Fibre-glass panels

Having received a rather nasty black eye at the hands of an ageing Ford Consul, our trusty staff MG-B became in need of some new bodywork. The quotation for fitting a new wing and headlamp assembly came to more than £50 so it was suggested that a fibreglass replacement could be a better proposition. A visit to DJ Sports Cars of Waltham Cross was arranged to discuss the idea, and it was decided that we would fit one of their replacement wings ourselves. The new wing is an exact replica of the BLMC part with all fittings and threaded inserts in place ready to bolt on to the car. Furthermore the makers colour of the car (black in this case) is impregnated so there is no spraying or rubbing down to worry about.

The old wing unbolted without much trouble and, after it bit of drilling and sawing, was removed with the windscreen in place. In theory the windscreen should have been removed, but to save carrying out this operation the new wing can be neatly slotted where it surrounds the screen support and pushed in from the front when fitted. The slot is then hidden underneath the windscreen surround. The holes for the headlamp and sidelamp assemblies have to bee drilled and cut out, after which the fitting is the same as on the metal wing. The new wing bolts in place with the minimum of filing and fiddling and, after a shine-up with polish, only the trim strip needs to be added to complete the job. A note about the electrics; an earth wire must be fitted between the sidelamp assembly and the metal body as of course, the fibre-glass wing acts as an insulator.

The cost of the DJ MG-B wing is about £14 in self-coloured form, and if you are thinking of using fibreglass panels we recommend you to get in touch with DJ Sports Cars, rear of 146 High Street, Waltham Cross, Herts.