Not alot going on this week MG wise, other than having dreams of the top down, and having traffic conditions like the beginning of "vanilla Sky". But we've done alot of work on my Dad's 1970 MGBGT as of late. Here's the rundown:
1. New Alternator.
2. New Battery
3. SERIOUS Valve Adjustments
4. Carb adjustments
5. New electric fuel pump
6. New points and condenser
7. New Plugs and Wires
overall this small list has really made the difference!
Dad Said that one day after a ride, he came home for about 10 minutes, went back out to the car, tried to start it up, and no go! I think it's the thermostat (it's one thing we haven't Replaced). However I took a ride with him this past Saturday, and I really romped on it via back roads and some highway miles. Overall it's a cool ride, albeit she's definitely looking on the rough side. Dad's debating a Maaco Paint job.
For his B-day I got Dad some battery boxes and some wiper blades and other detail items. This weekend he's off to Cape Cod, and I'm hoping to "borrow" the car and install those items!
I think we'll change the thermostat before the first show over at Larz Anderson and we'll be all set!
Monday, May 11, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
Out of the Garage, and on the road!
The Weather's getting better, and the weekend hours spent puttering around in the garage are slowly being replaced with time in the cockpit of the MGB. The past month is a perfect example.
April was pretty busy weekend wise. for the Patriots day weekend we decided to take that Friday off and turn it into an extra long weekend.
Friday morning I went over to Dad's and picked up the MG. Its still early in the season, so switching between the honda and the MG is a lil odd. Pedal resistance, steering, transmission is at the other end of the spectrum form what I've been used to. I dropped the top, after finding that the Tonneau cover that we picked up from Gene won't fit with the Roll bar. Bummer, anyone need a Tonneau cover? I put the old cover on to cover the convertable top, and headed home. By the time I got back. Kelly was almost ready to go, so I jumped in the shower, and after cleaning myself off, we hit the road.
We headed up to Gloucester, and had a nice drive up there. we took a spin around the island and then over to the Cape Ann Brewery, to fill up a growler with their double IPA (9%ABV) we had a couple of beers there, and some snax, and then headed home, taking the scenic route. on the way out we passed by of all things this:
We stopped to look at it, and the owner came out to chat for a bit, he then took us for a lil tour of his garages, which contained a Fiat 500 and 3 motorcyles: a Jawa, Ducati, and an all State. the really interesting thing was a rebuilt Lamborghini Diablo that he had a chevy 350 in it!!
you never know what you'll see in your MGB..
We took the long way home, heading down the coast. Wes stopped off in Salem to refill the growler we had from them with Blueberry ale.As we neared RT 1 we called in some take out from Sake. We Settled into a nice evening of beer and sushi.
Saturday AM I headed over to Dad's to trouble shoot his fuel pump problem on his MGB GT. I was able to find out the electrical connections to the fuel pump were junk and need to be replaced. I suggested to even have the fuel pump replaced. during this process, I ended up taking a bath in about 6 gallon of gas, destroying a pair of jeans in the process.
Sunday was supposed to be a crappy day, but turned out to be ok. Unfortunately Kelly & I were well past spent and needed some relax time, so after lunch at the Border Cafe we took a lil ride, and then headed home.
Monday weather wise was supposed to be nice, but turned out to be a bit chilly. I spent the AM doing some small errands, and throughout the day I picked up 2 pairs of Jeans to replace the gas soaked ones, and another pair I noticed had rips on the seams. Both pairs were at least 6 years old and pretty worn.
Friday after work I went to Dad's to pick up the MGB right after work. it felt so good to feel some warmth!
Saturday I headed over to Mackays to tackle the Fuel Pump problem with Dad's MGB GT. we fixed that and by 10:00AM I was on my way. Interestingly enough, there were 3 MGBGT's there that day, Paul's red one from Gloucester, Mackay's Purple one, and Dad's Green one.
I'm planning on "borrowing" Dad's GT this week for a bit. Taking that car into Boston isn't that bad, it's so scratched up that parking it in town isn't an issue.
