Paint Shop Preparation

It has been six months since my last post and whilst it has been quiet here on my blog I've been hard at work in the garage preparing the MG Midget for paint as best I can.

The point of this blog was always to share my experiences in restoring the car, both good and bad and in the last 6 months there have been a few challenges. 

The main one was the bonnet. When I bought the car it didn't have a bonnet. I was told it was too far gone. So I bought a reasonable second hand one on ebay and spend a load of time restoring it, which you can read about here: Bonnet Repairs.

After all that work it went to the blasters along with everything else. When it came back they told me they couldn't strip all the paint off as the panel was vibrating and there was a real danger of warping the metal, so I had to strip the paint off, which you can read about here: Stripping Bonnet.

It was after this stage that I noticed near the top of the bonnet's main panel the strength had gone so you could easily press the panel down with the slightest touch of your finger like when you press the lid of an open jam jar. 

Something in the trade called oil canning:

The movement of a perceived flat surface due to the application of an external force. Caused by unequal stretching of the material inside the surface of the panel while retaining the perimeter.

I am not 100% sure if this was caused by the sand blasting or was there from the beginning or was caused by my work on the nose section. Either way I spent too many hours to think about trying to correct this. This included trying to learn shrinking metal with heat and water, heat and cold air. Trying out hammer and dolly techniques. All of which resulted in a bonnet that went from this:

to this!

It looks at lot worse that it actually is, it still fitted the chassis very well. The oil canning had gone and most of the high spots were sorted. It just needed more time in the paint shop with a professional to finish off. And that was the problem, it would take quite some time to get perfect and that costs money.

So I took the decision to see if there were any better panels out there that would take less time and save me some money in the long run. 

You can buy a new heritage bonnet for around £700, but buying a second hand bonnet is more like a lottery. In the end I did find one that was described as solid and came with a solid boot lid as well for £75. Thought I would risk it.

Well it turned up and I immediately started to remove all the filler around the nose! It turned out it had a repair done on the nose. I was quite disappointed, as whilst it was a solid repair it didn't look at neat as my repair on the other bonnet.

So now I had to make a decision of which one to use. I asked my paint guy Jason to come round and we decided to go for the one I had just purchased with the new nose job. He said it would be easier to work on and it was off an earlier 1967 Midget whereas the other one was from much later. So it sort of felt right for that reason and had the correct bonnet stay rod brackets. I had to make my own and weld them on to the other one.

The bonus of getting the other boot lid was that it was in really good shape with no rust at all! So after stripping the paint back I decided to use that one instead of the original. I had done so much welding on the original boot lid the panel wasn't perfect and again my paint guy Jason said it would save loads of time and money trying to get it perfect.

So after probably hundreds of hours trying to restore these panels do I consider them wasted?

Well yes and no to be honest. I wanted to learn new skills and experiences during this restoration. I've learnt about metal shrinking and some panel beating techniques. But there is the frustration that if I had known what I was doing in the first place I might have been able to save time and money. 

It is all part of the journey! 

At the same time that this has been going on I've been waiting for Jason to tell me when he is ready to start the work and last week that time came!

I can do no more on the chassis. I've got the all the gaps as best as I can which has also taken countless hours. But it is now over to the paint shop for it's transformation!

Engine Rebuild

When I first saw the engine in bits I was concerned that it had turned over for the last time many years before.

Apart from the visible state there was of course the unseen and unknown wear that I'd have to get sorted. 

So I decided to get it professionally inspected and repaired if possible.

I found a local company to me called Thomas Hamlin & Co based in Bridgewater.

They have been working on engines since 1896 so I felt confident that if the engine was repairable they'd tell me.

Once they had picked it up it was only a few weeks later when they called me back to give me the news. 

Good news was that is was going to be ok! However there were one or two jobs that needed to be done:

• Rebore to +.020
• Grind the Crank
• Face Head -.007
• Face Block -.005
• Face thermostat housing
• Grind valves
• Fit new core plugs
• Fit new pistons to rods
• Fit new rocker shaft
• Fit 8 guides
• Fit new bearings
• Fit new oil pump
• Fit new timing chain
• Fit new pressure relief valve
• Fit new core plugs

I also decided to convert to unleaded so the valve seats had to be cut and new unleaded inserts fitted.

They kindly took some photos of the work.

All of the work including rebuilding it to a short engine with the timing set and fitting the back plate was still a little less than buying a brand new conditioned engine. I really wanted to keep my original 1098 and with the rebore to +.020 is about 1144cc is also a bonus.

There is plenty to do and I have started to clean the sump, oil filter, side covers including the breather and rocker cover.

I also have to sort out the hole in the oil strainer. 

