parts with heat and electrolysis. I think. I tried to look it up in some of my old books with limited success. I tried to scan some info from a book I have with no success. The internet only talks about it for guns. A lot of old machinery has it done, it creates a flattish black finish--like cooked oil. I probably have the details wrong, but it is a legitimate and authentic finish for small parts like you are dealing with now and would not be too out of place on a project like yours.
Plus I think it just the kind of thing you would like!

Sam Cogley · Oct 26, 2015

JPhil said:
Bob

It's probably way too late now, but do you know about Parkerizing? It's a rustproofing process of very old school which I learned about from old Harleys. I never used it but it can be done at home. Basically, you cook oil into the metal parts with heat and electrolysis. I think. I tried to look it up in some of my old books with limited success. I tried to scan some info from a book I have with no success. The internet only talks about it for guns. A lot of old machinery has it done, it creates a flattish black finish--like cooked oil. I probably have the details wrong, but it is a legitimate and authentic finish for small parts like you are dealing with now and would not be too out of place on a project like yours.
Plus I think it just the kind of thing you would like!

http://www.m1-garand-rifle.com/parkerizing/

http://www.projectguns.com/parkerizing.html

http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/metal-prep-coloring/parkerizing/index.htm

bobs77vet · Oct 26, 2015

thanks guys

JPhil said:
Bob

It's probably way too late now, but do you know about Parkerizing? It's a rustproofing process of very old school which I learned about from old Harleys. I never used it but it can be done at home. Basically, you cook oil into the metal parts with heat and electrolysis. I think. I tried to look it up in some of my old books with limited success. I tried to scan some info from a book I have with no success. The internet only talks about it for guns. A lot of old machinery has it done, it creates a flattish black finish--like cooked oil. I probably have the details wrong, but it is a legitimate and authentic finish for small parts like you are dealing with now and would not be too out of place on a project like yours.
Plus I think it just the kind of thing you would like!

yes I have heard about it for restoring old tool finish I will look at those links

phantomjock said:
I'm thinking that buff/polish routine might salvage a R&R paint job (Roller & Rattlecan)!
Nice - very nice.
Cheers - Jim

it does work on old vettes too....

look at the wool pad on the buffer

and just keep doing it until

time to inventory a box of parts

to my surprise it looks like it has the desirable size fender piping
]

8 feet of this and I don't know where it goes

and some really ugly window seals

the rear window one had a broken middle window seal so I tossed that one but the front windshield got washed in hot soapy water and is getting brought back into shape

a bunch of other stuff in the box like pedal pads, shift boot, brake excluder,4 new chrome bumper overriders, boot seal , rear plinth pads, bumper grommets

bobs77vet · Oct 29, 2015

it looks like since may of 2014 all I have been doing is body work......not much project planning with that just lots of doing.....

well the cars paint is 10 days old and I want at least 2 weeks before I sand and buff so let start project planning getting the chassis 100% done and body 100% so I can mate these babys back together. I am pretty good at project planning and being able to type, edit , copy and paste makes it pretty easy to get organized, throw in some red fonts, and ~~cross out~~ editing and your good to go

so lets see what in the box of carpeting.....the guy bought a complete carpet and interior kit 30 years ago including the lift the dots (LTD).....I see that I still have 4 LTDs on the top of the toe board. those are going to be fun to get lined up....

looks like a leather arm rest for the trans tunnel

part of the spare tire covering the other side is AWOL

I lucked out the sun fading was on the spare tire cover and boot floor middle crease, I can see fitting this carpeting is going to be a PITA

looks like a boot carpet kit, some fading on the crease where it was folded

and the carpet parts that I don't know where they go????? can any one identify where these parts go?? I would appreciate it.

whats missing.......the carpeting for the battery tray and the rest of the spare tire set up

bobs77vet · Oct 30, 2015

what the hell lets open another box and see where it takes us.....

approximate spot where kick panel ends, exposing that goal post angled piece

so lets try this piece here

I couldn't figure out all the pre cut areas in the smaller piece, but it had a bound top edge....

I think this is it

this is definitely wrong

and nothing fits well here

so puzzle solved, in reverse installation order

bobs77vet · Oct 30, 2015

I think I have figured it out

lets do a lift the dot stud fastener

you can see the stud left hand side

use a screw to center the pieces in the hole

tap down the back side

crimp the pieces together, and tap the clamping rings down with a punch

bobs77vet · Oct 31, 2015

moving to the drivers side

mark the spots for the LTD fasteners

use gasket punch

use the screw to locate

and then a punch to get the protrusions to pop through

put on the back and compress the tabs

repeat 8 times....

mark the spot for the stud by drill through the LTD fastener and finish the depth with the carpet moved

mark the spots for the accelerator stop

make the holes

out of the basement

so they can be sat on while on the floor

I put blue tape on the back of the carpet that goes under the seat and then poked an awl up through the T fasteners on three of the seat mounting spots, the exhaust pipe got in the way on one. and then poked the holes with the gasket punch then mounted the seat

top LTDs