Later on Kelly & I took a nice drive up to North Andover to see if the farmstand was open yet? Alas, it wasn't. Bummer, we'll have to wait a few more weeks for fresh pickles!
We left and decided to head out west. Taking back roads the entire time we went out to Littleton, and then worked our way back. It was only a few hours, but the previous week, and an afternoon out in the sun kind of wore us out a bit, and we were home by 6:00 or so.
I'm hoping to spend the next month or so getting a few things on Dad's MGB GT all set up, and dialing in some stuff on the red B.
The driving season is upon us!
April was pretty busy weekend wise. for the Patriots day weekend we decided to take that Friday off and turn it into an extra long weekend.
Friday morning I went over to Dad's and picked up the MG. Its still early in the season, so switching between the honda and the MG is a lil odd. Pedal resistance, steering, transmission is at the other end of the spectrum form what I've been used to. I dropped the top, after finding that the Tonneau cover that we picked up from Gene won't fit with the Roll bar. Bummer, anyone need a Tonneau cover? I put the old cover on to cover the convertable top, and headed home. By the time I got back. Kelly was almost ready to go, so I jumped in the shower, and after cleaning myself off, we hit the road.
We headed up to Gloucester, and had a nice drive up there. we took a spin around the island and then over to the Cape Ann Brewery, to fill up a growler with their double IPA (9%ABV) we had a couple of beers there, and some snax, and then headed home, taking the scenic route. on the way out we passed by of all things this:
We stopped to look at it, and the owner came out to chat for a bit, he then took us for a lil tour of his garages, which contained a Fiat 500 and 3 motorcyles: a Jawa, Ducati, and an all State. the really interesting thing was a rebuilt Lamborghini Diablo that he had a chevy 350 in it!!
you never know what you'll see in your MGB..
We took the long way home, heading down the coast. Wes stopped off in Salem to refill the growler we had from them with Blueberry ale.As we neared RT 1 we called in some take out from Sake. We Settled into a nice evening of beer and sushi.
Saturday AM I headed over to Dad's to trouble shoot his fuel pump problem on his MGB GT. I was able to find out the electrical connections to the fuel pump were junk and need to be replaced. I suggested to even have the fuel pump replaced. during this process, I ended up taking a bath in about 6 gallon of gas, destroying a pair of jeans in the process.
Sunday was supposed to be a crappy day, but turned out to be ok. Unfortunately Kelly & I were well past spent and needed some relax time, so after lunch at the Border Cafe we took a lil ride, and then headed home.
Monday weather wise was supposed to be nice, but turned out to be a bit chilly. I spent the AM doing some small errands, and throughout the day I picked up 2 pairs of Jeans to replace the gas soaked ones, and another pair I noticed had rips on the seams. Both pairs were at least 6 years old and pretty worn.
Friday after work I went to Dad's to pick up the MGB right after work. it felt so good to feel some warmth!
Saturday I headed over to Mackays to tackle the Fuel Pump problem with Dad's MGB GT. we fixed that and by 10:00AM I was on my way. Interestingly enough, there were 3 MGBGT's there that day, Paul's red one from Gloucester, Mackay's Purple one, and Dad's Green one.
I'm planning on "borrowing" Dad's GT this week for a bit. Taking that car into Boston isn't that bad, it's so scratched up that parking it in town isn't an issue.
Later on Kelly & I took a nice drive up to North Andover to see if the farmstand was open yet? Alas, it wasn't. Bummer, we'll have to wait a few more weeks for fresh pickles!
We left and decided to head out west. Taking back roads the entire time we went out to Littleton, and then worked our way back. It was only a few hours, but the previous week, and an afternoon out in the sun kind of wore us out a bit, and we were home by 6:00 or so.
I'm hoping to spend the next month or so getting a few things on Dad's MGB GT all set up, and dialing in some stuff on the red B.
The driving season is upon us!
