Tanny's 1971 MGB GT

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tannyo
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Tanny's 1971 MGB GT

Post by tannyo »

In "Well, it was fun while it lasted" I had an accident in my 1971 MGB GT. Since the accident is covered by my insurance, I asked around and investigated several places to repair the MG. I ended up taking one of Steve's suggestions and decided to use Henry's Paint & Body, 14410 Friar St., Van Nuys, CA 91401 -- 818-983-8092. Steve had said that he hadn't seen any of their work for a very long time, so there were no guarantees. I made that decision to use Henry's because Enrique (Henry) had managed the paint shop for Mike Goodman's MG service center for 30 years and after Mike Goodman retired he has been on his own for the last 7 years. I figured he should have learned how to properly fix a MG in the last 37 years. I've wanted to have the car repainted for a long time and thought that while AAA fixed the front of the car, I could afford Enrique's price to fix the rest of the car. Some of the other shops wanted a lot more money and did great work or didn't seem to do the quality of work as I had seen from Enrique. We'll have to see if I made the right decision.

Today, in this box
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came all these parts. I've read some complaints that the aluminum hoods have shipping damage but this hood came without a dent but with a rough surface where it appears they did some grinding.
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While waiting for parts, Enrique has been busy fixing my car. Here he has fixed the rear fender where the guy I had make room for the wheels and tires had left a lot of waves. There's a lot of hammer work under that thin, thin coat of filler. He's also taken out dings in the door and fender and filled the hole for the antenna. The antenna was located too far forward which meant that the lower part of the antenna could not be used and the antenna was wobbly and did not retract all the way down. I'm having the antenna moved closer to the windshield where the lower parts of the antenna can be used. While he's at it the side marker lights will be removed.
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Here he scraped off the peeling undercoating behind the front wheel, applied new undercoating and started to work on the door and rear fender. You might wonder why the windshield is still on the car. Enrique assures me that he can put a thin rope material under the windshield rubber seal which will move the rubber away from the body so paint won't get on the rubber. After color sanding he will remove the rope. Not taking out the windshield will save me a lot of money. I am very concerned that it won't look right but Enrique said if I didn't like it he would remove the windshield and redo that section. Enrique said to trust him.
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The wheelarch front assembly will have to be pulled out and repaired. He is also going to repair and paint the bonnet lock platform and radiator duct assembly.
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Dents have been taken out of the rear hatch and the hatch has been fitted properly.
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Hopefully Enrique will be able to get the correct fender and order the grill from the Roadster Factory where I found a grill in stock and get the car done as fast as he said he could (15 days). We'll have see how he does.
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Re: Paint and Repair of my 1971 MGB GT

Post by malcolmr18zoy »

Well Tanny, It looks as though your car is in good hands, and is doing well. I hope you're doing as well as your car seems to be.
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Re: Paint and Repair of my 1971 MGB GT

Post by tannyo »

malcolmr18zoy wrote:Well Tanny, It looks as though your car is in good hands, and is doing well. I hope you're doing as well as your car seems to be.
Malcolm
Yep, I'm doing pretty well. They don't know why the left side of my face went numb Tuesday evening, but they do know it wasn't a TIA or mini-stroke. They think that it might have been caused by the sinus surgery I had last Friday, but they really don't know. I guess that's why they call it a practice. The good thing is that I found out that my arteries are "super clear", my heart has no damage and is great condition.

Right now, I'm looking forward to getting the car painted and putting down lots of wax and making sure that the tires have dressing on them so that they are plenty slick, just to bug Jimmy. :)

Thanks for asking,

Tanny
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Re: Paint and Repair of my 1971 MGB GT

Post by TEAM ROSBIF »

Tanny, you are in good hands, those guys are the ones who painted my Twin cam.

All the best

Mark
WORKS MGA TWIN CAM YD1
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Re: Paint and Repair of my 1971 MGB GT

Post by tannyo »

TEAM ROSBIF wrote:Tanny, you are in good hands, those guys are the ones who painted my Twin cam.

All the best

Mark
I love the job they did on your twin cam.
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Does anyone else have a success story with their paint and body shop?
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Re: Paint and Repair of my 1971 MGB GT

Post by Steve Simmons »

I'm glad it's working out for you. Looks like you'll have your car back in no time! :thumbs:
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Re: Paint and Repair of my 1971 MGB GT

Post by tannyo »

Steve Simmons wrote:I'm glad it's working out for you. Looks like you'll have your car back in no time! :thumbs:
I think time is relative for paint and body shops. I've never been able to get my car back in the time I've been quoted. Here's hoping that Enrique is the exception.
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Re: Paint and Repair of my 1971 MGB GT

Post by TEAM ROSBIF »

Thanks Tanny, you know Jerry Alban has had at least 5 or 6 cars painted by Henry.

Mark
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Re: Paint and Repair of my 1971 MGB GT

Post by tannyo »

TEAM ROSBIF wrote:Thanks Tanny, you know Jerry Alban has had at least 5 or 6 cars painted by Henry.

Mark
Who is Jerry Alban?
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Re: Paint and Repair of my 1971 MGB GT

Post by TEAM ROSBIF »

Jerry sometimes come on runs with us driving an MGB GT it's that orange or is it called 'blaze' color?
Anyway I have been trying to get him to join us with one of his other cars, he has 2 perfect Twin Cams!, also a TD, TF, TC, Mini Cooper etc. He used to hang out a lot with Mike Goodman at the shop, hence he knows Henry well.
Steve knows him too.

