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i simply upload images to photobucket then copy the IMG Code straight into my links to embed my build photos.
I'd greatly encourage all builders to start a "xyz's build thread" so that we can track and comment on your progress. Although beware of people kidnapping it to talk about other things <cough> <cough>
now back to the build....
Sorry, my fault I think, consider myself told off.
Sorry, i wasn't specificlly telling you off, although i was in a bit of a michievious mood that day
TBH this is the friendliest and most helpful forum i have ever been a member of! I suspect that is largely due to the people on here and the fact that we're all of the same "suck it and see" mindset, especially us Sammio types and having Gary posting on here as well is superb!
On the car side, my replacement bulb holders have turned up from Spitfire Graveyard, so i'll hopefully start soldering them in this weekend so i can test the dials, then it's just the front lights to test and the rear lights and mirrors to position and then the exterior is done and ready to be stripped apart again for painting
I'm doing LOTS of reading on paint spraying ATM as i haven't done it for a long time and my garage is already starting to look like a set from Torchwood as i'm starting to hang plastic ground sheets up protect things.
I realised last night that i reckon that i could have it "finished" if i could give it about 2 straight days! Scary!!!
dont be to scared about spaying the car, you can allways use 1500 grit wet and dry paper to block it back to nice smooth finish and the mop it up after,oh mop is polish guys,,,,, and then you singing and dancing all the way to the finish line.
No worries, but I still haven't worked out how to compress and post pics...
I can't believe how quickly some of you guys have progressed your builds. Mine's going together at Tai Chi pace. Work and family stuff just keeps cropping up and getting in the way.
Good luck with the final stages and keep us posted with pics of the work in progress.
dont be to scared about spaying the car, you can allways use 1500 grit wet and dry paper to block it back to nice smooth finish and the mop it up after,oh mop is polish guys,,,,, and then you singing and dancing all the way to the finish line.
Brilliant progress last night, all of my electrics are now in and working!!
That includes having to re-wire the dash warning lights, which was not as bad as i was dreading.
I've just got to test the main/dip beam this morning and then it's time to strip it all apart and package everything up and then i can start filling/sanding/painting this week!
I'll post some pics later when it's ready to paint.
If anyone is interested, i have a set of four 15" MGC wire wheels with 185 SR 15 tyres for sale. They need a refurb, but the tyres seem good and i believe that they also have tubes fitted.
I'm willing to part with them to a fellow club member for what i paid for them, £40 each.
If there's not interest in the next few days they'll be posted up on flea bay with £160 as the starting price for all 4.
I could only recess my bulkhead so far as i've lowered my battery quite a bit and i couldn't recess it far enough for the 185 SR 15's to get full travel.
I need about another 10mm or so.
So as i've decided to buy new tyres anyway and i'd have to fit inner tubes on my existing rims and I'd still need get the wheels refurbished, i did all the costings and for me to do it all to my standards it would end up costing me as much as a new set of painted "tubeless" wheels and tyres!
That said.... If someone can mod their donor to fit the 185 SR 15's and get the clearances sorted and is up for refurbishing the wheels themselves like i was originally planning then you'd be looking at wheel/tyre price + some paint stripper / blasting soda and a few cans of paint. A very cheap way in to 15's!
I could only recess my bulkhead so far as i've lowered my battery quite a bit and i couldn't recess it far enough for the 185 SR 15's to get full travel.
I need about another 10mm or so.
So as i've decided to buy new tyres anyway and i'd have to fit inner tubes on my existing rims and I'd still need get the wheels refurbished, i did all the costings and for me to do it all to my standards it would end up costing me as much as a new set of painted "tubeless" wheels and tyres!
That said.... If someone can mod their donor to fit the 185 SR 15's and get the clearances sorted and is up for refurbishing the wheels themselves like i was originally planning then you'd be looking at wheel/tyre price + some paint stripper / blasting soda and a few cans of paint. A very cheap way in to 15's!
How wide are your 15" wheels? I'm guessing they're 5" or 5 1/2" , if they're 4 1/2" the 185 tyres are likely to come off the rims the first time you try to corner hard. I've done a fair bit of research on this one and the received wisdom is that 175mm is as wide as you can go on a 4 1/2" rim, unless anyone can tell me different?
After a fair bit of measuring and soul searching I think I'm going with 175/70/14 Uniroyal RainExperts on standard MGB rims. that'll give me the same diameter as 155/80/14's which I've worked out should fit without modifications to the bulkhead and are a fair bit bigger overall than the 13's. Once I've sourced some splined adaptors I'll start attaching the wheels and see what fits: as luck would have it my MGB wires came with a mixture of 155 and 165 tyres so I can do a bit of jiggling. And yes, I know it doesn't have a roof but I really like the look of the Uniroyals and they get good reviews in the dry too... http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Uniroyal/RainExpert.htm
i'm thinking of going for the same style of tyres for the same reason!
Old/existing wire wheels are 5.5, and 185 were std fit for the MGC.
