On Sun, 21 Jun 1998 20:37:36 -0400 "Larry MacDonald" <lmacdona@MNSi.Net>
writes:
>Hi folks. I have a 73 MGB. The interior is starting to look a little
>used
>and abused. The odd minor rip and abrasion near the arm rests, etc.
>I have
>been contemplating new door panels and carpeting as well as
>refurbishing the
>seats. Given a skill level of 0 on a 0 to 10 scale, what would be a
>realistic amount of time that could expect to have the B sans
>interior?
>Thanks in advance.
>
>Regards
>
>
Larry - this is an excellent way to improve your opinion of your own
skill level, interior refurbishment is very rewarding and whilst
challenging in some areas is a job most people can manage and derive a
huge amount of satisfaction from.
Your question is somewhat ambiguous, there are two obvious answers...
1) About half a day or
2) as long as you can stand a stripped car
But i think you probably mean how long will it take to refurbish the
thing - to which there isnt as exact an answer, it depends on the time
you have available and how your learning curve progresses for the tricky
bits - it it a real rolling restoration job however so you can do it over
a period of time and still enjoy the car (its actually quite fun driving
a car with nothing in it but one seat! - hehe)
The one manual essential to the job is Porters book, the section on
reupholstering the seats is excellent and if you follow it you wont go
far wrong.
Heres a suggested chronology for tackling the job along with a few
comments from personal experience
stripping out the old interior/ refurbishing hardware
---------------------------------------------------------------------
a simple procedure, most elements come out easily, however remember to
keep everything grouped together so when you refurbish hardware you dont
get mixed up.
Virtually ALL hardware is reusable - screws, bolts etc just need a good
cleaning/wire brushing/painting, something for the evenings indoors!
seats - each is held by 4 bolts into fixed nuts in the floor, they are
usually corroded and can take some time to remove however i never met one
that wouldnt come out eventually, however, if the floor is also corroded
you will likely lose at least one of the fixed nuts which means some
mighty big washers on reassembly! remove the seats, the rails, wooden
spacers and the small round metal spacers which will all need refinishing
- you can get a good finish on the metal parts by wire brushing off the
rust, coating with por15 or corroless then spraying with "chrome" paint
and lastly coating with a clear topcoat - looks like a grey hammer
powdercoat only not as expensive!
doorcaps - remove the 2 screws at each end, cap lifts off
door panels - remove trim around door handle/lock(see porter) window
crank and door pull.- on a 73, door panels are held by plastic clips set
into the panel which locate into holes in the door you can usually pull
them free with your fingers or you may prefer to use an upholsterers fork
which you can get at most hardware stores, most cars will have at least
some broken/missing clips, its worth replacing them all with the new
panels
kick panels - these are just screwed to the bulkheads
rear panels - you have to remove the top frame to get these off, there
are three large screws on each side - get someone to help you, the top is
unwieldy and you dont want to drop it on the paint! - once off the rear
panels are just screwed to the bulkhead
Boot bulkhead panel - this is riveted, you have to drill them out - use
panel clips when replacing
Radio console and centre console - this comes out just as obviously as it
appears!
Sometimes you have a bit of a job with the gear lever ring locating
screws- and when its off remember to clean up/lubricate the base of the
lever.
carpet/mats/ inner rocker covers - get a large garbage bag, a couple of
paint scrapers and start pulling! likely nothing is salvagable except the
jute backing to the tunnel cover, if its ok - save it, there is no
aftermarket backing that even approaches the original. also the hardboard
backings for the forewall pieces are sometimes salvagable - the hardest
part is finding the screws through the carpet to take them off!!
Cockpit rail - this one is a cow! - its held on by 7 or 8 8mm nuts in the
rear (and 2 screws - one at each end) great contortions are required to
get it out - be careful, its made of aluminium and distorts easily, it is
also the most difficult part to re-cover with new vinyl,
Right- its empty, now the real work begins - you will start to worry at
this point - thoughts of "what have i done??!" will beset you, also you
will likely find some horrors such as holes in the floor, inner rockers
etc - these have to be patched, preferably with welded patches although
pinholes here and there may be sealed with a good bathroom caulk!
To ascertain the extent of corrosion you must make it worse before it
gets better! - scrape the floors and inner rockers thoroughly then wire
brush everything - make sure you remove all the old glue as well as the
rust then vacuum the whole thing - if you need welding, get it done at
this point, (put one seat back in, theyre hard to drive to the welders
sitting on the floor!! hehe) if any of the fixed nuts are missing, get
the welder to put new ones in at this point. When you get it back, coat
the whole floor/rockers with por15 or corroless and then brush on a
topcoat of rustoleum enamel - dont worry about the finish, nobodys going
to see it.
Refurbishing/reupholstering
---------------------------------------
Assuming you are going with new carpets and panels, all you need to do is
order them - for my money, Scarborough Faires premium carpet kit is the
best value and SICP make excellent panel kits - though the Moss ones are
also good
Seat covers and foams are all the same as far as i can see - just see who
has them on special.
If youre going to do the seats yourself, follow the porter book - its not
as hard as it looks but take your time, if youre not comfortable doing
it, an upholsterer will likely charge you a couple of hundred to do it so
its worth a try, also, dont use the seat diaphragms from the catalogues,
get the square seat frame in the bottom of the seats covered in canvas -
lasts forever and much firmer
Dont forget to refinish/paint the exposed areas of the seat frames before
covering them -
Most seat panel kits include vinyl to cover the door caps and cockpit
rail, my personal experience is that these jobs need practice so be
prepared to screw it up the first time!! - then buy new vinyl and do it
properly!!!! hehe
Reassembly
------------------
Truly the reverse of the above!!
carpets - do this first and follow the porter book - its almost
impossible to get wrong, just take your time, if youre using the original
tunnel cover, glue the carpet to it when its flat, then when its returned
to its original shape it pulls any creases out of the carpet
panels - really as obvious as it appears, just be careful fitting the
kick panels over the carpet, that small cutout at the top can break if
not located properly
seats - this is tricky, lining up the fixed nuts, holes in the carpet,
metal and wooden spacers and rails is frustrating, every time you put the
seat on them something moves!!! - you can avoid it by using double ended
manifold bolts/studs - screw them into the floor first and build up
(instead of down) finishing off with a nut.
Replace the hood dor trim/handles etc and youre done! - oh, youll have to
adjust the mirrors since youll now be sitting about 4" higher than you
were before!!
mike robson
69 roadster (interior out, will go back in in 2 days once the paints
finished)
70 BGT (interior took about 4 weeks soup to nuts)
72 roadster (took a whole summer - but was never off the road!)
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