[Mgs] Back of the tub

[Richard Lindsay]

Hello Friends,

First of all today, I wish to express my thanks to all the folks who
have written to me offering advice and encouragement.  Thank you!  You
are the BEST.

I now write to share a few pictures of the refinishing of the rear of
the tub.  I'm doing as much work as possible with the tub still on the
frame, so as to protect fragile metal and preserve alignment.  Here's
how the back of the tub looked after removing the fuel tank.

http://www.aubard.us/MGTD/20130508_141536.jpg

Everything is structurally strong, but there is quite a bit of surface
rust on the tub near where the top of the tank aligns.  Along the
right rear, there is also a strip of surface rust, obvious in the
picture.

Here is the same area with the paint stripped, but before sanding.

http://www.aubard.us/MGTD/20130508_150441.jpg

Before closing down work yesterday, I sanded and sprayed the bare
metal with MetalReady to coat the remaining rust with zinc.  First
thing this morning, I washed down the metal to remove deposits left
behind from the MetalReady, and dried the metal with a heat gun.
Later this morning I put a coat of primer on the metal and a thin coat
on the wood, just to encourage adhesion of the paint.

The rusty bits were primered with rusty metal primer while the bare
metal was painted with regular automotive primer.  Here's how it
looked, right after the primers were applied.

http://www.aubard.us/MGTD/20130509_080143.jpg

And here's a look at the left rear corner with the primer drying.

http://www.aubard.us/MGTD/20130509_080156.jpg

I took this picture about an hour later.  The regular primer has dried
but the anti-rust primer dries much more slowly.  You can easily see
where the rusty metal primer was applied.

http://www.aubard.us/MGTD/20130509_093433.jpg

Here's that sale left rear corner with the primers mostly dried.

http://www.aubard.us/MGTD/20130509_093444.jpg

Here's another picture of the left rear tub, above the rear wing.
This is going to paint NICELY.

http://www.aubard.us/MGTD/20130509_093451.jpg

Moving on, here's how the tank looks, now that it has been washed out
with soap and water.  That is not the final solution but rather, it is
the process to make the tank a 'container', not a 'bomb'!

Michael Balahutrak (PopeyMike) shared with me a great technique for
restoring the tank.  I'll follow his advice and report the progress.
Thank you Mike!

http://www.aubard.us/MGTD/20130509_093638.jpg

Off now to play with the grandson. :-)

-rick