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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Engine bay refurbishment

Entered a classic car show this weekend - and deeply shamed by the standard of presentation of some of the show ponies compared to my venerable workhorse. One thing that has always frustrated me a little is the engine bay - particularly the state of the inner wings, bulkhead etc i.e. everything under there painted body colour.

Don't really want to remove the engine/box, but not adverse to removing various ancilliaries to ease access and refurb as much as possible.

A few Qs

Thinking of simply repainting the underbonnet bodywork - with suitable preparation - using a simple aerosol can of matched paint. Is this a feasible method if a reasonable improvement was required?

Very impressed by the quality of paint finish on some of the ancillieries - heater box for example - is this stove enamelling or some other method?

I am also in two minds about veneering the dash - Clearly I am not that bothered about originality, but am mindful of the possible overkill...thoughts
Mark O

Mark, back in 1977 I entered my '73 midget (so still newish) in the Beaulieu concours and came 13th out of 14. I vowed never to bother entering concours again and have spent the next 30 years doing autotests, navscat rallies, and now racing. I've no time for trailer queens, you might find tha same approach works for you too :-)
David Smith

It's a slippery slope!
Dave O'Neill2

Chaps

I have no intention of polishing my nuts - so to speak - to reach the rarified heights of those who dabble in such things, but I feel some mileage may be gained by my suggestions for relatively little effort.

Ensuring the bay is a little smarter also assists with fault finding and can add a bit of value.
Mark O

"I've no time for trailer queens, -- ".

LOL. Now that's a killer phrase I must remember.

Mark, remember, the engine bay gets dirty just because you use the car. Once you make it spik and span, you'll start to worry about every little bit of dirt in there thereafter. Every time you open the bonnet, you'll have to clean the dirt off.

As you said your cars a workhorse, I'd just clean the existing paintwork and leave it showing it's well earned age personally. The only reason I want to clean my Midget engine bay is because some fool ziebarted the whole bay. Black and filthy, you cant see anything and can't touch anything without getting filthy.

On my Sprite (OE white) I used white smooth hammerite with a paint brush in the engine bay. Doesn't look pristine by any means, but lets me wipe it clean and i can see what's what more easily.

Can of spray will work ok, but you have to mask off all the bits you don't remove first. I'd get a small pot of the right colour and use a brush. But if you intend to go back to showing it again, nothing will satisfy other than a full bare metal strip and respray. Is it that important?
Lawrence Slater

I'm not a fan of freshly painted engine bays either, I prefer spotlessly clean but original paint. Unless your existing paint is really manky I wouldn't try and brighten it up with a spray can, the overspray and feathered edges might end up looking worse.

I've had pleasing results just using a cleaner polish (Meguiars is good) on a small sections of paint at a time, removing ancillaries, clips, etc as I come to them. White spirit is good for removing tar and other sticky stuff.

I would think stove enamel would be too brittle for repainted ancillaries. I've been sandblasting, etch priming, and then just regular enamel painting the Mini's smaller parts. Comes out lovely and glossy and near indestructible.

Do you have any pictures of your engine bay?
Growler

I'm just smiling :-)

You use your car too much for the running gear to be clean Mark. I gave up years ago with my cars cos I drive them. I park mine in the car park at shows; much less stress.
Dave Squire (1500)

On mine, the inner wings had become scratched quite badly. Actually, that's a passive case cop out!

Start again: I had scratched the inner wings quite badly, probably wedging the carbs and manifolds there whilst removing the engine on several occasions. I therefore used a rattle can to refurbish them and was quite pleased with the results. I have also done the top of the passenger footwell in the same way and it is easy enough to remove bits or mask them off with cling film so its pretty quick. The worst bit, driver's side around the pedal box, is still to do when I next feel the urge!

As for wood veneer inserts for the dash. I was tempted by a special offer price at one time. I have seen them on MGBs where I think they look good - and for that very reason I didn't get them! Suit a poseur MGB but definitely OTT for a daily drive Spridget
Guy W

Chaps

Agreed that frequent use and the hugely enjoyable time spent driving the car (highly polished Jagaur owners at the show please note unusual verb use with the word car) does get in the way of underbonnet activity, but I only intended a mild touch up of the obvious detracting areas.

I have by no means succombed to concours fever. I do like the use of clingfilm as a masking medium though Guy...very useful tip. Obliged..

Veneer - still pondering, maybe a more muted effect than burr walnut..... pricey though I note....

Mark
Mark O

there was a recent thread on simple and quick engine bay cleaning that will bring the whole engine bay up to a pleasing standard

if you repaint then the painted bits will be out of balance and show up bits that are not repainted and no matter how far you go it will not be far enough as the show contests escalate

I won a show with a car once ! (not as good as it sounds) and I wasn't even going to park my car in the show let alone enter any ring event but I thought I'd promote my car club and raffle off the prize later

I've had a couple of cars on stands at the NEC international shows but not trailered there and pushed in by hand and covered in bubblewrap like some of the concours cars on the AutoGlym and later Meguiars concours stand

after I sold it I even saw my previous Spridget on the MASC stand

you can get a car to a reasonable *ordinary show* standard by just a thorough cleaning and polishing but concours is an entirely different matter

to make a car look better make the blacks (paints, tyres, seals, insets, plastics) look black and all glass and chrome clean and shiny and this will make the paint on the bodywork look even better (some people think clean wheel arches mean obsessive cleaning)

always remember you want a go car more than a show car - cleaning soon becomes an obsession and even sooner you find you're not obsessive enough for others

it will increase your agreed value for insurance though and that might increase your premium :)
Nigel Atkins

Ive got a great looking easy cheap solution...rhinno truck bed linner

Here.is a photo of the stuff In my engine bay....if it gets dirty just wash it off and always looks great and fresh...no rusting or peeling and water resistant and chemical resistant...esp to brake fluid

Granted I did pull everything with in reason to spray it on

Check it out

Prop

http://db.tt/PLm0BJIy
Prop and the Blackhole Midget

I need to replace my release bearing so I'm just going to go ahead and redo the engine bay. There are a few more things to remove. I'll be keeping it body color and I'll be repainting the engine as well. So I think the best thing to do is to wait until the engine needs to be pulled for some reason and do it all then. I'll post another photo when I'm done.


Jon Saylor

This thread was discussed between 27/05/2013 and 28/05/2013

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

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