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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.....






















 
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#1,020 ·
thanks

some guys can see the web site some cant not sure why.

the speedometer cable is in and to get it to route the way I like it has some extra cable up by the brake master cylinder,

the parking light was as i expected, the brown base in side the light had to be coaxed out and rotated 180*...no biggie.





and i set the toe to 0 . and if your wondering in the fight of bumper extensions vs a forehead the bumper extensions win.....

and my son and i went for a ride
 
#1,023 ·
another 20 minutes and 4 miles, its tough breaking in a car when you live in an urban area.....so far 1 hour and 14 miles.

so we have the goldilocks seats......one just right for me



and then the one for Junior who is 5 10' to 5'11, the one from the bomber seat with half the padding removed







and then one for little Joe 6' 3"+, just 2" of foam between the rails




we are still not sure his feet can fit between the pedals...
 
#1,026 ·
the car drives great even with the doors bungee corded together


well Tom of TeamEvil fame has come through for me and I now have a fascia trim piece for my rear parcel shelf. this is the last piece interior trim i needed. thanks Tom




and i still have some ooomff left in the old guy, sistering up some new wood on the old joists that had the concrete set tile floor....in the kids house taking away from MG time.....oh well



well i did something i don't usually do, i bought a car that doesn't need any work from a local guy. we had a mutual friend. its really nice and i am kind of looking forward to just polishing it for a change...

1953 mg td










 
#1,035 ·
thought you guys might like this

I did some neat stuff with the modifying the clutch lever and making the clutch rod adjustable for my 53 MG TD

Needle bearing design is by Declan Burns, I am just the fabricator the other mod is the Mike Oconnor mod

as you can see my clutch sump lever broke when i went to center punch a starter hole for the modification of the clutch sump lever. I have been conversing with Declan Burns about his rose bud clutch linkage set up and he mentioned about adding needle roller bearings in place of the bushing. well one thing lead to another and declan posted pictures of his modified lever with the parts information and instructions on how to do and here we are......

The reason the sump clutch lever broke to begin with is because the holes are off center and it pushed the spring hole into the forked area....you can see the discoloration meaning it was broken for a long time, this would have stranded me sometime in the near future....


Not the same mistake twice


Drill press in action


The deisgn

Pop out bushing


Practice with old one first


Hole for grease fitting




Too long


Lets save the face of the vise, I used a grinder with a cut off wheel


Much better


And enlarge the opening a very little and in they go


also made my clutch rod adjustable







I went out and looked at the motion of the lever arm its really close to being equi distant travel.....its hard to eyeball it when the front is off the ground so i can crawl under it. Those parallel lines are drawn from either side of the bushing lever shaft using a square on the sump pan ribs...










the test drive is complete and the terrible biting in first gear is gone and the car has a usable gear......well at least it is somewhat manageable....much better then before.

back to the MGA and some more polishing and a test fit








and next is polishing like 50 SS rivets...
 
#1,036 ·
there is a similar problem on Fiero's and some other GM models The answer we came up with is a threaded rod with a jam nut. The threaded rod can turn in it's mount and the jam nut holds it in position when the desired length is reached. Works like a dream. Of course the Fiero has a hydraulic clutch which is a bit tempermental
 
#1,037 ·
That lever arm looks so slick and smooth acting and extremely reliable with the needle bearings... do you have a part number and source on the needle bearings?

Hopefully, you inspire me to get back into doing more on my MG Midget... I turned 69 on 1-19-2017, so better get back to it pretty soon...
 
#1,038 ·
well it happened....the garage is absent all the big wood working tools, just small stuff left and it has been rearranged to take advantage of some new gained space....., I spent a bunch of time throwing stuff out, and then the mood hit me, time to work on the car again....some body needed pictures of my door locks, let me go through some emails or send me what you need photographed, and the extra set of window chrome will be available when i am done if some needs it.







of course i have 6 of them, so lets take the best 4




clean them up and paint them with the zinc oxide treatment



did somebody need these dimensions?

 
#1,040 ·
small bites as usual, last night i painted the brackets

dont ask me why but there are three different hole sizes for the holes for the caged nuts...one size for the bottom and two sizes for the top...of course there is



so carefully pull the tabs close together or make the small holes on the top bracket bigger



i did say carefully right?



no problem I have another one that is an original



looks like cross slotted on the outside with a washer and hex head on the inside



 
#1,043 ·
well i gave my welding table to my son along with the wood working equipment......so what is a poor boy to do???? 5 hours worth of work by Grandpa....those 9' pieces were heavy....

remember this, lintels from old brick houses that are being torn down.....9' x 3x5 x 5/16 USS steel... and 6'x2 1/2 x4x1/4



it will have full inner perimeter clamping capabilities and a clampng slot down the middle, top is 11"x 1/4" table size is 35 x 54. depending on how is use the 3x5 angle iron, i may do one side with a 3" spine and and the other with a 5" spine. just to give maximum vesatility. the 5" spine would be good for straightening out metal parts









wire brushed and wiped down





and sprayed with self etching primer, most people don,t paint welding tables but this is really a metal shop assembly/welding table. i need it to be clean so if i brush up against it i dont get all dirty.



 
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