1958 MGA Coupe

[Sam Cogley]

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!

http://www.m1-garand-rifle.com/parkerizing/

http://www.projectguns.com/parkerizing.html

http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/metal-prep-coloring/parkerizing/index.htm

 

[bobs77vet]

thanks guys

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!

yes I have heard about it for restoring old tool finish I will look at those links

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

it does work on old vettes too....











look at the wool pad on the buffer


and just keep doing it until










time to inventory a box of parts




to my surprise it looks like it has the desirable size fender piping
]


8 feet of this and I don't know where it goes


and some really ugly window seals


the rear window one had a broken middle window seal so I tossed that one but the front windshield got washed in hot soapy water and is getting brought back into shape





a bunch of other stuff in the box like pedal pads, shift boot, brake excluder,4 new chrome bumper overriders, boot seal , rear plinth pads, bumper grommets

 

[bobs77vet]

it looks like since may of 2014 all I have been doing is body work......not much project planning with that just lots of doing.....

well the cars paint is 10 days old and I want at least 2 weeks before I sand and buff so let start project planning getting the chassis 100% done and body 100% so I can mate these babys back together. I am pretty good at project planning and being able to type, edit , copy and paste makes it pretty easy to get organized, throw in some red fonts, and cross out editing and your good to go




so lets see what in the box of carpeting.....the guy bought a complete carpet and interior kit 30 years ago including the lift the dots (LTD).....I see that I still have 4 LTDs on the top of the toe board. those are going to be fun to get lined up....


looks like a leather arm rest for the trans tunnel



part of the spare tire covering the other side is AWOL


I lucked out the sun fading was on the spare tire cover and boot floor middle crease, I can see fitting this carpeting is going to be a PITA


looks like a boot carpet kit, some fading on the crease where it was folded


and the carpet parts that I don't know where they go????? can any one identify where these parts go?? I would appreciate it.




whats missing.......the carpeting for the battery tray and the rest of the spare tire set up

 

[bobs77vet]

what the hell lets open another box and see where it takes us.....



approximate spot where kick panel ends, exposing that goal post angled piece



so lets try this piece here



I couldn't figure out all the pre cut areas in the smaller piece, but it had a bound top edge....



I think this is it


this is definitely wrong


and nothing fits well here



so puzzle solved, in reverse installation order

 

[bobs77vet]

I think I have figured it out














lets do a lift the dot stud fastener


you can see the stud left hand side




use a screw to center the pieces in the hole


tap down the back side


crimp the pieces together, and tap the clamping rings down with a punch

 

[bobs77vet]

moving to the drivers side

mark the spots for the LTD fasteners



use gasket punch



use the screw to locate

and then a punch to get the protrusions to pop through


put on the back and compress the tabs

repeat 8 times....


mark the spot for the stud by drill through the LTD fastener and finish the depth with the carpet moved


mark the spots for the accelerator stop


make the holes


out of the basement


so they can be sat on while on the floor








I put blue tape on the back of the carpet that goes under the seat and then poked an awl up through the T fasteners on three of the seat mounting spots, the exhaust pipe got in the way on one. and then poked the holes with the gasket punch then mounted the seat

top LTDs


new pedal pads





once everything is fitted out it comes for final installation and glue

 

[bobs77vet]

I continued to trial fit everything today

you can see the awl marks on the blue tape, then use the gasket punch to create the hole



now up to two seats

 

[Sam Cogley]

Who needs bodywork, anyway? :thumbs:

 

[SRountree]

Looking Great!

 

[bobs77vet]

thanks

one more piece getting sanded and buffed




next victim

2000 grit sanding







and lastly the base for my arm rest, this will not be attached just a free floating one.

 

[bobs77vet]

tonights push

man theres lots of curves........be sure you don't let the buffer backing pad dig into the curved spots, you can use a pad that has a shoulder to help stop boneheaded monents



the top could use a couple more passes but the big flat panels are done nicely.

 

[bobs77vet]

today MGACharlie (Charlie Adams) came over and he sprayed the last three coats of clear on one side of the inner splash guards so this side is done!

