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MG MGA - Fender piping size?

I recently replaced the fender piping on my A as the old piping had sucumbed to the brown ooze! The piping I purchased from Moss in the US (Part No.249-738) was only 3/4" deep where as the old piping was 1" deep. Does anyone know whether the shorter piping is better quality?
Mike


Mike Ellsmore

The brown ooze!

Mike Ellsmore

I bought piping from Moss at the time of my rebuild about 8 years ago and I had to throw it away in the end as it was as you say less deep but more importantly was much more flexible. This had the effect of making it more prone to squeezing up when the wing bolts were tightened. I purchased new piping from Peter Wood and it was much stiffer, less shiny but did the job. There's info in the archives on this.
J H Cole


Yes the moss stuff is rubbish and when you tighten the bolts it pulls up, due to lack of depth. Also the UK moss stuff does not last long in hot countries before going brown.

I purchases some from Bob West but alas my restorer picked out the moss stuff that came in a kit, so I have to re-do every wing.

Mark
Mark Hester

Bob West has the correct stuff which works fine
dominic clancy

Don't even attempt to use the 3/4" piping. It is too short and will never fit in properly. You will end up with a very botch job. The piping has to be straight and even all along each fender. I tried it on my A when I restored it and even with the help of my son, no way will it fit right. It will be squeezed upwards when you tighten the bolts. Get the longer 1" type, it will go in place with no problems. You just have to get an assistant to push it down tight while you are tightening each bolt. Do not be over enthusiastic when tightening the bolts.

Frank
F. Camilleri

Most MGA owners/restorers overtighten the mudguard bolts (I did it myself, once!). There is no need to make them "supertight" (which causes much of the unevenness), just bring the bolts up to firmness without distorting the piping. Perhaps that is what the factory did? I have also experienced the "brownness" mentioned but found (at least in my case) that it could be reasonably effectively removed with car polish.
Barry Bahnisch

My query is whether anyone has had deterioration (browning) of the plastic with the Moss product?
I had no problems installing the 3/4" deep material - I agree with Barry the key apears to be not overtightening the fender bolts and also tightening them gradually as you work along the fender.
Mike

Mike Ellsmore

Front fender photo.
Mike

Mike Ellsmore

Yes, I had the browning effect on Moss USA piping. Mineral spirits on a clean cotton rag cleaned it off relatively easily followed by an application of your favorite car wax. It took more than 5 years to show up inititally though. Cleaning it annually seems so much a better choice than replacing it.
Chuck Schaefer

When in Keywest one year I noticed a car with a different type of piping. It was biger and more flexible. After asking around I found that it was from a MGTF. I have installed it on one of my cars and I like the look. I bought it from Moss and it comes in different colors. I also put it around the front grill. Time will tell how it holds up.
GK George

G.K. That larger section is easier to fit, BUT it is not correct if you are looking to win a Concour event and will lose points!
Barry
Barry Gannon

While restoring my neighbor's MGA 1500 in the driveway, the question came up on what to do about the piping. We did not want to remove the fenders as only 3 days were available to do bodywork and paint the car with urethane. The fenders had some scale rust, so used some 'rust converter from Eastwood to neutralize it, then primer and paint in the driveway. Came out great! What to use for piping? Parts of the original piping were 'ground off' so the neighbor, being an electrician, brought over some 600volt wire in a PVC gray casing of the proper diameter. I slit the wire casing off, removed the copper wire, split the casing in half, removed the 600v writing with lacquer thinner, and used 3M body adhesive to stick it on. Looks original, and the MGA has won its share of awards. More importantly, it is back on the road!
Lee Jacobsen

Some people in Victoria use a "true" piping that is round with hole down the middle (~8 mm dia) with an attaching flange, from Clark Rubber, that is easier to fit, but it only comes in black.
Using a custom punch to knock down the high spots also helps fitting the original style piping. http://www.mgaguru.com/mgtech/body/bd115a.htm
Mike
Mike Ellsmore

This thread was discussed between 16/08/2011 and 21/08/2011

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