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MG MGA - Boot lid skin removal?


I have done a quick search for an idiots guide to CAREFULLY removing a warped and slightly dinged boot lid- and act seem to find much.

Has anybody any advice as to how to remove same so that it can be worked and replaced without too much damage to the turned flange etc?

I know of the fast way to grind one off - for the scrap bin - but obviously want to avoid this drastic method- unless I can find a replacement skin
M THOMPSON

Doesn't seem to be much interest in your post. I too would like some advise here. I'm considering removing the bonnet skin for the same reason but want to reuse it.
Matthew
M S Randell

With the paint removed try using a bar of Ivory soap.
Scrape the soap all over the edge od the skin. Then heat it up with a torch until the soap turns color. Usually to a brown or black. The soap is a method of telling you the temperature is correct.Too hot and the aluminum melts. Then the aluminum is annealed (softened).
When I worked with the airline this was how they annealed the panels before bending to fit.
Sandy
SANDY SANDERS

Hi Mark,

I've not tried this myself but I do know a very skilled restorer in Melbourne who maybe able to answer your question or do the work for you.

Failing that I know a guy in Perth who probably still has several boot lids to sell.

Cheers
Mark
Mark Hester

Hi Mark,

When the aluminum is bent around the edges it work hardens the material such that if you try to bend it back it will crack. The trick is to anneal the aluminum around the edges to make it soft again to bend without cracking. One way to do that is to use a sooty flame from a torch and go around the edges with it consentrating on the bend. Once the soot is showing on the edges increase the temparature of the flame and continue to heat until the soot burns away. This temperature just happens to coincide with the annealing temperature of aluminum. Once completed use a tool to slide under the edge and pry it up a little at a time until your all the way around. If the aluminum becomes hard again from bending it you can go through the annealing process again.

Best of luck,
Ian R.
IJR Renshaw

Mark, when you say "warped" do you mean that the frame is warped? Is filler out of the question for the dings? I had plenty of dings in my bonnet, they were fixed with filler and it looks perfect. You can get a really good feather edge with filler on aluminium, because the aluminium is soft, it blends very nicely when sanding down. It would seem a simpler solution, it's never going to fall out or rot through from behind.
Lindsay Sampford

I have seen a demonstration of how to remove the door skins, but was hesitant to say anything because I don't think I could describe the tools and technique adequately. Some of you may recall that I took a metalworking class from Kent White last fall, and I took my MGA doors in as demonstration pieces. He was able to shrink the damaged skin adequately without removing it from the frame, but he also demonstrated how to remove the skin briefly without actually taking it off.

As mentioned above, it is important to anneal the skin where it is bent around the frame first. The door skins are 5052 aluminum, which anneals at a different temperature than most other aluminum alloys, although I forget exactly what that is. Kent used a "tempilstick" crayon, which melts at the desired annealing temperature, to judge when the correct temperature had been reached. He also had some special tools that he'd made just for removing skins, that I unfortunately didn't think to take any pictures of. They were just pulling and prying tools made to get under the edges, and pry them off the frames. They were made from cheap allen keys, that had been heated with a torch, and then forged very thin, and bent into whatever shape he needed.
Del Rawlins

Seems a lot of work when replacement skins are available from Metal Mickey in the UK.
Gary Lock

I've removed 2 boot skins using the soap annealing method, both came off OK. Make sure the soap turns brown in all areas, otherwise the ally will probably crack due to not being sufficiently annealed.
The big advantage is that you can shot blast the frame s and paint it properly. I haven't re-fitted them yet but hope this is the easier job (but I'll probably re-anneal just in case).

As we all know original parts fit better than repro (even Metal Mickeys), so save them where you can!
Chris Bond

I was successful in removing the skin but cracks appeared when trying to bend it back onto the frame. The corners are particularly thin.
My main reason was to clean up the frame and get it ready for painting, and of course dent removal. My approach for another used lid was to use electrolysis to get rid of the rust, 2 days at 2amps and most of the rust turned to black goo, a little wire brush work and it was pretty clean. With a small brush and dollar store paint edger (turned upside down) I was able to paint the frame with some Frame Saver paint. It turned out great and I used the same method on the bonnet lid.

Good luck ;)
Bruce
B Suelzle

BS if your worried about the edges just take the lid to a good welder with tig equipment and he will run a fine weld line along it that you can file back. This is what I did with my lid and also the leading edge of the doors where I wanted to build up metal to better match the shut line of the front wing.
J H Cole

This thread was discussed between 04/07/2010 and 07/07/2010

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