1958 MGA Coupe

[bobs77vet]

well there is one little dimple in the top end/middle of my bonnet that I just don't think I could look at each day ......so we fix it,



spot repair the area and everything is sanded with 600 wet



now admittedly this is for fun.....so how flat and shiny can I make my panels??? the boot lid is so small and manageable I am playing with it so I sanded one more time with 600 wet



this is with 3 more coats over the repaired area and then 3 more coats over the entire bonnet and boot





so I think that's 8 coats of clear on the boot and it was sanded twice with 600 in between clear coats 3 and 4 and then between 5 and 6 with two more coats. I probably could have done just 7 clear coats and sanded it only once, but playing around with different methods/techniques should be done on the small panels to perfect the technique and then import that to the bigger panels.

 

[bobs77vet]

this is about 45 minutes worth of work

wet sand with 600 and three coats of clear, that's 8 coats of clear total. once this has a chance to harden in a week or two it will get color sanded and buffed.

 

[bobs77vet]

push on to the rest of the fenders

these are in good shape with not much orange peel and I am cleaning them and then getting 5 coats of clear on them . usually I like putting on less product and doing it twice just because I like the solvents to evaporate and shrink but I am running out of cooperative weather, these will get clear coat sanded and then buffed. I like to sand and then let that sit for a week before I cut and buff.

before


after

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

where's the "like" button?

 

[bobs77vet]

i seem to have big body panels scattered all over my garage......I need to get them up and out of the way before I scratch them, so we scrounged together 3 2x6s, 1 2x4 and 18" piece of 5 ply 1/2" plywood and two scrap oak 4 x 6 pallets that were being saved for the oak....








this will let me get at least the doors , boot and bonnet up and maybe even the two rear fenders, I have some moving blankets I can put down on the pallets....the car will fit under the shelf


ok now this is just folly......I sanded my nice bonnet with 600 and I am going to try a different painting technique to see if I like it, the boot is perfect and I will compare the two against each to decide which I like the best. lacquer will always melt into the previous layers and adhere very well, the technique is called intermixing , its intermixing the base coat and clear coat in diminishing ratios.....first is base coat, then a 50/50 base/clear, then 25/75 base/clear then 100% clear. its suppose to make the paint really deep. we will see.....

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

I love the part of the project where everything starts getting permanently hung on the car.... a few more months for mine and I'll be doing the same :bounce:

 

[bobs77vet]

I love the part of the project where everything starts getting permanently hung on the car.... a few more months for mine and I'll be doing the same :bounce:

I agree I was looking at the fender piping in the catalogs deciding which to buy and that's a good sign.....

the day starts early......its cool but low humiditiy and a huge difference between dew point and temperature. this is important since if the temperature and dew point are close to each other the solvent flashing drops the temperature down a lot and if the temperature on the body part is less then the dew point you get "blushing" and it looks cloudy, that's because the moisture in the air is trapped in the clear coat. sometimes it evaporates away sometimes it doesn't.



I use an intermediate soft pad and I put a hole in it for the water to come out. I use a gasket punch





and the body gets wet sanded with 600 and 4 more coats of clear, due to the cooler temps I paint it half in the garage and half outside and then push it in side and close the garage door for the 10 minute flash time.



I chickened out on the intermix paint on the bonnet, I am too close to change things up



keep this covered so theres no overspray



theres a drivable chassis just begging to get a body on it



tucked away for the night, I think every thing needs to harden for about one week.

 

[Sam Cogley]

Have you considered turning this into a series of articles, or a book? "How To Turn a Pile of Rust and Junk Into a Classic Car." :1st:

 

[bobs77vet]

Have you considered turning this into a series of articles, or a book? "How To Turn a Pile of Rust and Junk Into a Classic Car." :1st:

well I write it journal style and its on two other forums that I frequent an MG forum and Hotrodders.com.

its as much for me as it is for others, I learned alot from others and had a particuarly good mentor named Mr Ginther that i liked alot and he taught me alot. so hopefully theres some one out there thats get some courage to tackle a project based on what they see me doing. thats really what i am aiming for, to show people that it is doable in your back yard with your own hands......and you can do anything if you bring the project size down small enough and eat it one bite at a time, most of the guys here can do this and better.....i know because i see it in the threads

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

I see those builds where people build a camper or a car out of Legos - I point them to you, Bob, and say "that's great, but can you build a car out of MIG wire?" Wisely, they hang their heads in shame, kick a rock and walk away mumbling about not being good for anything. While I think they must be good for something, they do have a point

 

[bobs77vet]

it was the first time I ever had to get the big MIG spool....

got home early today and it was surprisingly warm......lets bring everything up to 10 coats of clear....

 

[bobs77vet]

another 73* degree day what should I do????????????????

I know you guys must be wondering when the painting will possibly be over........here the last three coats of clear on the body making it 10 coats for the top side and 6 for the engine bay boot and sides of the car. next comes clear coat sanding and final buffing, I will let paint sit for a while before I do that.


any where there was over spray got scuffed with 800 soft pad, the car got tacked rag down and then prep wiped down then painted.

 

[bobs77vet]

lets push on since we have another nice day....three coats of color on both sides






three coats of clear, maybe 5 on the top side of the battery tray

 

[bobs77vet]

I have been waiting to sand the clear coat and buff for what seems like and eternity......the boot has been in my heated garage for 10 days now since the last clear coat was applied.....so its time to play around, I am not being too aggressive because I know the clear will still evaporate a little more. so a quick hit with 1000 paper and then followed a little more with 2000 paper, then buffing with an orange foam pad, blue foam pad and lastly a white pad with 4 different meguiar mirror glaze compounds (85, 84 83 and 82) on a DA polisher set to a slower speed. I don't want to push the polishing just nice and gentle and the paint can hardened on its own. tomorrow the doors hit 9 or 10 days too so they are next on the to do list....




theres no glaze or wax on this

 

[bobs77vet]

now to the doors...the paint is 10 days old which is not old for lacquer so I am going light on the buffing. look at the clarity in the upside down gable and the window

the starting point





sanded with 2000



first hit with wool pad and #85



then orange pad and # 85


then #84 and blue pad


then #83 and yellow waffle pad


then #82white pad


next door

 

[bobs77vet]

just wrapping up loose ends ......not hard just takes time, I am not getting these coated with zinc again and I am not replacing them, so one option left is to clean prime and paint. luckily I had sanded and primed the big fender washers previously.

 

[Red77]

I think I'm a Bob's MGA thread junkie. Is there a support group for us? ;-) Keep up the awesome work!

 

[phantomjock]

I'm thinking that buff/polish routine might salvage a R&R paint job (Roller & Rattlecan)!
Nice - very nice.
Cheers - Jim

 

[GoVetteGo]

I think I'm a Bob's MGA thread junkie. Is there a support group for us? ;-) Keep up the awesome work!

I am right there with you. Kind of jealous of all Bob's progress and my 78 project just sits in the garage - ignored!!! LOL

 

[JPhil]

Bob

It's probably way too late now, but do you know about Parkerizing? It's a rustproofing process of very old school which I learned about from old Harleys. I never used it but it can be done at home. Basically, you cook oil into the metal parts with heat and electrolysis. I think. I tried to look it up in some of my old books with limited success. I tried to scan some info from a book I have with no success. The internet only talks about it for guns. A lot of old machinery has it done, it creates a flattish black finish--like cooked oil. I probably have the details wrong, but it is a legitimate and authentic finish for small parts like you are dealing with now and would not be too out of place on a project like yours.
Plus I think it just the kind of thing you would like!