 I can see the part that has broken off still inside, so I need to find a way to braise it back on. 

Looking forward to completing the rebuild from here on in and giving it a new fresh coat of original green paint.

Paint Preparation

Since completing the suspension and steering and getting the chassis back on to its wheels I have been reviewing the body work in preparation for the paint.

First was to make sure all the gaps were straight and equal around all the panels, which meant attaching everything properly for a first fit.

What became apparent was that in most areas I had done a good enough job to minimise any metal warping from the welding and the gaps and fit was more than acceptable. There were though a few areas that needed more metal work to get the fit to match the rest of the car.

The boot area was my biggest challenge. When first fitted the differences around the gap where mostly level with the main chassis, but at the bottom corners were raised and mid way on the upwards curve were slightly raised as well.

Because I had decide to try and restore the whole boot lid there was inevitability a lot of warping that has taken many, many hours of hammering, bending, twisting and in some cases trying metal shrinking techniques to try and get this area looking the way I wanted it to. 

I did even end up buying another original boot lid to see if I was wasting my time. 

As is turned out this didn't fit in other areas and mostly worse than mine and I would need to have the paint stripped which would add to the cost, so I decide to carry on with my original one. At least I can sell this on to someone. 

After some more time playing around with the lip that the seal fits on to it did at last get to a point that I was happy with. The guy who is going to paint the chassis said it was close enough for him to complete with filler to get it perfect. 

There are further areas like the doors and bottom of the B-posts which needed some further attention. Also the bottom half of the rear valence wasn't smooth at all.

Now the panels are flush and the gaps look good. I have also spent quite a while making sure all areas of the panels have no high points in them. This involves sliding your hand over every single parts and if you find a high point you have to gently hammer it flat. I bought a hammer and dolly set to help me with this.

Another area that was no way near close was the nose of the bonnet. I had to do so much welding to this section that the warping needed many hours of hammering to get it back flat and into a good enough condition for the painter to be happy with it.

I also spent some time teaching myself to use filler. I have to say that at times I really wanted to give up.

I have to acknowledge how much skill the professionals have in being able to work their magic and get these areas flat without ripples. Over time I started to get a better finish then my first attempt in the photo above, but while I was improving each time, deep down I knew it wasn't nearly good enough. 

So when the paint guy came round he said I had done an ok job, but that his 20 years of experience would show in the finish top coat.

Right now I am just saving up to book my slot in the spray booth and we should be good to go!

Front Wheel Bearings Refitting

I thought I would dedicate a single post to fitting the front wheel bearings to my hub, because it was a bit of a mission and I thought I should pass on what I have learnt during the process.

Having wire wheels as I have, does make the whole process more difficult due to the length of the hub, but the main thing you need to be aware of is making sure you buy the best quality bearings that you can buy.

There is a very good reason for this which is that the tolerances involved in setting up the bearings are very small. If they are out you will get problems as I did.

As posted in this update back in Oct 2020 Front Steering and Suspension when I took everything apart I found that the hubs were badly damaged due to a previous owner fitting the bearings correctly. 

So I had to buy new hubs and bearings.

I'll explain how to fit them later in this post but what happened with this set of bearings was that once fitted and tightened correctly, the end of the hub wiggled around. Up, down, left and right. But not in and out along the length of the axle. This should not happen! I only spent £50 on a complete set of bearings for both sides, even though they were supposed to be for my MG Midget. They were not face adjusted.

After consulting with the MG Enthusiasts Forum we came to the conclusion that I had bought poorly manufactured bearings.

These are the original bearings, similar to what I pulled out of my hubs. 

In this picture above you're looking at the two 'faces' of the bearings. These sides face each other in the hub as shown below:

These bearings have been face adjusted, which means they have been specially engineered so that when the bearing is fitted in the hub there should be no movement at all and the inner and outer race should be level with each other.

All the parts are designed to be squeezed up together. They achieve this by making sure that on the face side the difference in height between the inner and outer race should be either zero or up to four thousandths of an inch. Now 1 thousandths of an inch = 0.03mm, so not very much at all.

I was given this guide from 1972 which helps to explain the whole set up:

With the help of a friend, who had a precision measuring gauge like the one below, we set about measuring some bearings.

First we measured an original bearing that my friend had. The one with the brass ring and the difference between the inner and outer race was almost unmeasurable.

Then we measured a set of bearings that one of the MG community had sold me after they found out about my issue. These bearings were designed for a slightly later model of MG Midget but were still face adjusted to provide engineering accuracy. The difference here was 4 thousandth on one and 5 thousandth one the other, so just within the limits.