Monday, April 6, 2009
2009 Calendar of events
2009 Calendar
With the good weather ALMOST upon us, the calendar is starting to fill up with all sorts of automotive gathering goodness. For those of you in the New England area, here's some of the happenings:
April 25: BAMG Drive To Riley's (rain date May 16)
June 7: British Car Day at Larz Anderson Museum, Brookline, MA
A very cool day, usually has great turnout, and a huge variety of cars from McLaren F1's to rusty MG's
June 13: Faneuil Hall Show #1
(not a show you can Drive your car to, but one anyone can attend for free, its an invite only event for the cars)
July 12: Bay State Antique Auto Club Annual Show, Endicott Estate, Dedham MA
July 18: Faneuil Hall Show #2
(not a show you can Drive your car to, but one anyone can attend for free, its an invite only event for the cars)
July 24-26: Prince Edward Island show
it's now called the PEI International Motoring Festival, it's been shortened a bit from what it used to be, but should be interesting, plus the roads in PEI are fun, ocean on one side, rolling hills on the other!
August 15: MG/Rover Day at Larz Anderson Museum, Brookline, MA
if you have a MG or rover you should attend. Last year attendance was so low, they're thinking of cancelling it or merging it with another car day. It's on a Saturday so tell your wife that you'll mow the lawn when you get home.
August 29: Faneuil Hall Show #3
(not a show you can Drive your car to, but one anyone can attend for free, its an invite only event for the cars)
September 5-6: Falmouth Dream Cruise By The Sea, Cape Cod
September 13: 28th Annual British Motorcar Gathering and Picnic, CT Triumph Register, Manchester, CT
September 18-20: British Invasion, Stowe, VT
This is supposed to be a real big bash, I'm thinking of going this year myself
October 2-4: British Legends Weekend, Cape Cod
October 10: BAMG Edaville Car Show
Usually it's the last show of the year, but it's always a blast, and a really cool location. Stuff for the kids, and usually lots of arts and crafts stuff for the wives to check out.
Cruise Nights:
The following events aren't officially sanctioned, but I have to say if you like cool cars I highly suggest stopping by one of these in your travels for a bit.
Every Sunday: Schoolhouse Ice-cream from 2pm-whenever
http://www.schoolhouseicecream.com/cruisenights.html
Every Saturday: 3 to 8 p.m. Cruise Night at Riley's Roast Beef, 911 Edgell Road, Framingham
Every Wednesday after 5:00, Cruise Night at Bill & Bob's Roast Beef, Woburn MA
If anyone in the New England area knows of one I missed (or got wrong) drop me an email!
Monday, March 30, 2009
Overdue Post - Rostyle Wheel Restoration
I know I promised a big news worthy post for ya, but I got a bit sidetracked. but here it is:
It's been a long trip but, I completed my latest project:
Restoring a set of Ro style wheels. When I was in the process of restoring my MGB a few years back, my cousin gave me a set (4) Ro style wheels. I sand blasted them and had the normally black painted inset area, painted red to match the color of our MGB.
I didn't mask them all that well, and was kind of bummed at how they came out. So when I put the newly painted rims (wrapped in Pirelli P400's) on the car, I ended up with a set of ro styles left over. They have sat in my Dad's basement in the "I'll get to this someday" pile. Well someday finally happened back at the end of October of 2008.
The basic Idea was to re condition these wheels, in the traditional Black/Silver MG style, have them done with new center caps, Wheel trim, Lug nuts, Valve Stem caps, and a set of nice tires.
I've seen kits for rostyle painting, from pre cut tape templates to clear plastic masks. I've heard the plastic masks don't work all that well. If you can find the precut tape templates, they help out a bit, Saving time, but painters tape will do the trick nicely, It'll just take a bit longer.
I picked up a sandblasting gun from Sears, and a 100 lb bag of black beauty sand. Ok a few problems:
1. Do NOT store sandblasting media in a damp place of any kind. Even though we had it under a tarp, and still it got wet from some rain that we had, and I ended up with a bag of black mud. This basically turned the first day into a loss. The place we get our media from is only open Monday-Friday 9:00Am-5:00Pm. Kind of hard for folks that want to do this work on the weekends. It makes you have to plan ahead. I had taken a personal day at work one day, and picking up a bag of this sand was on my to do list. The remaining bags My Dad bought. Thankfully his work enables him to be on the road, and picking up sand wasn't as big a deal for him as it would be for me.
