Andy's awful autos: OMGB! Getting a bit steamy

[Andyrew]

4 minutes ago, SiC said:

How much? Got a link?

I could do with one on mine!

https://ebay.us/m/rrpIZj

[Andyrew]

Clearly! 

The bodywork on the shitfire is scruffy one end and shiney (ish) but shite the other . The bonnet is fantastically battered but pretty much grot free being an imported bonnet from california. While rust free, it has probably going on 100 dents or deep scratches. Now a good bodywork person could get this looking mint but I'm certainly not doing it.  Like with the MGB the paint is flat, flaking and rust is creeping in. 

I decided to use all the tail end cans I had of clear lacquer, 400 grit knocked back the paint and plastered the bonnet in what I had. Which was okay until everything reacted and one can broke halfway. 

With paint you really get what you pay for so I went off to my paint specialist for some clear lacquer.

4 cans later, this stuff absolutely stinks. This was ment to be another free spruce up but that kind of failed. 16 quid and some time later we have a bonnet that is a little more weather tight, cleanable and makes a feature of its shiteness. Good enough for me.

[Andyrew]

The paint specialist didn't seem to stock any "triumph painted random white donkeys years ago" in aerosols so I had to try the other supplier 

Sure enough they had some on the shelf

The headlight bezels are from the car and not the bonnet so are the same white as the rear end. I decided to knock back the top and some of the flakiness and give them a little spruce.  I'd ran out of panel wipe about 2 years ago and now I've ran out of brake cleaner so I used another surface prep liquid.

Some white piss water sprayed on And placed them in the oven with the car to cure

[Andyrew]

A second pair of eyes.

With the lights exposed, I decided to treat the spitfire too the H4 conversion lamps I had in the workshop. I even removed the red overspray from the headlight retaining trims, basically a full resto now. 

Eye plucked out

Dug out some (hardly even noticeable) brighter bulbs I had carefully kept in storage

New Eye fitted

Light bezel refitted 

And the other side to match

 

 

 

[Andyrew]

Next up is to deal with all this broken mess, the compound splatter is from when I got the car, the soot is from starting the VDP. Everything busted, bent or loose. 

[jim89]

[Andyrew]

playing catch up. 

I lost a few weeks due to allergies just kicking my arse almost every day. Haven't had it that bad in years. Now I'm back to normal ish and Various tinkering has occurred.

The triumph belive it or not is actually running! And running well too, honestly I'm not sure what the fix was but it's running spot oon. But upon closer poking the body tub and seeing how out of shape it is I started hunting a replacement shell but 2 leads just went quiet, so for now it pushed to one side. 

The sundried punto had recieved a fresh MOT and is ready for its new home later this week

the main target for the last 2 weeks ish has been the MGB. A workshop shuffle got it in place where I could address the rot. 2 cars were moved and the MGB went where the invacar is in this photo

 

 

[Andyrew]

The Offside had taken way too long so I decided to try get the nearside smashed out in a day, I was trying to be all careful and neat with the welding but in the end if the faster result just ment a wee bit more filler I thought sod it, just get it done. 

some of the repairs are a little more crude than id like, but they get the job done, this car has had sooooo much welding in the past, plus about 7 paint jobs, its never going to be a minter, so trying to do anything better than good enough would be a waste of time

I quickly made up some fill panels for the rubber bumper turned chrome bumper car situation.

then decided to delete on another of the MGBs crap styling. The reverse lights were told to GTF, two wee plates tacked in and wobbed over. I know OMG moisture blah blah. It'll be fine, least of this cars worries.

Then came hours of sanding, the painter on the farm offered to high build it for me.  But I'd already started doing the bodywork with intention to Rattle can minimal paint. Had I have know the paint was going to be done a little more professionally id have stripped it back to bare metal on the whole quarters. Ahh well done now.

 

[Andyrew]

Quite alot of skimming and sanding later the quarter panels are looking far better, these have had so much cutting welding and filler in the past they were so out of shape (and still are) but good enough is all I need.

[Andyrew]

This is a bit weird, something being done to a almost professional level on my cars. This car runs very well, well it did. But did it want to drive down to the painters? Did it bollocks. Fuel overflowing out the car and running like toss. Ungrateful bugger.

Anyway luckily the painter is down hill from my unit. 

The primers not as thick is i was under the impression it would be. If id have known that id have done the prep a little better. Again tho. This car is rougher than a dogs dinner , so . . .meh. And no, we wont be painting the tailgate!

Time for some flatting tomorrow then it's back down for some paint later in the week. The painters rummaged through his old tins and has found some old colours that are close, some mixing may occur and some eyeball colour matching. Will it be perfect? Nope. Is the paint free? Yep. 

Good enough.

 

 

[Andyrew]

Some photos that were on the ebay listing, while it won't be perfect, it's alot better than it was. 

 

[Andyrew]

Started blocking it back, this panel alone has had 10 welding repairs since it was new, so for it to be remotely straight is good enough for me.

[grogee]

Fabulous work Andy and glad you're out of the histamine haze now. It did seem pretty bad, I thought I'd been 'cured' but I was getting sniffy and itchy eyes again. Can't wait to see the B rocking the A5. 

