ANOTHER LONG DAY...

But a very rewarding one.  Paxton made the final adjustments and welds in the right side of the car.  The latch panel, door and rear fender were fitted at the same time to assure that the correct margins are maintained. 

The margins are precise and the body line is aligned properly. The fender patch panel between the rear wheel and the door was welded in place and screwed to the latch panel as it was originally.

The rear deck is made of aluminum and the finish was removed with chemical stripper.  Don did a great job. Tomorrow the rear deck will be finished and the front cowl will be stripped in the same fashion.  It too is made of aluminum.

In the last two days Bill has stripped both front fenders.  By the close of business on Friday most of the body panels will be stripped and prepared for primer.  The epoxy primer will be applied on Saturday.

The body work on the fenders and doors will begin on Monday.  

Stay tuned,

Tom McCurry

A LONG DAY AT THE SHOP

I spent almost thirteen hours at the shop today.  The work continued preparing body panels for primer.  Paxton worked this evening welding the patch panels we had made in place.  With the patch panel installation completed on the right side, the door latch panel was aligned with the rear fender.  The door was installed so that the margins could be confirmed.  The latch panel was then tacked in place.  It was a great fit.  I took several photos and then left the camera in the shop...long day.

I will be applying primer to the prepped fender, boot and underside of the bonnet tomorrow.  The guys will continue removing the paint from the body parts.

Life is good...and rewarding,

Tom McCurry

     

STRIPPING PAINT

It was just more of the same today.  Bill was off sick and Don spent the day prepping body parts for primer.  I was busy ordering paint.  

Finding the formula for colors this old is not easy.  Products have changed, therefore formulas have changed.    Lacquer paint was used when the car was built so lacquer needs to be used to restore the finish.  To date I have been able to find only one supplier for lacquer.  It appears, that I will need to go to Atlanta to purchase this paint.    Five quarts of lacquer costs almost a thousand dollars.  The last time I bought it, I spent fifty.  Times, they are a changin'. 

My local paint supplier representative is coming by the shop tomorrow to look at the existing finish and make recommendations.  He is also bringing more epoxy primer and chemical stripper for the aluminum panels.

Stay tuned,

Tom McCurry

BODY PARTS IN PRIMER

A "cold front" is coming through the area this weekend, so the temperature has dropped to the mid 50's.  After warming the shop and the body parts, I was ready to give them the final prep with metal cleaner and apply the epoxy primer.  The photo to the right shows the parts that were primed.  Both sides were primed on all the parts except for the hood which is shown in the foreground.  It needed a bit more work on the underside.  

I always use black primer after stripping the paint from the body part.  Small imperfections in the surface are more noticeable when black paint is used.  Notice the crease below the body line and several "dings" in the door panel shown in the photo to the left.

Again, in the photo to the right, notice how, even in a picture, the imperfections are more visible.  This will make the body work easier and the chances of overlooking a small spot is minimal. 

The hood, or bonnet, shown in the photo to the left, is in very good condition.  No body work, other than blocking will be required here.

As of today, half the body panels are ready for body work.  

More exciting stuff to come,

Tom McCurry

BODY PARTS READY FOR PRIMER

It was such a beautiful day in Hilton Head.  The sun was out, 74 degrees; just a perfect day.  Then, about 3 PM, the heavens opened and it rained until dusk.  Hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow. 

It took a bit longer than I expected to touch up the fenders, doors, hood and trunk lid but by mid afternoon they were ready to be cleaned and primed.  Due to the weather, I decided to wait until tomorrow morning to apply the epoxy primer.  Pictures will be posted tomorrow.  

Tomorrow,

Tom McCurry

STRIPPING PAINT

Bill worked most of the day stripping body parts.  Close of business today, both doors, hood, trunk lid, front valence and the right rear fender are ready for primer.  Weather permitting, these parts will be coated tomorrow.  Amazingly there was no rust on the bottom of the rear fender.  Since the fenders on the Big Healeys are exposed to the elements, and seem to  trap water and dirt, one would expect more damage.  

The moral to this story is, if you own a Big Healey, keep it in dry storage for 41 years and it will not rust.

Photos of the primer work will be posted tomorrow.

Y'all come back now...Ya' hear?

Tom McCurry

BILL THE STRIPPER

Tim was in the shop today to assess the condition of the chrome trim or bright work.  At the end of the day, the chrome items to be plated had been substantially reduced.  Tim came to the conclusion that most of the parts could be replaced less expensively than they could be  restored.  There are pieces such as the grille and associated pieces that are a bit pricey and those will be re-plated.