Mark
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Re: Paint and Repair of my 1971 MGB GT

Post by Jimmy »

tannyo wrote:Right now, I'm looking forward to getting the car painted and putting down lots of wax and making sure that the tires have dressing on them so that they are plenty slick, just to bug Jimmy. :) Tanny
Sorry to have to break this to you, Tanny, but not only have you been deprived of waxing your wagon since the crash, you still won't be able to do it for a while.
At least that was what I was told after having a Postal Jeep painted in the early Nineties.
They said not to wax it for two weeks.
To play it safe, I still have never even washed it.
In baseball, running into someone is apparently a "collision".
But doing the same thing in a car somehow makes it an "accident".
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Re: Paint and Repair of my 1971 MGB GT

Post by Larry Kluss »

tannyo wrote:
Steve Simmons wrote:I'm glad it's working out for you. Looks like you'll have your car back in no time! :thumbs:
I think time is relative for paint and body shops. I've never been able to get my car back in the time I've been quoted. Here's hoping that Enrique is the exception.
Tanny, happy to see that your car is being repaired...and it appears that it's being done properly.
Remember it's more important that it's done right than making the time estimate.
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Re: Paint and Repair of my 1971 MGB GT

Post by tannyo »

Larry Kluss wrote:Tanny, happy to see that your car is being repaired...and it appears that it's being done properly. Remember it's more important that it's done right than making the time estimate.
Yes, I want it to be done right, but at the same time it's my daily driver. Until it's fixed I have to borrow my wife's car to get around.
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Re: Paint and Repair of my 1971 MGB GT

Post by tannyo »

Side lamp and dents are gone. The headlight and front turn signal will be removed before paint.
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Enrique had to do the doors underneath the trim because the previous painter had left runs in the paint.
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The guy I had relieve the wheel arches left a lot of waves on this side. It really bothered me and now it's very smooth.
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Another side lamp removed. Look how little filler there has been used and he isn't even finished sanding yet.
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More runs removed and the door is fixed where Kenny the Pothead damaged it while backing up.
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Another side lamp removed and still more sanding to go.
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This has to be pulled out but the AAA appraiser said he has to be there when it's done. He was supposed to be there Friday but didn't show up.
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Another day till paint is applied

Post by tannyo »

Because of a miscommunication between Enrique and AAA, my car hasn't been worked on very much this last week. This morning they got together and Enrique pulled out the wheelarch front assembly. All that's left is to fit the hood (bonnet), fender, grill and valence, weld the tear in the wheelarch front assembly and a little bit of block sanding. With the exception of the hood and fender the rest of the car is ready for paint. Enrique said that he would take off the wheels and put the car on stands when he paints. He has already painted under the hood and fender and it is just the color I wanted. I'm very excited.

Enrique bolted on the fender with one bolt so that I could take pictures. Here you can see the hood needs to come down a little on the drivers side near the cowl.
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There's the old hood in background.
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Here's where the wheelarch front assembly needs to be welded and smoothed out.
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Can't wait until tomorrow when Enrique applies paint. The car should be done by Friday. 8)
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It's painted!

Post by tannyo »

All that's left is to color sand it, buff it, glaze it, wax it and put it all back together. We're still looking at late Friday or Saturday morning. I love the color, it's beautiful.
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Re: Paint and Repair of my 1971 MGB GT

Post by Steve Simmons »

Gotta love a nice deep BRG. It's hard to tell from the photos but that looks like the color I was going to paint a BGT race car I nearly bought some time ago.
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Re: Paint and Repair of my 1971 MGB GT

Post by tannyo »

Steve Simmons wrote:Gotta love a nice deep BRG. It's hard to tell from the photos but that looks like the color I was going to paint a BGT race car I nearly bought some time ago.
It's the same color the car was painted before, without the faded color.
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Re: Paint and Repair of my 1971 MGB GT

Post by gorms68 »

Where did the post paint pictures go? Or am I the only ones who can't see the emperor's new clothes :o
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Re: Paint and Repair of my 1971 MGB GT

Post by tannyo »

gorms68 wrote:Where did the post paint pictures go? Or am I the only ones who can't see the emperor's new clothes :o
They are in a different comment. Try viewtopic.php?p=10574#p10574
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Re: Paint and Repair of my 1971 MGB GT

Post by gorms68 »

Oooh, that looks good, and my favorite MGB color!
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Re: Paint and Repair of my 1971 MGB GT

Post by spitfire »

Wow I am glad it is back up and running so quickly. And all while I was away enjoying 80 degree water in the caribbean. Can't wait to see it on the next run.
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Re: Paint and Repair of my 1971 MGB GT

Post by tannyo »

Finally got the car today. It has a few blemishes in the clear coat which Enrique said he will take care of after the clear coat has cured. He said to bring the car back in three weeks, but I'll be with my oldest son and will need the car so he said it would be okay to bring it back the first week of January. He's also going to fix the rear valance which he missed.

There was a ground problem with the tail lights because the base had not been tightened down enough. In trying to fix the problem Enrique miss-adjusted the brake light switch. I took the car to Darren's MG and he had all the lights working in about 5 minutes.

Here are a few pictures Steve Simmons took.
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Re: Paint and Repair of my 1971 MGB GT

Post by tannyo »

Here are my meager attempts at taking pictures. This shows you the difference of pictures taken with my phone and Steve's pictures taken with an actual camera (even though it is a point and shoot).
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Re: Paint and Repair of my 1971 MGB GT

Post by Larry Kluss »

Nice! :thumbs:
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