2. When using a sandblasting gun. Use a hose clamp on the gun end to connect the line. I found out after a few abortive attempts that I wasn’t getting enough vacuum to suck the sand up, but when I got the gun real close to the item to be sandblasted, the hose would blow off. Hmm, So I found an old hose clamp on the floor of the garage, put it on there and it held it on enough to finally work. It took about 2 hours to get everything finally going and doing the actual work. It took about an hour to do a wheel, basically because after 20 minutes or so of sandblasting, I was covered in the black sand that gets into EVERY orifice, even if covered. I didn't have a sandblasting booth, so I was doing this outside. You have to take a small break every now and then and wipe the grit out of every place. even with goggles I had grit in my eyes. The first Saturday, We got 4 of the rims 90% done, and then ran out of black beauty. Bummer. If we had a sandblasting booth/box, it wouldn't be that bad we would have been able to recycle some of the media.
So we started with these:
So the following Saturday we tackled them again. Amazingly enough with the damp and cold fall weather the unfinished metal stayed pretty clean in between weekends. I blasted the remaining one, and I gave the remaining 4 some extra attention and blasted the finished ones again.
1 of the wheels had some gunk built up on the backside. I tried the sandblaster, but the residue was so soft and thick that the sand just got embedded in it, or just bounced off. I used the knife blade on my leatherman and was able to cut it out, it was so thick, it was like peeling an orange! Dad ended up getting a wire wheel brush, and he attached it to his drill, and was able to get the caked on goo all out.
after finishing the front of the wheels, I made sure to do the edge of the rims (inner and outer) to make sure I'll get proper seating when the tires get installed. I also blasted the inside areas that have cut outs, such as the vent holes, and the lug nut holes. it seems like if any rust would get through, it would be through those areas.
I gave them a quick blast of just clean air, and then placed them on the floor of the garage, and then started to prime them. I don't recall using a primer on the last set. It was a kit I got from some MG mail order place that isn't in business anymore, so I can't reference it. I remember using a silver/grey coat, and then running out, and using a can of rustoleum to put a coat over that, hence why the silver on my red set of rims tend to "sparkle" a bit more.
I figured I'd rather use a more "common" set of paints for this project. I've heard good things about duplicolor, so I figure I'd give them a shot. I used their Primer (DAP1690) which is self etching. 1 thing that's was kind of a bummer. It's green, I felt like I was painting Jeep parts in WWII. The primer was good, it went on real easy and dried very quickly.
The following week I was out of commission due to working my real job, so the next Saturday I headed back to the shop, armed with 2 cans of Duplicolor's flat black. I set the wheels up and put down several coats. it dries pretty quickly which is nice, and over the next couple of hours I emptied out the 2 cans completely.The flat black looks dull by itself, I'm not use to seeing the rims in that state, but it's a step better than the primer's green hue. I also hit the backside with a good coat of paint as well, just to keep anything from rusting away. It wasn't alot of work, and it was nice to be home by 2:00, and not covered in grease or black sand.
I probably could have taped up the wheels that weekend, and painted silver on them, but I figured I'd wait and let this color cure before I put on another one, to make sure there's no cracking.
The next weekend I taped up the insets of the wheels, and then began to spray the silver paint. Taping sucks, it's very detailed kind of work, and can be tough to do, the important thing is take your time. I used 2 different sizes of painters tape, 1 roll was about 1/2" wide, and another was 2" wide. I basically followed the edges with the thin tape, then used the wide tape to fill in the big gaps.
Due to the fact the day I taped up the wheels was a wet & rainy day, a few taped areas came undone a bit during the application of the silver coats of paint, I lifted up the tape (after several light coats of silver) to realize that some of the black sections had some silver overspray. Bummer. I also noticed some bad tape lines here and there, Mild Bummers. So I taped up the offending areas and re applied another coat of black. Thankfully I had a set of precut templates left over from the last set of wheels. After applying the black touch up coat, I taped them up again, and re applied a coat of silver to finish off the bad tape lines. I have to say taking this extra re-taping & painting touch up step, made a HUGE difference. an extra step, but well worth it!