 

[bobs77vet]

well today same routine sand with 2000 and buff. too manyy curves to use 1000 on a machine, I may do these by hand with 1000 on warm day...today it was raining and pretty miserable

 

[bobs77vet]

i wasn't happy with how the front fenders came out so lets do it all over again. I looked at my intermediate soft pad and decided to sand the fenders again 4 passes on each fender wet with 800, 1200, 1500, 2000 and then buffing with 4 different grits and pads, at least I wasnt getting rained on .....









this will cover me for another several weeks on these fenders and then I will buff it again but no more sanding

 

[bobs77vet]

lets finish the arm rest





I know from the test mock up the foam redistributes itself inside the arm rest

 

[bobs77vet]

I had a few hours to fool around with so I polished the fenders again....no sanding this timeI

and I no longer have to worry about who will give my paint job the first good ding,because that would be me.....when I took the rear fender off the stand I was looking at what I wanted to buff some more and the front dog leg dropped on to my door

see that gray spot, oh well, it reminds of my first motorcycle, by buddy said to open up the seat take out a knife and scratch the gas tank to get it over with.....



this time just buffing with a DA





ran out of light to get good pictures of the front fenders


I can still just faintly see the dullness from the sanding on the front fenders, it is close to being gone and I think one more buffing will make the dullness go away.
the foam pads don't cut as much as the wool pad, and the DA doesn't cut as much as a rotary buffer so its a little more time involved but you don't have to worry about burning through on edges or curves...

 

[bobs77vet]

well I accidently knocked over the rotary buffer and broke the hook and loop pad.....so off to the store to buy another one, I purchased a Meguiar backing pad that can be used with either 7 or 8" pads, this is on an inexpensive Harbor Freight rotary polisher



while I was there I realized that they had the Meguiars pads that the compounds I am using were designed to be used with. so I said what the hell and bought them



I quickly buffed the two front fenders again with just the wool pad and the #85 and this easily made those dull spots disappear, I was surprised with how easy this was. Now I have done lots of buffing on these fenders and I am sure they were just waiting for me to do something but I was surprised in any event and the work for the evening went well. tomorrow I will go through all the rest of the buffing steps, #84 with the other pad I purchased with the rotary and then move to the DA to finish with the other two compounds

 

[bobs77vet]

still a little bit too much orange peel, what the hell its only work.......1200, 1500 and then 2000 all wet





then #85 with a wool pad,#84 with foam cutting pad and #83 with foam cutting the rest will be with a DA at a later date



the fender on the left is done the one on the right has not been sanded and buffed yet

 

[bobs77vet]

I got to work on the car this afternoon , and did the final polishing on the fenders. one of the front fenders has a little more orange peel in it then i would like, but I am going to ignore it until everything is mounted on the car. I have lots of clear on the car and I can sand it and buff it again at any time. once its mounted and I can see the orange peel everywhere else it will lead me to what I have to do. what I am looking for is a uniformity of appearance . the panels are shiny as can be even with the slight orange peel so the glossiness isn't a problem. you can see the plastic on the seat in the reflection



this is a little cheat sheet I made up to help me remember the color of the foam pads and the order in which you use them, as many of you I have a bunch of different foam pads and the color is not universal, so this is my notes so I don't have to try to remember the order of operation...kind of .reminds me when my youngest school kid asked me about the order of operation of Mathematics and I said left to right......then when the rest of my other kids stopped laughing they informed that left to right was important but that wasn't all of it...needless to say they don't ask me for help with their calculus





now on to the buffing and polishing the body

 

[bobs77vet]

5 hours today.....what can I do in 5 hours

well 3 passes with 1200 fresh pad, 3 passes with 1200 used pad, 3 passes with 1500, and 4 passes with 2000 all wet just the top side of the body










then with a rotary buffer 1 pass with #85 wool pad, 1 pass #85 maroon foam pad, 1 pass #85 yellow , 1 pass #84 blue foam pad, 1 pass #83 black pad, 1 pass #82 white pad

it looks good I need to do the polishing phase again. this next time will be with a DA. look for the reflection of the house or garage. I am 80% where I want to be.