[Andyrew]

Time for some close enough beige to be applied. 

[JMotor]

Fantastic job you've done with this.

Yes, it's not perfect. However it's miles better than what you started with. Something that'll you'll not be worried about driving, but still looks decent.

 

[Andyrew]

Painted,

The painter did some eyeball colour mixing of what random paints he had, and splashed on fast, once the chrome strip goes on the difference in colour  will hardly notice, There are imperfections, some bad prep showing  and the odd fish eye going on but it matches the rest of the cars shonkyness. And will be left in the gun finish that it is. 

[Peter C]

Will you be spraying the tailgate white?

Early MGBs didn’t have reverse lights. The back end looks neater without them.

Keep up the good work.

[jim89]

1 minute ago, Peter C said:

Will you be spraying the tailgate white?

Early MGBs didn’t have reverse lights. The back end looks neater without them.

Keep up the good work.

Noooooo !

And it's missing an autoshite sticker I believe 🧐

[Andyrew]

1 minute ago, Peter C said:

Will you be spraying the tailgate white?

Anyone who's seen the car has asked this! Maybe one day, but not anytime soon.  I didn't want to paint the wings or door bottoms but the painter said that was easier for him. 

The car has plenty of bodywork issues, and here's a good place too stop. 

[Andyrew]

8 minutes ago, Peter C said:

Early MGBs didn’t have reverse lights. The back end looks neater without them.

Much better, I resisted the urge to relocate the fuel filler lower down  and more inline with the centre of the panel were I think it should be design wise now that the overiders are not in the way

[jim89]

2 hours ago, Andyrew said:

Painted,

The painter did some eyeball colour mixing of what random paints he had, and splashed on fast, once the chrome strip goes on the difference in colour  will hardly notice, There are imperfections, some bad prep showing  and the odd fish eye going on but it matches the rest of the cars shonkyness. And will be left in the gun finish that it is. 

Once upon a time in my yoot' I spent ages re-painting rostyles like those on me mother's X reg Jamaica yellow Chevette... paintbrushes & Humbrol enamel iirc.    Eeeeehh etc etc🥲

[LightBulbFun]

8 hours ago, Andyrew said:

Anyone who's seen the car has asked this!

devise a quick-release mechanism for the tailgate, then get a stock of tail-gates of all different colours and just swap them out on a weekly basis? , maybe a little bit of Autoshite gaslighting? "wasn't the tailgate beige yellow?" "no no idea what your on about its always been bright blue!"

[Andyrew]

Well. . .testicles 

[grogee]

8 hours ago, Andyrew said:

Well. . .testicles 

Ungrateful bastard. 

It gets a gleaming new coat of Wilko Old English White, and rewards you by 'doing a British'. 

[Peter C]

I drove my MGB into London yesterday, to see my parents.

It was about 30C deg and traffic on the A40 was slow. My temperature gauge showed that the engine was running hotter than usual. Normally, the needle points about two thirds between cold and halfway but yesterday it got past the halfway point. The engine ran fine and I checked the oil and water when I got home and all was well. I got lucky and won’t be doing that again in a hurry.

Good luck sorting yours. Fortunately, taking the head off shouldn’t take much more than an hour or two and a new gasket set costs peanuts.

[grogee]

Yep, an HG swap is a walk in the park for a man of @Andyrew's calibre. Good old pushrod stone age engine. 

My Maestro got a bit warm in traffic the other day, so my next job will be to fit an electronic fan relay with which I can choose the fan-on temperature. It has a new 'otter switch' but I just don't trust it. 

[SiC]

I drove my MGB into London yesterday, to see my parents.
It was about 30C deg and traffic on the A40 was slow. My temperature gauge showed that the engine was running hotter than usual. Normally, the needle points about two thirds between cold and halfway but yesterday it got past the halfway point. The engine ran fine and I checked the oil and water when I got home and all was well. I got lucky and won’t be doing that again in a hurry.
Good luck sorting yours. Fortunately, taking the head off shouldn’t take much more than an hour or two and a new gasket set costs peanuts.

Getting to mid mark was normal for my BGT in hot weather. Usually it sat on about a quarter. The key thing is it's in the Normal range area and does not keep on rising above that.

If the cooling circuit is flowing fine, pump is pumping, fan is spinning with a decent idle (imo 900-1000 rpm on the b-series) and thermostat works then there should be no reason it'll overheat.

[SiC]

The ol' VP was getting toasty on a drive out yesterday. However never got above the Normal mark and was quite happy. I've heard all too often that the ADO16 is prone to overheating in heavy hot traffic due to the side mounted radiator. I don't find that true. My last one I had idling in 35c weather and the gauge stayed in the normal area.

[Andyrew]

I wasn't going to sort this just yet but wanted to get some bits on order.

An hour or so wrestling some coolant pipes off and I got it stripped down,  Nothing put up much of a fight thankfully, 

i had already learnt that this was a replacement engine,  but today i see its bored out 60 too

[Andyrew]

One thing I did find was the stat was missing, so im guessing somethings been up in the past.

The gasket didn't look obviously gone, exhaust valve on cylinder 1s a bit clean compared with the rest.