I finally got it down to the bare frame!

I removed the engine and realized that the front motor mount needed to be replaced.  Had to remove steering shaft before removing engine.

almost there!  Just have to remove the front suspension.

I tore apart the rear axle. Pressure washed and scraped the housing. (So much grease and dirt caked on.) Replaced the axle seals and the pinion seal.

New axle seals

I put it all back together, sanded and painted it.

cleaned and painted the backing plate and installed new shoes and slave cylinders.

I took apart the leaf springs one side at a time. Removed the rust.

painted each leaf separately. I painted the drive shaft while I was at it.

and put it all back together with new rubber pads and hardware.

Fenders and Bonnet are ready to prime

Fenders and Bonnet are Ready to Prime.

After several months of sitting in the garage, the fenders finally got some attention.  

I pounded out all the dents.  filled with mud and sanded.  I plan on using zero rust and undercoating on the undersides and etch primer and urethane primer on the topsides.  

  

I now just have the firewall, the tub and the spare wheel to bodywork and prime.  

Mom and Dad came down for Macey's blessing.  Dad and I spent some time doing bodywork.  He said he had never done bodywork before.  I thought he did great!

Removing the Pass. door

I had a chance to work on the TD this week, so I decided to tackle something that's been bugging me.  whoever tried to repair the doors decades ago thought that brazing the brass hinges to the body would be a good idea.  instead, they turned the body wood (which provides the strength to hold the doors up) into charcoal.  and the doors became flimsy again soon after. 

 

Here you can see I cut the bead where they brazed the hinges to the body. 

after much cutting, I was finally able to wiggle the door till it came off. 

This is what the body looks like now.  I'll have to clean it up a bit so the new hinges will fit and weld where I cut through the steel.  You can see on the top one the charcoal that used to be the body wood. 

Next: the Driver's side

MG TD aquisition

This is a 1951 MG TD just a little bit newer than My dad's (same year, but bigger serial #)
Red is the original color, but this is not the original paint.  it was painted green, then back to red. 

 

Took of the bonnet to make it easier to work on.  The fire wall wood is dry rotted so the bonnet wasn't secured very well to the car.  I bought the correct pieces of wood to replace the rotten ones. 

as you can see, the rear carburetor intake manifold is broken, I'll need to buy two new carburetors to get an original look again. 

I went through the Moss motors catalog and made a list of things the car definately needed.  new carpet set, new soft top, bumpers, brake master and slave cylinders, brake shoes, brake lines, fuel line, gas tank treatment, body rubber kit, distributor cap & wires,Water pump, replaceable oil filter cansister and filter, etc.  needless to say, I am a preferred customer at Moss Motors now.  luckily, I bought it all at the time they had 15%  off your entire order if it was over $1,000

 

New Stainless exhaust system. 

 

New wood to replace rotten pieces. 

 

New steering wheel to spice up the look. 

 

New Carburetors.  These were not cheap!