A week of reassessment.

This week I had to step back and take a break from working on the car. A faithful follower to this blog wrote me and asked me basically, “when are you going to start your car for the first time?”, and he “was tired of waiting”. He was correct! I am tired of waiting, too!! This got me thinking. A new assessment had to be made of what the next priorities should be. I thank him for his inspiration as I veered off track for a month.

To fulfill a request first, I snapped a picture of the rear c pillar pads that I remanufactured last week. (Thanks to David in England!) This is the left one, the right one looks the same.

As of right now, “Old Biddy” sits on dollies, one under each wheel. This makes it difficult to move her around by myself. I must get her down on the ground and rolling under her own devices.

To do so, I have to hook up the hydrolastic suspension hoses. This one will be easy.

This one will be a challenge. In hindsight, we should have hooked them up as we were setting the motor in place. After that I must check the rear connections and then call Chris, who rebuilt the engine. He has one of the very few hydrolastic pumps in the United States to set up the suspension.

And, I had a major setback this week. I discovered that the door striker plates do not match the body shell. There are three screw holes here. Remember, the actual body is a 1969 Austin America.

The striker for a 1965 MG 1100 are on the right. In comparison, the matching Austin America striker plate is on the left. Quite different.

But wait, there’s more! A friend bought me an NOS left (driver’s) door lock latch. This would fit the striker plate for the America but not the one for the MG. The installed original MG latch is on the left.

John let me have another lock latch for the America but, the door mechanism connection holes are square and not round. We do not know if this will matter.

To make matters worse, I have the America door shell but no hardware whatsoever. I hope the handle mechanism matches, if not BIG problems. In any case, the conclusion was that the doors will have to be swapped.

So this week I will shift my focus towards getting “Old Biddy” rolling and steering on her own. Following that, I can take her to the shop to have a new exhaust system installed and then I can finally start her!! THEN I can have the headliner put in. It is all about priorities! Thanks to my friend in Russia for setting me straight again!!

Thanks for visiting.

Toddy

Interior mock up.

Now that all the bits and pieces are cleaned up, repaired, repainted, or newly reproduced (fabricated), I wanted to get them all in place in the car to see what I am missing or still need to do.

The rear seat backing panel was finally installed. I marked the holes from inside the trunk (boot) while my wife held it in place. Then the holes were drilled and it was pop riveted in place.

It looks great from inside the trunk (boot).

I say this is a "mock up" because everything will have to be taken out so the headliner and vinyl trim can be installed.

The right side (passenger) door pocket, panel and armrest were set in place after they were repaired.

Then I laid the carpet down to see how everything fit together.

I will have to make holes for the steering column and the dimmer switch.

The rear seat was then set in place. It looks like an actual car now!!

I also worked on a couple other parts (fabricating new c pillar padded inserts, and one door carpet fastener strip was refinished) which I did not take pictures of. I have decided to take the car to the same place that reupholstered the rear seat to do the vinyl trim and headliner installation. That will hopefully happen within the next three weeks.

Thanks for visiting.

Toddy

Rear seat, other side panel pocket, and YEAY!!

My goal was to get all ready for the carpet kit arrival this week. Other non-related summer projects slowed me down but quite a bit was accomplished anyway.

The rear seat smelled like a mouse died in it so I had to investigate.

                                    

Once I took the vinyl covering off it, I discovered that it was just moisture trapped in the 47 year old padding. It has been so humid here the past couple weeks that everything is getting smelly. I sprayed the padding with Glade freshener (which works better than Febreeze) as it baked in the sun to dry out, and then sanded and painted the seat pan.

Once it was all re-assembled…

...I set it in place in the car for mock up.

It looks nice next to the side panel in place.

Then I concentrated on repairing the passenger (right) side rear inner pocket.

Yikes…it was complicated!! Once I finish the repair and clean it, it too, will go out in the car.

Then last evening we saw the DHL truck back down our driveway. This was delivered!!

I must give kudos to Coverdale (UK) Ltd. in Wigan, England. What a fantastic job they did on making this kit!! Their craftsmanship is great! The color match is excellent as their Antique red is very close to the original Tartan red.  The only complaint I have is that they did not put a hole for the headlight dimmer switch for a Left Hand Drive car as they do for their Right Hand Drive kits. Guess what I will be doing this week?

Thanks for visiting.

Toddy

Rear side pocket repair

It was oppressively humid this past week which made working on the car unpleasant. I did manage to do some work in my cool cellar though.

The rear seat side pockets needed some attention. Since it is nearly impossible to find replacements, I decided to try to repair the ones I had. The driver’s side (left) was less damaged so I repaired the cardboard with some Elmer’s Carpenter (yellow) glue.

It seemed to do the trick on the torn parts. To keep it safe for now, I installed it in the car but did not secure it yet.

For kicks and mock up, I also put the side panel on with the arm rest. This will have to be removed when installing the rear seat cushions. Everything lines up as it should. Notice how it hides the repairs.

The right side pocket is much more damaged. The corner was torn off. Thank goodness it was saved and not thrown away!! I will operate on it this week then put it in the car.

I also polished up the hand brake lever and set that in place for now. It will be removed for carpet installation.

The front seat rails were also sanded and painted and lubricated. They look and work great now!

The weather is supposed to be much better with much lower humidity. I hope to get everything all finished and set for carpet installation by the end of this week, although I probably will not receive it until the end of next week.

Thanks for visiting.

Toddy

Glass and more interior.

I have to start thinking ahead to what will be worked on next. Thus, I will not be waiting for parts later as I am now. After the interior is pretty much finished, the windows will need to be installed.

Both front and rear windshields (windscreens) are in excellent condition and are safely stored in my cellar. (I took their padding away for the picture.)

But after examining the rubber seal strip for the front windshield, I discovered it is pretty tattered and unusable. I ordered an NOS rear strip from Australia. Guess I should have gotten one for the front, too!

The rear side windows are also in great condition. They just need a good cleaning up.

The rubber strips for them disintegrated. So I kept part of one as an example for the profile.

The decorative strips are also in bad condition. They are all cracked and pieces are missing. Have to ponder whether I should get new ones or not.

Great news! The rear cushion was restored in record time!! It matches the original Tartan red very closely. Noreen at our local Classic Auto Interiors in Torringford, CT is brilliant…her tuck and roll is gorgeous!! After the car is done, I decided to bring the rest of the seats in to her…but NOT now.

I could not wait to set it in place in the car. Looks amazing!! Notice the color comparison to the door panels (which I restored last year), and the black painted rear backing panel that is awaiting installation.

She also gave me a free strip of fabric for the rear shelf panel. The color match is great. The original textured vinyl is impossible to find. I am happy with this.

So I cut it to size…

…stapled it in place…

…and finished it off.

Moving along and making progress!

Thanks for visiting.

Toddy