MG Sports Cars

Thanks Rick, MrMike is going to be doing my Miata seats. I've been talking w/him for a while now. He was slammed getting kits out before Christmas so will be sending me some vinyl samples when he's finished those. I have the ostrich (simulated) that'll be used in the center sections & had the place I got it send him some too. He's finding me some coordinating plain material for the outters & backs. I'm planning to do mine w/slots for a 4-pt harness although still debating that because the miata seats are narrower up top.

Is he doing that actual recovering job for you as well?

Or making the kit and sendng it to you to do?

Curious as to the differences (if any) in the Miata vs Fiero in terms of "degree of difficulty"

Be sure to post pictures!

He's making the kit & sending it. Will definitely post pics.

Some down and dirty advise:

The first time I did seats (for my GT)...I watched the supplied video a couple of times....then did a seat (with the video on pause for quick reference).

The second seat goes a LOT quicker than then first.

Take your time in prepping the seat foams, supplementing the bolsters, have a roll of duct tape by your side, etc.

Keep your fingers away from the hog rings and pliers. I've donated some blood on each seat I've done! :)

Today I sandblasted the seat rails for the Roadmaster's new seats...tomorrow I will paint them.

Yesterday I completed the bottom seat assembly of the passenger seat - and repaired the seat back.

If time allows, I will finish the seat back tomorrow and then reassemble the seat.

Then all they will need are the seat rails re-installed and adapt the rails to fit the existing mounting holes for the MGB.

GOOD NEWS Everyone! (I just love saying that.) We have an upcoming MGB-Roadmaster work weekend scheduled for a week from now, the weekend of January 16th and 17th, in conjunction with the Spurious Winter Party, all to be held at Mantell Motorsports in Sydney, Illinois! (Pete, I *seriously* hope you are ready for the onslaught!)

It's been longer than it should have been since I've posted to this thread and I hope you will all excuse me for that. Edith, Matthew and I hosted the Blackwood family Christmas party this year and it was quite an ordeal getting the house in order for the party, and then getting back to normal afterwards. Suffice it to say that between completing the basement, setting up the 115 year old family billiards table, converting it to an 8 x 12 ft banquet table, and all of the furnishings, decorations and other preparations, it has all just flown by in a rush of activity. So I hope my absence can be excused.

At any rate, we are very much looking forward to renewed efforts on the project, having a first hand look at Rick's reupholstering job (and trying them out) tidying up the cockpit of the car, completing the brakes, completing the radiator install, and finally, working up a comprehensive punch-out list of remaining items that need to be completed before the summer show. I honestly do not know what the chances are of getting the car out on the lane in front of Pete's house, but I'd be the last to object if it can be done safely.

I'm also very much looking forward to the annual meeting of the Spurious, with the attendant chance to socialize with close friends and make new ones.

Our venerable Treasurer, Steve DeGroat and I will be traveling together from my location and we will be bringing Matthew along as well. His presence for this meet is virtually guaranteed, as Edith will be out of town that week.

In winters past we held the semi-annual B.A.D.A.S.S. business meeting on Sunday morning after festivities had wound down and unless suggested otherwise I see no reason to change that precedent, so if you want to make the business meeting you need to plan on staying overnight. Or coordinate a different time slot that is agreeable to all. The parent function being the Spurious meet, in the past I felt it would be inappropriate to interrupt that activity but I am open to change if the Spurious welcome it.

So I am very much looking forward to seeing everyone there and have high hopes for a very enjoyable weekend.

Your humble servant and President of B.A.D.A.S.S.

Jim Blackwood, Esq.

We had a good work weekend.

Jim Blackwood, Carl Floyd, Steve deGroat, Pete Mantell, Richard Moor, Mikel Moor, Three Toms, myself, and several locals worked on the car.

Radiator is in and needs proper hoses. Seats are in. Clutch hydraulics and brake hydraulics (with new front hoses) are functional. Sebring-style fibreglass front wings have been appropriated and will be installed.

Pete has pictures to post.

We had a good crowd at the combined Spurious winter party and Roadmaster weekend. I'm not too familiar with the newcomers so I will defer to Pete to make their introductions and will instead try to concentrate on giving a decent progress report. The car was up on the rack when Steve and I got there Friday just in time for supper, and much of the evening's work involved discussion of what should be done, the laborious task of processing beer, and inspection of parts. But things really got rolling along well on Saturday and a good bit was accomplished. Rick brought the new seats over and I'm not real sure exactly who was involved in installing them, seemed like at least half of the crew were helping at one time or another, maybe more. They had to modify the seat rails, touch up the paint, drill holes and all that stuff and I think Mike was pretty much leading the charge. While that was going on, another crew led by Steve was installing brake and clutch lines, Rick had another team installing the hatch struts, Carl was completing the modifications to the shifter with welding help from Pete, and I was working up the lower mount for the new Summit aluminum radiator and Camaro dual electric fan package, also with Pete’s help. So as you can imagine we were crawling all over the car or so it seemed at times. As it stands now, the seats are in, brakes and clutch work, and the radiator is in place, We gave it a rather rakish angle, leaned back by about 20 degrees and it fits in quite nicely with 5-1/2” of ground clearance and a hefty bar below it for protection. The new fenders will need to be fitted up, work done to flare the rears to match, and a new combination slam panel/ radiator and fan top mount bent up and installed. It looks as if we may be able to use the old top radiator hose on the bottom (it fits amazingly well into the space but is a bit small on the radiator end) and the old bottom hose for the top.