I'm getting a brand new set of tubeless 5.5 x 15's, but i'm going to go with 175/65/15's
I've got a palm sander that's doing all of the leg work atm on the filler with 80 grit paper, as well as a 60 grit flap wheel in the angle grinder for those moments when my patience wears thin
I've then got just using a normal hand sander to flat back the undercoat and topcoat as buying the right grade paper in square sheets for that is _much_ cheaper than buying the triangular velcro backed sheets for the palm sander!
After lots of reading, I'm going to use 400 grit to flat back the primer and then 1200 grit on the topcoat.
I'll let you know how it goes!
It's taken all week this week of filling and sanding just to prep from the back end as far forwards as the dashboard!
I've got to finish off the dash (as my angled instruments are taking a fair bit of work to finish) and then do the bonnet before i can start spraying, so i reckon early next week before i start putting down paint.
What filler do you use on the fiber glass body?
Is it the usual two pack car body filler, are you finding it is blending in ok.
My worry is that you will see my attempts after spraying.
Pick my body up tomorrow so will see a Sammio for the first time then.....
That's great progress, like I said in a previous thread, my build is coming along at a Tai Chi pace due to work and family commitments.
I stripped the body panels off and cut down the front bulkhead with my 9" angle grinder (and part of the wiring loom, doh!) about a month ago but it's sat in the garage like that since.
Next step for me is to whip out the engine and gearbox, completely strip the chassis down, blast it back to bare metal and weld in a new driver's side front pan as the old one looks like a seive. Then fit a replacement sump gasket as the old one is letting oil piddle all over the floor before actually starting the build.
I'm aiming to have it mot'd in time for my birthday in mid January so I really need to crack on...
I've just learnt my first very important lesson about spraying cars....
NEVER buy 2nd hand spray guns!
I bought 2 2nd hand spray guns from the wife of a deceased neighbour. The first seemed to be fine, but when filled with primer the first time i pulled the trigger i had a massive comedy paint explosion along with comedy Glooping noises!
After i stopped laughing and tidied up the mess i tried the 2nd simpler gun.
Luckily this one didn't blow my head off, but it did leak! both air and paint!
That said i have managed to use it to put a complete base coat on the car so that i can see where i need to fill. But when that was done, that gun has gone in the bin as well and it's off to Toolstation in the morning!
Ok, i admit it, i COMPLETELY underestimated how much time/effort painting the car would involve!
That's not necessarily a bad thing as i've got no deadlines to adhere to apart from trying to make it to the Exeter show and I'm certainly enjoying myself doing it and learning things the hard way, but it's certainly a lot more involved than i expected.
At the moment it's a constant round of
Fill / sand / paint (paint gun explosion!)
/ fill / sand / paint
/ fill / sand / paint
/ fill / sand / paint
etc....
I can heartily recommend the cheap disposable overalls from Toolstation, at only £1.49 a pair i picked up 5 pairs "just in case".
Hopefully i should have all the major filling completed tonight (just the bonnet shut lines remaining) and then i'll try and get some pics up.
A useful tip to any prospective home sprayers.... when "de-robing" at the end of a painting session, do so outdoors! As the first thing you take off is your spraying mask, and there is still a lot of thinners in the air to act like uber-poppers!
Is there filling everywhere or just the seams? Are you putting on the top coat each time or undercoat and do you splatter the black to see where it needs filling? Take some in progress pics, i'd like to see what you're meant to do.
And its all reference, maybe we need a reference thread with all the little things we come across.
Hi Dave
On looking at my bonnet( not yet fitted) I see on the Drivers side rear of the wheel arch is wider/deeper than the passengers side. (up to the shut line of the bulkhead.
Did you trim down the trailing edge of your bonnet to equalise this or would this leave the bonnet out of true compared to the body.
Cheers Stewart
In places all over. i.e. minor imperfections and blemishes and small moulding holes.
garyh wrote:
Are you putting on the top coat each time or undercoat and do you splatter the black to see where it needs filling?
Most visible ones were filled and sanded before any paint went on.
Then the body was washed down and dried and a single layer of primer was applied. That showed up other blemishes, dips, holes etc.
So i'm filling and sanding those and then recover with primer until it's invisible.
There's no massive issues, just quite a few little ones!
garyh wrote:
Take some in progress pics, i'd like to see what you're meant to do.
And its all reference, maybe we need a reference thread with all the little things we come across.
Hi Dave
On looking at my bonnet( not yet fitted) I see on the Drivers side rear of the wheel arch is wider/deeper than the passengers side. (up to the shut line of the bulkhead.
Did you trim down the trailing edge of your bonnet to equalise this or would this leave the bonnet out of true compared to the body.
Cheers Stewart
Hi Stewart, i'm not sure how Gary fits his bonnets but with mine i made sure that after the suspension was altered that the front was all level and that it was "close" to the main body at the shut line and roughly in place. But seeing as the back edge of the bonnet is a bit wavy anyway i was always planning on finishing it with filler to get a more professional looking fit line.
If you look carefully at the two sides of my bonnet they are a bit different, but unless you studied them both in photos (and are more than a little backside retentive about it) there is nothing that looks out of place that i can't live with.
I'll try and get some photos tonight to demonstrate if that will help?
and then you singing and dancing all the way to the finish line.
layball: 