Last week, Chris' friend Paul stopped by to check out the car. Paul has been a british car enthusiast for many years and owns an MG. So it was nice to get an opinion from someone who has done this before.
After explaining our plans to Paul to rebuild the car from chassis up, Paul suggested we check out the chassis more closely to determine if this was actually needed or if we could get away with just working on the surface of the car and engine.
I finally got around to purchasing a 2-ton floor jack and 4 jackstands so I could lift up the car and inspect its undersides more closely. Before I actually went under the car, though, I made sure to shop-vac its underside for fear of some bug landing on my face while underneath the car.
The bottom of the car looked grim. The underneath of the floor panels were badly rusted, which was to be expected from what we saw in the interior. The metal had separated into rusted layers which could probably be peeled off with little effort. Conclusion: new floor panels are a must.
The chassis wasn't as bad, but was covered in surface rust. Rather than fixing up the car and leaving the chassis as is, only to have it break later, we decided the best plan would be to strip down to the chassis, clean the chassis up, powdercoat it, and work up the car from there. Granted, this will take a lot (a lot) of work and also cost more, but I would like to feel safe in this car while driving it 65 mph on the highway.
And so it begins. It's official now that this car will have to be completely stripped down for restoration and will not be operational for a good few years. It's going to be a big project.
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