painted wire wheel 2007 October Sand blasted, primed, and painted the wire wheels with Eastwood Detail Silver finished with Dupli-color Clear wheel paint. Purchased an mounted Vredstein Sprints 165SR from Universal Vintage Tire near Hersey PA. One wheel wobbled on the balancing machine so that one will be replaced with another from the extras stored in the garage. When weather permits another wheel will be sandblasted and painted. Four steps forward and one step back. Wind screen and frame work in progress. A new clear windscreen ordered from The Roadster Factory arrived in one piece. During the 4 week wait another windscreen frame with Triplex glass was won on eBay. The glass has some wiper marks so a polishing kit was purchased from Eastwood. A search is underway for anodizing the windscreen frame side pillars. The aluminum pillars on the three frames in the garage have wear and corrosion on the anodized finish. The top and bottom pieces will be sanded and polished. Then the fun begins to get the glass into the frame. It's time to start thinking about rebuilding the engine, which parts and where to buy them.

interior 2007 April Interior. Carpet from BHive. Moss Motors panel kit. Original rubber floor mats eBay. Dash repainted with black wrinkle. New dash pad mounted to the dash. Door caps recovered with black vinyl supplied with the Moss kit. Seats with new foam and diaphrams recovered with leather kits from MG Centre UK restored earlier during the project bolt to the floor. The Les Leston steering wheel is restored. The wooden rim is reglued, coated with polyurethane, and the center spokes polished. The LL steering wheel will be inchanged with a original banjo steering if the car is presented for judging. Interior

wiring 2007 March Wiring. The car was stripped to the bare shell for painting and all the wiring was removed. Pictures were taken of the wiring in the area of the engine compartment and under the dash before it was removed. A good wiring diagram was copied from the Bentley book and enlarged for easy reading. A new wiring loom was purchased from British Wiring. Before the wiring loom was installed it was was sprayed with Sunbrella 303 fabric protection to keep it looking new. A battery charger was connected to the wiring to check the wiring an lights. New wire, clean connections, dielectric grease will keep the Lucas curse at bay. Wiring

front suspension 2006 November Front suspension. The front suspension was removed from the car 11/2004 as a complete unit. The first challenge is to remove the springs. A cheap spring compressor was located and modified to fit inside the spring. Every nut and bolt was rusted solid and needed several applications of penetrating oil and heat to break them loose. The springs were compressed and the upper trunion bolt was hammered out. Once the springs were removed, the crossmember was striped bare and all the parts were cleaned, primed and painted black. The spindles required rebuilding with new kingpins and bushings. The crossmember was mounted to the frame rails the suspension was assembled. Deteriorated rubber was replaced with new black polyurethane bushings and crossmember pads. Suspension front

rear suspension 2006 October Rear suspension. The springs were removed and the rear axle was cleaned and painted black. New polyurethane pads were used along with new u-bolts and bushings attaching the axle to the car. New brake shoes, cylinders, and brake lines were installed. The differential and axles did not appear to be leaking so they were not disturbed. Suspension rear

one more on 2006 June The assembly process begins. The first part to go back on the car is the fresh air vent drain tube. The heater is the next. Now an awareness and caution overcomes the enthusiasum, BE CAREFULL, don't scratch the paint. Parts are going back on the car much slower than when they were removed. One tip I learned from Carl Heideman, Eclectic Motorworks, at a Tech Seminar held during the Carlisle Import Show, was to have all the parts refurbished, cleaned, and ready to install with required hardware and gaskets. His main point was to do this as the parts are removed from the car so everything can be boxed, labeled, and stored. Well that tip was too late for me, the car was already stripped, but over the years of the project during the winter months many of the parts were rebuilt, painted, and cleaned.

