MGB Interior Panels - Part 1

I spent a great deal of time working on Zed's body. Before and after that, I spent even more time on Hapy, with the wiring (both the re-wire and the P0121 code), the furnace and the heater. Around those efforts, I picked up and improved upon T's old Audi, Nemo. Today, I took a break from those other cars to return to Oliver, the 1978 MGB, to complete some interior things I had left undone. I was going to get after Nemo's rear wheel bearings, but honestly, I just want something in the warm garage and Oliver is the only car in a garage, so... off we go into another multi-part post.

Where Were We

Recall that I blew some manna-from-heaven on an interior refresh for Oliver two years ago (See New Seat, What a Treat Parts 1, 2, 3 and headrests). I completely restored his seats, replacing all of the foam and the covers. Out with the old black vinyl and in with new cream with black piping leather. The lighter color is really nice when the sun is super intense, like in the early Summer here. I put in seat-heating elements, but haven't wired them in yet. Instead, I focused on summer-supporting stuff, like the new stereo. This new stereo included front speakers attached to contoured plastic boxes mounted to the outer footwell sidewall (See MGB Gets Sound, Version 2), but the kick panels were not there, so I started with those.

Kick Panels

creating kick-panel pattern

The kick panels compliment the seats in that they are the same cream color. When I ordered these, I appear to have selected the option to include map pockets, which I guess are okay, but with the little speaker boxes, will not be terribly useful. Anyway, in order to pierce the kick panels in the exact right spot so I can mount the speaker boxes, I pulled a paper shopping bag and some cardboard out of the recycling. I traced the kick panel onto the paper and cut out the pattern. I removed the speaker box from the driver-side sidewall, set the paper against in it's place and found the mounting holes with a small nail. I transferred the holes onto cardboard to test the location, and they were a little off. So, I pushed the nails around until they were in the holes well and tried again. They were still a little off, but the third time they were perfect. I transferred the holes onto the rear of the kick panel and drove the nails through from behind with a framing hammer. I set the soft cream material onto a shop towel and set that on top of an old kitchen cabinet door so the nail could pierce without damaging the panel.

speaker box
attached to p-side panel

After presenting the speaker box to the panel, and pressing the mounting screws into their respective holes, I drove the screws into the panel and then held the pair against the side of the car. I needed to position the panel around things, so this actually happened more along the lines of... in, then out, then in then out a few times until the panel was tight against the leading edge of the door weather stripping, the holes were aligned and the screws were lightly threaded in. I verified the routing of the speaker wire and then set the screws all the way in into the speaker box was snug, but not overly compressing the panel. I re-mounted the speaker and turned to the passenger side. I followed was the same process, down to the multiple sheets of cardboard. Since there are fewer obstacles on the passenger side, it was easier, but only barely because I did the whole thing leaning across the transmission tunnel from the driver seat. I could still feel my ribs 2 days later, but they really look good. Pain is temporary; beautiful clean kick panels... well, they're kind of temporary too. Just not quite as temporary, I hope.

Rear Quarters

With the kick panels in, the door panels look that much more black. And wrong. So, I really needed to keep going, but I thought I would do the doors themselves last. There are 2 triangular-ish panels that sit just aft of the seats with the rear-most edge following the contour of the front of the rear tire well. So, I call these quarter panels; I'm sure they have another name, though. I thought they would be easier than the door cards, and with the location of the car so close to the wall on the passenger side, I'm not sure how I will get to the passenger door anyway.

ideal top orientation
to hit all 3 bolt heads

These need to fit under the convertible top mounts, but otherwise their positioning is fairly straightforward. The 3 bolt/screws are partially obstructed by the convertible top frame. So you cannot just lower the convertible top to remove the 3 bolts that hold the mount to the car. You can remove one, but to get to the other 2, the top needs to be partly open. This is where an extra hand is very helpful. I didn't have one, so I tried doing just the driver side first. I started by opening the top so it was sticking almost straight up. This exposed or unobstructed all 3 bolt heads.

When I removed the the rear-most bolt/screw on the driver side, the capture-nut inside the B-pillar fell off (30 year old weld failed). Also, one of the hinge-points on the passenger-side of my convertible top frame separated. The capture nut is easy: they are sold on Moss for around $18US. For the hinge-split, I literally held the pin where it was supposed to go and forced the pieces back together with channel-lock pliers. I looked around for repair kits or something, but I was unable to find anything. At this point, though, it is working.

To get a sense of the work, I did complete both sides (using only 2 screws/bolts on the driver side), one at a time, leaving the other side firmly attached. With the convertible top frame up, just like it is pictured above, remove the 3 bolts/screws. I completely removed one, and then moved back and forth on the other two, slowly removing them. With the frame lightly held in place, I shifted focus onto the panels.

 

The Doing

I tried 2 different approaches, and found the second approach works better. First, I tried to poke a tiny hole in the panel for each of the 3 bolts to pass through and then widened the hole with something so the screw/bolt can thread in without catching vinyl/leather on its way. Take care not to make it so large, however, that it is larger than the frame hole supports. On the passenger side, I used a razor knife to cut a small "X" for each of the 3 holes. Either way, set the panel nearby, and get yourself seated on the parcel shelf at the rear of the passenger area.

I completed the removing of the 2 final bolts while holding the frame steady with my head. Yeah, that's right. This is where having a helper would be very helpful. With the frame held steady (either with your head or by a helper), lift the mount up just enough to get the card in place. I set the rear-most corner in first, and then flexed the card to press the leading edge behind the weatherstripping. The holes for the frame will line right up, but I checked with a bolt to make sure first. Then, I lowered the frame down into place (optional tonneau cover mount held firmly against the top frame), and sent a bolt through, threading into the nut. With one fingered in, I sent the other two in, and then moved from bolt to bolt until they were all snug.

At this point, I have both of the front panels and both of the rear panels in. The doors are a little more complicated since the glass-scrapers need to be replaced, and the old cards are still in. Since the weather around here has been below freezing and wet (ice, freezing rain, sleet and snow), I will be continuing to play with Oliver since he is in the semi-heated garage until the weather changes.This means that my next post will probably include some work on the driver-side door card. The passenger side is trapped against a shelving unit, so I probably will not be getting to it for a while.

 

As always, thanks for following along-