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MG Midget and Sprite General - My build thread

One or two people on other threads have asked tosee pics of my 1275 RWA build so I'm going to try to keep this thread updated. Here's a dozen or so of the progress to date..

first three show some of the horror story I unearthed..



graeme jackson

rear bulkhead


graeme jackson

usual sill rot



graeme jackson

starting to replace lost metal.. offside sill.



graeme jackson

offside spring hanger - note the new floor ;-)



graeme jackson

ended up removing the footwell outer panels and A posts both sides - here's the near side in progress



graeme jackson

and more new metal

graeme jackson

painted almost the whole car in POR15 - big mistake - nothing will stick to it - this shows the front end after I'd finished putting on new inner wheelarches and A post covers



graeme jackson

moving on to the back end, I removed the rear panel and rear wings. Had to patch the inner wings as new panels aren't available. Also test fitting the new MGF seats here..


graeme jackson

i decided to paint the whole of the rear end before fitting the wings so I could get paint into all the impossible places. This is the metallic silver basecoat..



graeme jackson

followed by the candy red and clearcoat..



graeme jackson

then got back to welding the wings and panel in..



graeme jackson

After I had ground and filled the welds I ended up taking the whole lot back to bare metal then spraying several coats of etch primer, flatting that off then spraying 6 coats of filler primer 2 coats at a time, flatting down with 240 grit each time. This last pic of the bodywork to date shows it just before I gave it a final flatting with 500 grit.



graeme jackson

these last couple show some of the ancilliaries I've been painting

heater box



graeme jackson

hinge and bracket



graeme jackson

Fabulous Graeme (I have been sat pressing refresh as you upload more and more photos!). A bit of inspiration for my project. Two quick questions...

1. How long has it taken you to do all this?

2. Have you found an easy way to remove all the cruddy old paint/gunk/crud from the shell? I have still yet to find a decent method that doesnt involve a lot of sanding!

Cheers,
Malcolm
M Le Chevalier

Have you considered working for BMH? (!)

BTW - How confident are you re alignment of body, e.g. for doors to fit?

A
Anthony Cutler

and the k&N cover.

graeme jackson

Graeme,
Its great to see photos of your build. But I think you will find that as you post more it will gradually take longer and longer to open the thread with that many photos. And eventually the thread will drop off the current messages list and be lost in the archives where only a few with special magic skills will ever be able to view them again! Generally, if you have a lot of photos it seems better to upload them to a web page and post a link here.

How did you get rid of the POR15 once you had decided against it? Its tough stuff to get rid of!
Guy

I am most impressed with the paint quality. That is the sort of finish I would struggle to get on external bodywork, let alone on the interior of panels and awkward brackets! And the colour is stunning!
Guy

What a colour!!
Alex G Matla

"How did you get rid of the POR15 once you had decided against it? Its tough stuff to get rid of! "

Angle grinder and surace prep discs - they're like a hard brillo pad. Great for removing paint but they leave the metal surface alone.
graeme jackson

Malcolm.

1. I took the car off the road in 1997 intending to start the restoration then. However, We moved to scotland in 1998 and the car sat on my driveway until about 5 years ago. At that time I picked up a second shell (advertised as very good condition) from a chap in derby and started to clean that up. Soon found it was almost as rusty as my own shell and almost lost interest. I'd say I really knuckled down to repairing the bodywork around spring 2009 and got it finished last autumn. I really didn't start the body prep until spring this year and it's taking a lot longer than I was expecting. I'm still planning to have the paint finished before the end of September and I can then put the thing back together over the winter.

2. I've tried allsorts to remove paint - nitromors and plastic pan scourers for the awkward areas, heat gun and scraper for the underside. I've found the best paint remover that doesn't damage the underlying metal is a plastic surface preparation wheel used on an angle grinder....
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Stripping-Disk-Clean-Strip-115mm-4-5in-10-Discs-/290518758126?pt=UK_Body_Shop_Supplies_Paint&hash=item43a44472ee

they're expensive bought singly but not too bad bought in bulk.


and

Anthony - I'm very happy with my door fit. I spent ages getting everything to line up - even had to refold the sill flanges as they didn't come out of the body as far as the old A posts! This pic should set your mind at rest ;-)


graeme jackson

I have a couple of those for my drill and they work well, just a little slow. Maybe getting some for my grinder would speed things up!

Only problem is the amount of dust they will kick up. really should get a proper mask, my lungs are knackered! *Hack cough!*

Malcolm
M Le Chevalier

Come on Graham get the top coat on! I'm dying to see what it will look like when finished. What wheels are you putting on?
Tarquin

Having spent a few days on this message area can i add my compliments to the work you have done so far love the red, which candy red is it
Brian
B D Vasey

Brian.
It's from Specialist Paints in sheffield..
http://www.specialistpaints.com/image_uploads/large/specialistpaints.com_Candy_Red.jpg

Tarquin.
I bought a set of 5.5 X 13 Alleycat slots from someone on here a couple of years ago. they still need polishing..


graeme jackson

Those are nice!
I take it they will stay as just polished alloy, not the painted/lacquered surface common on modern "alloys". Much nicer, but they do take some looking after to keep them in good condition.
Guy

what an awesome thread, totally in awe of people who can achieve that.

