>Date: Wed, 10 Jan 1996 02:28:25 -0500
>From: Pschauss@aol.com
>Subject: MGB Incremental restoration
>
>I have a 1980 MGB which was "restored" by the PO using
>fiberglass and bondo to patch the holes. In all fairness, the guy
>did a good job of it, taking the car down to bare metal
>before priming and painting it. After more than four years, the
>car still looks good enough to impress the casual observer.
>
>It has two weak points.
>
>1. The rocker panels are too weak to allow use of the jack without
>cracking the "body work". ( No externally visible holes or
>signs that the car is sagging here). I can live with this indefinitely,
>using a scissors jack if I need to change a tire.
>
>2. The front fenders are showing noticable signs of rust bubbling
>through the paint in the area between the wheel and the door.
>I still do not have any holes here, but I suspect that I will within
>a year.
Like Ray, I assume the car is a roadster.
When you say 'The rocker panels are too weak to allow use of the jack without
cracking the "body work"', that's kind of a hint. If there's no sign of rust
further up than the roll pans then you might get away with just replacing
the lower portions of the fenders when you do the roll pans and sills.
They'll get ripped out when you do the pans anyway. But if you're hearing
real crackling when you jack the car up at the jack points, do look at
replacing ALL the stuff under the doors - not just the cosmetic outer skin.
All that stuff is what keeps the car from buckling in half when someone sits
in it with both doors open. :-)
You might look at doing the low stuff first and find out that's all you
need. It ain't cheap but it's a lot cheaper than going from the top down.
Glenn "No. Don't have a right fender" Schnittke
-----------------------------------------
Joyful Driving
Glenn Schnittke Recovering Musician
Nashville TN 615-385-2800
glenns@edge.ercnet.com 72147.3635@compuserve.com
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