Prepping for Sill / Rocker / Floorpan Work

I spent a little time this evening installing bracing for the shell. I want to minimize any opportunity for the shell to flex while the structural bits (sills, rockers, etc.) are removed.

The main supports are in the door spaces. The additional supports are probably overkill but they make me feel better about the stability during major surgery.

R/H Wheel Arch Complete

I tackled the job of finishing up the R/H Trumpet today and wrapped up another item on the To-Do List.

The Steelcraft replacement panel wasn't exactly a perfect fit and took quite a bit of massaging to fit into place. I got pretty wrapped up in the work and didn't take any "in progress" pictures but I did want to post a few photos of the finished product.

Next up - getting ready for the big ones... Sills/Rockers/Floorpans. I can't say that I'm looking forward to tackling those.

Wheel Arch Work

I started the wheel arch (trumpet) repair today by removing the old rusted trumpet, cleaning out the rusted areas and putting new, clean metal in the places where there wasn't any metal anymore due to rust.

Here is the before and after:

















Taking out the original trumpet wasn't too bad of a task. Using both a spot-weld cutter and a good, old fashioned drill, the trumpet came out without too much persuasion.

















I then cut out the rusted area and made two repair patches to fill the holes.




















After tack welding the repair pieces in place, I "stitched" everything together with more tack welds and pulled out the grinder.















Hopefully, my next post will be successful welding of the wheel arch to the shell, now that there is actually some metal to weld it to.

Photos of R/H Speaker Hole Repair After Priming

I threw a quick coat of primer on the repair patch and I believe it will work. Chalk one more item off the To-do List!

Second Speaker Hole Repair

I went ahead and tackled the R/H Speaker Hole today and did the repair a little differently than I did the L/H side.

On the R/H side I decided to weld all the way around and grind away the excess to try and make a cleaner looking repair. I started the same way as before, by cutting the rough edges from a hole to a square, then making a repair patch and welding in place. The photos show the sequence:

Houston British Car Expo Photos

Just a few photos from the 2006 HABMVE (Houston All-British Motor Vehicle Expo). The event was well attended, considering the weather. It was inspirational for my restoration effort... seeing all of those shiny MGB's lined up has a way of kicking you in the pants. It's no fun parking a non-LBC in the parking lot and walking into the show.

I've got a few years before driving my own into the show but it's events like these that tend to accelerate the process.

First Welding Repair

Since I just started learning my MIG welder, I figured the best repair to start with would be a simple one where no one would ever see it. The perfect candidates: speaker holes that a PO cut into the footwells.

The before pic isn't very good but should give an idea of what was repaired:















I started by cutting out the area to a square rather than putting a square patch over a round hole. I then made a repair patch.

Even though the shell is 20 gauge, I used a piece of 22 gauge steel to make the repair patch. After marking the bend locations, I made my bends and spot welded the panel in place. After the shell is sandblasted, primed and painted I plan on following around the inside of the repair with RTV to insure a waterproof seal. Not the greatest repair but I'm not too ashamed of it.

Wrinkles

I have heard horror stories about getting a good wrinkle finish on the dash and decided to try my hand at putting the finish on a spare glovebox cover.

The glovebox turned out quite nice (to my surprise). A testament to letting the parts bake in the Texas summer sun.

The process I used was 1) clean the surface rust of with a wire cup and angle grinder, 2) prime with sandable automotive primer and 3) let the part sit in direct sunlight for about 10 minutes before spraying the wrinkle paint.

After about 2 minutes of sitting in the sun, the wrinkles start to form. I quickly applied a second coat of paint to experiment with the finish quality, as I'd like to get as thick a finish possible for longevity's sake.

After being pleased with the results, I decided to go ahead and try the whole dash. I figure that if it doesn't turn out the way I want, I can always sand it down and try again.


It's difficult to get a good picture of the wrinkle finish but I'm pleased with the results.

I can't wait to start populating the dash with gauges and toggles, but that will be a long way down the road. At least I can wrap this up and store it away for future use.





Closeup of the middle of the dash.