Make-A-Wish MGA Trailer

OK, my last post was about a Ladawri Conquest I recently bought - I'll be picking that project up in the spring of '22 (I hope), after this one:

The last couple years for me, like for many, have been challenging. COVID has impacted me, work has stressed me, my MGA restomod has offered stressors, but I think I’ve been incredibly lucky. I’ve been able to meet my bills, I didn’t go stir crazy working from home, and my health concerns, such as they are, are minor.

As I recently finished my MGA project (plus or minus an unresolved engine oil leak, electrical gremlins that need chasing, or bolts that need tightening), I have time to devote to “giving back” in such a way that both occupies my time in a way I enjoy, and in benefiting someone who is much less fortunate than I.

I’ve decided to raise money for the Make-A-Wish foundation, a well-respected charity that aims to grant the wishes of children with critical illnesses. My intent is to use parts left over from my MGA restoration, recently purchased parts (hi Stan!), and parts I have yet to purchase, to produce an MGA-shaped cargo trailer. I intend to auction it in the spring of '22, with all proceeds going to Make-A-Wish.

It's truly amazing what wishes can do... give kids renewed energy and strength, bring families closer together and unite communities.

Wish kids are some of the bravest and sweetest kids you'll ever know. They wish to work in a pickle factory, become a superhero, go snorkeling, give their baseball team new uniforms, and push all the buttons in a tall building's elevator.

Make-A-Wish grants thousands of unique wishes each year. But for every wish granted, another eligible child is waiting for their wish to come true.

I'll be making regular updates here and on Youtube (I *think* I'll be uploading my first video today or tomorrow, with time away during the Christmas stand down).

Please, join me in this effort by donating to my fundraising page today, at

http://site.wish.org/goto/MGAtrailer

Damnit all, I forgot to post the pic I made.

In reply to grubeguy :

I love the trailer idea , please post pictures as you are building it, 

Good Luck

OK, here we go:

https://youtu.be/R06F0Rlu0MY

A good solid block of time today, and good progress.

I've started with stripping the right rear fender and doing some metal repair.  I've restored a rusted arch, stripped tons of rust and have gotten the rear part of the fender ready for further repairs. 

Cost so far:  $1,430.55
$1,100 in body bits
$283.97 in tools (plasma cutter, more)
$46.58 misc consumables

See https://youtu.be/Fj9fN5v6EzI

To donate to the Make-A-Wish foundation under this project, see http://site.wish.org/goto/MGAtrailer

Great cause!!

More good progress. I stripped the inner left rear fender and fastened it to the rear body piece.  I've also put down a layer of epoxy primer on each inner fender, and will fasten the other fender tomorrow, likely starting in on the front ones as well.  I'll weld the fenders to the body, both under and over the joining seam.  I intend to leave the bolts in place, but cut down, to add to structural stability.

See the progress at

https://youtu.be/uv5gn2qzjQ0

Right Rear Fender is fastened, but not yet welded, to the rear body bit.  Likely this will be my last video until after Christmas, so Happy/Merry/Wishful <insert your appropriate ending here>!

See the video at

https://youtu.be/rf62DGPacG0

To donate to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, go to

http://site.wish.org/goto/MGAtrailer
 

Can't wait to see how this turns out!

Great progress today.  I've stripped the rear of the trunk lid and repaired some rusted out metal that made up part of the rear structure. Either the universe was smiling at me or the settings on my welder were perfect, as the final results were MUCH better than I had hoped for (I'm a "weld and grind, repeat as needed" kind of guy).

See the video at

https://youtu.be/O7GvbXr05y0

Back of the hood stripping is done, as well as some metal repair/replacement.  This was a beast, in terms of time and difficulty.  Getting into each little nook and crannie to get at old paint and rust was a real chore.  Metal repair/replacement was easier, and took about 40 minutes to cut, form, trim and weld in the bit needed.

See the video at

https://youtu.be/m85h92cUZT8

And another good day of work - right front fender, which I thought might have been a good candidate for saving, is going on the chopping block.  It's been resurrected a couple times before and won't hurt the universe if it's transformed into a newer, shorter, chopped version of itself.  The other fender is actually pretty nice ...

So I brought both of them in from outside and started in on the right one.  I pulled a LOT of bondo off the thing by heating the reverse side with a propane torch and peeling it away.  In some areas, the stuff was a good quarter to half inch thick.  Once I'm ready to mate the rear and front portions (when I know where I'll be trimming the fender), I'll take a hammer and dolly to the thing and make a proper fender out of it again. I had a lot of success doing this with my MGA resto, and God knows I have the tool set to do it. But not the patience.  I'm not patient.

See the video at

https://youtu.be/jFzg8ZhuHYg

This is making me feel better about the rust repair I've been doing for the past month on my own project. Keep it up!

It's kind of a zen thing with me - I put in noise canceling ear buds, play an audio book, and just turn off my brain while I grind away. Almost heaven

To make a donation to the Make-a-Wish foundation, go to  http://site.wish.org/goto/MGAtrailer

The left front fender is stripped, with some chemical conversion ongoing.  This fender was in really nice condition - no prior repairs, some surface rust, but nothing mechanically worrisome.  I'll be starting in on the front clip in the near future.