After the color, and the touchups I sprayed clearcoat on all the wheels for protection & Gloss
I have to say I was pretty impressed with the results. Not bad for a job done in a garage with some pretty basic tools and some spray cans. All in all, it was an interesting process. I do have a few suggestions though, and they could be applied to any project.
1. Prep everything ahead of time, Tools, Supplies, etc. Make sure you have at least 2x the amount of any supplies you think you'll need. You're better off having left over's, than run out.
2. Keep your work area as clean as possible.
3. Take your time. Rome wasn't built in a day! Plan on spending 2x the time you think it would take to do. Stuff comes up, there are extra runs to the store (see note #1), tools needed, etc.
4. Be prepared to re do or fix anything that you may mess up, or doesn't turn out the way you expected.
One thing I probably would have done differently, would be to get a thin pin striping type tape, and use that for my initial masking, it would be easier to apply and use as a base to go over with the larger tape.
Supplies:
Sandblasting Gun - Sears $29.95
Black Beauty Sand - $17.00 A bag (2 used, 1-useless)
Primer - $14.95 (2 cans)
Black Paint - $14.95 (2 cans)
Silver Paint- $14.95 (2 cans)
Clear coat paint - $14.95 (2 cans)
Razor Blades
Painters tape
So all in all to do 5 wheels cost about $150 total. I've seen reconditioned Rostyle wheels go for over $100 a wheel, so it's still pretty cost effective to do this.
And to complete the package, I'm planning on the following:
From Moss Motors:
MG wheel insets
chrome trim rings
Chrome MG Lugnuts
MG valve stem caps
From Tirerack.com:
Pirelli p4000 tires
Ok here's the time rundown:
Saturday #1 wet sand, lack of tools, running around, no luck. Waste of a weekend.
Saturday #2 slow start, but completed 90% of Sandblasting project. Ran out of Black beauty. I also Scored a set of SU HIF carbs (I'll report on that later)
Saturday #3 completed sandblasting, primed wheels. Sandblasted and carb manifold and air cleaners. Primed the air cleaners
Saturday #4 no dice-had to work
Saturday #5 Applied flat black paint
Saturday #6 taped up wheels-applied silver coat and over the following week applied several other coats of silver
Saturday #7 Touch up session-well worth it!
Saturday #8 clear coating, Saturday, Sunday & Monday.
I wanted to make this a weekend project, not something that would keep me busy every night after work. Now none of these days were very long, I think the longest day was 6 hours or so, with the shortest being 2. Since I had to travel about 20 minutes to the garage where I'm working on this, it took a bit longer. If I was doing this at home I'd probably would have been done in half the time.
I have access to a couple of other sets of wheels, and I think I'll be doing those as well, even if just to have a set to sell at a later date. My dad & I just completed rough semi portable sandblasting booth. I'll keep you all posted to see how it all works out.
Oh and don't worry I have plans for those red rostyle wheels!
anyway that's bout it, I promise, now with the driving season upon us, I'll have more posts (and they'll be alot more frequent)
Latah
CD
It's been a long trip but, I completed my latest project:
Restoring a set of Ro style wheels. When I was in the process of restoring my MGB a few years back, my cousin gave me a set (4) Ro style wheels. I sand blasted them and had the normally black painted inset area, painted red to match the color of our MGB.
I didn't mask them all that well, and was kind of bummed at how they came out. So when I put the newly painted rims (wrapped in Pirelli P400's) on the car, I ended up with a set of ro styles left over. They have sat in my Dad's basement in the "I'll get to this someday" pile. Well someday finally happened back at the end of October of 2008.
The basic Idea was to re condition these wheels, in the traditional Black/Silver MG style, have them done with new center caps, Wheel trim, Lug nuts, Valve Stem caps, and a set of nice tires.
I've seen kits for rostyle painting, from pre cut tape templates to clear plastic masks. I've heard the plastic masks don't work all that well. If you can find the precut tape templates, they help out a bit, Saving time, but painters tape will do the trick nicely, It'll just take a bit longer.
