When the boxes arrived it was very exciting and it felt like Christmas all over again.
Follow my project of restoring a 1965 MK II MG Midget classic car. This will be a complete rebuild restoration.
Monday 1 March 2021
New Parts Arrive!
When the boxes arrived it was very exciting and it felt like Christmas all over again.
Tuesday 1 December 2020
First Round of Paint
To continue with the plan of making the MG Midget a rolling chassis so that I can get it to the paint shop without damaging the work I have already completed I needed to paint some key areas of the chassis.
The idea is to repeat the process of the underside of the chassis, as in completing the seam sealing on all panel joins and then paint, leaving the main external body for the professionals.
When you use the brush it is difficult to get a smooth finish and if there are sections that are going to be on show you can use a tool, similar to a bathroom silicone sealer tool to smooth the product down immediately after brushing on. I found this made the sealer last much longer as you can push the product into the joint and along at the same time, whereas with the brush it is harder to force it into the joint or gap.
The next step is to prepare the chassis for its first coat of paint. I decided to get the cockpit ad boot done to avoid any stray black paint on the outer Old English White paint.
First job was to sand down the primer and any rough dried sealer to provide a key for the new paint to stick to. I used 200 grit sandpaper and gave it a good once over. Then hoovered up all the dust as best I could. Then using a specialist paint cleaning solvent and lint free cloths I sprayed and wiped down all surfaces and allowed to dry. The aim is to remove any grease or dust particles that can affect the paint adhering to the primer and sealer. This should be done each time between coats using finer sand paper each time, before you get to the final top coat.
It does take time to do all this preparation, but what's a couple more hours after 8 years!
Now my thinking is that partly to save some money but also to put the best protection on these inner panels which are prone to rusting I have decided to just use more satin black chassis paint on any panel that is going to be covered by nice new carpet or interior trim panels. I think it turned out quite well so far.
Next up will be the engine bay with nice new Old English White paint.
Monday 9 November 2020
Steering and Suspension Parts
Over the last few months I have been trying to work my way through all the parts that need to be restored in order for me to get the Midget back to a rolling chassis before it goes to the paint shop.
Not wanting to post for each part I thought I would just share a photo of the main parts that were restorable.
I am not going to pretend this was easy to work through all of these parts. Some of which I had to purchase second hand, like the rear springs. For most of the parts they have cleaned up really well. Others sadly were beyond repair like the rear springs front mounts and one of the front brake dust covers that had been cut by a prior owner.
In addition to this I have been cleaning all the smaller components, like the nuts and bots. That was fairly soul destroying, but again with the rotary wire wheel brushes most have come up clean and perfectly sound.
Here's just some of the many trays of cleaned up parts. Unfortunately for me there are still many more to work on! Hopefully this work will reduce my shopping basket at my local MG parts supplier!
Sunday 8 November 2020
Brake Callipers
Thought I would share my process of restoring the front brake callipers.
Both callipers were in a bit of a state, so I was unsure of how they would come up.
Fairly sure they were both ceased.
Only one way to find out and that is to take it apart. First off remove and inspect the brake pipes. Both were cracked and need to be replaced.
Then remove the spring clip
Tuesday 11 August 2020
Blasting Chassis
The reason for blasting now and not at the start is because once blasted the car is primed with epoxy paint to protect it, but this is only for a short while depending on the weather conditions. So while I was working on the rusty parts, the good metal was protected under the old paint. It is though now time to remove everything back to bare metal and start the process of preparing the chassis for a new coat of old English white paint.
First off a big thanks to James Shopland of The Shopland Collection who helped me with transportation.
Back home, safe and sound. I mean that because there really are hardly any holes to weld up. Just a handful of pin holes which I am over the moon about.
Next job on the list is to start seem sealing all the panel joins to protect from rust and then I'll be painting the underside with chassis paint.