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  • It wasn't British wiring so I had to improvise.


    On with the bumper installation:


    The next phase was to install the front valance which, of course, fit perfectly right off the bat. NOT!!!! First of all it was not cut to allow the bumper brackets to come thru the valance hence the cut out areas in the pic. It dawned on me that this valance was made for chrome bumper fenders (they are different) which also explained why many of the mounting holes didn't line up. Some test fitting, scribing of weld nuts, etc. resulted the valance mounted as shown;


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    The next step would be to drill for the bumper mounting bars (what we called "bumper irons" in my youth). Simple, right? Nope. The remaining inner flange is too narrow to get a nut and washer in place so the only fix I could see was to scab on about 3/8 of an inch of 1/8" stock so there would be room for the inner bolt. BTW - this step was completely missing from the instructions which makes me think that maybe some of the earlier rubber bumper cars had a wider inner flange (my car was one of the last several hundred made). There's no way to weld the rear of this so I cranked up the welder as much as I dared and beveled my added pieces a little - it probably should be OK as it'll be clamped by the bumper iron and a washer in the rear. Both sides done as shown.


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    Last edited by DanStokes; January 19, 2025, 08:55 PM.

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    • These are called "Fitments" !!
      Also, why we call it "Customized" .....

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      • Originally posted by Captain View Post
        These are called "Fitments" !!
        Also, why we call it "Customized" .....
        Definitely "customized"!

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        • I spent the day yesterday ordering up parts from Rimmer Bros in England - the grille, various bits of brightwork like new badges for the boot lid, etc, and the windscreen-to-cowl weatherstrip. Even with shipping I save on the order of $200 over the main US supplier - and assuming DHL does what they say they'll do, the parts will be here in 6 days. Pretty "chuffed", as the Brits would say!

          Out to the shop to fit bumper irons.

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          • So today it was time to fit the front turn signal/parking lamps. The rubber bumper has the front lamps in the rubber so body mods are required to signal turns from the front. The kit includes a filler panel to partially fill up a space at the lower front of the rubber bumper front wings. They don't fit very well but after some fiddling they were welded in place in the following pic. Also done in this pic is the cutout for the lamp body to fit thru the fender. The instructions for the chrome bumper kit include a template to locate the lamps, cut that sort of arrow shape as well as the extra round, and to locate the attachment bolt holes. The template is a "sorta" as considerable tweaking was required to get everything in place. I think I'm going to nip off that piece that hangs down by the round area as it's doing nothing and bugs me. The lamps appear to be the design of Lucas generic side marker lamps though these are imported from Taiwan. (Strange to think these have been shipped from Taiwan to England and then here to NC - those suckers have been around!)


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            After messing with the bolt holes, cut-out areas, etc, here's the front end w/turn signals.


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            And in primer, probably prematurely as I'll nip out the aforementioned offending bits.


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            Last edited by DanStokes; January 22, 2025, 08:51 PM.

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            • Dan - I have a question. It appears your going to bare metal on most (if not all) the sheet metal. And it appears that parts will be in bare metal for an extended period of time. When it's time to seal/epoxy prime it - what do you have to do to be sure the paint will get a good bite?
              Lightly sand everything again?
              Scotchbrite everything?
              ?????

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              • Originally posted by cstmwgn View Post
                Dan - I have a question. It appears your going to bare metal on most (if not all) the sheet metal. And it appears that parts will be in bare metal for an extended period of time. When it's time to seal/epoxy prime it - what do you have to do to be sure the paint will get a good bite?
                Lightly sand everything again?
                Scotchbrite everything?
                ?????
                Yes, I'll scuff it up with either sand paper or Scotchbrite. Lots of Prepsol after the sanding then self-etching primer. What is primed so far is spray can but I'll break out the gun for the big parts.

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                • I got a lovely care package from Rimmer Bros in England with many bits including the grille. The chrome bumper kit is pretty complete but does not include a grille probably because there are several options - I went with the early style though the newer of the two early ones. The very first style had individual grille teeth riveted to the grille frame and the slightly later ones used a one-piece set of teeth riveted as a unit to the grille shell. The later style is cheaper and possibly more robust so I went cheap.

                  The installation required that I weld on a couple of tabs to attach the top and somehow I failed to take a pic of that but here's a shot of the grille in place. For some reason it wants to sit slightly in front of the grille opening but I decided that was OK and shouldn't be an issue. I hope. Still unknown is how the bonnet (hood) will align with the grille so more tweaking may be required.


