Bodywork, Paint, Interior, Trim, & Wiring

Quote:

A strip of masking tape on the front cowl next to the vent to protect the paint. Then use Popsicle Sticks and a thin flat tip screwdriver. Place a stick on the tape next to the edge of the vent and begin to pry up the vent very carefully with the screwdriver. Start prying up the vent as evenly as you can. Once you get it started the rest is easy. Stuff a stick under the vent and use another stick further on the pry it loose. Worked for me without damage to the paint or the surface.

The MG Experience archive search is great for this kind of stuff.

Ok...I didn't want to go prying things...don't want to ruin that piece....Thanks...

Curtis,

To your question about welding sprayed metal. When I tried to weld close to an area that had sprayed metal,it did not weld right, but had huge fan while welding. You are probably right about being toxic!! After, did not weld in those areas. So there is a thought process in doing certain panels. If you need to spray metal, make sure that you don't need to weld in that area.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/26/2015 01:57PM by MGBV8.

Looks to me like a hot spray galvanizing process, so any precautions with zinc would apply. I expect solder or body lead would stick to it rather well.

Jim

Well.... Got to test fit some steel today, I finally got the old stuff out and man that was a job! I have decided to go ahead and just patch the floor instead of replacing the whole thing...much of it is still in good shape.

More pics..

Dustless blasting the B.....

Mark, the cowl grill is held on with those push clips, I removed them to waste, I think there are 6. My cowl cover has been laying there for 20 plus years and has not fallen off yet., I guess when it does come off I will be in big trouble.

Thanks Charles...I did pry it off. I Just wasn't sure and I didn't want to break it!

Well the Dustless blasting is done...The results are mixed, as you probably know the process involves water and crushed glass, the water keeps the blast temperature low so there is no panel warping and also it can be done in an urban area (my driveway). That being said the water and raw steel worried me and the guy doing the work assured me that the additive he uses (Holdtite) in the water prevents flash rust for at least 3 days....So 3/4 of the way thru the job he runs out of media...and the closest place to buy media is 1 hour away, he leaves the job and is gone for a couple of hours, now im no expert but, I think this is where the problem started...he should have sprayed down the car before he left with the Holdtite.....I started to notice the car turning brown in certain areas, he gets back and adds more media and just before the last part is blasted his compressor blows a hydraulic line..that means no more blasting or water!! after mulling over the compressor situation.. I started looking at the car and it was flash rusting all over ...he cant refire the blaster or pump water so we fill a spray bottle with holdtite and quickly spray the entire car but its to late. If the compressor would have not took a crap he could have went back over the car but that wasn't going to happen... He was a really nice guy and him and his buddy made sure they cleaned up the whole driveway before they left...I am glad that I did not get him to blast the front wings and doors.. that was strictly a money issue...he charged $600. for what he did blast and could not forsee that his compressor would blow a line. But now I have to sand the entire car before putting any epoxy on the rear wings and bonnet and boot...that is a lot of work that I wasn't counting on...also the underside of the car is almost impossible to sand with any type of sander so if a wanted to do that it would be by hand and take forever. So a day later im thinking that maybe he should have knocked off some money from the agreed price or offered to come back after he fixed the compressor and reblast....none of that was offered. I have shared this experience so if anybody else is thinking of using this blasting process.. its a good way to get the job done but it can go south if you don't pay attention to the details...



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/16/2015 02:09PM by DragNut.

He absolutely should come back & redo it. You paid for a blasting job that leaves no rust. That is not what you got. I would have paid him half of the agreed upon price & the rest when he came back & made the job right.