Fender Bead removal question

[rjackson]

I bought some new fender bead for my front fenders, but I've been looking at the rear fender bead and I'm pondering grinding it off and welding the seam. When I stripped the car, the paint was begining to lift at the rear bead seam in several places. Also, at some point when the car was repainted the little ridge on the top of the bead had been sanded smooth. I don't want to spend all this time on the car and have the paint lift again. I'm not real concerned with originality as the front had some major damage at some point and the front 24 inches was clipped. I would have usually ran from a car that had that much damage, but the floors and the sills were real solid and the price was right. I've searched and can't seem to find any pictures. Has anyone done this? Do you have any pictures and did you remove the bead at the rear of the front fenders also? I'm thinking that if the bead is removed on the front fenders, the seam at the rear of the fenders will not look right due to the gap that the bead covered.

 

[tony barnhill]

You mean this:

We ground off all the bead & cleaned the area between the quarter & the body as best as we could....then, welded the seam, and laid a thin coat of fiberglass before smoothing with body filler. We did it a small section at a time - skipping the entire length of the fender & going back to fill it in until we had a solid bead along the entire length of the fender.

All that so she'll never crack. Even without paint, its clear to see this will be one of the mods that stands out. Shades of tiny fins!

 

[rjackson]

I Like that Tony, I think I'm gonna do it. Did you leave the little piece of bead on the front fenders?

 

[rjackson]

It also looks like you smoothed the line where the trim strip was...looks good. Nice and clean.

 

[DrEntropy]

The purist scum are rotating at 3200 RPM!!! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/devilgrin.gif

The beading is a PITA. That said there are those to whom the bead is the arbiter over whether or not to buy the car. My take is: If the thing is solid, who CARES!!! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/devilgrin.gif

 

[rjackson]

I agree the beading is a PITA. I think the only reason it is there was to make assembly quicker - they didn't have to spend the time leading and smoothing the seam.

 

[tony barnhill]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]It also looks like you smoothed the line where the trim strip was[/QUOTE]

Yep - & that took even more cutting & welding! But when you open the door, you can't tell there ever was a trim line ridge!

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]Did you leave the little piece of bead on the front fenders?[/QUOTE]

We're still working on the front fenders but we'll leave it.

 

[rjackson]

Dang, I asked the same question over on the MGBE and I sure did stir up a hornets nest. Got chastised for ruining the originality.

 

[Nunyas]

bleh... so many B's to choose from, that you should be able to do what you want with your car.

 

[19_again]

I think it was John Twist who said that to not be a little creative was to go against the true grain of the original MG men, they lived to tweak, at the risk of being politically incorrect, as if I would ever do that, I think purists sometimes need a cranial relocation. IMHO

 

[tony barnhill]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]Dang, I asked the same question over on the MGBE and I sure did stir up a hornets nest. Got chastised for ruining the originality.[/QUOTE]

I know, I read it! While there are a few MG's we shouldn't mess with because they are true survivors, the 'vanilla' ones are so plentiful that 'who cares'!! According to some people I shouldn't've crushed the rust buckets I did over the last 2 years & shouldn't be parting out the rust buckets I am....but, its your car - do as you like & screw the guy who doesn't like it!

Oops, I'll get in trouble for this post.

Seriously, I have some cars that I'll keep original & some that I'll modify...I'd love to be a judge in a show where some of those guys who yell "keep it original" bring their cars - they'd be shocked at all the things they've done to them that aren't original but I'd sure let them know what those things are if I were running their tally sheet (points off for beautiful body color paint underneath, points off for carpet where no carpet came from the factory, points off for new, modern suspension bushings, etc. - you can carry this originality crap a bit too far if you want!)

Don't get me started.....

 

[jlaird]

If all you want is the bead off use an air chisel. Works just great and gives you a nice curl to throw away. Use the tip with the V point use the upper end of the V not the pointee end.

 

[mgbreis]

It wasn't the whole group at the mgbe who chastised you, it was one guy whose every post seems to be a rant on originality and a reference to drinking wine. Seems more like "whine" to me. He thinks he needs to support the "cause" of originality. As long as the title is in my name, I'll run it over with a road grader if the whim strikes me.

 

[DrEntropy]

It wasn't the whole group at the mgbe who chastised you, it was one guy whose every post seems to be a rant on originality and a reference to drinking wine. Seems more like "whine" to me. He thinks he needs to support the "cause" of originality. As long as the title is in my name, I'll run it over with a road grader if the whim strikes me.

/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/lol.gif /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thumbsup.gif

I'm one who took the time to replace or re-do the 'ridges' on the beads... aesthetically they just look 'proper' to me. That said,IT'S YOUR CAR!!! Make it what *you* want it to be. Let the purists mumble if they want.

/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cheers.gif

 

[jlaird]

So where does that leave me, I took all the rusty beads off with an air gun in Hawaii. Rust was a real prob there. Then I brazed em up along with all the places the pannels fit together. That was one smooth puppy.

 

[DrEntropy]

"Aero-Dynamic!" Jack! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif

 

[Nunyas]

and an aerodynamic car is a fast car /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif

 

[DrEntropy]

~slippery~ /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smirk.gif

 

[jlaird]

LOL, speed limit on the islane was max 45.

It was self preservation, looked awful with the rust. My neighbor across the street had a body shop and coached me. He painted the whole thing when I was done for 32 dollars and that included the paint. Shucks I almost did not have the 32 dollars. He was a full blooded Hawaiian and our small sons played together, they were about 3 years old.

 

[tony barnhill]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]LOL, speed limit on the island was max 45.[/QUOTE]

Well, I can tell you that's changed, Jack...I got a ticket for 75mph on the I-5 outside Honolulu last summer! Speed limit was 65mph.