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I received some
distressing news today about my fiberglass body VW powered MG TD London Roadster. I had taken it
in for an estimate for repairing the cracks, paint chips and spider webs
I can see in the gel coat or fiberglass. The quote came in
astoundingly high, nearly 5 times the total price I paid for the car
just a few months ago. the shop I took it to recommends a complete tear
down and redo.Does anyone have a recommendation for a restoration shop or fiberglass
repair for our precious little beauties that won’t break the bank. I’m in Phoenix, Arizona.You could try looking on craigslist for fiberglass boat repair.I know there were several on there over the summer on wisconsin craigs.
Stripping and repainting any car costs a fortune. Fiberglass has its own problems that can increase the price. Fiberglass is not steel. Cracks start in the gelcoat and can propogate into the fiberglass. You can’t paint over the old paint. You have to grind the cracks down to clear fiberglass to keep them from coming back. A surface paint job will look good until the body flexes and the cracks work their way through to the surface. Unless you are building a show car a thorough paint job isn’t worth it.
Change your viewpoint. Cracks, paint chips and spider webs are called patina. Wear them with pride.
It’s a survivor. Wax it and drive on.
Besides, chicks dig scars.
Change your viewpoint. Cracks, paint chips and spider webs are called patina. Wear them with pride.
Besides all that sanding gets real messy and time consuming.
Mine has all the above,went to a small car show last saturday,never even wiped off the bugs.Left early as the wife wasn’t feeling well.Recieved an award in the mail 3 days later.
I seem to have a more enjoyable time in the MG due to the patina,Because I don’t have all that work tied up in it.
Not pushing any product but if your just having minor scratches and nicks, check out the New Product thread in this part of the forum. Worked great on my scratches and getting rid of worn and faded paint.
Allen Caron
VW based 53MGTD - "MoneyPenny"
"If one thing matters, everything matters" - from the book The ShackIf you get the car to brand new or better condition, you’ll never take it out and drive it, it might get dirty or wet.
My car is a little faded, red color, I think it looks great that way, much more authentic and doesn’t bother me so much if there’s some dirt or rain spots on it, but I just got my 3 piece kit of Novus and I will try it out.
I tried to lightly compound and then wax it, and that did absolutely nothing to the appearance, we’ll see what the Novus does. If it gets too shiny, I may throw some dust over it so it looks more original.If you are not afraid of a lot of work and nasty fiberglass dust you can do all the prep work yourself and just have someone shoot the final paint for you. I don’t know how bad your cracks are but unless they are broken through and even if that’s the case they can still be repaired. A few years back I re-did a fiberglass dune buggy that was full of holes and cracks and after much grinding filling and sanding it went to the painter in very good sound condition and I got an excellent paint job for around $300.00. If you are not familiar or comfortable with doing fiberglass then you might look for a shop or someone to help you. All the cracks except the very fine ones will have to be ground out so the filler can bond to something. For that you will need some type of pencil grinder either electric or air driven. There is a bondo product that has strands of fiberglass already in the mix and that is what I would suggest using. If you need any further help or advice, should you decide to tackle this, you can PM me and I’ll send you my cell number. But be for warned it’s a lot of dirty work and is very time consuming which is why the shop quoted you that high price. Any painter will tell you a car’s finish good or bad is all in the prep work. Even the best painter can’t give good results with shoddy prep work. Good Luck.
MG,
I did all the repairs you are talking about on my TD ( 4 plus years ago and no
return cracks ) and am doing the same on my speedie project right now as
well.
If you want to tackle you can PM me as well and we can talk over the phone
as well – I can give you the name of the products to use as well.
Hard work but worth it if you want that great paint job.
I had a 500.00 paint job after I did all the prep work and it looks great.
Most of the body panels will need to be removed to do the job right.
Dale
Thank you for all the helpful tips and offers. This is one great group. I don’t want to practice my skills on the car, and simply don’t have the time to work it myself, because my new job, after nearly 3 years of unemployment works me 10.5 hours, 5 days a week with one hour commutes tacked on to each end, and I need the weekend time for home, yard and normal household chores.
I found a recommended local fiberglass repair and finishing guy whose work has won numerous awards through my local kit car club references. I don’t have time until mid October to take it to him for an estimate.
When you take it in ask the guy to take several pics of the rework and post them. I’m sure everyone would like to keep up with the progress.
I also live in Phoenix and am looking for a hood for my Classic Roadsters 1952 MGTD. Got a quote from a fiberglass shop for $3,000.00 for the hood. The car still does not have a hood.
Curt
Hey cookdog,
Give me a PM and I will give you the number of the guy I’m going to see who does custom work and is recommended by a member of the Arizona Kit Car Club.
Would you like to get together some weekend day and share a beer over our projects?
Mark
MGLondonRoadste40812.8057291667
What shop was that, cookdog? I got my first quote from Phoenix Fiberglass, who specialize in boats, it seems. They wanted $15,000.00 for a total redo.
MGLondonRoadste40812.8070486111
Curt there is a mgtd kit for sell it’s been up for bids a few times . You might be able to buy it for the hood if it’s the same size ? And have it painted to the color you need.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/FiberFab-MGTD-Replica-Kit-Car -Unassembled-/330682153768?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item4c fe313b28
TDREPLICA Map
http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=7f9174ad614e43b680deba085b0abf48
I will not be doing any museum or show quality work on either of my cars at this point. I’ll retreat from desire to have a brand new looking one and take the advice several of you have sent my way. I’ll accept the imperfections. They didn’t stop me from getting waves, honks and smiles as I drove it through four states or even in town.
Thanks for everyone’s repsonse.
Old looking and faded adds to it’s charm as being more of an original. Anything shiny and spotless, while it may be nice looking, somehow doesn’t look as real or authentic. Everyone likes the look of a shiny new car, but I like mine, looking a little faded like a good old worn pair of jeans (which I live in).
MarkMy roommate in college had an original ’52 MG TD . It didn’t have wire wheels or any fancy accessories.. just one sweet looking and driving car.. and even more fun to tool around the countryside with all of its 12 year old imperfections..i.e. sagging doors etc. I loved it ! And as so many of you have said” the patina adds to the charm”.My MG TD now is a faded BRG with one sagging door and I love it !Your car looks great.jebarry40946.4794328704
MGLondonRoadste wrote:I’ll accept the imperfections. They didn’t stop me from getting waves, honks and smiles as I drove it . . .
Good for you, Mark! That’s my attitude, and I can’t think of a single time my car — warts and all — hasn’t been met with at least one approving nod, smile or thumbs up. (I do wish I could figure out how to remedy my sagging driver’s side door, though.)
1981 Lafer TI
1600 cc Type 1 engineThey are not imperfections.
They are “patina”.
Paul Mossberg
Former Owner of a 1981 Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess (VW)
2005 Intermeccanica RoadsterIf you own a TDr and are not in the Registry, please go to https://tdreplica.com/forums/topic/mg-td-replica-registry/ and register (you need to copy and paste the link)
Bill I had the same problem with mine. At some point it had been opened to far and cracked the fiberglass allowing it to sag. I took the door off and installed a piece of metal behind the fiberglass on the body reinforced with more fiberglass , Redrilled the holes for the hinges. Reinstalled the door it shuts and lines up like it should. Also found that on the passenger side door one of the hinge pin was broke in two. You might want to check them.
ray1040946.6753472222
TDREPLICA Map
http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=7f9174ad614e43b680deba085b0abf48
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