1959 Peerless Restoration

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DaveC
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by DaveC »

HealeyBN7 wrote: Dave, Thank you so much for lending me the bumpers. There were a few moments when I wondered if you made a wise decision.

Dean

Thanks for telling me afterwards, and not during... :)
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by Fifty Six MGA »

I believe I've said this elsewhere, but I'm absolutely in awe of your skills Dean. Truly spectacular. I'm quite certain this car is going to be fantastic when done, certainly truly better than new!

Amazing work.
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HealeyBN7
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by HealeyBN7 »

The good thing about retirement is you can spend four extra days making rain gutters... I finally got both sides to a point that I can install and remove them without damaging paint. And as a bonus I temporally installed the emergency brake. Who knows when you might need to stop.
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Larry Kluss
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by Larry Kluss »

Dean, truly impressive craftsmanship on those drip rails.
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HealeyBN7
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by HealeyBN7 »

I finally found a few hours to work on the Peerless. The goal is to get it ready for paint by installing everything that scratches. The paint choice is finally clear as I found clear evidence of the original color.

Here are a few pics of doors that open and close, windows that work and door latches and handles. It was scary to drill into the new panels, but I figured it was better to do this while we are still in primer. I still have to install the vent windows but the new glass is on finally in the newly chromed frames. And I finally sourced front and rear rubber to install the windshield. That will be a test to see if all the A-pillar repairs are accurate, or just close enough...

Yeah.
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tannyo
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by tannyo »

Wow! So the color is light blue with a red interior? One of the prettiest cars I first saw was a light blue MGA with red interior. I was 5 years old at the time.
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by VWNate1 »

Lovely ! .

:thumbs:
-Nate
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nigel c
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by nigel c »

Nice work as always :bow:
I picked up a pair of the MGB door hinges from an auto jumble after your previous thread. They don't open fully to 90* which, I find a hindrance as you (well me anyway) really need that great long door to be open as far as possible to get in and out.
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HealeyBN7
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by HealeyBN7 »

nigel c wrote: Sun Oct 04, 2020 4:24 am They don't open fully to 90*...
They are pretty close to 90, but not 90. They allow the door to open 48" as measured from the body to the outer edge of the inside of the door. It is 12" more than the doors on the Warwick. There isn't a parking space in the US where you can open a Peerless door all the way. Besides, if I can't fit through a four foot door opening, I'll need to recalculate my hamburger to french fry intake ratio.

FYI, there is a small rubber stopper inside the MGB hinge that I had to remove to get the full swing.

Dean
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tannyo
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by tannyo »

If the rubber stopper is like those on my MGB GT they are to prevent the leading edge of the door from hitting the side of the fender.
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HealeyBN7
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by HealeyBN7 »

tannyo wrote: Sat Oct 03, 2020 9:19 pm Wow! So the color is light blue with a red interior?
I haven't considered keeping the unoriginal red interior, as they all came light grey from the factory, but I will have to give that serious consideration as I agree with you Tanny. Ice metallic blue and the right red interior would be stunning. hmmm

That is IF ice metallic blue is the real original color... It looks that way to me, but there is always room for doubt...
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nigel c
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by nigel c »

Hey that is better than I thought on the opening angle, I only played with the hinges on the bench.....
I will send you those ref photos for the interior over Dean
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by Larry Kluss »

Glad to see you working on the Peerless again, Dean. Where on the car did you find the original color?
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HealeyBN7
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by HealeyBN7 »

I found what I thought was the original ice blue color on the B pillar and trunk/engine prop rod. It is under primer and silver. If I keep sanding further I find filler or what could be a yellow. I was pretty sure the yellow was filler as it is thick, but there is some doubt as the folks on the Peerless forum are pretty sure they weren't painted ice blue metallic, only green, blue, white, red and grey.

I laid the blue metallic next to the Warwick and it looks similar, if not the same.
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Peerless B Pillar laying on Warwick shroud
Peerless B Pillar laying on Warwick shroud
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Peerless B Pillar with Warwick behind
Peerless B Pillar with Warwick behind
Peerless B pillar - passenger side
Peerless B pillar - passenger side
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HealeyBN7
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by HealeyBN7 »

Worked on fitting the vent windows and front glass today. Both vent windows went in smoothly and I only broke three 6-32 taps drilling and threading 12 holes into the B pillar for the piano hinges.

The front glass is challenging. The roof seems to have drooped down a 1/2 inch over the last 20 years and the opening needed trimming
where I repaired the A pillars which just adds stress to the whole project. I am using a 1x4 to prop up the roof I am going to leave the rubber in the opening for a few days before setting in the glass. Next I need to work on the aluminum door sills and get those cut to their final size.
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HealeyBN7
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by HealeyBN7 »

I wanted to use the original B pillars, but they were missing too much metal (aluminum) so I fabricated a set. Pretty sure I am going to leave them polished and unpainted.
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nigel c
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by nigel c »

great stuff Dean and don't forget to pack that Ali trim with bit of wood to keep it authentic!
Re the seats, they look very standard in there covering..have they been painted red in stead of re-trimmed?
And check out your back seat for me; the hump in the middle, has it been cut/modified in anyway???
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by tannyo »

Totally amazing.
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by Larry Kluss »

Interesting on the color. You answered my next question being is it the same as the Warwick color. So are you thinking of going with the original color? Personally I'd paint it whatever you want being as there's a lot of the car that's not original. As opposed to the Warwick that really should be kept the original color, if it was ever to be repainted. Just my opinion.
The window trims look great!
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HealeyBN7
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by HealeyBN7 »

Nigel,

It was the wood that caused the trim to rot out from the inside... It looked like beef jerky.

The front seats have been recovered. They look better in the photos than they do in person. The back seat pan doesn't look like it has been modified in any way. Here are a few photos.

Dean
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HealeyBN7
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by HealeyBN7 »

I spent half a day working on this door sill covering. I made three panel sets, as I knew I would screw one up. The passenger side looks like it will be ok, so I have two for the driver's side to play with tomorrow. I bent the inside edge over as it looked like it would be better from a wear standpoint, but they didn't do this at the factory, so I may slice that off and just install a welt edge.

They will all need a deep polish and a little tig welding where the rear tab curves around the door shape. I am going to save up all my fancy tig welding projects and drop them off in one batch.

I'll have to make the shut panels around the hinges tomorrow. The panel closest to the door outside edge will be painted body color and the inner panel will be covered in leather/vinyl. Like the press photo...

Dean
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tannyo
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by tannyo »

Wait. Are you saying that among all your amazing talents that expert tig welding isn’t one of your talents? It looks like you might be human after all. I just keep being amazed when you do something amazing like paint and sew the interior of your Lotus and everything you’ve done with this Peerless.

The sill covers are looking good.
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by VWNate1 »

When I worked in L.A.P.D. Air Support we used a yellow primer on all the aluminum air frames, maybe that's the yellow under layment you found ? .

I like the color you've chosen .
-Nate
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nigel c
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by nigel c »

yea the yellow and sometimes green I think is a form of etch primer?

I really cant see it being this colour, unless very special order which I have never come across before.
The high build grey filler/primer they used before spray painting the bodies is incredibly thick and relatively soft so I would go with the thought that its absorbed another colour.
IMHO, IF you're not hellbent on originality and not chasing a gongs/high sale price I'd paint it what ever colour you want.
Of course this comes from a man who has documented proof that his car was red....and painted it white :o
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VWNate1
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by VWNate1 »

In the end, the person footing the bill gets to choose the way it's built .

My elderly neighbor across the street from me, painted her house an awful shade of PURPLE :eek: .

Right after she died her son had it repainted....
-Nate
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