MGB Restoration Part 3

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A day spent grinding, fitting and welding, certainly a real challenge with little spaceLast time Grant Ford got under the skin of his MG named ‘Rusty’, a Roadster used as a daily driver for 30 years and had numerous short term fixes carried out to keep it legal. Luckily his ‘wizened’ old helper Alan hasn’t fled to the hills in disgust but stuck around to see if this MGB can be on the road by spring. With very little experience and an even smaller budget they set out to prove with a lot of effort anyone can enjoy playing the ‘restoration game’. No One Said It Was Easy Air tool instruction booklets should not be read at the breakfast tableA very dim light at the end of a long tunnel, well no, not really as Churchill said ‘this is not even the beginning of the end but perhaps the end of the beginning’. I have acquired a new tool and it’s rather splendid; a ‘Joggler’ as it is known, which we needed to enable us to fit our lovely new rear wing, because we did it our way. I have no doubt we could have achieved this fitment in a far more professional and easier manner (letters to CCB please) but we couldn’t think of one. Let me explain; Rusty has already had a repair panel wing fitted so when our new panel arrived from the MGOC it was identical, the repair panel on the MG had been spot welded on to the original wing at the very top of the swage line therefore once Alan attempted to drill the welds out it all became rather messy. Several slips later we decided there would be a very twisted panel left if we continued; the spots being just over a centimetre apart meant the remaining top half of the panel would resemble ‘Swiss cheese’ once completed. After putting the job off for long enough I measured 5mm under the existing chrome trim securing holes and marked a straight line. Alan had removed the bulk of the outer panel already so we had access to replace the inner wing. I was left with the task of removing a remaining strip, which then gave a straight line to work from. Not trusting myself with the bulk of the angle grinder it took a dozen ‘cut off’ wheels from my Dremel to achieve a safe and straight line. We removed the ‘swage corner’ from the new repair panel and test fitted; relief all-round, the measurements had been right but as we had been warned it would take hours of adjustment before it could be welded in. Alan insists he was test fitting the wing and snoring helps him concentrateMuch has been made of metal distortion caused by heat when welding in new panels; the internet is ‘rife’ with warnings of rippling panels due to impatience and not allowing the metal to cool. After much thought we went for the plugging method rather than a continuous line and therefore we needed to employ the talents of the ‘Joggler’. Novice restorers take note this tool is a must; I am unsure how I made it beyond 50 years old without one. I chose the air version for about £60 with the bonus of a ‘hole-punch’ the perfect size for plug welds. Along the top of the new panel I carefully employed the talents of my new super tool, putting a step into the top of the panel so it would then ‘butt’ in behind the original top half of the MG’s rear wing. More adjustment, bad language and bleeding fingers followed before the Mig welder did its thing. As I have said there is probably another easier way of carrying out this repair but what we did achieve was a great fit, no ripples and the minimum of filler required when tidying up. t was whilst carrying out the last few ‘plugs’ that Alan broke the welder which we had loaned from a nice guy who assumed (incorrectly) that we knew what we were doing. Somehow the tip had become blocked; checking if we had run out of wire we released the tension on the spool and ended up with a ‘birds-nest’ of welding wire that filled the machine. Top tip, if you don’t know how something works don’t take it apart; case in point, the wife’s hoover, that quick fix cost me a pretty penny and a day wasted trying to reassemble something that required a NASA engineer. Whilst shopping for welding tips and wire I confess to a touch of ‘air-tool’ fever; the success of the ‘joggler’ just encouraged me to ignore the wife’s reminders about the size of my credit card bill. We need a right angled ‘die grinder’ (I convinced myself), this is perfect for tidying up the welds on the rear wing plus once again I didn’t trust my unsteady hands with the un-wieldy electric angle grinder. It is a lovely piece of kit and when fitted with 80 grit paper does the job with the minimum of collateral damage. Alan approved of my purchase and insisted on reading the instruction manuals; I have no idea why, it’s another of his bad habits. Whilst he was explaining to me and the wife the virtues of reading such trivia he waved a piece of bacon once too often for Lily the Lurcher and it was gone. Blaming his tools again, would you lend this man your welderAnother box of bits arrived from the MGOC, including two new bumper irons and the closing panel that would replace our rotten piece of tin, fitting over the tubes that secure the rear spring hanger in place. Removing the remnants of this plate would take most of a day; another reason to avoid time scales as they invariably don’t pan out. Behind the cover plate we had solid metal, the only reason the plate had rotted out was because the drain hole had become blocked.  