paint me painting primer painting 2005 September - October Paint, what do I know about paint? Nothing. After the bodywork was finished, I went to my local automotive paint supply store C.A.R.S. and explained to them that I wanted to paint a car. Rick was a big help and explained the process. Rick also sold me all the paint, hardeners, solvents, and other supplies. After reading the information Rick provided on the R-M paint, I decided to invest in a HobbyAir respirator system to protect myself. The unit draws fresh air from the outside and pumps it into a mask or hood. The garage was ventilated with an attic house fan through vents I had built into the floor. The car was stripped down to bare metal and wiped with tack cloth. Paint step 1, spray the entire car with an epoxy primer. I mixed the paint and hardener and poured it into the inexpensive Devilbis gravity feed HVLP spray gun. I put my space suit an tested the spray pattern. The first painting was applied to the bottom of the car on the chassis. The car was on a rotisserie and tilted on its side for this application. To my surprise, everything went well. No, runs, drips, or errors. I continued to spray the entire car with the epoxy primer. The epoxy primer was block sanded with 400 grit paper and any body imperfections revealed were fixed and resprayed. Filler primer was srayed on the body next and block sanded with 400 grit paper. The sealer primer was srayed over the filler primer. By this time I have had practice and more experience with the spray gun. Next, the colour tartan red RD9 was sprayed on in three coats following the instructions to allow the paint to flash 15-20 minutes between coats. Finally the last step in the spraying process was to clear coat the color. The clear coat was sprayed on about a week after the colour because of the weather. It was nearing the end of October and there were a few days when the weather did not cooperate with daytime and evening temperatures in the 50s. The clear paint needed to be applied in temperatures above 60 degrees. The clear coats were the most difficult to spray because of the fog it created in the workspace. It made it difficult to see and resulted in a few runs and missed edges. Fortunately 3 coats were applied and missed edges were covered. The car was left to dry for a month before the final wet sanding with 1200 grit to 2000 grit paper. Not done yet, the clear coat needs to be buffed with a combination of compounds and pads to a brilliant shine. Now its done. The bottom of the car was treated to a coat of tinted bedliner after the epoxy primer was sprayed. Paint chassis.

body work body work 2004 December - 2005 August Body work, its time to learn how to weld. Sills LH and RH were rust damaged and required replacing. Side member, castle rail, inner sill, and outer sill were replaced on both the left and right hand sides of the car. Sills Rear wings were rusted along the top of the wheel wells and in the lower section between the door and wheel. New lower half wing repair panels were installed along with new outer wheelwell sections. Rear wings Floors LH and RH were rusted through and required replacing. The Steelcraft replacement floor panels were trimmed as originals and were replaced on both the left and right hand sides of the car. Floors Rear valance damaged by the exhaust system. This is common damage found on a rear valance caused by an object catching on the exhaust system and pushing the exhaust system through the valance. This was repaired by cutting out the damaged section and welding a patch. Valance Battery boxes were rusted off on the bottom. Box bottoms were rebuilt. Battery box Front wings were rusted along the bottom behind the wheels and the RH was damaged in the front between the headlamp and grille. A replacement RH wing was used and repaired around the parking lamp area. New lower half wing repair panels were installed on both wings. Front wings

rust bucket 2004 October The official start. Interior components are removed and packed in storage. As parts are removed they are identified, bagged and labled. Pictures are taken from various perspectives to record where parts were located and how they appeared before they were removed. The engine and gearbox is unbolted from the body and the engine lift pulls the lump from the car. The engine and gearbox are separated for storage in the shed. The car is placed on jack stands. The front and rear suspension are removed and rolled away from the car. The front and rear rotisserie mounts are manufactured and bolted in place. The shell's center of gravity is calculated by a uneducated guess. The car is lifted one end at a time and blocked until the rotisserie stands can be connected. Good guess, one person can turn the car 360 very smoothly with it slightly top heavy. rotisserie

seats 2003 December Winter begins in the NE US. Purchased black with red piping leather seat upholstery bottoms and backs from MG Centre in the UK. New foams and diaphrams for the fresh painted seat frames.

waiting 2004 - 1983 The project is in storage. A number of parts are purchased and stored with car, floors, sills, castle rails, wings, quarter repair panels, bumpers, grille, and various small pieces. Tools and equipment that will be used in the restoration process are purchased. A air compressor, MiG welder, floor jack, pressure blaster, and power hand tools are added to the tool box.

1983 September Look what Moose talked me into taking home. The owner purchased as a project but soon realized it required more work than he was willing to complete. MG The PA safety inspection sticker on the windsreen says 1978. The car has not been on the road for 5 years. The orginal colour is Tartan Red under the faded poorly painted Mineral Blue. It has the usual rust in the sills and floors. The odometer shows 82K miles.