my open top/convertible classic british sports? car .

[henri]

Attachment DeletedAttachment DeletedAttachment Deletederes my missus's classic car daily driver ,far left is as bought,with a rotten hood an missing trim an rot in both doors an all wheelarches ,an covered in seagull poo scars that had eaten down to the primer/metal ,second piccy is with the fiberglass hardtop i managed to track down ,to stop it being a mobile swimming pool in rain, an last picture is it when we went shopping an got waved into a "classic car show" ,with new doors an 3 out of 4 wheelarches welded up, an all one colour even if it is ford "Riviera blue" ,havent got round to using the 2 litres of triumph wedgewood blue ive got an the ford colour is the closest match in rattle cans in local halfords .
ive been too busy replacing the diff an all suspension bushes an fitting new brakes an dampers an all hoses as the rubber was ancient an cracking, aswell as a few? welding jobs it needed an re-building a new spitfire 1300cc engine with a unleaded head an fast road cam to replace the tired spit engine already in it , apart from a new starter motor an windscreen wiper motor an a clutch failure its been reliable cheap transport .with free tax ,insurance under £100 a year for both of us fully comp ,it works out as daily transport for about a pound a day plus petrol, there's no modern car that would be anywhere near as cheap ,an def no where near as much fun to drive an getting as much attention an compliments , even the local cops n traffic wardens cut you some slack when parking cheekily ,an you dont need a computer to fix it ,
yes it wont sit at 80mph on the motorway all day ,but is quite happy cruising the a roads at 55mph with my bike trailer with a scoot on ,an in summer with roof off lovely to cruise around in,  making every journey something to enjoy rather than endure , puts a smile on my face as reliably as riding 1 of my scoots , henri 

[eean]

Nice one Henri, we have an MG midget too, it does the same job towing my sprinter trailer and we went out in it earlier for tea with the roof down, really love it, totally rebuilt it in the 90's so the lower half is starting to need some tlc, I just fitted the towbar and noticed the rear corners were startint to get tired, I'd welded everything up with repair sections including the arches which meant lots of filler eeuuurrgghh, so I've just got hold of two complete rear wings to change the ripply ones :-)

[henri]

mg eh, me pops just sold his mgb gt (rubber bumper) 1 ,he's giving up old motors as he's ancient.means more garages for me,bodywork is the next on my list ,did enuff to get it through mot's so far but concentrated on brakes/suspension/electrics an getting the hard top to stop leaking .keep running into old lead loading so thinking its time to learn how to do that rather than filler ,less dust but more deadly if ya do breathe it in.
i think mg's are the 1 car better catered for in spares,if ya had the cash ya can build a whole new car ,than triumphs .an a soft top is my "luxury final finish" dream .it only takes 5-10 mins to pop of the hard top but ya cant go far in case of rain .but worth the worry for the looks/reactions ya get when towing the trailer with a scoot/bike on it .specially my mates lamb-chop as its baby blue paint almost matches the car .got in free to a few shows/rallys with that 1 . Henri

[henri]

changed my mind about lead loading ,just spent a weeks "holiday" trying to weld all the frilly bits .am use to weld sparks burns an setting light to the rags i call clothes ,but draw the line at molten lead dropping into my groin or onto my chest.an it gives really crap welds aswell,looks like ive been squeezing a diarrhoeaic pigeon down the side of it .have to wait til i'm less frazzled an the neighbours can stand more grinder/sander noise to get cleaned back an filled.looks like a patchwork car at the minute ,H

[eean]

Aye its an artform leadloading Henri the old proper way not easy but modern fillers are a lot better than they use to be. I cant wait to get my rear wings changed on mine now they are in the loft till then though :-)

[henri]

yep,was going to try an learn the skill of loading ,but as the car is a keeper ,prob be buried in it ,it wud be me having to deal with it on future repairs ,havin a day off today in the rain dabbing cream on my burns an picking lead lumps out my scabs .dont think i'm goin to get enuff to drive to scrapyard an weigh in but i'm def feeling lighter myself . H

[henri]

this is why ya dont poke a rust bubble when supposed to be having a week off , 1 bubble a inch across , an now a week later bonnets welded/filled/prepped n painted , makes me wonder wether this is a hobby or a sickness ive got , H

[triffid]

ouch, that's why it is always good to strip a scoot/car before painting, you never know what is hiding there, Carla's scoot was a good example of this, thank god the very talented Sugarlump was around to help out with the delights revealed under her paint.

[henri]

the cars been lead loaded back in the day an then not re-sealed/painted to stop rust attacking the metal where paint was burnt off , then later attacked by a kiddy with a bumper family sized pack of filler .so under paint ya find filler then lead with rust stuck behind it where metal should be .its like being on time-team excavating a stone age burial going back thru the layers .H