I picked up a sandblasting gun from Sears, and a 100 lb bag of black beauty sand. Ok a few problems:
1. Do NOT store sandblasting media in a damp place of any kind. Even though we had it under a tarp, and still it got wet from some rain that we had, and I ended up with a bag of black mud. This basically turned the first day into a loss. The place we get our media from is only open Monday-Friday 9:00Am-5:00Pm. Kind of hard for folks that want to do this work on the weekends. It makes you have to plan ahead. I had taken a personal day at work one day, and picking up a bag of this sand was on my to do list. The remaining bags My Dad bought. Thankfully his work enables him to be on the road, and picking up sand wasn't as big a deal for him as it would be for me.
2. When using a sandblasting gun. Use a hose clamp on the gun end to connect the line. I found out after a few abortive attempts that I wasn’t getting enough vacuum to suck the sand up, but when I got the gun real close to the item to be sandblasted, the hose would blow off. Hmm, So I found an old hose clamp on the floor of the garage, put it on there and it held it on enough to finally work. It took about 2 hours to get everything finally going and doing the actual work. It took about an hour to do a wheel, basically because after 20 minutes or so of sandblasting, I was covered in the black sand that gets into EVERY orifice, even if covered. I didn't have a sandblasting booth, so I was doing this outside. You have to take a small break every now and then and wipe the grit out of every place. even with goggles I had grit in my eyes. The first Saturday, We got 4 of the rims 90% done, and then ran out of black beauty. Bummer. If we had a sandblasting booth/box, it wouldn't be that bad we would have been able to recycle some of the media.
So we started with these:
So the following Saturday we tackled them again. Amazingly enough with the damp and cold fall weather the unfinished metal stayed pretty clean in between weekends. I blasted the remaining one, and I gave the remaining 4 some extra attention and blasted the finished ones again.
1 of the wheels had some gunk built up on the backside. I tried the sandblaster, but the residue was so soft and thick that the sand just got embedded in it, or just bounced off. I used the knife blade on my leatherman and was able to cut it out, it was so thick, it was like peeling an orange! Dad ended up getting a wire wheel brush, and he attached it to his drill, and was able to get the caked on goo all out.
after finishing the front of the wheels, I made sure to do the edge of the rims (inner and outer) to make sure I'll get proper seating when the tires get installed. I also blasted the inside areas that have cut outs, such as the vent holes, and the lug nut holes. it seems like if any rust would get through, it would be through those areas.
I gave them a quick blast of just clean air, and then placed them on the floor of the garage, and then started to prime them. I don't recall using a primer on the last set. It was a kit I got from some MG mail order place that isn't in business anymore, so I can't reference it. I remember using a silver/grey coat, and then running out, and using a can of rustoleum to put a coat over that, hence why the silver on my red set of rims tend to "sparkle" a bit more.
I figured I'd rather use a more "common" set of paints for this project. I've heard good things about duplicolor, so I figure I'd give them a shot. I used their Primer (DAP1690) which is self etching. 1 thing that's was kind of a bummer. It's green, I felt like I was painting Jeep parts in WWII. The primer was good, it went on real easy and dried very quickly.
The following week I was out of commission due to working my real job, so the next Saturday I headed back to the shop, armed with 2 cans of Duplicolor's flat black. I set the wheels up and put down several coats. it dries pretty quickly which is nice, and over the next couple of hours I emptied out the 2 cans completely.The flat black looks dull by itself, I'm not use to seeing the rims in that state, but it's a step better than the primer's green hue. I also hit the backside with a good coat of paint as well, just to keep anything from rusting away. It wasn't alot of work, and it was nice to be home by 2:00, and not covered in grease or black sand.
I probably could have taped up the wheels that weekend, and painted silver on them, but I figured I'd wait and let this color cure before I put on another one, to make sure there's no cracking.
The next weekend I taped up the insets of the wheels, and then began to spray the silver paint. Taping sucks, it's very detailed kind of work, and can be tough to do, the important thing is take your time. I used 2 different sizes of painters tape, 1 roll was about 1/2" wide, and another was 2" wide. I basically followed the edges with the thin tape, then used the wide tape to fill in the big gaps.
