Trevor,
Wierd thing is, the dimensions of the bonnet are just fine. Where
the skin is wrapped down at the aft and side edges, however, they
didn't even go for a 90 degree bend. So the edge "skirts" stick out
a bit into the adjacent body panels. I could deal with wider bonnet
but reforming the welded skirts is too much for me.
Still, you speak truth. I wish there were a flock of those Abingdon
retired guys in my neighborhood who could show me the tricks of
aligning MGA and MGB body parts. Wouldn't have to do it on the fly,
but quicker than years would be nice. Sometimes I stand and stare at
the things for hours, just trying to figure out what to do next.
Move one thing 1/8th of an inch in the front, and somthing near the
taillight is 2 inches off (grin).
Thanks for the reply.
On 28 Sep 97 at 0:53, Trevor Boicey wrote:
> From my experience, it's hit and miss.
>
> Actually, in defense of the panels, it's not that
> they are poor. But this demonstrates the kind of
> tolerances that our cars were built to.
>
> Over the months and years, the parts coming out
> of the plant could change subtly, but during assembly
> of the car it was all made to work on the fly. If
> the bonnets started to be made a little wider over
> time, the workers would make the cars work with it,
> perhaps without even noticing.
>
> Not to mention that when assembling a car, Abingdon
> workers could always grab the next bonnet if the
> first one they grab didn't work so well. When buying
> replacement parts by mail, you get one chance.
>
> --
> Trevor Boicey
> Ottawa, Canada
> tboicey@brit.ca
> http://www.brit.ca/~tboicey/
>
>
71 MGB, Two 60 MGA basket cases
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