Body work, colorsanding, trim and more!

It is finally time for an update and some good news for a change. After a couple years of spinning my wheels and not progressing, I did some researching and found someone who does body and paint work and, most importantly, "fixes other's mistakes". His name is Dickie. After a telephone conversation with him back in early April, I just knew he was going to be the one to color sand the paint and fix the dents in the cowl on Old Biddy (and not rip me off as Al did!).

We brought the car on a forty one mile trek across the center of Connecticut to his shop. Dickie was in constant contact with me on his progress and I could tell by his demeanor that he takes pride in his craft. A week and a half later (and a bit of money), we went back over and picked up Old Biddy.

Here she is gleaming in the sunshine at Dickie’s shop awaiting her journey home.

 

In order to make an attempt to drive her to the CT MG Club Gathering in three weeks, I had to get right to work on her. The first thing on the to do list was to finish the exterior trimming. But in order to do that, I had to buy new trim strip fasteners as the first set I bought was too small. I got BSF 078s a few years ago. Here are the correct BSF 076 fasteners fresh from England.

There were forty four of them to rivet in place. Patience and a cup of genuine British tea were my friends during this operation.

But finally…after 12 years of waiting…the gracefully arched trim strips were installed! To me, she just looked naked without them.

The rear boot (trunk) lid handle was tightened down and the thumb latch was adjusted to work properly. The license plate and MG badge of honor were put in place as the crowning touch! Now she is a proud and proper MG!!

Dickie’s color sanding brought out so much depth in the paint that I cannot believe it is the same car! Almost all of the orange peel and paint drips are gone now. Look…there are cloud reflections on her now!!

He did an amazing job fixing the cowl dents, from a couple years ago when the hood flew up on me.

Here are a couple shots of her in full glory.

Next up this week is to tackle the overheating issue. I have had many conversations with many people, who each have their own opinion on what to do. But, I think I have been over thinking the problem and have come up with a new theory with a simple solution. J let me borrow his mechanical temperature gauge from an MG Midget. I will explain why in a couple days.

Thanks for visiting,

Toddy