                                                                                                                                         

Bill stripped the hood, trunk lid and both doors today.  Now they are ready to be cleaned and primed.

Don and I spent the day removing rusted metal and fabricating and fitting the new patch panels.  Notice, in the photo to the right, the rust that was hidden behind the latch panel brace.  

A new patch panel was fabricated and fitted.  After this panel is properly located,  the rear fender will be installed again and the latch panel, shown below,  will be welded in place.  Then the lower fender panel will be installed.  At that point, this side of the car will be ready for sandblasting and primer.  

Enjoy,

Tom McCurry

PREPARING THE BODY FOR MORE PATCHWORK

With the passenger's side of the car almost finished, we moved our attention to the driver's side.  As I said before, the process is not difficult, just a bit time consuming.  We spent some time today preparing two more rusted areas for welding.  We will be fabricating the patch panels tomorrow morning.  

Tim will be coming by the shop on Wednesday morning.  He will be taking the bright work or chrome to a plating shop in Florida for an estimate.  I think some of the pieces can be re-chromed for less money that it would cost to replace them, others could be replaced less expensively and the rest are beyond re-plating.  Usually, when bright work is re-plated, it looks much better than the new pieces you buy.  In short, I'm glad Tim is making this decision.  

Stay tuned,

Tom McCurry

WHERE DO YOU FIND PARTS FOR THESE CARS?

Undertaking the restoration of a British sports car on any level is challenging.  To say the least these cars are a bit quirky.  There are many things to be concerned about, such as body damage from accidents, rust, and an array of mechanical issues.  Probably the point of least concern should be the availability of parts. 

The question I am asked most often is,  "Where do you find parts for a car this old?".  Oddly enough, almost every part on these cars is available.  With the help of the Internet, you can select from numerous suppliers of both new and used parts.  Some of them are even still manufactured in Great Britain.  It truly warms my heart to see that sticker on a new part I just purchased.  Of course, there are also the "made in Taiwan" parts.  They seem to be quite a bit less expensive and frankly the quality just doesn't seem to be there.  

I have found quality parts from Victoria British at victoriabritish.com, Moss Motors at mossmotors.com, englishparts.com, and of course eBay.com.  I use eBay frequently for locating used and new old stock parts.  There is  also a company called The Roadster Factory at the-roadster-factory.com that carries some body repair panels for Triumph and MG that are not available through the other suppliers.   Occasionally you will encounter a part that is difficult to locate, difficult but not impossible.  If all efforts fail, try the MG Experience website at mgexperience.net..  With a membership, you may used their forum to ask questions of the experts.

With these links at your disposal, you should be able to locate virtually any part you need.  If, in you quest for that illusive part, you happen to locate a company not listed above, please share it.

Keep 'em rollin',
Tom McCurry

INSTALLING THE NEW BODY PANELS

Installing new metal in rusted areas is a bit time consuming, but not difficult.  After cutting out the rusted area, the new panel is cut to fit and tack welded in place.  The patch panel is then stitch welded and ground down almost to the level of the new metal.  Although it will never be seen a small amount of filler will be used to level the area before the primer is applied.

To properly align the new rocker panel, the door and both fenders were installed.  This is done to assure proper margins between the door, fenders and rocker.  Since the lower part of the body will be a contrasting color, a great deal of attention must be given to keeping the body line straight.

After the rocker is aligned and tacked in place, it will be spot welded as it was originally.  After the new panels and areas surrounding them are sandblasted, the new rocker will be sealed on the inside to prevent rust.  Although I suspect, this car will never see a drop of rain.

I must take tomorrow off to rest the body, but work will resume on Monday morning.

Enjoy,

Tom McCurry

PREPARATION FOR INSTALLING THE NEW ROCKER PANELS, LATCH PANELS AND FENDER PANELS

When removing rusted rocker panels, the door thresholds, you expect to see a tremendous amount of damage to the frame beneath.  Not the case with this car.  There was minimal damage to the structure as you can see in the photo to the right and below.

Given, there will be some repairs required to restore the structure, but they are minimal.  

Patch panels for the inner fender outrigger were fabricated and installed with panel bond, an extremely strong adhesive.  Clamps are used to hold the new panels in place until the adhesive cures.  The edges will be tack welded to duplicate the original installation. 

Tomorrow, Paxton will be welding the fender repair panels, latch panels and rocker panels in place.  Hopefully, the welding on both sides of the car will be completed by the end of the day...in a perfect world.

Love this car...

