Well, today I removed one of the headlamp bowls to discover the fender
behind it is almost totally rotted away. What a drag. Add new fenders
to the list. At some point in the near future my B is going to require
some major bodywork. If I had a garage, and someone to show me how to
do things I would do it myself but having neither, I will have to farm
the job out. Here's what I figure needs replacing -
- both front fenders
- both rear fenders
- complete sills on both sides and doglegs
- probably floors on both sides
- rear valence
- door skins
Thats $3500 in sheet metal alone. Good god. Hello loan officer. Of course
there may be more that needs replacing, or patch panels could be used in
some areas, so a professional estimate would probably be in order. Can
anyone (Bill?) recommend a body shop or even a private individual that could
do the work and do it well, perhaps even just working on it in "off hours"
to keep the costs down. I would be happy to remove all the trim, seats etc
on my own time, either at the shop (I have no idea if that is even an option
- I'm in unfamiliar territory here) or here at my building and then get it
towed to the shop.
I had no illusions about how much it would cost to restore this car when
I bought it - still one can't help feeling a little bit of 'in too deep'
when you look at all the things that need to be done. Its just a matter
of tackling one thing at a time I guess - good thing the car isn't very big!
What I really need is to quit my programming job and go work at a garage
so I can get some discounts ;)
After getting all this metal put on, I would venture to guess there wouldn't
be a better time to get the little bugger painted (the original) BRG. There
are currently four (BRG, blue, BRG, red) layers of paint on the car right
now and I'd really like to see it down to metal. But one thing at a time.
I'm almost wishing those Heritage body shells came for the 62-67 body.
Now there's a weekend project.
Skye Poier
Who is determined to save this car at any cost
Did I just say that?
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1966 MGB GHN3L-70307 __,__\__ Finger for
The MGB Experience http://www.mgb.bc.ca/ (_o____o_) PGP key
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