Welcome!

Recent Blog Entries

Subscribe in a reader

Back when we were looking for a project for my daughter I stopped and looked at this TR7. I made the fellow an offer, but they didn't seem terribly excited about it. I let them know it was a standing offer. Just about a month later I received a call back from the sellers. Having not had success trying to sell the vehicle they agreed to my offer price. Here's what the 1980 TR7 looked like when I dragged it home: Believe it or not, it looked even shabbier in person than it does in this photo. Luckily, though, the car had been garaged and covered during it's 20 year slumber. The interior doesn't look too bad. You can see, however, the damage to the center console that occurred when the stereo was stolen (20 years ago). The rear of the interior looks just as good. This whole area is usually terribly faded out and often water damaged from the convertible top dying. Now I wanted to see what was under all that grime. The following photos were taken as I was power washing the car with an epic amount of cleaner/degreaser: The black looks black! Or, at least it looks black when it's still wet. The paint, though very dirty and somewhat oxidized is in pretty good shape. The rear end looks pretty good too! The downside is that someone at some point decided that the rubber bumper needed some dressing up, so they painted it. This is common on TR7's and TR8's. It's annoying and will need to be cleaned up. If the engine compartment is any indication, this car should be pretty easy to get running. It is hard to see in the photo, but the brake fluid reservoir has been siliconed until it cried uncle. A replacement will have to be located and installed. The old battery is still in it. We'll have to pull that and replace it. Again, I'm very surprised at how clean this engine compartment is. It wasn't unti lthe years of grime were blasted away that I noticed the cracks in the windscreen. Here's another part to add to the list. Until next time! Jody

http://www.theymightberacing.com

The second major step of any restoration, once you've made your decision, acquired the car, and given it a good look over, is to clean and inventory what you have. In the following video my daughter describes the cleaning and inventory process on her 1970 MG MGB frame off restoration project:

http://www.theymightberacing.com

Hey Folks,

For the few legitimate posters out there I apologize in advance. I'm basically (despite customizing every setting for this blog) getting spammed to death by spam messages advertising cialis, etc.

Because of this I have basically completely disabled commenting on the blogspot blog. If you want to comment, ask questions, etc, please feel free to friend us on facebook.

Jody

http://www.theymightberacing.com

Well, it appears that a "new" car has followed us home. This 1970 MGB actually will belong to my daughter. This is going to be a father/daughter restoration project. Here's the video introduction to the car:

http://www.theymightberacing.com

I finally got around to putting the calipers back on the TR8. While I wait for the brakes to gravity bleed I opted to play with the 15lbs soda blaster we picked up from Harbor Freight a few weeks back.

This soda blaster is actually one of the better quality items I've seen out of Harbor Freight in a while. Normally stuff is pretty cruddy, but it works, and is exponentially cheaper than buying a heavy duty commercial equivalent.

The metering block requires some fiddling to get the feel for it. But, once I managed to get that down we were able to get a rim from the TR8 cleaned up and ready for fresh clear coat. Here's what the rim looks like after a quick soda blast:



Next step is to put a couple coats of Clear Coat on it and put it back on the car. You'll note that the tire is still attached to the rim. Even though soda blasting will cut through the old clear coat down to the metal it won't damage things like anodized finishes or rubber.

http://www.theymightberacing.com

They Might Be Racing!, along with the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance, recognizes the need to heighten awareness of automobile asbestos exposure, which may lead to the development of mesothelioma cancer. Learn more by visiting the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance.