Hot Rod Forum banner

Resto tutorial on my 1958 MGA Coupe

191K views 1K replies 43 participants last post by  37ford4dr 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hello again the 37 is gone but something new has found its way in the garage....follow along as we eat the elephant one bite at a time....hasnt run in over 27 yrs....heres the deal we bought it from a 79 yr old gentleman who bought the car in 1985 from a neighbors yard, he had restored one in 1965 and was going to restore this one but never got around to it....he did buy new bumpers, leather seat kit, complete carpet set, deluxe panel set, headliner and complete rubber kit and it came with an extra MGA transmission and extra Triumph spitfire: engine, trans and set of seats...

heres the thread on the 37 so you can know what to expect.....
http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/well-getting-ready-get-serious-37-a-84877-5.html


the accomplices.....






















 
See less See more
11
#109 ·
I think your doing great ,I can give you a few time saving tips if your interested...
I still find it hard to believe theres someone else out there that has the courage to take on the dead ones...:thumbup::thumbup: keep up the good fight...I almost bought this one last year.thought it was a Healy...
 

Attachments

#111 ·
I am always up for tips, I do this for fun so some times the easier ways of doing things i have to discover....I had a big Healy I really liked it.

496...That is a later model MGA

I would settle for having the body off by spring time...

spent a couple hours this am and I welded up the two halves today there is a lot of tension in those joints, I think I will not grind them until after the body is taken off so I can weld the bottom side with a nice seam. and then after grinding If I need to touch them up I will use a TIG on it.

here is my handy dandy anti burn through gizmo made out of Bonnet scraps





i definitely got the gaps where they should be



 
#113 ·
well finished up a little this weekend and welded the last repair panel on the front pass side where the bottom of the inner fender atraches to the end of the inner sill. and worked on finte tuning the Bonnet gap and putting the bonnet catch on. i think it took me longer to adjust the bonnet then it did to graft the front end on....











 
#114 ·
well finished up a little this weekend and welded the last repair panel on the front pass side where the bottom of the inner fender atraches to the end of the inner sill. and worked on finte tuning the Bonnet gap and putting the bonnet catch on. i think it took me longer to adjust the bonnet then it did to graft the front end on....











 
#115 ·
not too motivated today I have cold or something so we are picking low hanging fruit....kind of the crap work that you never like to do anyway, I force myself on days like this to do an hour or so just to get it out of the way.

so i primed the welds on the front end graft and removed the divers door and had to drill out all but three of the hinge and catch bolts. there were a spacer on each door hinge








 
#116 ·
picked up my youngest son from college to day for spring break .....my goal is to have the body pulled off before he goes back to school. 4hrs working on the drivers side sill repair. i decided to start at the front and work my way back.









heres the donor panel



the salvaged repair piece



same method of grinding off the spot welds and peeling off the metal





the repaired repair panel



trimmed and primed



rough welded in place, grinding will come on another day

 
#117 ·
4 hrs today kicking some butt.....





cut away the rust





the template to make the part, i am not sweating the bottom length and i am making to too long on purpose and will trim it later



this is the offset flange



here is the back side primed with cold galvanizing compound you can weld through this but it really sparks alot




while the paint is drying i removed all the body bolts and was surprised how easily they came out and the rear body mount is in great shape

the front needs some work though



made up new piece and primed it with weld through primer



while thats drying i went ahead and removed the rusted out section



same trick i ground off the old spot welds. what looks like holes is actually shiney metal





after everything is cut away the new piece is made and flanged and primed



and welded in place one step closer to being done...

 
#118 ·
1 more hr needed to wrap things up

i used a piece of angle iron to make sure that i had a nice straight and tight seam



that thin line is the middle piece nice and straight



and of course you need to have a mock set up admittedly this was for my satisfaction



so i paint the inside of the inner sill





i had to move some stuff around to get the welding cart over behind the MGA where this use to taking up residence... what would a garage be with out a sons custom motorcycle project??

 
#119 ·
3 more hrs of work..had my son helping me..I welded up the inner sill, while he removed the rear bumper horns and the 6 inner boot body/frame attaching bolts.one of the rear bumper horn extension bolts was a major PITA and we wound up cutting it off. i drilled two 1/8 aligning holes in the bonnet hinge mounting plate. cant believe so little work took so much time


 
#121 ·
hooray for a snow day!!!!

wrapped up some loose ends on the body so all the welding that has to be done before we take the body off the frame is now done. added some corner braces to the bottom of the rear door post, welded the trunk pan in place and welded the inner foot well area piece to the body mount. i am taking an hour or so break then will go out and start on the mechanical aspects of the body removal







test fit of piece




 
#122 ·
I AM WORN OUT.... little Joe and i spent another 3 hrs tackling the mechanical items that need to be taken care to remove the engine
it helps having a worker...



we are not sure hes going to fit into when its done...




not to hard removing the master cylinder



however the car gots its pound of blood from the bolt that attaches the pedal assembly to the top bracketry....the pedals swiveled on the bushings but the bolt siezed in the steel sleeve



what a PITA....i was able to manhandle it through the opening once the ends were cut off. i could only get the bolt out the sleeve when it was in the vise.

 
#123 ·
well we were getting set up to for the saturday body removal and then it happened....about 1 hours worth of work...










and this is where we realized we were almost there



yours truly



i accomplish so much more with helpers









and whamo its done



final resting spot



look dad i do fit

 
#126 · (Edited)
the work thats left from this point forward really fits well into my 9pm to 10:30 pm schedule after everyone has gone to bed then i go out and play and no one misses me.....once on the 37 ford i got a real second wind and at 3:30 am the i see the wife coming into the garage with a flashlight and cell phone she said she figured i had a heart attack.... well music to a mans ear happened early today...the Mrs and our two daughters went to the mall.....woohoo that means more garage time on the 65* day

so i did the other side and the boot area....after the primer drys for a day or two all the weld seams will get a brushable seam sealer on them.



















what the F^%$....working all weekend long and i get this from picking up the grinder with the wire wheel to put it away at the end of the day


 
#127 ·
tonight 2.5 hrs were spent on making the aluminum kick panel replacement pieces. i used 22 ga galvanized sheet steel i had laying around this will never deteriorate. as usual Barneys site has all the dimensions to help me piece together the puzzle



Barneys print outs are on the right





the first bend its hard to see



the third bend is what i am working on now and it was the hardest to make for me i had to work onthe jig to set it up



finally flipped it around to get it right









and then the same process on the other side





and yes i do have a lot of clamps and this is one of my favorites....the HF ones dont copmpare

 
#129 ·
some more nibbles today

the challenge for the day








this is the 4.5" wheel the radius os too big


a used wheel has a better radius



a tab so i can put in the cut out area



the initial weld




now i just keep laying beads onthis to build it up to height











and now i tried new sanding wheel

 
#130 ·
1 hour tonight.....did I mention I hate sanding...

first with 80 grit paper on an electric circular sander then with the 120 grit 3M bristle sanding disc. disc started at 16mm inside and 16 mm outside and 25 mins later it was down to 14.5 mm outside and still 16 mm inside i think i eyeballed it to be somewhere around 10+ sq ft





 
#134 ·
well it turns out i can drag my feet and whine and moan just like efverybody else.....i needed to tackle the radiator valance panel which was badly pin holed but have been talking my self out of it....so yesterday i spent 90 minutes filling pin holes which was a total waste of time, welding wire, welding gas....but it brought me here





admittedly i am a tool junkie but not necessarily a tool snob....my welders are all lincoln or hobart but this little baby was the least expensive plasma cutter you find on ebay...i think it was $170 with a 2 yr warranty



15 minutes later...

the guide for the straight cut, if you look to the right ontop of the saw horse you can see an 8x8 1/4" steel plate wrapped in copper sheeting that i clamped to the bottom in some spots to fill the pin holes









my 90 mins of pissing in the wind



and 15 minutes of light work



oh well the path is clear now.....
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top