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                  It seemed like this was the time to paint the grille opening panels so I spent most of the day today cleaning up those panels, removing the front wings so that there's a clean paint break, then priming and painting the grille opening. This is sort of a PITA with lots of sanding in tight little spaces and that sort of thing. This is shot in black Rustoleum which should be fine in a low UV area. I'll give it a day or so to dry well.


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                  Last edited by DanStokes; January 26, 2025, 08:45 PM.

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                  • Once more, I'm glad I'm not doing this stuff for a living as this has taken WAY too many hours. Front bumper is in place but with caveats to follow.


                    The inner bumper iron bolt (the one I had to scab on an extension to have a place to drill for the bolt) needs a nut on the back side and it's very difficult to hold a nut and start the threads as it has to go in a very limited space. So I dug out one of my old tricks and made a nut with a "handle" (or whatever you want to call it - I'm open to suggestions) for each side so I can just hold it in place and spin the bolt. This method works great and I've used it many times in various cars that I've built.

                    Tacked on in the vise:


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                    Installed in it's cozy location: I'm looking up from the bottom on the right side.


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                    And the bumper installed along with the grille which is just set in place for the pic. Sadly it isn't as done as it seems - the right bumper iron is about 3/4" from the bumper so I'll need to modify the bracket. I'm not sure if the car was tweaked at some point or if my right side fender fitting skewed things, but either way I'll make it work.


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                    • I've made the front bumper fit more or less properly and am moving on to the rear bumper. While fitting the rear seems much easier, remember that this is after I welded in the transition pieces to accommodate the transition from the chrome bumper to the tail lamp. It looks like the bumper will pretty much bolt on with the new bumper irons but I did detect a snag. The chrome bumper bumperettes (or overriders as they're called in the catalog) were punched for license plate lights and my later style body has license plate lamps mounted to the lower back panel. One or the other of those sets of lights need to be eliminated and given that I've already started filling the lower back panel with holes it seemed logical to fill the overriders. Luckily, I had a piece of SS plate lying around so I cut out some plugs and screwed them behind the light holes as shown. What doesn't show well in the pic is that the SS is polished to a chrome-like shine and I don't think it'll show much. With any luck I'll bolt the rear bumper on tomorrow.


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                      • Looks very professional and almost a Factory
                        Look to a Accessories Block Out Plug for
                        the next trim level that You Didn't Get on Your Car.

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                        • Originally posted by Captain View Post
                          Looks very professional and almost a Factory
                          Look to a Accessories Block Out Plug for
                          the next trim level that You Didn't Get on Your Car.
                          You're giving MG way too much credit! They never made a stripped version and if you wanted accessories (radio, AC, etc) you were on your own. Actually, the '80 that is the basis for the build is the top of the line being an LE model - that means it came with stick-on stripes on the lower sides. But the chrome bumper cars per-1974) had the license plate lights in the bumperettes hence the holes.

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                          • We've run out of propane! They're usually really good about keeping us full automatically but I suspect our cold snap last week caught them a bit off guard. Bottom line is that I didn't do much in the shop today but I did bolt on the rear bumper. After shimming it back (away from the body) a tad it fits pretty well.


                            First, an installation tip. The bumperettes come with a bolt to mount them but it's close to impossible to hold all the bits together and attach the bumper with the angle adaptor and fasteners. My assembly tip: pick up a couple of 2 3/4" studs and assemble as noted in the pic. I added a lock nut so that the stud wouldn't screw itself into the thread plate welded to the bumperette though that might not be necessary. It's then pretty easy to push the stud thru the bumper, angle adaptor, washer, lock washer (in this case, a Nylox nut was substituted) and finally the nut.


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                            Here's the bumper in place. All in all, not too bad.


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                            There's an open area at the inside corner between the bumper and the tail light. They send a shiny aluminum filler piece to cover that up as shown in the pic. I'll temporarily screw these in to assure fit then remove them during the paint procedure.


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                            I'm not wild about how they finished the body end of these bumpers. Seems like it ought to wrap back toward the quarter panel but this is how they left it. I suppose I'll live with it but it doesn't make my tail wag.


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                            Last edited by DanStokes; February 3, 2025, 12:00 PM.

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                            • I've mostly been sanding filler - not very pic-worthy. But I did take time yesterday to install the little aluminum "modesty panels" at the rear bumper corners. I found a pic of an MGB with the panels installed and modeled my installation after that pic. Not a major deal but one to scratch off the list.


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                              • Don't give up on me! Still sanding away on the MGB though today I'm making a box to help Andy hop up on the recliners. He's getting old and it's getting progressively harder for the little guy to "HOP UP" as we say in our house.

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