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MG MGA - floor board maintenance

This is my first full year with the 'A'...I was wondering if there is any annual maintenance for the wooden floor boards that is normally done. I am getting ready to put the car in storage for the winter, and was curious if the wood should be painted, shellaced, urethaned, varnished...or other. My best guess is the the PO put on several coats of polyurethane (clearcoat). What do you guys do?

Thanks,

Rick
rpb bunch

If properly treated when put on originally I wouldn't think you'd need to do anything at all. I'm taking mine apart now and the passenger side that I replaced in 1999 still looks like the day I put it in and all I did was paint it black, hardly the "proper" treatment. And it has done some miles in the rain for sure.

The driver's side is actually still original and quite strong as are the toe boards on both sides and the rear bulkhead.

I plan to replace anyway and I will urethane paying particular attention to the sides and screw holes and then paint black.

I'd be interested to hear other viewpoints on this as well. It seems there was a thread not too long ago about this too.

Cheers,
Christopher
Christopher Wilson

A pic of mine currently.




Christopher Wilson

Yeah see a thread back in March called "Prepping New Floorboards", a lot of good info there.

-Christopher
Christopher Wilson

I gave mine a few coats of Thompson's water seal and then a coat of black oil base paint. Very durable and no maintenance. 17 years and going strong.
David Holmes

When I park my car for the winter, I put one of these marine dehumidifiers under the engine compartment and under the battery box:

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/producte/10001/-1/10001/245832/

That, plus a smaller one in the passenger's footwell (a metal box with no fan that puts out about as much heat as a 60W lightbulb) seems to keep everything, including the floorboards, nice and dry over the winter.
David Breneman

Thank God that we do not have to worry about all that winter stuff downunder, and we get to use the cars all year round!
Gary Lock

I used cheap 1/2-inch CDX plywood, soaked it thoroughly with several coats of Penta wood preservative, then applied two coats of black enamel. So far 22 years and 220,00 miles in all sorts of weather and still in excellent condition, almost like the day they were installed.
Barney Gaylord

My floorboards are original. When I replaced the carpets seven years ago, I washed the dirt off, lightly sanded them, and painted them with a good black enamel; top, bottom, and edges. They are still solid and I don't do anything to them each winter. I try to drive the car at least weekly during the winter months, so I don't really have a winterizing routinue.
Bill Haglan

When I restored my roadster, I cut 1/16" thick aluminum pieces that fit the underside of the wood floorboards which I powder coated and then adhered to the bottom of the floor boards after a couple coats of black enamel was applied to the wood. 5 years and no sign of damage.

Randy
Randy Myers

My floor boards are also painted black. However, under those on the driver's side (left hand drive), I fitted a thin full width steel plate, fixed to the ends of floor screws with additional nuts. This provides an air gap of about 3/8ths to 1/2 an inch between the steel and the floor which I find has helped to reduce the heat from the exhaust pipe on that side.
Will do the same on the coupe I am now rebuilding.
Peter.
P. Tilbury

Rick, When I bought my car (a few years ago now), I had to replace the drivers side as the exhaust heat had started to burn through the wood. Under the seat it was thin enough to punch through with a screwdriver.
I think probably the PO had mounted the exhaust to close to the floor (or it was repositioned by a rock etc.).
A good idea to check that.
I fitted new floors made from the same plyboard as is used on truck beds. It is very durable and I have never had a problem with it.

Neil
Neil Purves

This thread was discussed between 31/10/2008 and 04/11/2008

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