We then measured the 'new' bearings I had bought that caused me all the issues and the difference on these was 12 thousandths of an inch or 0.3mm, which is quite a difference to the zero or up to 0.03mm that they should be. So with that result we knew these bearings were not face adjusted and so didn't tighten in the hub correctly and caused the hub to wobble around.

I would recommend that you try to source original bearings if you can. Reach out to the guys on the forums as they might be able to help you. Or failing that try to make sure you buy face adjusted bearings. I have been told that if you can buy a set of bearings with this part number they are the next best thing: GHK1142Q 

You can always measure them as I have done before fitting as it is a real pain trying to remove the bearings from these hubs without damaging them.

Fitting the bearings isn't really that hard. It does take time and if you have wire wheel hubs like me it is slightly more challenging when fitting the outer bearings.

First up make sure you grease the inside of the larger inner bearing, pushing the grease right down into the ball bearings themselves.

Then place the inner bearing in the hub. It is very important that you put them in the right way round. As I said earlier. The face goes down in first. You can see below the flange on the inner race that slides on to the axle.

The best way to push the bearing down is to use a bearing press which you can buy, but they are expensive. Or you can use a correct sized socket or if you have one you can use the outer race of an old bearing if you have one. Which I did of course! 

You need to tap the bearing down with a hammer. You have to be gentle enough to nudge it down but not too much to damage it. I tapped the bearing equally round the top edge to get it started. Then on the left and right side, two taps each to move it further down into the hub.

You will come to a point where the top of the bearing is flush with the hub. This is where you need the socket or outer race to drive this down to face in the hub. 

Place the socket or spare outer race on the bearing and continue to tap away until the bearing sets in place. You can tell when this is because the sound changes slightly when you tap.

Once in place you need to make sure you grease the bearings from this side, but not too much. You don't want excess grease here as I've been told that as the hub heats up the expanding grease can put pressure on the seal and potentially leak. So you only need enough to cover the bearings, but don't pack it in. 

Then fit the seal.

Next up is the inner spacer. These are the original ones and fortunately they were in very good shape. They measured exactly 1.5 inch. We did use a bit of wet and dry on a flat surface to ensure the ends were perfectly flat. 

Then you can coat the outside of the spacer in grease and drop it down on top of the inner bearing.

Now the spacer should be perfectly level with the hub's recess that the outer bearing sits in. However as mentioned above there is a tolerance of up to 4 thousandths of an inch and this is why you need good spec bearings.

If you have or can get access to a precision measuring tool like the one below I would suggest you check the tolerances before trying to fit the outer bearing.

If all is looking good then you can proceed with fitting the outer bearing. Again make sure you apply plenty of grease around the ball bearings.

And drop it down into the hub. Now with wire wheels due to them being longer you'll need a tool that will allow you to drive the bearings down into place without damaging the bearing.

I was told to make up a tool using a 15cm length of 25mm copper pipe. The idea is that you curve one end that matches the curve of the hub and bearing. 

Using a hammer to tap the top of the copper tool will slowly drive this down into place. 

Now I decided to use the old outer race from my old bearings again to protect my new bearings when tapping them down. But you must be careful because if you drive this outer race down too far it will get stuck in the hub. So use these race just to get the bearing down level initially the remove the outer race and then continue with the copper tool until it is in place, which again to can tell by the tone of the sound when you tap it with the hammer.

Then make sure the bearing is greased from this side as well and then you are good to mount the hub on to the brake disc.

Not much to this really. Tighten the four bolts. But try not to get any grease on the disc. If you do you'll need to thoroughly degrease it.

Then you can slide the hub into the axle. A few gentle taps with the rubber mallet should settle it in place. Even at this stage you should be able to tell if all has gone well. The hub should rotate without quietly and smoothly. 

After that you can fit the washer and castle nut.

Then torque to the recommended settings which you can find in your Haynes or owners manual. Do not over tighten the nut and it is important to note that the instructions say to tighten the nut to the correct settings and then to the align the castle nut to the hole in the hub to allow you to slide the split pin in. This might mean you need to slightly undo the nut to get it all aligned.

Using long pliers you can pull the split pin through and around to lock the castle nut in place.

Then fit the the grease cap.

I tapped this around the edge and not the thread so not to damage it. Make sure that when you rotate the hub the end of the thread is as close to dead centre as you can.

Once all that is done you can test to see if there is any movement other than a smooth rotation. Second time round mine seemed perfect. What a relief!

I could then fit my newly restored powder coated wire wheels for the first time in 8 and half years. It was so good to see them spinning freely without noise or any unwanted movement. 

Next up you can start to fit the brake callipers which is covered in this post: Front Brakes Rebuild and Fitting