Class

So I decided with 3 MGB's in the Devine stable, Taking an auto body class might be a good idea. The red convertible has alot of newish scars that I'd like to take care of, and Let's face it, Dad's GT is a bit in the "worse for wear" column, and the blue car isn't all so much blue, as a two tone rust/blue. So I signed up for auto body at the Wakefield Vocational High School. I've found out it's basically not a "class" per se. more like you pay for the opportunity to use their shop and tools, and get pointers when you need them. Not bad, not what I expected, but I'm sure between all the TV car shows and the plethora of books, and just being around cars, the actual theory on doing this is pretty readily available.

So The teacher said, bring in a project and we'll start working on it..Great. Well I didn't want to start on the Red car (she's still on the road) and the blue one is well, problem #1 is missing a set of keys. So I asked Dad, hey can I borrow the GT and I'll start sanding it down? So I brought the car in to class, and it gets a little attention. I spent most of the night sanding down the hood. I got about 95% of it done. I need to do the sides and some more of the front where there is some copious amounts of bondo. But not bad for a first effort which was basically 3 hours of work. If I can keep this up I could possibly have the entire car sanded down by the end of the course!

The other good thing is it shows you what tools you may actually need for this. I've found DA Orbital sanders from $30-$100 not too shabby! As well as some die grinders (both Pneumatic) for pretty cheap. It helps if you have access to a good compressor (as we do).

Here's the before and after pics: (click on them for the whole image)

The New "To Do" List

Well Summer's over, well we didn't really have one here in Boston this year-but I digress, and as I'm trying to cram in as much seat time in the MGB, more projects have reared their head, and hopefully I'll reporting on them in the weeks to come. Classic motorsports recently did a great article on Garages/workshops, and I'm hoping to get mine organized to tackle some of the projects I have lined up this winter!

On the Red MGB:

Brakes-We've had the car on the road since July of 2005 and they're just now kind of feeling spongy. I think we have 25k on them or so, I think New pads (at the least) are definitely in order.

Lights-the old wiring harness has gotten cracked and brittle, and you have to do some Jiggling to get them to work right (thankfully I'm not usually on the road after dark)

Rear springs-They're probably original, and very sagging. The nose of the car is starting to point skyward. Hitting some potholes and bumps has me nervous about tearing the muffler off! I've had a few close calls this year!

Steering-There's some bushing/mount that has seemingly decayed. I hate hitting potholes.

Wheels, the red rostyles need some work. I wasn't happy with the paint when they were finished, and 4 years on the road has them looking a little worn anyway.

Passenger side exterior door pull-I think it's broken-the button protrudes a bit.

Steering wheel-I like the one we have, but due to buying an inferior one from the now defunct "proper MG" company, it's well cracked and worn. Thankfully the place we keep our car in the wintertime, was a woodshop at one point. I may just replace it, and have the other one as a spare. The 77 MGB my cousin gave me, has a VERY nice Motolita wheel, that may end up in the red car.

Fan & lighting switch-both look pretty shabby. The trim on the old Engine warning light bezel is well worn too.

Interior, one of the interior panels, due to the moisture we got this past year, came loose. hopefully an easy fix.

Roll bar cover-Something to at least make it look more presentable, repeated raising of the Top has worn it out a bit.

Some Good floor mats.

A good waxing/polishing-I really only washed the car 2x this season (mother nature however did a pretty good job) and only 2 wax jobs. Before she goes away, I'm planning on giving her the once over.

Now I'm taking a class in Auto body this fall at the local vocational high school, and Hopefully it'll help with a few of the dings and scrapes we've earned over the years too. The rear valence needs some attention, as well as the driver side door (crack of doom) and the trunk lid has some new scratches (possibly from a critter that didn't realize that wax is tough to get traction on).

Dad's 1970 MGB GT

Well she needs a paint job. more on that later

Passenger side exterior door pull-I think it's broken-the button protrudes a bit.

Speedometer/Tachometer-I bet the cable snapped.

Doors need work, a bit creaky here and there.

Seats-She needs her seats rebuilt. I'm afraid after the seats are re done, Dad will be sitting a bit higher, and we'll have to change the steering wheel, due to the wheel hitting the driver's legs. We had this problem when we re did the red car's seats.

Seatbelts-I think a lap belt like we have in the Red car would be nice.

Interior-She needs some rugs and some floor mats.

Tires and Tubes-Although I'm trying to get my Dad to convert it to bolt on wheels. I'd love to be able to find a set of the earlier pressed wheels that he likes.

Now in the parts pile:

an entire front end- from an mgb GT, I'd like to clean it up, and use it for my 77 MGB possibly.

We have 2 engines, one complete, one is missing a head.

15 individual Rostyle wheels. I foresee a repeat of last year's project, only on a larger scale.

A few sets of SU carbs, I think I have 3 spare sets of SU HIF's

Oh yeah I have a 1977 MGB rubber bumper car too, and she needs an engine and some body work (and probably alot more when I really dig into it) But the red & Green cars have priority. Besides I'm still dreaming up Ideas for it. I'm thinking of keeping it blue, and possibly re doing the striping that adorns the lower section (without the MGB lettering, or possibly a variation on it.

I think I'll have enough to keep me busy this winter! I may have a few things for sale as the work progresses, so if anyone is interested in anything (or needs something) I may be able to help you!