9-20-08 through 9-25-08

9-20-08 through 9-23-08
I’ve gotten most of the ancillary components stripped out of the engine bay except for the intake and exhaust manifolds which are coming off tonight. I pulled the water pump out and I’m still debating on replacing it with a new one or keeping the one I have now. It only has about 40-k miles on it and seems ok…I’ll have to think about this some more. I also pulled the distributor out and boxed it up for rebuild. I’m going to send it to THE distributor guy I know from the MG forum and have him make it all happy and new and set me up for a conversion to electronic ignition.

I degreased and sanded down the extreme forward part of the engine bay including the hood locking platform. I put a layer of etching primer and then a layer of gray primer and then I painted the area with Krylon gloss white paint. The finish looks great which it always does if you take the time to properly prepared before spraying. I am so tempted to paint the entire car that way. I’ve done it before and if you prep it right and know how to wet sand properly, it comes out looking just as good as a mid-priced paintjob. But, since there is no hardener in spray paint, I’m gonna avoid that temptation. I’m going to get a spray gun and real paint and do it right.

After I pull the intake and exhaust manifolds off I’ll clean the intake up and wire brush the hell out of the exhaust manifold. That will be followed by a few coats of gloss black high-temp paint. I use the brake caliper paint instead of the engine paint because it seems to hold up better to the temperatures experienced by the exhaust manifold.

After one more cleaning and a final pressure washing, I’ll finish out the engine bay by painting the engine block and then prepping, priming and painting the inner fender wells and firewall. I’ll also be pulling the valve cover and smaller tubes and brackets to sandblast and paint them. I need to run to Sears to get a new tip for the sandblaster and more blasting media so I can start cleaning up all the parts I have that need a good blasting.

I haven’t gotten the heater box all the way out yet but the front panel is off and the heater core is finally out While cleaning it up, I discovered that it has a leak on one of the edges. Hopefully it can be repaired since a new one will cost upwards of $100.00.

9-21-08
I also found a replacement for the throttle and choke securing plate from one of the people on the MG forum. He lives about 30 minutes away and he only wants $20.00 for it so I’ll take that deal. It’ll be much easier to replace the old bracket than to drill out the broken screw and retap it.

9-22-08
The oil cooler is out and I sprayed out the inside of it with carb cleaner. I then filled it up with more carb cleaner and hooked one of the oil cooler lines that I pulled out of the engine bay to the cooler. I looped it around so that both ends of the hose are connected to the two cooler ports. I move the cooler around and shake it up from time to time to let the carb cleaner soak and break down the gunk in there. After a few days, I’ll drain it out and repeat the process a few more times to make sure it is nice and clean on the inside.

9-23-08
I got the rear cockpit (bulkhead, rear deck and inner wheel arches) painted today with the good old Krylon spray can paint but it turned out great. Nice gloss, good coverage…its all in how you prep what you are painting.

I looked into the prices of all the little stickers that go into the car (you know, the valve cover and air cleaner stickers, the emissions stickers, the negative earth sticker, etc) and, while they don’t cost that much, when you buy a bunch of them at once it really gets expensive. Since I had no desire to spend $40-$60 on some stickers I opened my Canvas-9 illustration program and drew up a bunch of them. It took about a half an hour and they really look good. I’m gonna print them up as both water-slide decals and stickers, the decals going on the parts that don’t get really hot (like the bonnet platform and battery bay) and the stickers going to the hotter places (like the valve covers.) I figure I’ll have about $3.00 cost in all of the stickers and about an hour’s worth of work (the time it took to create them and the time it will take to print them up and cut them out) Not too bad, especially if you’re a cheapskate like me.

9-24-08
I got the fiberglass laid on the rust holes over the driver side floorboards. It looks pretty good and has cured well. I may or may not put down another layer over it. I’m gonna stand on it and see how strong it feels, if it doesn’t seem strong enough then I’ll put down another layer. If not, I’ll move on to the passenger side floorboards and do the fiberglass there. When the floorboards are finished to my satisfaction I’m going to go ahead and spray the Dupli-color truck bed liner. In the few weeks that the floorboards have been sitting with just the primer on them I already see some rust forming so I need to get them cleaned up and sprayed as soon as possible. Then I’ll finish up the rest of the cockpit, spray it with truck bed liner and then get it painted all nice and purrrrrdy.

You may have noticed that I still haven’t pulled the dashboard off of the car yet though I‘ve been saying that I will for weeks now. Yes, I keep putting it off because I know it will be a giant pain in the ass. I’m hoping that my father-in-law brings back his pressure washer in the next day or two so that I can do the final engine bay, suspension and undercarriage cleaning rather than pulling off the dashboard. I figure that if I keep writing that I’m going to pull the dash, it will be LIKE pulling the dash. And, of course, spending the time talking and writing about it takes up the time I would use for actually pulling it…I do so love avoiding unpleasant things.