Tom McCurry

WELDING PREPARATION

With most of the framework in primer, the preparation for welding the new patch panels in place is well underway.  The  rusted panels must be removed carefully as not to damage or distort the framework to which they are welded.  Each spot weld is drilled out as you will see in the photo to the right.  Then the panel, in this case the rocker, can be removed easily.

As you can see in the photo to the left, the rocker has been removed and the process did not damage the panel behind it.  The end near the rear wheel where the rust was more prevalent will require additional work.  The rust had penetrated all three layers of body panels.  Fortunately, there was no damage to the frame.

Bill worked half a day today stripping paint from the doors.  In the photo to the right, you will notice that the doors are in extremely good condition for their age.  Aside from a bit of rust in the bottom of the driver's door,  there are few blemishes.  Finding this much solid metal on a British car over 50 years old is both surprising and exciting.  This is a great car, certainly worthy of this restoration.

We will spend tomorrow preparing the car for the new body panels.  Saturday morning the welding will begin.  Have I told you lately how much I enjoy my work.

I remain,

Tom McCurry

THE FRAME IN PRIMER

The temperature topped out at about 65 degrees today so we had a perfect opportunity to apply the epoxy primer to the sandblasted areas of the Healey.  

The engine bay and the underside of the car were in primer by the close of business.  The resulting finish was excellent.  After the primed surfaces are scuffed the final finish will be applied.

The areas requiring additional repair and welding will be sandblasted and primed after the repairs are complete. 

Some of the repair panels arrived today and their installation is scheduled for Saturday. 

Later,

Tom McCurry

IT IS VALENTINES DAY

In case you have forgotten, it is Valentines Day.  I know my readers would never do that, but in case you know  someone...

Patterns for patch panels were made today and they will be fabricated tomorrow.  Some of the repair panels ordered from Moss Motors and Victoria British arrived today.  These will be welded in place this weekend.

We cleaned the shop today in preparation of tomorrows paint work.  The temperature is supposed to reach 70 degrees tomorrow afternoon, perfect for painting.  In the morning, we will tack off the areas to be painted and apply the epoxy primer. 

Photos will be posted tomorrow night.  

See you then,

Tom McCurry

FINAL TOUCHES...CLEANING SANDBLASTED AREAS

Bill spent half a day preparing the engine bay and the underside of the car for primer.  A few spots were missed by the sandblaster.  It was necessary to "dress" those areas with a power wheel.  After the dust was removed with compressed air, all the surfaces were wiped down with metal cleaner.  The engine bay and underside of the car will be put in primer on Wednesday when the temperature is more favorable.  

Tomorrow the necessary patch panels, that are required to repair some of the minor rust areas, will be fabricated and dry fitted.  There are only three of these areas, but they must be repaired.   

Stay tuned for photos of the car in primer.

Tom McCurry

NEW SHOP LAYOUT

We now have a new shop area.  There is plenty of room for all three project cars, the parts and all the required equipment.  We also have a "clean room" where some of the components will be rebuilt and stored in a dust free environment prior to installation.  This room will also be used to store new and restored parts.,

You will notice that we have plenty of space around the cars for several people and the required equipment.  Now the work can be accomplished without being cramped for space.  

The sandblasting cabinet and buffers are located in the rear of the shop.  The "clean room" is to the left and is visible in all three photos.  The main working area is located in the center of the space.  

If you are wondering about the angle of these photos; I am an extremely tall person.

Work will resume tomorrow.

Tom McCurry

THE BODY WORK BEGINS

As the body work begins the rear fenders and doors are  re-installed in order to assure the correct margin between them is preserved.  This must be done   before the new patch panels are welded in place. 

As Paxton and I were trying to align the left fender we noticed it had  been in a  minor collision  which did not allow it to fit properly to the rear deck panel.  Obviously the improper fit had been overlooked when the car was repaired.  The fit was  not that bad, but even minor flaws need to be corrected before the welding the patch panel.

After the fender was located as well as it could be the bottom of the fender was removed and the patch panel set in place.

The right side fit perfectly.  Only minutes were required to locate the patch panel.  That's how it is supposed to work.

After the patch panels are tacked in place the fenders will be removed and the welding completed.  Then the welds are ground off level on both sides of the fender and a small amount of filler will be applied to prepare the area for paint. 

The other patch panels will arrive later this coming week and fitted to the car probably on Saturday. The engine compartment and underside of the car will be touched-up with a die grinder on Monday and primer will be applied on Wednesday.  