Access was impossible and so we were forced to remove the outer boot floor panel and a small section of the rear valance. Great care needed to be taken removing the remainder of the cover plate as it would be very easy to slip and damage the car or myself but I managed the task without even needing a plaster. Eye wash though was required as a boulder the size of a Mini by-passed my specs and caused me much distress and much amusement for Alan as I had ‘poo-pooed’ his suggestion of goggles. Where the rear wing was a great fit the closing panel just didn’t resemble the shape we needed, by now we are wise to the need to modify and adjust, taking it slowly, remembering once you cut there is no going back. Although it had taken more than a day, as the final weld secured the cover-plate we were happy with our work; once undersealed the rear spring could have new bushes before refitting. The dash on the MG was something that caught my attention when I first saw the car, for all the wrong reasons. It’s not that I dislike a wood/veneer finish; it works perfectly on the Jaguar but is not so attractive on ‘Rusty’ especially as it is all chipped and peeling. Understandably a new dash would set me back a pretty penny but I have a ‘cunning plan Baldric’ and with all the trim removed work can begin. The bonnet slam panel was a terrible mess of old paint and under seal, why someone would even contemplate this sort of finish is beyond me. Paint stripper, scraper and hours with heavy grit sand paper finally removed the mess and then a couple of coats of primer followed to protect this rust free panel. Another box of bits arrived from my pal Roger at the MGOC and having now receiving several packages I must be honest and say that the quality of parts is superb plus order one day and it all arrives the next. A real bonus is being able talk to someone on the phone that can advise and talk through the options; that has to be worth the membership fee alone, especially for me with more questions than answers. Some days everything seems to be against you and we have endured a couple of those but when it all goes well the ‘restoration game’ is great fun. Breakfast completed first (otherwise Alan fails to function) we attacked the boot floor outer section which we needed to remove to gain access to the cover plate. There was very little wrong with the original panel so we utilised the solid outer rim of the original part and cut the new one to fit. This meant we were not facing another day of grinding and Alan had no problems attaching old and new together; I suspect the old boot panel was replaced when the spring hanger cover plate was already past its best, an opportunity missed that would have saved us a great deal of time now. Joy and happiness the last of the major welding is completed with the rear valance, we hope!Rather than buy a complete rear valance for a small section we fashioned a replacement; this would have to be done in two sections to gain the correct shape. My confidence has grown tremendously since the start of this project and although I don’t expect ‘British Aerospace’ to come knocking for my metal bending talents I am pretty pleased with the results. Alan says nothing, he just expects them to fit and if not my efforts end up across the garden and I start again; I hope I am not as difficult when I get to his age. With the final parts of the welding approaching I have entered the alternate universe all restoration slaves reach, where you eat, sleep and drink the car. I think the roadster may well have spent its life in a super market trolley park; dozens of tiny dents will need to be removed. My routine for the next few weeks revolve around filler and rubbing down, desperate for the best finish possible I have become consumed with perfection, something I am unlikely to achieve. Coffee, aspirin and toast for breakfast followed by sealing, filler and flatting.  Soup for lunch and then more of the same; as darkness takes hold shower, dinner and watching re runs of ‘The Walking Dead’ as only zombies can take my mind off the MG, as one day blurs into the next. ‘Rusty’ is now ‘Rust Free’ in all the areas we can see, no doubt she will ‘throw a curve ball’ soon but being totally honest we got off lightly, yes we have had some scares but some folk have fixed much worse and our fears though real enough at the time are diminishing into the distant past. Rear spring hanger and rusty plate removed this would take some tidyingBack to the veneer effect dash; the inter-web advises this is repairable and I begin by removing the areas that are no longer secured to the wood base. This process is very time consuming but with a couple of skims of wood filler the shape begins to return. The original dash really does look a mess now and with the wood trim removed I am faced with a terrible aerosol gold monstrosity. However, after a few hours of flatting and a coat of matt black it starts to resemble the factory finish. My plan was to recoat the wood trim but not in its original veneer; I want a shiny gloss black to contrast the matt finish underneath, hopefully saving a fortune on a new dash. The veneer finish has had it but is there an alternative to a new dashUnderneath, the cover plate and boot floor panel are done, sealed and primed. The last of the welding is well underway with the lower rear valance section, not an easy shape to obtain without an ‘English wheel’ and someone who knows how to work one. Instead we adopt the mallet and cushion approach to gain a dish effect and it sort of works but takes nearly a day to get it all lined up and ‘tacked in’. We move on into ‘filler time’ less of the Mr Hammer and Mig. I will be spending more of the days with 120 grit and testing ‘Metalik’ a new ‘Polyester repair paste with aluminium added for the perfect finish’, evidently. This product was recommended by a friend in the local factors as the product for me as I hate rubbing down any kind of filler, mainly because I am useless at it, usually over doing it at and then having to apply more. So far I am into my first tin and being honest it has been easy to rub down and a smooth finish comes fairly easily. Compared to the normal filler I use it is more expensive although it should save time, we will have to see, as I am surely going to get enough practice as we edge slowly towards painting time. Next Time: Alan has to shock the door hinge bolts with a punch and more bad language Having read up on the dreaded ‘Crack of Doom’ we try out the repair We introduce ‘Spraying Bob’ who loves classic Alfa’s and cowboy boots. The ‘Roof Truth’ my frame is rough but the cover is ‘bin fodder’Tags:,