Bringing an MGB back from the grave

I'm pretty sure it already has better panel gaps than any unrestored mg I have seen. Even with the corner sticking up.

NOHOME wrote: The problem is that I need to get this corner to lie down. Not really sure what is causing this gap.

From earlier pictures, it looks like the left side trunk hinge is bent upwards.

I did a similar restoration of a TR6 over 20 years ago (from rust, not an accident). Getting all of the panels to line up right took several complete weekends of tweaking. I doubt I still have the patience to pull it off.

Great work.

Joe:

Worth a try to just unbolt the hinge and see if it makes a difference. With the trunk floor out, its kinda easy to get under and get the "inside view"

Figured out what is wrong with the trunk panel fit, but not exactly how I am going to resolve it since it is going to require that I "Pull" the rear deck back 1/4" so that it aligns with the new quarter panel.

So with that set aside, I hung the new front fenders just to see what kind of fun was going to crop up with them. Overall, I have an 85% fit. Biggest issue is that the door to fender gap tapers; getting wider from top to bottom of the door. I have not really got serious about pulling them into shape, but not much wiggle room with these, so we will see if it comes to grinding and welding to get the gaps.

Looks good from here!

One minor bit of crash repair is going to be required letting in a bit of tin to fill in this hole where the crumpled tin got cut out.

35 hours in and still optimistic that I will come in close to the 100 hour estimate for the job. Owner is starting to make noises about building a rotisserie for him, and a few other project creep items. Tempting for the money, but I hate project creep on principle and do want to get back on the Molvo.

Got rid of the hole in the inner wing panel and replaced the front apron.

The picture below shows where the donor piece is joined to the white car. By doing a butt-weld and splicing the donor piece right along the back of the donated rad-support bracket, the repair is virtually undetectable from the engine compartment side; even more so once the rad support in in place. The car will go to sandblasting after it leaves here and the last thing I want is a visible scar in the engine compartment once it gets repainted.

The backside of the splice:

Not perfect, but it will be covered with rocker-guard when all said and done.

There is an irony here in that the piece of tin that I used as a donor for the inner wing was in fact already a donor piece in the car it was harvested from. The wing that keeps on giving

Thanks for sharing!

David S. Wallens wrote: Thanks for sharing!

Thank YOU for hosting this drivel!

Looking good

Just to recap: (and to make me feel better about how much time this all takes!)

This was the front end when I started:

Since I want to source new hinges for the trunk panel, figured I should more to the front while waiting for those to arrive.

The front fenders and the hood (bonnet to you anglophiles) are on and I am about 85% happy with how everything fits.

For any of you that are old enough to remember when cop cars were balck and white or live in Ontario, I thought this was funny. Don't leave your minion alone with a marker!

Remember that 85% happy bit?...Well, that last 15% involves solving gap issues like this one; see how the gap widens at the bottom. There is not a lot of wiggle room with an MGB front fender and this car has seen a dynamic dislocation of components, so this stuff eats time.

On another note, the scope creep has started. See the little bit of rust at the front of the door? That and about 5 other "little" jobs have been put forth as "while we are at it".

It is fantastic to see this as it happens! Did you go back to steel front fenders this time?

Woody wrote: It is fantastic to see this as it happens! Did you you back to steel front fenders this time?

Yup...if the owner wanted fiberglass, he was going to be doing this work himself. I hate working with FG.

So, happy days today....Signed off on the front half of the car.

Got the front close panel welded in. The side gaps are good. The grill (albeit not a nice one) fits.

And here I go again on my high horse...

The POS Steelcraft panel billed the owner two of my hours to get figured out. That is more than it would have cost to buy the proper panel in the first place. Took four relief cuts to re-contour the arc to match the trunk panel.

Updates?

Lots of detail stuff that looks like nothing major is going on!

Fact is I am still not happy with how the trunk lid fits and need to keep fiddling. Boring stuff where I push-bend-shove-shim-curse to find a 1/16" of an inch in one place that will fix a problem diagonally.

Sad to say I am having fun. Not sure what is wrong with me?

Also kind of got sidetracked building a rotisserie for the owner.

I enjoy doing qtr panels also, but you're about a 100 times faster than I ever was at this.

Crackers wrote: I enjoy doing qtr panels also, but you're about a 100 times faster than I ever was at this.

Part of the challenge I am having is that the owner had rolled the fenders. Even though I was able to unroll them, the act of rolling them stretched the edges of the wheeltub. Singe the wheel tub has a huge influence on where the quarter wants to sit, that is not a good thing.

NOHOME wrote: Also kind of got sidetracked building a rotisserie for the owner.

So, you are going to clean off the undercarriage, or deliver a B on a spit so the bodyshop can do so? Beware the project Creep.

wheelsmithy wrote:

NOHOME wrote: Also kind of got sidetracked building a rotisserie for the owner.

So, you are going to clean off the undercarriage, or deliver a B on a spit so the bodyshop can do so? Beware the project Creep.

Fear not, my time with this car is coming to an end. I guessed mid-october and 100 hours to get the job done. Looks like I will be pretty close.

Building the rotisserie was anticipate project creep since I think it is a good idea.

Car will leave here and go to sandblaster to do the underside and engine compartment and trunk. Will also be epoxy coated at that point. I do not expect to have any involvement with the project once it leaves my shop on its own wheels.

I do want to get back on the Molvo as I expect it to leave the shop under its own steam before next summer.

NOHOME wrote: Sad to say I am having fun. Not sure what is wrong with me?

I'm enjoying watching you do it. What does that say about me? I'm amazed you put this thing back together. Cheers.

I'm learning a lot from this thread and the Molvo build. The techniques are being tried (or practiced) on my 2030 Challenge build. Keep it up.

NOHOME wrote: Part of the challenge I am having is that the owner had rolled the fenders. Even though I was able to unroll them, the act of rolling them stretched the edges of the wheeltub. Singe the wheel tub has a huge influence on where the quarter wants to sit, that is not a good thing.

Now you're just being fussy.

I actually sympathize, most of my quarter panel jobs have been on mangled stock cars. Alignment is mostly an abstract concept in those cases. LOL

OK, I will post some pics and an update even though it might look like nothing has happened. Recall that I said I was 85% happy with the panel fits...There has been maybe 40 additional hours into getting the gaps to where I want them. My problem as a businessperson would be that I wouldn't dare charge for all the hours when it almost looks like nothing is going on; there have been a lot of 1/6" adjustments made to get to this stage. The car will go out under my original estimate of 100 hours even if the real number is closer to 140.

I am happy with the sides front to rear. Happy with the door gaps and nothing pokes out at the corners. All the welding is done on the quarterpanels.

I still have some work to do at the rear. The LH quarter had a factory flaw that prevents it from aligning to the trunk panel in the rear near the tailigh. Going to require some cutting and beating to overcome. If all goes well, I should be posting the final update this coming Sunday and sending the car off to the sandblaster mounted on it's new rotisserie. (that is another project that got carried away!)

And it is a wrap. Rotisserie pick-up bolted on in preparation for going away this week-end.

Robert is indeed your uncle!

Nice. That is some incredible work. The trunk lid fit looks really good.