Tom McCurry

REARRANGING THE SHOP

Don and Bill had the day off today, but it was an eventful day for me.  I spent most of the day rearranging the shop.  Having recently acquired additional space, we now have room for our three project cars.  Parts storage and ample working space was a growing problem.  Pictures of the new shop will be posted tomorrow.

We received the new nozzles for the sandblaster today.  Our portable blaster was purchased from Eastwood, a supplier of quality products supporting the automobile restoration community. It is a great piece of equipment but it certainly goes through nozzles quickly. I also restocked our media bin, so we will resume and hopefully complete the sandblasting process tomorrow.

Later,
Tom McCurry

RESTORING PARTS

I realize you are probably bored hearing about all the parts that need to be restored.  But just think how many parts it takes to build a car.  Every one of them needs to be either replaced or restored.  Point being, this phase may take awhile.  

Tim and his friend Jessee arrived mid morning and we discussed the progress of the restoration and the color choices.  Color is a major issue when restoring an Austin Healey 3000 to its original specification.  Tim has applied for a Heritage Certificate which will certify the original equipment and color scheme of the car.  Since the car was Colorado Red on its birthday, Tim agreed, it is probably a good idea to repaint it Colorado Red. There may be more attractive color schemes; that is matter of personal taste.  But, in order to properly preserve this Healey it is imperative that the car is restored with its original equipment and color scheme in mind.  

We completed the paint process on the differential this afternoon and blasted, primed and painted all the bumper supports.  We also removed the old universal joints from the drive shaft and prepared it for the installation of the new ones.  They will be pressed into place tomorrow.

Paxton is scheduled to begin welding the new patch panels on the rear fenders tomorrow evening.  Now it's getting interesting.

Later,

Tom McCurry

SANDBLASTING IS ALMOST FINISHED

I thought it was going to rain all day.  If it had, that would have postponed the sandblasting for sure.  But it didn't rain a drop.  Bill spent all day blasting the car.  I thought we would have it done by close of business today, but that didn't happen...not for lack of effort though.

Bill has done a thorough job and you wonder how that is even possible considering all the airborne dust, sand, rust and paint particles hampering your view.  

Good weather is expected tomorrow and we have allotted the entire day to finishing the blasting.  So far we have used 28, fifty pound bags of sand.  Hopefully we have enough to finish the job.  

Don completed the paint prep today on the differential and I applied the primer.  Quite a change, wouldn't you agree.  Tomorrow the final paint will be applied. Notice the gear housing or "hog's head" is masked off.  This part is made of aluminum and we believe it should be unfinished...still researching.

Hope you enjoyed today's post.

Tom McCurry

  

SANDBLASTING HAS BEGUN

It has been an eventful day.  The first thing this morning, we moved the car outside and setup the sandblaster.  As it turned out, the media I had purchased yesterday was a bit too large for the nozzles on the blaster. I made another trip to Savannah and purchased a finer media.  Minutes later, Don was blasting away.  For a portable blaster, it really did a great job; or maybe it was Don's expertise.  

By the end of the day, Don had about a forth of the car's surfaces done and had used about 500 pounds of media. As you can see, the media removed all rust and paint...down to bare metal.  As we expected, the body and frame are in extremely good condition.

Another eight hours or so and we will be ready to clean and prime.  I spoke with Tim earlier in the week and I think the color choice has been made. We have another week or so before the finish coats will be applied to the frame.  Now you will begin to see the car take shape.  Are you excited Tim?

Tomorrow will be spent cleaning the shop.  

Stay tuned,

Tom McCurry

SANDBLASTER IS READY TO GO

Don and Bill had the day off today, so after my trip to Savannah to pick up the sandblaster media, the rest of the day was spent rearranging the shop.

I had acquired some heavy duty shelving earlier in the week and it will be used to store the reconditioned parts for Tim's Healey.  The amount of floor space required to store a disassembled car and its parts will boggle the mind.  Throw two more cars in the mix and you need a shop the size of the average three bedroom home.

At any rate, the shop is being rearranged to accommodate all the cars and parts and still have working room around each car.

Tomorrow morning the sandblasting will finally begin.  Hopefully the process will require less than a day...we will see.

Tom McCurry

READY TO BLAST

We finished cleaning the car and differential today but the media for the sandblaster hasn't been delivered yet.  I plan to go to Savannah tomorrow morning and pick it up.  Don, Bill and I will be sandblasting the car on Friday.  

When the sandblasting is completed the car, with the exception of those areas where welding is to be done, will be coated with a good epoxy primer.  

To date the body repair panels have not arrived, but I expect them soon.  We have the two fender repair panels and those will be installed first.

Tom McCurry