Does anyone have experience in fitting up light fiberglass fenders? Richard mentioned that warming them in the sun is a common practice to help with fitting. These fenders are not going to just bolt right on so if anyone could make suggestions that would make the job go more smoothly it would certainly help out a lot. Plus, Pete has mentioned that he would like to try his hand at laying up some glass and perhaps in the process create some flares for the rear by taking molds off a car he has access to. This seems to me a good approach, and I think I still have a pair of inner fender sections we can weld in for the wheel wells on the back. As an alternative, I have an English wheel that we can try out if anyone wants to see what they can do with it, and it’s small enough that I think I can load it in the back of the truck for the next trip to Pete’s. We’d need some sheet metal to work with. It’s the HF unit with some minor reinforcement and the one set of wheels that comes with it. I can bring it along in Feb if anyone wants to try that. There will be some inside trim to reinstall and other detail work but we are real close to our goal for the summer meet.

Richard, it turns out is an experienced hand with the quadrajet carb and so was officially dubbed, "The B.A.D.A.S.S. Quadrajet Carb Guru" and we are all much relieved to find we have a solution to our carb tuning worries. I will do my best to get him some Buick specifics and put him in touch with Jim Weise to make the job easier for him.

Pete had a pot of some really good chili for us that we all enjoyed, and we had a very productive day despite being blinded by Merv's hat and confused by Carl's purse. (Unabridged report available via Spurious e-mail)

On to the business meeting. In attendance were Pres, VP, Treasurer, and 4 other members if my memory is correct. Minutes and treasurer's report were approved, business included future plans and ideas for funding. Some items deferred to the summer meet. T-shirt design and color was discussed among other things. This year we are going to see if we can put an actual picture of the car in its present condition on the T-shirt, and it looks like we will be able to put the last remaining shirt from last year in the dinner auction. We currently have about $550 in the treasury. Regrettably our secretary wasn't there to take minutes so this will have to do. Those who were there feel free to add to the report. Meeting was adjourned and after putting away the car, parts, tools and such we all went home with a projected calendar date of the last weekend in Feb for the next meeting. That would be the 27th and 28th so make plans now.

Regards,
Jim
Aka “BADASS Boss”

Quote:

Does anyone have experience in fitting up light fiberglass fenders?

This might be a good starting point: Simon Austin's article on installing Sebring Fenders on his MGB

"...and confused by Carl's purse."

Hey, if you must know, I was test marketing a name brand designer laptop bag for my 17" Dell Vostro laptop.

In the greaser-garage arena, it failed, miserably!

That's Carl's story and he's sticking to it.

:)

BTW...nice PINK hat, Carl!

Jim, I have a full set of rollers for the HF English wheel if anyone is willing to take a stab at using them. I can get a of 4' x 4' of sheet metal as well and toss that in the back of the truck. 20 gauge ok?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/20/2010 12:09PM by Bill Young.

Should be about right Bill. You coming to the Feb weekend? I think I'll only have to spend a little time on the slam panel and then maybe I can help with the rolling. I'd like to learn how to use the wheel. I have a pretty good general idea but I've never tried rolling compound curves. If 2 or 3 of us want to experiment with it I'm sure we can make some good progress.

Rick, did Merv give that hat to Carl? Someone said he had it packed away in his Murse.
(Wonder how much of this nonsense Carl will tolerate before he goes off?)

Jim

Tick....tick......tick......tick........tick.....

Yes, I'm planning on the February weekend. Whoever tries their hand at the English wheel needs to bring some good heavy leather gloves like welding gloves. Those rollers can mash a finger or thumb so fast it'll make your head spin and your eyes see stars! BTDTGTTS I haven't put too much time in on the wheel yet. So far my efforts haven't resulted in much curve to the metal, but I learned from a friend that I'm not using enough pressure on the rollers it seems. So far I've had better results using the shot bag and mallet then finishing with the planishing hammer and a final roll to smooth things out a bit. If Pete doesn't mind the noise I'll throw those in the truck along with the sheet steel.

Bring it on...and call us the Fantastic Fingerless!

Nothing Pink at my house 'cept "Dark Side of the Moon".

I ain't goin' there...

Startling development this afternoon. Terry called and he wants to get the paint done as soon as possible. As he put it, "Get that car out here so I can make good on my pledge!" He is chomping at the bit and isn't in a mood to wait. I told him we'd have to do the rear fenders and get the fronts mounted and his reply was, well then get 'er done! I have to confess this took me completely by surprise, but it's fortunate we are as close as we are to being ready. We didn't discuss the condition of disassembly, I basically put him off until the end of next month because of the bodywork. This puts new emphasis on completing that work at the next meet, and I am confident we can do it, but we'll need all hands on deck. Definitely moves the timetable up and we'll need to clarify exactly what we expect to do and when we can hope to transport. Let's make sure all the important participants are informed. Pass the word. In addition to the rear flares and front fenders we will have to install the front slam panel, fit the radiator hoses, and then really should close in the tin work around the radiator.

Jim

Alright, you guys need to get your heads outa the gutter. No wonder you haven't evolved!

Now, Mike, Rich, & I had a discussion about the front fenders. Since time is of the essence, this should be seriously considered. Those front Sebring fenders are going to consume many hours to be fitted properly. The brown stock style fiberglass front fenders fit much better & had the headlights already mounted. It would be easier & faster to fit fiberglass Sebring flares to them. Pete can make a set of front flares from the car he has in storage. Think about it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/23/2010 05:47PM by MGBV8.

Wow, Terry's offer does put the hurry on things. The body work is going to be the biggest issue as Carl says. I'll have to defer to Pete about working with fiber glass. The only other option would be to use the steel Omni flares, but I don't know if we have a decent set of steel front fenders to use. It would also be good to have at least the basics of the wiring and plumbing items roughed in so that the amount of drilling on the painted body would be minimal. Do we need any line or wiring clamps? I have some black nylon ones I could bring if you need those.