Richard,
I was happy to read that you bought the GT, and am hoping that you
find it to be something you can mend yourself. A couple of listers
noted that the parts you referred to were structural, and that is true,
they most certainly are. A comforting thing about the GT is that,
because of its fixed head, the entire car is far more rigid than the open
car, thus the "chassis" underpinnings are a bit less critical than they
are on the open cars.
My GT was, as they say, ridden hard and put away wet. When I bought
it ten years ago it was overpriced, but still not a lot of money, my wife
wanted the car and I bought it. Since then I have got the OD working,
fixed leaks, replaced alternator, tires, fuel tank, etc, and, although
it's not a true beauty, it isn't a bad looking express cruiser, which is
just what the GT was intended to be. I've had both open and GT MGBs, and
I much prefer the GT.
When you get the welding work done, you can coat everythign reachable
with POR15. The unreachable bits can be sprayed with Waxoyl (moss sells
the stuff) which is a paraffin/beeswax goo in a solvent. Sprayed in place
it spreads around a bit and sticks in place. There are said to be some
better products, but this is pretty good stuff and easy to use.
As you do work on the car, keep in mind that the GT's unit body
attracts sound, confines it into the cabin, then magnifies it. They get
the darndest resonance at certain engine and road speeds, so keep
sound-absorbtion in mind as you work. Things I have done include
replacing the under-dash panels, a second layer of carpet underlayment,
underlayment under the spare tyre, underlayment on top of the plywood
under the carpet, under the back seat, foam blocks in the "B" pillars.
Fuel tank must have the rubber strips on top and have the fibre washers
in place per illustrations. And, great improvement just made this
weekend---replace the thrust washers, all four of them, and the pinion
shaft, in the rear axle.
Hope you enjoy the GT as much as I do.
Bob
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