Well done, panel fit looks great.

Keep the pics coming

simon
Simon Taylor

If someone knows of a proper wheel polisher I have a set of old alloys which I'd like to get polished, then lacquered.
Tarquin

I'm really impressed with the panel fit you've achieved, as shown in the pic with the whole car in primer on a trolley. In the earlier pics I was thinking that you had a bit too much unsupported structure and a lot of metal cut out of the car. I was a bit concerned that the shell may have sagged or twisted, but what can't speak can't lie. Well done mate. I'm really looking forward to seeing the car in what has always been a favourite colour of mine.

Bernie.
b higginson

managed to get the underside stonechipped and primer earlier in the week and sprayed the silver basecoat tonight.
stonechip..

graeme jackson

and one of the silver base. I'm playing at a wedding on Mull this weekend so it'll be monday before I can paint the colour and clearcoat..


graeme jackson

Got the underside finished today. 3 coats of red and 3 coats of clear..



graeme jackson

Terrific job Graeme. I'm building a square arch car over here on the west coast, but I'm cheating and mine came with a Heritage shell. I have Revolution wheels for it. I too have gone right off POR-15. Impossible to use it with anything other coating.


Mike Howlett

Graeme, I see your doing a great job and I am totaly into personalised cars but im not sure what to expect from your red once its finished... pleas do suprise me. :)
(im a boring conservative with BRGreen so I have no fantasy-when it comes to cars that is) :)


Mike is that midnight blue?
Not many dark blue cars arround, confirmed on midget 50.
Looks great!
Arie de Best

Yes Arie, it is Midnight Blue. It was BRG but I have had several green cars and I think the little car looks good in dark colours. I don't think Midnight is correct for a 1966 car, but what the heck! Neither is a 1275 engine, Revolution alloys, MGF seats, pram type hood, an alternator and 2-speed wipers.
Mike Howlett

finally managed to finish painting the shell this week. first off is the engine bay..

graeme jackson

and a couple of the body. These were taken prior to the clearcoat. I didn't finish till after 1 this morning and was too tired to take any more pictures..



graeme jackson

once the clearcoat has hardened I'll flat it down and buff it all up before I post anymore pics..


graeme jackson

Graeme -

Stunning! I'm very much looking forward to seeing the finished product.

-:G:-
Gryf Ketcherside

she/he/it is a beaut!

I hope I can get mine half as good.

Cheers,
Malcolm
Malcolm Le Chevalier

wow! as someone said, what a colour!
Alexander Sorby Wigstrom

couple more taken in daylight. still waiting to colour sand and polish though..


graeme jackson

and a rear view...


graeme jackson

Looks stunning! It will look great when it's all put back together.
AndrewF

I've started the final polish process and it's taking ages. Each panel has to be wet sanded with 1000, 2000 and 4000 grit paper then machine compounded with G3 and G10. eventually I'll apply Glaze too but I'm going to get the whole car buffed first - the farecla compound flies everywhere! So far I've only done the drivers side - I'm finishing one panel before starting the next - makes me feel like I've accomplished something and the sanding is sooooo boring.
A couple of pics...



graeme jackson

If you look really close on this one you can see I've started fitting the rear suspension!!!!! only the spax bracket so far but hey, it's a start :-)



graeme jackson

You are going to have to be sooo careful when you start putting the car together. It is extremely easy to ding the paint - I know from bitter experience. With a finish like that I would never want to take the car outdoors. Too good for me.
Mike Howlett

Bloody hell that loos awsome!!
But my god would I be afraid to ding it...
Onno Könemann

Blimey! 4000 grit. I bet you can hardly tell which side of the paper to use, especially with soap.LOL. I hope you've got plenty of laquer on it. Watch out for the edges. I'd hate to hear that you've rubbed through it at this stage.
Graeme. When it's finished you've just got to get it to a central location so that we can all come and gawp and drool over it.
Nice one. keep at it. I can hardly wait.

Bernie.
b higginson

good grief that certainly puts my efforts somewhat in the shade. That's an amazing finish, makes me want to do mine again...

What colour is it? Red, obviously, but where from? I reckon a Rover P6 would look lovely that colour....

I'm very impressed
Rob Armstrong

Rob. It's a candy apple red from Specialist paints - http://www.specialistpaints.com/products/candy-paint

I was planning on going for mercedes' bright red but my mate has a '32 ford hotrod in candy apple red and I fell in love with the colour. Wish i'd known beforehand how hard it would be to paint!
graeme jackson

cheers, the previous link up the page didn't work but that one does :)

You've made it look easy, even though I know it's not. :)
Rob Armstrong

This thread was discussed between 23/08/2011 and 26/10/2011

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