1958 MGA Coupe

[bobs77vet]

so now i move to the door openings....this gives me the front window and door openings done which allows me to put the vinyl on the scuttle, the mirror and the demister vents and then install the dash board and install the front window....the rear panel can be the last thing i glue down. now all i am waiting on is for my distributor to finish getting rebuilt by Jeff

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

I think we may be done about the same time.... fortunately, since mine is a soft top, I don't 'have' to have it done before beating it like the cross-bred, red-headed stepchild it is
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[bobs77vet]

oh yeah thats sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet, i saw and old style dune buggy that would be fun too





on a coupe the scuttle vinyl and mirror and demister vents have to go in before the windshield and the pillars have to be wrapped with headliner material before the door opening panel goes on.

remove clamps and trim material where necessary








wrap pillar glue both sides





wrap around edge and glue and clamp










this is how i glued it folded it over

install mirror and cut out demister vents




all stainless steel fasteners



lets see about the windshield gasket.....35 yrs old new and never installed


i have to clean off the gasket and lets start the stretch of the old gasket

 

[bobs77vet]

my rope measurement says i need 119" of circular gasket length, which incidentally is exactly what i have its just under tension and not relaxed lets see what a couple of days of Virginia sun does to loosen it up

 

[bobs77vet]

what a PITA this is turning into.....


the gasket does not want to stretch over the glass in a one person work environment.....tonight I might put 3 other sets of hands on this


tried for over an hour and it just did not work. there is significant difference between my new rear window seal and the NOS front window seal in there flexibility and stretchability




and now I am stretching the rear glass one also...goal this weekend all front/rear glass and dashboard in..

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

I bought a brand new FJ40 windshield seal. Couldn't use it because it was too soft and the wrong size.... don't know what to tell you about why the stock one won't fit, though. The solution for mine was generic rubber seals.

 

[Sam Cogley]

Does Steele sell a windshield seal for the MGA?

 

[bobs77vet]

I WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

different ball game today.....two of us one extremely stronger then the other....little joe: 23yrs old. 6'3 210+ lacrosse player and old soft me....i can tell you we needed the muscle


the stretch did the trick.....put the one end side on first taped it down so it would slip off and then moved to the other end, it was obvious from the start the gasket was more flexible. it still was a chore and we tried putting the rope in the glass slot so when we rolled the gasket over the glass from the bottom we could pull it out....that and the Popsicle sticks from Michaels did the trick. i am not sure the rope gave us anything but once or twice it clearly provided a benefit.once we got the second end done we taped it down an moved to the long sides....about 30 minutes of pretty intense work. mostly cause the old gasket was so stiff. the stiffness is dramatically different then
the new gasket for the rear window




I am going to let it get use to the window for a while in the sun and then as soon as i get another helper it will get installed today.....

 

[bobs77vet]

well it is what it is......read on

finished headliner install



glue top first then side panel





glue side panel




next is the back panel












photo of glued bottom



seam





install parcel shelf to act as a "clamp"

 

[bobs77vet]

win some lose some.....

add the string for seating the gasket over the window flange



pull out rope and it seats itself well sort of...



work both sides evenly



freaking looks awesome



not so shabby if i must say so myself



well except for that.....


I never should have tried to use the old gasket or maybe the dead blow hammer either, oh well $185 for the windshield $80 for the gasket

 

[denpo]

well, that's a bit of a bummer, but frankly with all the magic you made happen so far what did you expect? :rofl:
Seriously, I can totally relate, installing my windshield last weekend was one of the most stressful operation. I hate glass, such a SOB of a material.
Keep it up Mr Wizard.

 

[bobs77vet]

thanks, yeah i had a strong sense to stop but ignored it....oh well, that old gasket was just too stiff, i should have tossed it.

10:34pm......we are just going to pretend it never happened

 

[bobs77vet]

wow a nice new fresh gasket makes all the difference....it was like night and day soft and pliable a joy to work with.



NO HAMMERS TODAY... repeat as necessary....but no hammers!!!!!





clean glass





maybe 15 minutes




mark bottom and center



some tension



the window just wasn't centered perfectly the first time...perhaps i didn't do the string pull evenly and pulled it to the right so out it came back to the table and re pack the rope and reinstall

this time it was perfect





and still need to do the top but i my son has tests to study for so we will pick it up later, its gone too well to push it alone

 

[bobs77vet]

DONE

took a 5 hour break and then just kept using my thumb on the seal to press it in.so by the time my son got home just the inside middle section top was left. he used a popsicle stick in front of my pull and his hand on the seal behind the pull. 10 Minutes later we were done all told maybe 2 hours of work.

