Tech Stuff

Refurbishment Project
Dean Hickenlooper

Ever thought of taking on a refurbishment project? Well Dean Hickenlooper did. Following is a brief pictorial of the progress so far.

It all started out in August when he obtained a 1957 MGA – totally unassembled…and I totally mean every nut and bolt on the body, interior and engine. Boxes and boxes of parts. Should prove to be a challenge. At first glance, it looks like the “A” project will have several welding Tech sessions. The frame didn’t look too bad, but the rocker panels, sills and inner sills seem to be missing all together. So, there was lots of fabricating.

With the frame exposed, cleaned, and painted it didn’t look too bad.

UNASSEMBLED MGA made its way into the shop. The wife (Kerry) always wanted one sooooo....... happy wife happy life -- get to it!

Well with the MGA in the garage it brought with it LOTS of WELDING! As you may have noticed from the photos there were no sills or rockers panels, and the B pillars were in bad shape. So, I went online looking for a good deal on parts and found The Little British Car Co. had the best prices around. I placed the order and started prepping what was left of the body for the new parts. Some panels I had to fab up and weld in before the new ones could be installed. Thanks again to Barney Gaylord for his incredible web site on MGAs. I found out through his website that you actually start at the doors and work out from there. It was quite the challenge getting the doors and wings to line up with a decent gap. After the sills, pillars, doors, wings, and rocker panels were fitted and welded up it was time to take it all apart and separate the body from the frame. After a quick trip to Home Depot for some eyelet screws and rope, a bit of rigging and a few busted rusty bolts the separation was complete with the body hanging from the garage ceiling! With the body off it was much easier to inspect the frame. To my dismay there was quite a few repairs which were previously done, leaving me to possibly find a replacement. Further analysis will be necessary........

The body has been removed from the frame, sanded, rust-inhibited, and ready for welding repair.

EDITOR NOTE: This will be a continuing saga in future issues of Driveline. Stay tuned!