See the video at.       https://youtu.be/N3iL-55Fweo

Trying to keep up with posting and the actual work - I've made some more progress, which can be seen at

https://youtu.be/ly4_SnfkDuk

and

https://youtu.be/CVDZkRndKXY

I've more or less stripped theinner portion of the front end, stabilized the front with a custom curved piece, braced the back portion ahead of cutting off a large chunk, and readied that mod'ed front piece to take the fenders.

Today, the vivisected front end has been prepped to take the fenders (threads restored and oiled, etc).  

Both fenders have been hung and then trimmed, leaving a pretty light resultant front section.  The left portion is nicely done and fits well, but the right one, the one with what I think was accident damage, will need to be worked and hammer/dollied, etc. A pretty enjoyable day, actually.

See the video at https://youtu.be/kGfdTHkpBd0

I've been pretty remiss in posting here. I've joined the front and rear halves as well as put on the front fenders, and closed up the front air intake. I'm about ready to start fabbing up the trailer frame and closing up the cargo area.  Check out the following videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_s8cue0-UE&list=PLxYrqrvOLV_5Nlhj2vxBYg2XKGBJissm4&index=11

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmlLaV-9yQo&list=PLxYrqrvOLV_5Nlhj2vxBYg2XKGBJissm4&index=12

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVq7bsksS8c&list=PLxYrqrvOLV_5Nlhj2vxBYg2XKGBJissm4&index=13

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s16jr6Awvgk&list=PLxYrqrvOLV_5Nlhj2vxBYg2XKGBJissm4&index=14

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVFERRI0ee4&list=PLxYrqrvOLV_5Nlhj2vxBYg2XKGBJissm4&index=15

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIS1RQ6VeyQ&list=PLxYrqrvOLV_5Nlhj2vxBYg2XKGBJissm4&index=16

To make a donation to the Make-a-Wish foundation under this project, see http://site.wish.org/goto/mgatrailer

More progress. I've put in "foundations" for the vertical supports and done some more structural welding. I'd like to think that this all went quickly, but the amount of trimming, leveling and then welding took a ton of time.

See the video and lots of pics at https://youtu.be/kBez17ikJ6U

To make a donation to the Make-a-Wish foundation under this project, see http://site.wish.org/goto/mgatrailer

The frame, in its basic shape, is complete. I have a few more cross braces to put in, but that'll be easy and relatively quick. The vertical pieces were challenging, in trying to keep them at 90 degrees to two axes, and welding in areas that were close quarters.

Welding on this thick metal is relatively easy, and it's given me the opportunity to sort of fine tune my technique. There came a point though, where my welds got really splattery, even though the pressure was at 30 psi (I normally weld at 20 psi). After getting another bottle, I pulled off all the hoses and checked for leaks, and I found one, and discovered the line into my welder was loose as heck. I more or less tossed out an entire bottle of weld gas in two days (abnormal for me).

I've also finished up the wheel wells, using the "fill the hole" method to approximate spot welds. I think tomorrowI'll start in on closing up the front wheel openings and adding framing to support.

See the video at 

https://youtu.be/IF6c0q1DsD4

Pics!

To make a donation to the Make-a-Wish foundation under this project, see http://site.wish.org/goto/mgatrailer

I've shaved down the "horns" from the rear fenders, and shaped them accordingly. I've also closed up obloid holes in the undercarriage, as well as fiberglassed the seams, and them seam-sealed the same, from both sides. I'd be shocked if water got into this trailer from that direction.  I'll tell you, wearing gloves while doing that work is a MUST - it's messy work for sure.  I'm just about ready to turn the thing over and start in on the body work.  Exciting times indeed :)

See the video at https://youtu.be/USDaY4KtU-Q

To make a donation to the Make-a-Wish foundation under this project, see http://site.wish.org/goto/mgatrailer

I've been down pretty hard since Wednesday with something infesting my chest and head, so I don't have as much progress to show as I would have liked (I offset that with a LOT of progress drinking TheraFlu and night time cold meds).

I took a few hours to wipe down the interior surfaces, of both dust and oils, and sprayed them with epoxy primer. In lieu of mixing a batch and using my spray gun to spread the stuff, I bought a few cans of two-part from Summit Racing - nice system too - by piercing an internal bladder, one mixes the paint and the activator, and then sprays it on.  I'm not sure there's an equal amount of liquid volume compared to a rattlecan of something else, but it did the trick.  I was more interested in painting the horizontal surfaces, so as not to have to mess with them after I turn the thing over on its belly for the remainder of body work.

I've also notched out bits of the draw bar so that when I go to install it, welding and attaching it will be seamless, and easy. Given the extra weight, but mostly how ungainly it'll be when I attach it, I'll do so after I turn the trailer onto its belly, likely in another day or so.

Jesus, I've not posted here in a while.

To make a donation to the Make-a-Wish foundation under this project, see http://site.wish.org/goto/mgatrailer

OK, major body work is done, and what is left will be taken care of with block sanding.  I have filled in the front lower corners and blended it in nicely, so that the whole thing looks natural.  I'm particularly pleased with how nicely it all came out, to be honest. I've shaved the front angle iron piece to match the curve of the trailer and filled in the gap between the frame and the air damn, using fiberglass resin and boat-grade matte. I've done the same with the gaps between metal and fiberglass bits of the body, sculpted, filled and perfected.  I've got about two weeks of work into this alone, with more to come.

I've sprayed high build primer over everything and will spend a LOT of time making this as level and perfect as I can get it.  Once done, I'll put another coat of epoxy primer down, and that will be what the final paint job will cling to.  God I love this stuff ...