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MG MGA - Separating chassis from body

Advice appreciated re separating chassis from body. Wings, lids doors etc, are off, and all bolts holding body to chassis are off. There is nothing left holding chassis to body. Battery shelf seems to be glued to frame. Is this normal, and what do you do about it? Other advice on next steps to get the two parts apart? Thanks
Tom Going

Disconnect steering column, Brake & clutch, wiring harness where appropriate. Disconn fuel line. Drop fuel tank. Remove rear bumper supports from frame.
Maybe some more I missed.
Not sure what you are calling the battery shelf. You mean the battery cover? There are two DZus fasteners that have to be turned A/C, one either side.
Art Pearse

Tom

There are two bolts which go up into the body just in front of the rear wheels. They come from underneath and are not obvious.

John
John Francis

If it is a roadster you must take steps to make sure the bodyshell doesn't bend in the middle when you lift it. Bracing is required.

Paul
P M Dean

List and map for bolts is here: http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/restore/rt103a.htm

Repair rusted body sills before removing body from frame, and body bracing is not needed. I have had the body off my MGA roadster twice and never used any bracing. The central body structure in good condition is strong enough to hold an ox. You can support it at both ends and stand on the body sills without harm. But if you want to pull it off the frame in rusted condition, all bets are off.
Barney Gaylord

If by "battery shelf", you mean the heater shelf, it's not glued on but the cork gasket can adhere pretty strongly to the goalpost of the frame. Use some gentle prying so you don't bend the shelf.

If the sticking point is more toward the rear of the car, see John's post above.

If you haven't taken out 31 bolts, you have more to remove before you can pull the body off. That's if all of the bolts were there to start with (mine was missing a few, making the count slightly difficult)!
Larry Wheeler

Thanks all. Re the battery shelf, yes I guess I think too much about about my TR3. Anyway, all stuff including steering column are off, so I guess the cork stuff is what broke down and makes the heater shelf stick. I replaced the inner and outer rockers, and have angle iron braces in place, so, I am looking forward to taking the body off.

Do most of you do most of the the body work and panel matching now (e.g., fitting fenders, doors, etc.,) now and before taking the body off? If rear feners are not a great fit at the B post shut face panels, what do you do?

I bought new rear fenders from Moss, and the match with the B posts seem like not a perfect a fit.


Thanks
Tom Going

When you start fitting the new rear fenders, please take pictures and send along notes on your personal impressions. I don't recall any report from anyone fitting new fenders in the past 35 years. It would be good to know what the current parts look like, quality wise, and how much fettling may be required.
Barney Gaylord

I will let you know how the rear fenders fit and what is needed. They seem flimsey - perhaps 20 gauge steel, and they will need some body work, including at most of the bolt holes where they have a bit of a recess (where they match up with the body), and there is a slight dent on the top of one.

My current plan I guess (absent advice otherwise) is to fit everyting now and do the necessary body work, and then remove the body from the chassis.

Thanks for any advice on this.

Tom Going

Tom, you're going to be our test case, I don't know of anyone who has bought complete fenders before. If they're anything like the repair pieces, it will take a lot of tweaking to get it to fit right.

Were your fenders too far gone to salvage? Most folks end up replacing rusted or damaged sections.

You're definitely on the right track, do all the body work first before you lift it off the frame then you'll only need to do some fine adjusting when you put it back on. I can second Barney's comment that you don't need bracing if the sills have been replaced.
Larry Wheeler

I guess I am a little surprised to hear that few or no one fits new rear fenders. Hope that's not a bad sign of things to come when I try and do it.

Perhaps I overreacted and bought the new fenders. Mine were full of bondo, patches and holes in bad places. I think I am a fairly capable welder and body person, but I got to the point of thinking that no matter what, they just were not going to work out as I wished.

Probably should have checked on this and other sites about experieinces replacing with new, but it sounds like I would not have heard much in response. Anyway, I spent a little time fiddling with the left one and it didnt seem too bad of a fit, but its still early in the process. I spent less time with the right one, and it seems to need some work.

Ill keep people posted on how they work out.

Tom
Tom Going

I had new fenders fitted to my car by Bob West, MGA specialist in the UK, when it was restored a few years ago. He suggested that the new rear ones were ok but not the new front ones. He obtained them from Anglo Parts from memory.

They seem fine to me and I am quite fussy!
John Francis

Fit up the drivers side today, and it went on very well so far. A little bondo needed, but nothing too much. I am pleased with it so far>
Tom Going

Following up on the issue of how the Moss replacement rear fenders are working out, so far pretty good. The seams line up pretty well, though as I noted, there are slight indentations between each area where the fender has a hole to attach to the car. Easy enough dealt with with a bit of putty. The dog leg seemed a bit concaved, and I dont think pushing it out would help, so I added a bit of putty and think it will work out fine. One of the best things is that it lines up well with the B post, and the back courve of the car.

Tom Going

By the way, does anyone have suggestions for a dolly to put the body on once I get it off the chassis? Pictures? Where to rest the body on the dolly would help. Ideally, Ill probbaly put some wheels on the dolly to be able to more the body around. Thanks.



Tom Going

Tom, My restoration project is at body off stage. I have it sitting on two planks, on the floor of my garage. It can easily be carried around by two, my son and I. You don't really need a dolly but it would be helpful to have wheels under it.
Barry.
Barry Gannon

Tom

As Barry points out, the body is quite light to shift around. Nevertheless, I made a lightweight dolly because I was space limited in my double garage with my TC alongside my project MGA rebuild. I made mine out of 2" x 2" scrap wood as you can see in the photo. Despite its frail appearance it was plenty strong enough. I simply put 4 castor wheels on the bottom of the legs. The whole contraption was designed to allow the rolling chassis to be wheeled in and out, or alternatively, the dolly to be wheeled out. It never broke nor gave me any cause for concern. The only disadvantage was that I needed a stool to work on the upper surfaces.

Steve

Steve Gyles

This thread was discussed between 19/10/2012 and 06/11/2012

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