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body sub-structure showing through: A survey of your bodies please?

Posted by hunts

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body sub-structure showing through: A survey of your bodies please? #1
hunts H. Landon Hunter central PA '75 RB to CB, HS-4's., USA 1974 MG MGB GT 1975 MG MGB	Posted: April 18, 2012 06:05AM Registered: 9 years ago Posts: 2,923

Hey folks.

The area of the A's body that I think is called the rear tonneau...the outer surface cowling that is above and just behind the seatbacks...has two of the corrugated struts/braces running under it...the same braces where folks retrofit the third points for the seatbelt?

To use a term often heard when speaking about flooring, where one vinyl flooring sheet is installed improperly on top of an existing other...

Are any of your unmolested bodies showing those braces telegraphing through to the outer skin of your rear cowl/tonneaus?

Mine are and I know it will be worse when she gets shiney new paint someday. So this is either an expectant vintage characteristic, or somehow I may have nipped, tucked or pulled too hard somehow.

So I either build up the area like I am doing drywall joints, or perhaps yank downwards on the struts to relieve(?)some pressure maybe, or this is normal.

The area I am speaking of is (see photo)

Landon

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/18/2012 09:45AM by hunts.

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Re: body sub-structure showing through: A survey or your bodies please? #2
Neil MG Neil McGurk Cumbria, United Kingdom 1956 Morris Minor 1958 MG MGA 1960 MG MGA 1961 MG MGA 1966 Jaguar Mark 2 → more	Posted: April 18, 2012 07:52AM Registered: 5 years ago Posts: 1,485

What wonderful patina! I have not seen anything like that on any of my cars. I would suspect that there has been a very heavy load (someone standing?) on that area at some point. The braces have then marked the sheet steel with the lines still visible after the surface sprang back?

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Re: body sub-structure showing through: A survey or your bodies please? #3
ghnl Eric Russell North Carolina, USA	Posted: April 18, 2012 08:06AM Registered: 1 year ago Posts: 614

Has the body ever been sandblasted? Done improperly it will warp sheet metal. And if/when the underside is sandblasted the metal around the braces will be affected but the metal behind the braces will not and it will result in the effect you describe.

Or someone sat on the tonneau panel.

Eric Russell ~ Mebane, NC
1960 MGA, 1981 Alfa Romeo GTV6, 1984 Alfa Romeo Spider, 1991 Honda ST1100

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Re: body sub-structure showing through: A survey or your bodies please? #4
dfriswell David Friswell BOCA RATON, FLORIDA, USA 1960 MG MGA 1600 "The G"	Posted: April 18, 2012 08:13AM Registered: 2 years ago Posts: 397

Maybe something like this happened along the way...

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Re: body sub-structure showing through: A survey or your bodies please? #5
HL Miller Henry Miller Chair City, NC, USA	Posted: April 18, 2012 08:46AM Registered: 1 year ago Posts: 862

The '57 Eric & Mike & I did was like that. I just treated it like a dent and straightened it out. The front also had some telegraphing ( good term, btw) as well. The '60 parts car that is now a project car is the same way.

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Re: body sub-structure showing through: A survey or your bodies please? #6
hunts H. Landon Hunter central PA '75 RB to CB, HS-4's., USA 1974 MG MGB GT 1975 MG MGB	Posted: April 18, 2012 09:48AM Registered: 9 years ago Posts: 2,923

In reply to # 2043497 by ghnl Has the body ever been sandblasted? Done improperly it will warp sheet metal. And if/when the underside is sandblasted the metal around the braces will be affected but the metal behind the braces will not and it will result in the effect you describe.

Or someone sat on the tonneau panel.

No sandblasting that I can verify, I am the second owner. Good thought though. Which makes me think I should be describing this as oil-canning.

Landon

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Re: body sub-structure showing through: A survey of your bodies please? #7
jclars John Larsen Lynden, WA, USA 1958 MG MGA 1500 Coupe 1965 MG MGB 1970 MG MGB	Posted: April 18, 2012 10:16AM Registered: 5 years ago Posts: 2,308

Monkeys on your back will do that.

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Re: body sub-structure showing through: A survey of your bodies please? #8
dfriswell David Friswell BOCA RATON, FLORIDA, USA 1960 MG MGA 1600 "The G"	Posted: April 18, 2012 10:26AM Registered: 2 years ago Posts: 397

R.I.P. Davy Jones...

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Re: body sub-structure showing through: A survey of your bodies please? #9
TeamEvil / / Gone, /, Kiribati	Posted: April 18, 2012 11:57AM Registered: 1 year ago Posts: 1,445

I had three trunk lids with the same symptoms, but I haven't looked closely at the rear clip yet. I had a post about it and nobody would believe that the lines were even there for the most part. Nice (I mean BAD ! !) to see someone showing up with something similar and pics to go along with.

Don't know what causes it, but I THINK that it might be the packing, felt, or sound deadening hardening up over the years. Becoming impregnated with metal and rust from inside and that material becoming wet and possibly enlarging in size. Body movement and stress, now against a solid surface, would cause that kind of impression to form.

Not sure, but with the trunks, I gouged the hardened sound deadening out from between the trunk lids and inner bracing and managed to coax the outer surface back into shape, skimmed with fiberglass, then added new deadening material. Of course alumiunum is much easier than steel. You'll need a metal shrinking wheel on a drill or right angle grinder to accomplish this on your rear clip, but it can be done.

Luck,

TC

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Re: body sub-structure showing through: A survey of your bodies please? #10
Marcus T Orting, Wa, USA	Posted: April 18, 2012 11:37PM Registered: 1 year ago Posts: 40

My boot lid had the same too. Not bad, but when blocking them, there were a couple of high spots and that is when I noticed they were right on top of the support ribs.

I haven't stripped the back tub yet so it will be interesting to see how that comes out.

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