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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Order of events

Hi,

After 7 and a half years I have nearly finished the metal work on my midget.

I could do with some advice / experience to guide me through the next phase.

It was always going to be my plan to get all the panels separately blasted back to bare metal, primed, assembled, filling and preparation, disassembled, painted and then reassembled.

I guess with recent test fitting that I have been doing I am worried about the amount of possible damage to the finished paint work during final assembly.

Just to confirm I was not going to paint the car myself but go to a professional.

Thoughts very welcome.

Kind regards

James







James Paul

It's an exciting time!

Sadly, I think the dings are almost inevitable. All you can do is be as careful as possible and have one or more assistants help you with re-fitting things and loads of mats to protect exposed paint.

Leaving the paint to harden for maybe 2 - 4 weeks might help.

Test fitting everything that attaches to the body, inc. engine, gearbox, suspension etc. now, could also save you headaches and scratched paint later.

Hope this helps.

Malc.
Malcolm Le Chevalier

Hi James, I have just painted my car. This was my first time, so I didnt have any prior experience but its worked out ok.

Some of my panels were too bad to use, so I replaced them with second hand ones. I also replaced the sills, and bottom of A posts and B posts.

My sequence was:

Do the body work repairs
Fit all the panels
Make adjusts as required to get a decent fit
Fill and sand
Refit and check
Take off the panels
Paint in primer
Wet sand
Spray top colour
Fit the panels to the car
Sprayed the cavities with cavity wax
Wet sand
Polish
Rebuild the car

I'm still on the last two steps. So far so good.

I too was worried about damaging the paint when refitting panels, but if you got your fit right before painting and you take care its not really a problem. I lost a little bit of paint at the bottom of the wings where it touches the sills, but as its cellulose I just touched it up with a fine brush and left over paint. You cant see it unless you are looking from a few inches away.

One thing I did have to do after painting was remove the paint from the backs of the hinges as it messed the door gaps up.

As I say, I'm no expert, this is just how I did it.
Chris Madge

James
I'm building up the Frogeye as we speak. It has a new "stage 1" shell i.e. chassis, floors,scuttle, A pillars and inner wings. With a Frogeye the rear end is all welded on (no boot lid) which I've done and the bonnet/ wings is one piece removeable, which I've repaired. Doors are test fitted. I've painted inside of cockpit and boot floor (celly, sprayed) and the engine bay (celly, sprayed). I've done basic body shaping and it's in etch primer mostly. Underfloor, wheel arches, underside of boot lid and bonnet underside are rollered with Rustoleum combicolor (in body colour). But I'll now fit all mechanicals , including engine, before spraying exterior panels. I've already scratched the inner wings test fitting the bonnet (but engine bay had to be painted anyway)) so I'd rather fit everything before spraying outside.
Bill Bretherton

It is always better to spray the body once all the panels are fitted - especially with metallics - the angle of the gun can produce variations in colour shade.

New paint is incredibly soft and easily damaged when fitting parts like door handles etc - even if the paint feels dry. I would leave that stage for several weeks after painting to allow the solvents to escape and the paint fully harden.

It will also take a better polish once the surface has stopped shrinking.
Chris at Octarine Services

This thread was discussed between 28/04/2020 and 29/04/2020

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

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