Davecymru's Build thread - Page 5

davecymru · #81 29th August 2011, 09:12

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.

davecymru · #82 31st August 2011, 14:56

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.

garyh · #83 31st August 2011, 21:17

What was the outcome of wheels/tyre combination... do any just fit without cutting bulkhead?

davecymru · #84 1st September 2011, 08:19

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!

Mister Towed · #85 1st September 2011, 19:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by davecymru

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/Un...RainExpert.htm

davecymru · #86 1st September 2011, 20:10

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

davecymru · #87 1st September 2011, 20:11

oh, and todays progress update:

sanding / filling / sanding / filling / sanding / filling....... repeat as necessary!

I'm starting to understand why a professional paint job costs so much!

Mister Towed · #88 2nd September 2011, 07:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by davecymru

oh, and todays progress update:

sanding / filling / sanding / filling / sanding / filling....... repeat as necessary!

I'm starting to understand why a professional paint job costs so much!

I'm looking to do my own spraying too: to keep the costs down and because it's a challenge to tackle something I've never done before.

Are you just using elbow grease to do the sanding or are there any mechanical devices you'd recommend to achieve a speedy and smooth finish?

That's an open question to anyone with expertise in the field, btw.

davecymru · #89 2nd September 2011, 08:21

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.

Psycho pops · #90 2nd September 2011, 08:28

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.....

Mister Towed · #91 2nd September 2011, 08:35

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...

davecymru · #92 2nd September 2011, 10:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Psycho pops

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.

yup, normal body filler from halfrauds and it's all looking good so far.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Psycho pops

Pick my body up tomorrow so will see a Sammio for the first time then.....

Exciting, exciting, exciting, exciting.... take lots of pics!

davecymru · #93 3rd September 2011, 19:09

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!

It's a good job i've got a ton of sandpaper!

Sammio Builder · #94 3rd September 2011, 19:39

I can't tell you how much I laughed at that!

Made my evening!

Trevor.
http://sammiospyder.blogspot.com/

davecymru · #95 7th September 2011, 09:24

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".

http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Work.../sd3189/p90430

I'm also using the Toolstation suction feed spray gun,
http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Powe.../sd3164/p27117
and while it's obviously not the best or most fully featured gun on the market, it cheap, it's putting paint on the car quite nicely and it's not blowing up. Which is always a bonus!

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!

garyh · #96 7th September 2011, 09:33

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.

Psycho pops · #97 7th September 2011, 09:50

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

davecymru · #98 7th September 2011, 12:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by garyh

Is there filling everywhere or just the seams?

In places all over. i.e. minor imperfections and blemishes and small moulding holes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by garyh

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!

Quote:

Originally Posted by garyh

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.

Will do.

davecymru · #99 7th September 2011, 12:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Psycho pops

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?

Edit: corrected spelling - sorry matey!

Roadster · #**100** 7th September 2011, 19:11

You sound like you are having fun and the result will be worth all the effort.
Do you still have your finger tips? I normally wear through mine

But I will be happy when im at the stage your at - its only when the colour starts to go on that you start to see the light at the end of the tunnel.