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MKII BT7 Build Thread

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When I get home from my holiday trip I think I will blast the rear end housing and fan shroud and then paint both with rust encapsulator and then extreme chasis black. I also need to get that busted dust cap out of the hub and get that last bolt out holding the dust plate on the other hub. Then I can clean up some of those parts and get them off to the plater and powder coat.
 
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So I have been reading a lot on the best coating for my frame/chasis. I don't think I'm going to go with por 15, i've been reading a lot abotu this Master Series Chasis Black, has anyone used it? It seems that the company originally specialized in long lasting bridge paints the chasis black is extremely chip resistant, not suseptable to UV like por 15 and is self leveling.

Seems to be the way to go.

Also do you guys thinks it mater is I leave the chasis/frame black instead of painting it to match the cars color?
 
Should I paint the frame black or the body matching color?
Obviously, if you're going for a correct car, then it should be body color. If you don't care about originality, then any color will do. Personally, I'm not that big on staying absolutely original, but a frame painted any thing other than body color just "seems wrong". Kind of like seeing a Healey with the wrong seats. They may be very comfortable, but they just look out of place. My 2 cents.
 
Google Valspar LIC40 (and LIC43 the low gloss version) if you are after a low cost, high quality tintable DTM. A very tough and easy to apply paint
 
NJHealy3000 said:
Not trying to go cheap, trying to get the best coating i can. I think this master series is the way to go.
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don't know how uv will effect the frame but if your going this far with the car do the frame black with the master then paint it the color of the car ,why do all that work and not paint it the right way you'll be sorry if you don't
 
NJHealy3000 said:
Not trying to go cheap, trying to get the best coating i can. I think this master series is the way to go.
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Whether OEMs use a coating is a reasonable indication of quality. LIC40 is what Cat, John Deere and others use for their machinery so in some respects it is the 'best', although any 2k epoxy/urethane hybrid is going to be much the same. The Master Series paint claims are based around a website that uses a gmail.com email address as the primary contact point so it sounds very much like a one-man band selling moisture cure urethane. Like POR, these outdated technology paints are aimed at the DIY hobbyist market and rely on large amounts of promotion in related magazines etc. Each to their own.

If you plan on leaving the chassis in “ooh, what's he hiding under this” black then you’ll likely reduce the number of potential buyers by a fair bit.
 
Seems that the master series using 2 coats of silver and then their a111 over top is what they use on bridges in salt water area, supposedly lasts 25yrs... I can't find the valspar online to research it, do you have any links?
 
Looks like your well on your way. I think most will say by doing the body work yourself you'll save a ton of money. A "Tri-carb Healey" is desirable if it's original. Obtain a British Heritage certificate to be sure. It'll confirm a number matching car.

Been there, done that;
 
Here is the door check strap that I rebuilt.

Cleaned everything on the bench grinder and powder-coated everything satin black except for the chrome piece.

The other one is almost done except i broke the threaded rod off the base bracket (let me know if anyone has one!)

check strap1.jpgcheck strap 2.jpg
 
Is the threaded rod you refer to the one that you tighten to put more fiction on the washer to hold the door open? If it is, then know that the one for the left door has a regular right hand thread and the one for the right door is a left hand thread. It was designed that way so that when you open (swing out) either door, it will automatically tighten the friction washer and hold the door open.
I've had to replace both sides twice over the last 50 years as the threads tend to wear out. When I replaced the left hand side, I just removed the old bolt and welded a new bolt in place. When I did the right hand side, I couldn't find a left handed bolt so I bought a length of left hand threaded rod and welded a piece of that in place.
The last time I replaced the bolts, I made then about a half inch longer that original and used a "coupling nut" in place of the standard thickness nut. The bolts tend to wear the threads out where the nuts ride each time you open the doors. I figured the 'taller' coupling nut would give me twice as many threads to spread out the wear. The coupling nuts are about 3/4 tall vs. the regular nut at about 3/8" tall. I made the change about 10 years ago and everything still works find.
 
I'm guessing it was the side with left hand thread, it was one of the first things i took apart on the car and don't exactly remember how it sheared.
 
Maybe the threaded portion broke off because you did not realize it was left hand thread and rather than loosening it you were actually tightening it until it snapped?
 
I've been busy since I have to go out of town for a couple months. Trying to get as many parts as possible cleaned up and powder coated. Here is a before and after of the brackets for the generator.


gen brack b4.jpgfin gen brack.jpg
 
That generator bracket also serves as a tappet cover and should technically be painted engine color. It's not a big deal , and I'm no stickler for complete originality, but the engine does look a little better all one color. I think you CAN paint over powder coating, but it will probably require some special prep.
 
it doesn't require any special prep and can be painted over. I'm not planning on going to exact with colors. The block and trans will be painted green, as for everything else I will see how it looks. Right now i'm just powdercoating everything for the longevity of the coating.
 
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