Progress update

Now it is mid February and the new shell has been adjusted so that the doors and bonnet fit properly. The Boot lid supplied with the shell had to be sent back as the top RHS corner was not a curve; it was more like a 20p coin.

All the seams in the shell are sealed with some black goo. Now is a great opportunity to do all this type of work. We have had to do some lead loading to make sure that that door gaps and wing gaps are even and I just know that once the paint is on and that no changes can easily be made, any poor fits will bug the hell out of me.

Other work that has been going on is the sand blasting and powder coating of almost everything ! this is such a cool way to regenerate parts. I can highly recommend, even having spent two days shot blasting rusty bits. The engine, cross-menber, axle springs are painted and ready to refit.



The Axle












The painted engine











Friday the shell was finally ready to go to the paint shop and was duly delivered. Over the next six weeks the shell will be transformed into a living car that will be delivered back to the restorers ready for the reconstruction.

Over the last month I have spent most of my time cleaning parts and making a list of things that I need to buy that are not worth cleaning. and This is mostly done; 140 plastic bags, many old boxes and many bits un-cataloged.

AOJ

The project plan

Over the Christmas holidays I have turned my thoughts to writing a project plan for all the jobs that need to be done to get the car on the road and what are the mile stones in the project. I thought that the first one would be actually making the engine run. So what would need to be in place to get to this.

Electricals
All fuel
Brakes (servo & handbrake)
Exhaust
Cooling (oil & water)
Dashboard

Anyway, my first guestimate was going to be ready for MOT at end of June. My MS Project plan is currently indicating that the MOT test will be in mid July. Not a bad guess then. However the planning tool requires my efforts for every weekend from now until then !

Next task are to agree on the paint and rust proofing with the restorer and sort out my garage for when the painted shell returns painted with engine, axle, gearbox, cross member and stearing column all fitted.

The shell arrives !

Just been to inspect the shell....its really very impressive. The thing needs quite some work before it goes to paint. There are seams that need to be sealed in the engine bay and the boot that need to be done. In addition to this the doors and bonnet and boot need a little work on the fit.

One striking thing is that you don't really appreciate what a body shell is until you inspect it and realise that there is so much to add to it to make a car. Each nut and bote will need to be fitted ! At the moment I'm making a list of the items that are different between the old shell and the new.

Here's a few:

The seat belt mountings are for inertia reel rather than the static type with the anchor point on the outside top of the body.

Boot lid drillings for the badges on the boot lid need to be drilled

There are many drillings that are in the shell that even with over 20 years of ownership and staring at the engine bay I can't recall what every one is for !

The next stage is to decide on the paint and underside strategy for protection. At the moment I will be going for a rubberized stone chip that is painted and then clear waxoiled.

One of the other reassuring things is the number of clips and hooks that are attached to the body for holding the wiring loom to the shell. The attention to detail is very impressive.

My thoughts now are on the wiring; do I replace with the original method of wiring or do I use relays for the high current systems such as the main & dip beams, the indicators, horn electric fan etc. I have seen some web sites that describe solutions for this - still undecided.

Now I'm spending the Christmas week refurbishing the quarter lights ready for introduction to the shell and the screen so that they can be pre fitted prior to paint.

The MG project

Well, this is my attempt to log the progress on the rebuild of my 1973 MGB. I have owned if since 1986 and have driven for 130,000 miles. I have enjoyed all my time with the car and last year it was going to fail the usual MOT as the sills were rotten. Anyone who knows the MGB will understand the terminal nature of this condition.

So I have engaged the help of a professional to cut open the current bodywork and repair. However the amount of work needed to restore the body work was going to cost too much. So I have chosen to buy a Heritage body shell and take that path to restore the car.

In this blog I aim to document the progress of rebuilding the shell so that it may be usefull to others who may choose to take this path. I hope to cover all my thoughts and the experience in the process.

So, yesterday we took delivery of the new shell and I will be visiting the workshops to inspect the shell. I will be looking for the things that may need to be done before it goes off to the paint shop. The objective is to do any metal bashing before it is painted.

I will be pre-fitting all the axle, bumpers, class door catches etc so that the paint is not going to be chipped during the rebuild and when the doors, bonnet close.

Now I'm giving thought to the project plan and the order that jobs should be done once it is painted. I'll be having the axle, transmition, engine and front cross member, brake hydraulics fitted professionally and the I'll be doing the rest myself due to budget constraints - quite looking forward to doing this. We will see !