 

[bobs77vet]

move on to install rebuilt distributor


one of the reasons for the rebuild that and a dead vacuum cannister



back from Jeff Schemmel Advanced distributor







a thing of beauty


i thought i painted these before but i guess not




now to let it cool and i will put in the vacuum line


vacuum line done, i wonder if i can find an acorn nut to hold the vacuum line clip, i also think i can do better then a rubber vacuum tube at the carb end

 

[bobs77vet]

and this week the carpet pieces came for behind the rear seat area..so lets test fit the pieces and see what i have. my goal is to have the coupe interior trimmed out as much as i can before i put the body on the chassis

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

I go away for one weekend, and look what happens. I'm sorry man, I'll never leave again :cussing:

 

[bobs77vet]

i would really like to get the body on the chassis before the summer ends.....


lets trim out the rear area and glue some stuff down...

i am not sure how the rear tire opening trim ring is suppose to look any body have any pictures how the fabric is wrapped around it inside the boot?


seems to me the battery tray carpet doesnt need to be fully glued since you have to be able to get at the DZUS fasteners and it gets stuck under the tire carpet.

i imagine since the tire doesnt protrude fully through the hole i may need to pad the carpet to get a nice tight fitting look.



holes punched for seat belt hardware





glue bulkhead piece





glue leading edge of battery tray cover carpet and vinyl



side panels



notched for the parcel shelf


original holes for the #4 screws, i thought i would have to go up to a number 6 but so far the holes are still "tight", the screws are loose and i am letting the trim panel get use to its new shape before i screw them down. you can see my panel hole marker, i am on my second thumb tack the first one was not very well made.

i think i will trim above the panel closest to the bulk head in either headliner material or grey vinyl so the red paint is not visible

 

[bobs77vet]

I need to keep this momentum going.....

.I think I am going to install the rest of the interior panels it keeps them flat and out of the way and I can always take them out right before the chassis drop if I need to. first to flatten them out.....I did this last year also when I moved the boxes out side and it works pretty well.



I think what happened is the vinyl shrunk and pulled the fiber board out of shape



you would be surprised how warm stuff gets in black plastic in the sun and then we add compression to stretch every thing into compliance

 

[bobs77vet]

tomorrow nights work...inside the bubble wrap





and tonight's work trying to figure out the rear carpeting area

band clamp helped me see how it would fit





and that ring to contend with


i dont really know what i am doing but lets go for it



glue vinyl in place


you can see where all the vinyl comes through



almost like a ponzi scheme

the vinly gets glued to bulhead and then the inside tire cover vinyl gets glued to the first vinyl then the boot tire cover gets glued to that



then the ring gets put in place



then trimmed



but the tires are different sizes and dont protrude as much through the bulk head so some provisions have to me made and we add tails to the bottom of the inside tire cover so you can pull it tight as the tire goes in so the carpet doesnt get pushed through




I think some foam will be added to fill the radius up



just pushed in place

 

[bobs77vet]

win some / lose some part 2

it was a WIN







trim any material thats on the top flange










carpeting done in the trunk

 

[bobs77vet]

on to test fitting the interior

wrap door cap in vinyl





put in door pulls



fit the door panel



add the map pockets









layout and make some trim pieces, just a guess at what they should look like

 

[bobs77vet]

on to dash install






i am not a tool snob but this is one set of tools that you should buy that is Snap on.....line wrenches look at the width of the jaws







and done, new bezel and cleaned up






now to wiring you can see the benefit of the stands






every car should have a table in it


and done



put a hole in grommet with a punch



pulled this one over with screw driver slipped between the grommet and end






and if you have to solder a bullet connector on and you get too much solder on the end just file it off



after dinner the dash gets checked over one more time and then installed.....

 

[bobs77vet]

and done! still need to do the top trim piece...

 

[bobs77vet]

my 3 day push is catching up with me.....just tying up loose ends today


if there ever was a spot for a box end wrench/ring spanner this is it






make the ends for the front trim piece







and we have a winner, use the band saw and a stationary belt sander




glue it up and go get some lunch




lets see if blood comes off the headliner, i whacked my head on the steering bracket last night

 

[bobs77vet]

more on the trim piece......i should have put it in first....it is possible to put this in with the dash in place and wired if the body is on saw horses and you take the steering bracket out. i dont think you could do it while its on the chassis

test fit





make some reference lines for cutting and gluing








two people one seating the piping and me underneath tightening

 

[bobs77vet]

took some time off to let the feeling come back in my arms and visited with mom in upstate NY.....yes it was HUMID

i am the good looking young buck in the middle



and you dont see this everyday...very nicely done....in a Bar/restaurant in old fire house in downtown Danbury Ct











any way....this weekend is the goal to get the body on the chassis

 

[bobs77vet]

wrapping up loose ends


off comes valance

out come seats

wire fuel pump

the carpets will glued down when the body is on chassis, using PB blaster on shift lever knob so i can put the rubber boot on it

oil flex line installed and brake switch wiring done

compression fitting for fuel line...imperial BSF thread size and Metric diameter for tubing....

start to run new fuel lines

 

[bobs77vet]

4 missions tonight ...started out as 3

1. dont bleed all over your self
2. plumb fuel line
3. remove radiator
4. glue down carpet sections that are buried up front

i had to make the two fuel line clamps that hold the fuel line to the insulator blocks and one of them bit me



those new braided steel lines are tougher to work with then you might expect






glued down carpet that is up front and not held in place by lift the dot studs





and removed the radiator..

 

[bobs77vet]

dropped gastank, removed 1/4 scuttle, unbolted M/C, took down storage bunk beds, put body on stands slipped car underneath. two of us and a long frame car jack