1958 MGA Coupe

bobs77vet · Feb 8, 2015

beautiful day today high 60s*

sand the doors one more time

thoroughly clean them, a paint job is only as good as the prep work

first coat self etching primer

and the black higher build primer. funny thing was the doors were not painted under the hinges....so this time around that area will get painted before the door gets hung. that may be the first car part i paint the body color.

i guess my next task will be to start cleaning up the dash. its still accessible.

bobs77vet · Mar 8, 2015

finally another nice day....worked on the dash

these are those small head rivets that are hard to Find. there are some in the mail to me from Gio but they must be stuck in customs some where.

I marked the retaining clips

heres the how they make the bead

heres the thickness of the tube

and where we wound up

bobs77vet · Mar 14, 2015

worked on the gauges some today

start by cleaning off lots of dirt

some light rust on the outside really more of an annoyance then anything else

I think the fast etch will clean this up

some damage from the previous owner probably installing a radio

easy way to pop off the clip fasteners

so I have some weld repairs to do and the welder is buried, but the good news is the kids found an apartment so dad gets his garage back in a few weeks. this was a nice break but I am ready to move forward

bobs77vet · Mar 15, 2015

today I found two turn signal relays, but my trip to radio shack was a wasted trip and although the computer showed they had the relays needed to convert these to an electronic relay system. they were no where to be found in the store

the good news is one of the relays internally looks in pretty good shape, if you can judge coils by looking at them. so its time to so some trouble shooting with them. now to take the 12v battery our of the motorcycle and get it charged

bobs77vet · Mar 17, 2015

well another trip to two more radio shacks.....one to a store that is staying open to purchase one of the DPDT (double pole double throw) relays. cost me a whopping $ .97 at this store for one. then to a store that as closing.....to buy 3 relays......for $.17 each. I purchased all they had. I was thinking of you guys when I saw the price but they didn't have more to buy. I still want to test the original turn signal relays to see if they work before I cannibalize them.

heres Barneys write up that I will be following assuming at least one of these doesn't work.

http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/electric/ts202.htm

and heres the definition of the relay for those wondering "

A six-terminal switch arrangement which serves to connect one pair of contacts with either of two available pairs of contacts. Its abbreviation is DPDT switch. Also called double-pole switch (2)." if you look at Barneys site it has the schematic diagram explaining how the relays work inside of the turn signal relay.

1Michel · Mar 18, 2015

Hey Bob, to clean up electrical gizmos like that those little blasters do a great job.
Just fill the reservoir with baking soda and blast away.
Works great.

bobs77vet · Mar 25, 2015

1Michel said:
Hey Bob, to clean up electrical gizmos like that those little blasters do a great job.
Just fill the reservoir with baking soda and blast away.
Works great.

i like that idea, thks

denpo · Mar 25, 2015

I may repeat myself, but if you want to remove rust without acid or mechanical action, Evaporust will do wonder.

bobs77vet · Apr 5, 2015

I have never tried that stuff I will look for it

well came back from Easter break and spent some time cleaning up the shop, and making some space for me. didn't leave too much time to play but I managed to smoosh some metal

what needs to be corrected

working it with a hammer on an anvil

and we are getting there

I have the same extension weld marks as every one else. on an MGA coupe then ends that return are hand welded on at the factory

bobs77vet · Apr 11, 2015

a really quick hit today hopefully I can wrap the dash up tonight, today was wire brushing sanding and painting

a stainless steel look

still need to weld up the tears.. afdter wire brushing I sanded it

bobs77vet · Apr 11, 2015

worked on the dash some more to fix the damage from a radio install and to weld the top tab back on. the coupes dash get wrapped in vinyl covering ,so it can be less then a paint quality finish

voilla just add some welding magic

bobs77vet · Apr 17, 2015

well I understand that my garage comes back to me tomorrow and the coupe comes off the high storage frame and back on to the moveable saw horses.

so lets wrap up the dash board, I sanded the back side and self etch primed it and then both sides got primed in black primer. after sanding the back side I don't think the black was anything other then a primer

bobs77vet · Apr 18, 2015

almost back in business.....

we start by fixing a design flaw in my moveable saw horses and fix the rear part of the axle so it doesn't move down and make the wheels cant

lets fit the drivers side shut face panel

and I find out the bracket that the latch attaches too has been drilled out

weld up the holes

drill and tap

finally

SuperBuickGuy · Apr 19, 2015

simply because you're working on an English car, doesn't mean you have to change the proper terms of "door post" .... :mullet:

did you fire the engineer?

since you're all about english authenticity (shut panel :lol

, did you add rust to that hinge plate?

bobs77vet · Apr 22, 2015

i think the rust will come naturally.....the British do have their own names for things thats for sure and compared to Austin Healeys the MGs were well engineered...... i like the British terms for tools...spanners and ring spanners, ( open end wrench and box end wrench). we wont even talk about whitworth vs AF......and I think shut face panel isn't such a bad term since it hides the door pillar post and covers the rear fender (wing) where it attaches to the door post and the rocker sill.

got some parts for the doors today. I can see rebuilding these will be a challenge. but that will be in a while...