1958 MGA Coupe

bobs77vet · Sep 13, 2015

thanks guys

keep pushing forward............I just wasn't happy with my last spray pattern so I played with the spray gun some, it turned out the pressure gauge I was using to set the inlet pressure to the gun was off by 10lbs......I know I dropped it several times recently and it getting the gun squared away was worth the time spent so if things don't seem right go back to square one with setting up the gun.

and who says selfies are for the younger generation

bobs77vet · Sep 13, 2015

this is why I like lacquer and this is why its more work

heres some orange peel in the gloss coat from my gun not being set up right , with lacquer its no problem to fix it

so lets wet sand the gloss coat

this is totally wet with water as a reference

several swipes at sanding with 800 and then 1000

resprayed the gloss

once this hardens you can wet sand it again/ or just buff it to a high gloss, and since lacquer always melts in to the base coat of lacquer you can do this forever.....and repairs are really easy.

bobs77vet · Sep 14, 2015

well it finally happened......I opened the garage for the evenings work and it actually looked liked I had a car.....I have way passed the 70% finished point

some rough areas to grind and some wavy spots to make smooth, I don't need perfection here just a nice smooth pan, a wave or two will not end the world

tomorrows work some more sanding and priming

denpo · Sep 15, 2015

Bob you're on fire those days, keep it up.:drink:

bobs77vet · Sep 15, 2015

thanks

finish up the filler sanding , its really the thinnest of coats

green self etching primer

and a high build primer

tomorrow I will put seam sealer on the seams, I don't thinks its an original application , but it just makes too much sense not to do it.

bobs77vet · Sep 17, 2015

tonights 45mins

tackling a dent you cant get at

so we add some more holes, using a backing plate and a flat drift and beat away

and the proof is in the flat edge

ready for some body filler for the next moment of time

bobs77vet · Sep 19, 2015

todays efforts

SRountree · Sep 19, 2015

Cool cool...

bobs77vet · Sep 20, 2015

thks

lets paint......just scuff it , clean it off, add seam sealer where necessary, grind where necessary, vacuum where necessary 3 coats of color and 3 coats of gloss.....only the bottom surfaces

clean these up

take off cork sealer

not much on this end to do

sanded seam sealed

and done.....3 coats color 3 coats clear

SuperBuickGuy · Sep 21, 2015

looking good!

bobs77vet · Sep 23, 2015

Wtf

thks

Imagine my surprise when we "righted" the body and I saw this fixed fender nut sitting innocently on the radiator support??????????? remember I did a full dress rehearsal with all the fenders and bolts in place. It must have moved during the fender bolt tightening process and then when we took off the fender to paint it fell off.

oh well just another excuse to weld, so two holes drilled to plug weld it back in place

SuperBuickGuy · Sep 23, 2015

panel bonding adhesive is your friend in those situations... a couple dots and bolt it in place... it will be the strongest part on the car.

bobs77vet · Sep 23, 2015

SuperBuickGuy said:
panel bonding adhesive is your friend in those situations... a couple dots and bolt it in place... it will be the strongest part on the car.

thats a great idea....i wish it occurred to me two holes ago.....

I will be using that on the body panel that bridges the inner rocker sill and sits on the frame of the car. i figured that was the easiest way to make sure the height of the bridging panel was perfect.

bobs77vet · Sep 23, 2015

welded the fender nut in place

and do some body work on those wavy fender sides.......I was watching a 3m video on using body filler and the instructor liked the idea of covering a larger section and then sanding it off he said it gave you less of a chance of feather edges and a better final product, I usually do it the other way and put less on, but lets try it his way for fun. I am sure his video was more for production shops where they go really fast, I am not so fast.

SuperBuickGuy · Sep 24, 2015

slow.. HA... I feather the edges then paint the car with flattened paint so no one notices. I can't even imagine how long it'd take me to do it right.

Some say ADHD is a disease that one suffers from, I say ADHD is.... hey look, cookies!!!!!

bobs77vet · Sep 24, 2015

cookies ...........I like cookies
more work on the front shroud to make it nice and straight

bobs77vet · Sep 25, 2015

lets wrap this up... I had spent a lot of time previously on the front end so there really isn't much to do

spray primer guide coat

that is what a high spot looks like

that is really thin body filler

quick prime with self etching primer in case I hit metal any where

nice lines I think I am really close to paint time

I am going to let that dry for a while before I wet sand it.....there is so little left to paint I may just wet sand the primered areas and paint the rest of the car and thengo back and look for imperfections to fix. I bet the front shroud is not much more then 9 square feet of surface area and the top may be the same.

bobs77vet · Sep 26, 2015

so I pull the car outside and start sanding the top side with 400 grit paper and I realize its not raining there are no bugs and the temperature and humidity are perfect for painting......I am not sure I am done with all the feather edges but you can drive yourself nuts looking for stuff you will never see,

what the hell its about $12 worth of paint if I have to color sand it and fix a spot or two

pretty straight

let this dry for a while then test fit the grille

I will color sand it wet with 600 and then see if I have to touch any spots up. and go from there, the entire body will get the gloss coat at the same time. my goal is to have it finished before my 58th birthday in the middle of October

bobs77vet · Sep 26, 2015

then the Boss says at 12:30 .....I am going to take Mom to church and after that go to Joanne fabrics be back around 4PM........

I say ok I am going to finish what I started

these are flush pop riveters compared to a normal one