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MG MGA - Metal Working Workshop Report

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend a 3 day metalworking workshop taught by Kent White of TM Technologies. The first day covered repair of aluminum sheet metal in compound surfaces, the second was spent on forming new compound shapes from flat sheet, and the last day was was welding aluminum using oxy-acetylene. This post is mostly concerned with what took place on the first day of the workshop.

Kent had asked that we bring any aluminum parts that needed repair in for use as demonstration pieces, so I spent some time a few days prior to the course on stripping all of the old paint and bondo out of my MGA doors. I knew that the left hand side of the car had been backed into by a bus back in the '80s, and it had a large crease hiding under a thick layer of filler, per conversations with my father when he was alive. So, if anything, I was kind of surprised that the damage was not worse than it was. The body man who worked it over at the time (my cousin, who ran the body shop for my dad, and had been guilty of parking it in harm's way) fortunately didn't do any additional damage to the aluminum; there were just some sander marks that I assume were intended to create more surface area for the bondo to cling to.

The only other parts brought in that day were some steel pieces off a tractor, and since the focus of the class was on aluminum, I really lucked out in that Kent spent a lot of time working over my door. He demonstrated various techniques using a spoon and slapper, along with hammers and a very small shot bag, which he referred to as his "soft" dolly. He also used the oxy-acetylene torch, along with a flat body file, to work over the smaller imperfections and shrink them down smooth. The following picture shows him using that technique on the front portion of the skin; it also shows the extent of the major portion of the damage to the rear part of the skin:


Del Rawlins

Very little metal was removed by this method. He'd warm the area with the torch (not enough to fully anneal), and lightly drag the file across it. The weight of the file being dragged across the warm metal flattened it out, almost as though it were being worked with a light spoon. At the same time, the file highlighted remaining high spots to be worked over on subsequent passes. By the time he was finished, only a very small crease remained that will need to be filled, and he made it clear that if given enough time, even that crease would have been gone, and a polished finish could be applied if I wanted. Even with the remaining crease, I was ecstatic over how well the door turned out; it is now easily the better of the two doors. Here is a picture showing how the door looks now:


Del Rawlins

I'd told him what I was planning to bring to the workshop several weeks prior, so he'd brought a set of special tools he'd fabricated for removing door skins, and demonstrated their use. I'm sorry that I didn't think to snap any pictures at the time, I was too preoccupied in watching what he was doing to remember the camera. I passed on having the skin removed, because I need to have that door intact for now for doing my sill and door post repairs. This made his job a little more difficult, but at least I know how to remove the skin when I need to do it to de-rust and prime the inner steel structure. I have a couple of parts car doors in extremely rough shape that I can practice on, before I attempt that job. Another thing that I learned is that the door skin alloy (and presumably the bonnet and boot lids) of the MGA is 5052, which is common in British cars of the era. This alloy is a little more difficult to work than other non heat treatable alloys like 1100 or 3003, but is also a bit stronger. One favorable characteristic is that it is extremely resistant to corrosion (it is normally considered a marine alloy), which would explain why dissimilar metal corrosion between the door skin and the steel door frame usually isn't a major problem, even after all these years.

In closing, I'd like to recommend that anybody who is interested in metal work take one of his workshops if you ever get the opportunity to do so. It won't make a master metal man out of you, but you'll learn enough in a few days, to be able to take that knowledge and work on your own to develop some usable skills. If you can't do that, then the videos that he sells on his website are the next best thing, and he's also got an extensive line of metalworking gear, many items of which are not available anywhere else. Check it out at:

http://www.tinmantech.com/
Del Rawlins

Del, Very interesting - how did he manage to get the depressions out of the aluminium door face? I have similar damage but there is very little space to operate a hammer inside the back door recess. Also the dents on mine seem to be where the steel framework is and it gets in the way. Mike
m.j. moore

Thanks Del!
Great info...great Web site..

GTF
G T Foster

Del-
It is truly an experience to be treasured when you get to watch a master at work, especially as the numbers dwindle. Find it odd that the other attendees couldn't be bothered to bring stuff to work on. Kent has a bunch of videos I believe, so those who have cash to spend should send him some. I have friends who give workshops in the art metal world - seem to be a lot of dilettantes with slightly more than idle curiosity, but not much real interest. But, it helps support the artists.

Mike- Look at Kent's site and read everything. Look up "paintless dent removal" or similar for lot's of detail on how you get into tight places. I just read an Australian article on this that showed all the special tools to do this. Most of them you can make yourself if your have any business messing with MGA doors and the like!

The three main words are: understand, patience, and gentle.

FRM
FR Millmore

From what I could see, he got behind there with a spoon and pushed it out, then took out most of the remaining ripples with the torch and body file. Here is the spoon that he used:

https://www.tinmantech.com/html/spoons__forged_spring_steel.php

Like most of the tools he brought up to Alaska for the workshop, it made a one way trip. It, or one just like it, now resides in my shop. Kent really picked the right day (October 8) to begin the workshop, because the Alaska PFDs were direct deposited that day. Getting ready to place an order for more stuff with him, too.

He even demonstrated a power hammer and English wheel, which were brought up for a customer down on the Kenai Peninsula. I'd been waiting several years for him to return to Alaska (last time I did not find out until afterward), and I was not disappointed when it finally happened.
Del Rawlins

Del,

I'll bring you my doors! I wish I had known about the workshop. Hopefully my doors won't look too bad when I get around to stripping them.

Ken
k v morton

Ken, the workshop was organized by a local who is flying a Subaru powered Bearhawk; about half of us were Bearhawk builders (Kent is a participating member of the Bearhawk email group), and the remainder was made up of members of the local EAA chapter. All the available slots filled up within a day or two, and there was a waiting list for all three days. If there had been any available slots I would have sent a note to Charlie to be forwarded to the BSCA membership.
Del Rawlins

Is there anybody on the east side of the Mississippi the has a class like the one talked about here?
GK George

You could write him an email asking if he has any workshops scheduled near your area. If you are a member of a club, there might be enough interest for him to put one on, especially if you coordinate with a local chapter of the EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association). I think most years he also puts on a workshop at the annual fly-in at Oshkosh. I don't know whether or not he does the same at Sun-N-Fun in Florida. Drop him an email and ask.

BTW Ken, I can almost guarantee he would be interested in coming back up, especially if the workshop was timed to coincide with when the salmon are running. Ours was organized with barely over a month's lead time, and several people who wanted to weren't able to take it due to lack of slots.
Del Rawlins

Del,

What did he charge?

Ken
k v morton

Ken, drop me an email, I think my email software lost your address. He gave us a bit of a discount, so I am not comfortable posting it online.
Del Rawlins

GK, Carl Heideman's shop in Holland Michigan has MGA restoration seminars from time to time. I don't see one scheduled soon looking at their website <www.eclecticmotorworks.com>, but maybe a call to them could get you additional information.

George
G Goeppner

George,

Thanks for the reference. We won't have an MGA class until Feb or so, but we've got an MGB Class December 4-5, 2009. It's the same class, but we use an MGB for examples.

I also think I'll be doing a class at Sports Car Craftsmen in Denver sometime in 2010 for those of you who don't want to visit Michigan.

We just set up an e-mail signup on our website for people who want updates about classes etc. www.eclecticmotorworks.com


Thanks!
--Carl
Carl Heideman

This thread was discussed between 22/10/2009 and 24/10/2009

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