Due to the fact the day I taped up the wheels was a wet & rainy day, a few taped areas came undone a bit during the application of the silver coats of paint, I lifted up the tape (after several light coats of silver) to realize that some of the black sections had some silver overspray. Bummer. I also noticed some bad tape lines here and there, Mild Bummers. So I taped up the offending areas and re applied another coat of black. Thankfully I had a set of precut templates left over from the last set of wheels. After applying the black touch up coat, I taped them up again, and re applied a coat of silver to finish off the bad tape lines. I have to say taking this extra re-taping & painting touch up step, made a HUGE difference. an extra step, but well worth it!
After the color, and the touchups I sprayed clearcoat on all the wheels for protection & Gloss
I have to say I was pretty impressed with the results. Not bad for a job done in a garage with some pretty basic tools and some spray cans. All in all, it was an interesting process. I do have a few suggestions though, and they could be applied to any project.
1. Prep everything ahead of time, Tools, Supplies, etc. Make sure you have at least 2x the amount of any supplies you think you'll need. You're better off having left over's, than run out.
2. Keep your work area as clean as possible.
3. Take your time. Rome wasn't built in a day! Plan on spending 2x the time you think it would take to do. Stuff comes up, there are extra runs to the store (see note #1), tools needed, etc.
4. Be prepared to re do or fix anything that you may mess up, or doesn't turn out the way you expected.
One thing I probably would have done differently, would be to get a thin pin striping type tape, and use that for my initial masking, it would be easier to apply and use as a base to go over with the larger tape.
Supplies:
Sandblasting Gun - Sears $29.95
Black Beauty Sand - $17.00 A bag (2 used, 1-useless)
Primer - $14.95 (2 cans)
Black Paint - $14.95 (2 cans)
Silver Paint- $14.95 (2 cans)
Clear coat paint - $14.95 (2 cans)
Razor Blades
Painters tape
So all in all to do 5 wheels cost about $150 total. I've seen reconditioned Rostyle wheels go for over $100 a wheel, so it's still pretty cost effective to do this.
And to complete the package, I'm planning on the following:
From Moss Motors:
MG wheel insets
chrome trim rings
Chrome MG Lugnuts
MG valve stem caps
From Tirerack.com:
Pirelli p4000 tires
Ok here's the time rundown:
Saturday #1 wet sand, lack of tools, running around, no luck. Waste of a weekend.
Saturday #2 slow start, but completed 90% of Sandblasting project. Ran out of Black beauty. I also Scored a set of SU HIF carbs (I'll report on that later)
Saturday #3 completed sandblasting, primed wheels. Sandblasted and carb manifold and air cleaners. Primed the air cleaners
Saturday #4 no dice-had to work
Saturday #5 Applied flat black paint
Saturday #6 taped up wheels-applied silver coat and over the following week applied several other coats of silver
Saturday #7 Touch up session-well worth it!
Saturday #8 clear coating, Saturday, Sunday & Monday.
I wanted to make this a weekend project, not something that would keep me busy every night after work. Now none of these days were very long, I think the longest day was 6 hours or so, with the shortest being 2. Since I had to travel about 20 minutes to the garage where I'm working on this, it took a bit longer. If I was doing this at home I'd probably would have been done in half the time.
I have access to a couple of other sets of wheels, and I think I'll be doing those as well, even if just to have a set to sell at a later date. My dad & I just completed rough semi portable sandblasting booth. I'll keep you all posted to see how it all works out.
Oh and don't worry I have plans for those red rostyle wheels!
anyway that's bout it, I promise, now with the driving season upon us, I'll have more posts (and they'll be alot more frequent)
Latah
CD
Monday, December 22, 2008
Something from the past
I know I haven't put any substantial posts up here as of late, But be warned: I've got a huge post coming after xmas! In the meantime: Here's some MG Nostalga for ya:
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Good Winter Car?
As Found on the web:
Might be good for those cold New England winters, being a 4x4 and all.
Might be good for those cold New England winters, being a 4x4 and all.
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