1958 MGA Coupe

[bobs77vet]

the curves on the coupe catch my eye every time I look at it. the weather is getting nice and i am finding my self drifting to the garage, a few non related MG tasks need to be taken care of and then its MGA time to finish adjusting the door latchs and put the front bumper on.



heres one of the projects scratched off the list.

the corvette has a space age frame under it and it requires crossbeam adapters to hold the alloy frame properly...of course it does, this is for under the rear axle and the front cross member. well I have the need for some of these and the HF cross beam adapters that i eyeballed i would need to modify to fit the corette and two would cost me $70 or $80. I can buy the steel for about $27. so i have been looking at pictures on line and measuring under the car and asking a couple C5 guys questions about theres and this is what i came up with...

so here we go, I bought 2x3x1/4 rectangular tubing , and i had 1/4 plate laying around, the pads are 3 5/8 x 6 3/4 and the end caps hang down 1/2", these weigh about 20# and i have not put a jack shaft on, i am going to try just resting on my jack saddle

took about 45 minutes to cut everything with a cutoff wheel and about an hour to tack it up



i am going to do a full mock up with more then tack welds but less then full seams and will test it. i think i will add gussets to the pads sides just because i can....











capped ends so the jacks dont slip out




and they also fit the smaller jack stands


and yes these will get up pretty high

bbb

 

[bobs77vet]

so the cross beam adapters passed the oil change and coolant fluid change on the corvette so time to flap disk sand the cut edges and paint them.



i found another picture of the sebring lights and mocked up some brackets









now to find some steel to make this with

 

[bobs77vet]

lets wrap up the cross beam adapters and glue the rubber pads to them





clamp tthem down


and a peek at a finished product



now back to the brackets





used some big round washers to give me a pattern













not a bad fit for the first time i can see i need to lower the drivers side a wee bit



now to work on the top design and determine if the brackets are curved or if they stay straight

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

excellent

 

[bobs77vet]

I spent another hour adjusting the brackets some and I sliced the top so the back of the angle iron would bend to fit the curve. its clear to me that the brackets in the photos i am viewing are using smaller diameter washers and the the sizing of the bracket is just slightly larger then those washers and also the top of the bracket is very tight to the bottom of the driving light mounting bracket. i have ordered the driving lights so once i get those i can figure out the top mounting spot. over all i think i am in a pretty good spot its easy to trim stuff down. and also easy to weld additional material if necesary

 

[bobs77vet]

I got the lights today and mocked them up a little bit.

 

[Red77]

its easy to trim stuff down. and also easy to weld additional material if necesary

You are certainly the master of trimming and welding. This project has proven that there is no task you can't accomplish with a little ingenuity and fabrication. You are an inspiration to us all. Keep the updates coming please.

 

[bobs77vet]

thanks

getting closer

 

[bobs77vet]

fill up the holes they were a tad too big with the smaller washer



weld it on a copper wtapped piece of 1/4 plate







trim it down

 

[bobs77vet]

 

[bobs77vet]

lets start by having some garage time with the boys... we are making a hitch mounted table for metal work and a vise for an F150 out of scraps from an old trailer hitch, the hitch receiver is in my welding table.








now we make the removable top





now lets get back to the MGA light bracket and add in the material to the bracket to fill the void from the bending















next thing to do is to put the final curve into the bracket from the center to the ends....next weeks work


we have to get my new grandson in a cool car quick so the imprinting can set in



and the baptism at the welding cart...

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

Are you sure you started him soon enough? the gifted go from the hospital to the shop then home :thankyou:

 

[bobs77vet]

Are you sure you started him soon enough? the gifted go from the hospital to the shop then home :thankyou:

damn i am 3 weeks behind already....will have to make up for it with massive amounts of tools and car projects

 

[bobs77vet]

lets add some curves



lets make them symetrical




add some spray primer to see the definition of them











getting close i need to find one of my drum sanders to do some radius sanding

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

Are you sure you started him soon enough? the gifted go from the hospital to the shop then home :thankyou:

damn i am 3 weeks behind already....will have to make up for it with massive amounts of tools and car projects

I have a friend who just brought home her first daughter (she has 4 boys) and was commenting that she was looking forward to her daughter getting ballet lessons. I told her that unless her daughter had already been interviewed that it was impossible for her to get into a good school. Boy, did you know that women with newborns could be testy?

 

[Sam Cogley]

Looking great. No front bumper for this little beastie, I assume?

 

[bobs77vet]

dont mess with a momma bear....

this is the idea...

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

no bump-to-pass?

 

[bobs77vet]

it would be more like crumple to pass, although the steel is that nice 1950 quality stuff

grabbed an hour to install 2 of the 6 fender spalsh guards










hopefully tomorrow the others go in.

 

[bobs77vet]

todays work...once my young and flexible son comes to visit