1977 MGB single stage paint clean up

Something a little different.



I got a chance to work on this car for a coworker of my wife. They plan on using the car in an upcoming wedding and asked if I could "clean it up and wax it". ;) It isn't anything exotic or a show car, but more like a member of their family. The paint isn't in the greatest shape, there are a lot of deep scratches, door dings, and some repainted parts, but I asked them to leave it with me over the Labor Day weekend and I'll see what I can do........:lol



The car as it was dropped off. Notice the hazy, lifeless paint.

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The fender had been repainted at some point.

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I began to remove some of the easy to remove parts so I could do a better job and make it easier to polish. The rear plate bracket and the luggage rack were removed.

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The first round of polishing to see what I was working with. Here are the areas where I tried some pads and products to see what will clean up the paint on the deck lid. (M105/orange pad)

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The first pass removed the oxidation pretty well, but there were still quite a few scratches left, so I went to a little more aggressive pad (PFW) and continued on to the hood.
 
The hood.

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Peeling back the tape line to show the increased gloss from polishing.

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Untouched side

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Polished side

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It still needs to have a final polish done to remove any light defects, but the paint is shining up nicely.



Hood

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Trunk

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A final polish (M205) and some Z-AIO and BFWD and it will be ready for the wedding.
 
Holy smokes! I can't believe that thing looks that good and it's 36 years old. I worked with a girl that bought one in 1980 and it was a POS! stuff was falling off of it the second week she had it. I'd say your friend got real lucky and good job on the detail!
 
Thanks everyone. It was a fun car to work on, especially knowing how much the car means to the owners. (They have a name for the car and talk to it like it is a pet) :biggrin:



They have a lot of memories in the car and enjoy it immensely. Needless to say, I don't think it will be for sale anytime soon.



To say the owner is happy is an understatement. I'd say she is ecstatic. The 'new' car is now the talk of all the people that work with my wife as the car is parked in a visible spot when she drives it to work. After the clean up, they took the car to a local car show (their first one ever) and met several other MG owners who all complimented them on how well their car looked.:cool1:



So...yeah, they are pretty happy with the car and that is what I love to hear from friends and customers.:rockon1:



Randy
 
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