A Mostly British Obsession
Valuable, if hard, lessons learned
Visited Mark at Britsport today, and got a chance to see my E-Type again. Not much has changed (we’re waiting to paint it until I have a shop to reassemble the car), but by coincidence, a later car painted the same color that mine was (and will be again) was parked next to it, and I grabbed a snap.
Used “aircraft stripper” on the door jambs today, and it worked pretty well. You can tell it’s pretty potent because it stinks all to heck, like carb cleaner on steroids.
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Only the wheel arch lips and the door jambs remain to be stripped of their old paint…feels like progress. I’m going to try doing the jambs with chemical stripper, which should be an adventure. Chemical strippers (in my experience) seem like they should work great but are almost always as tedious as mechanical stripping, with the bonus of noxious, messy goop to contend with.
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Progress is proceeding at a glacial pace on the 1967 GT. My friend Jim has welded in the repair panels for the few rusty spots, and I am slowly working my way around the car, taking off the cruddy red paint job and getting rid of crud in the normally hidden areas.
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This can’t be good–most bikes don’t use studded front tires. The Triumph is now seven years old and on its original tires, though they have accumulated only 2600 miles. I suppose this will get me to replace them. (I’m not quite sure what I’ve collected, here…I thought it was a bolt, but on further study, I don’t think it is.)
I discovered this on the ferry, headed out to Kirkland for the Carillon Point car show today, so I had 50 miles of riding to contemplate my unwanted companion.
I have the fenders, valance and rear hatch off the GT, preparing for a few minor patch panels and then paint. Car is remarkably good, all things considered. Most painful is going to be getting all of the red overspray off of places I will not be painting, like the underside and inner fenders, which all still have very intact undercoating.
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Alternative Blasters in Marysville finished their work on the GT–they were quick, friendly, and reasonably priced…definitely going to use them again. They did not do the bonnet as they were uncomfortable with blasting the aluminum.
The car is really very good for a 42 year old MG. The passenger dogleg (just behind the door) has a couple of holes (which we’ll patch) and the lower front fenders are rusted, with some associated damage to the front of the sill. I have new lower fenders and I think (hope!) the sill can be patched.
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I put the GT on the car trailer and drove it to Alternative Blasters (in Marysville) to have the cruddy paint job removed. I left the glass in, as it makes life easier for blaster, but will remove it when the car is back. Then it’s on to rust repair (lower front fenders) and new paint in the original grey (which you can see a glimpse of where the tail lights were).
The Ford put in yeoman service (yet again) hauling around my other machines.
In one of those fortunate coincidences, a gentleman up in Anacortes was offering a set of good wire wheels with nearly new tires to fit an MGB on craigslist for $200, and since I desperately needed tires, I emailed as soon as I saw the ad. Fortunately, I was the first to be able to get to his house–the GT now has new boots.
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The ’67 GT arrived today from San Diego. My friend Paul is manning the wheel while Dave (of “Dave and the Dog” auto transport) guides him off the trailer. The car is very straight, valance panel aside, and the paint is baked, along with the interior. But it’s a nice car. And as a bonus, it was originally painted Grampian Grey, a nice medium grey which I hope to return the car to.
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