9-25-08
So I’ve been trying to figure out how much time I have to spend working on the B between now and June. Like most people I have a busy life and I was beginning to wonder if I’d be able to get her done by my target date of June 2nd. Then I did some math. If I only work on the B for 1 hour per day, five days a week between now and June it adds up to over 200 hours total. It might not sound like a lot but I estimate it will only take about 50 actual hours to do the body work. Even if I’m wrong and it takes 100 hours to do the body work, that still leaves over 100 hours to do everything else. Of course, I forget that me adjusting the carburetors myself will probably take about 200 hours so maybe I should increase my estimated time to finish the car.
And, as always, the problem isn’t the time, it’s the money.

Your thought for today…
“I’d rather push my MG than drive a Miata.”

9-12-08 through 9-19-08

9-12-08 through 9-14-08

Began working on the engine bay. I pulled the radiator and oil cooler and I’m letting the oil cooler lines sit for a few days to drain as much old oil out as possible. When they have, I’ll pull off the long line at the back of the block and then loop the one attached to the oil filter assembly back to the long hose’s rear oil cooler port.

I’ll be taking the radiator to the shop to get it flushed and pressure tested. If it is bad I’ll have them re-core it instead of replacing it with a new unit. There have been quality issues with new, non-British made radiators but I really can’t afford to get one from the UK. When the radiator goes into the shop I’ll also be taking the fuel tank in to, first of all, see if it is still usable and, if it is, to have it cleaned out.

The oil cooler I’ll clean out myself with carb cleaner, acetone and boiling water (but not all at the same time) I’ll do the same with the oil cooler lines so that they can be used when the engine gets finished and restarted. When the car goes into service I’ll be replacing the lines with the stainless steel braided hoses.

To clean the cooler I’ll first immerse it in a pot of near-boiling water and let is soak to loosen up the old oil and sludge in the unit. Then I’ll drain it and shoot carb cleaner into it, shake it around a bunch and run some small bushes in it as best I can. I’ll do that a few times then flush it a few times with acetone and that should clean it out pretty well. Sounds complicated but each step only takes a few minutes and its really pretty easy.

I found a used grill on an MGB forum. A nice chap in Canada only wants $40.00 for it so I will take that deal as it sure beats nearly $200.00 for a new reproduction grill. It has a few minor bends in it but I can straighten those and buff it and it will look nearly new.

9-14-08
I’m planning out my next steps for cleaning up the engine bay. I tend to work on the car from several angles at the same time. While I’m cleaning up the cockpit and trunk I’m also pulling parts from the engine, cleaning the engine bay, etc. that way I’m less likely to get bored and just say to hell with working on the car today.

The first thing I need to do is roll the car outside and take the pressure washer to it. I’ve already done a lot of degreasing in the engine bay but the pressure washer will take off any of the remaining gunk and crud. I’ll also be pressure washing the suspension and the whole underside of the car.

I’m going to be pulling off and boxing up a lot of the ancillary items from the engine. The carbs and heat shields are coming off too so I can send the SU’s to my British car guru to rebuild for me. I’ll be pulling the alternator (to get it tested) and also the water pump. I’m not sure if I’m going to replace the water pump as it was only 5 years old when the B was parked but it has set for 10 years and I’m not sure I want to trust it when the car is back on the road.

The heater box will come off to be cleaned up and painted. I’ll also take the heater core to the shop for cleaning and pressure testing when I take the radiator and fuel tank in. I’m considering replacing the heater fan assembly with a more modern, 3-speed unit. Not sure yet if I’m going to be that ambitious but the current 2-speed fan (slow and off) just doesn’t cut it.

The exhaust and intake manifolds are also coming off to be cleaned and painted along with the two side covers on the driver‘s side of the engine. When all this stuff is off the engine it will be a lot easier to clean up and paint both the engine and the engine bay. The engine, of course, will be painted with high-temp black gloss paint. The engine bay and inner valances will be stripped of electrical and hydraulic components cleaned, paint-stripped then primered and painted. I’ll use a spray can for priming and painting the engine bay. If prepped right it yields very good results.
I’ll hopefully be doing more working on the car than writing about it over the next few weeks. I may not post as often but I’ll get pictures up frequently. We had our first colds night here in the Carolinas this week (cold for the Carolinas, at least) so I want to get as much work knocked out while it is still relatively mild outside.


The fall is the absolute best time to drive an MGB…it is also the best time to work on one.

9-15-08
The carbs are off. I’m going to clean them off with carb cleaner and send them off to Butch in Burlington to rebuild. (I don’t like to send dirty greasy parts out for repair…just seems rude)
Unfortunately, the little set screw that holds the accelerator cable in place, the plate that is bolted to the top of the carb heat shield, is broken off so the only way to pull the cable is to cut it off. I was planning to replace it anyway but that plate with the set screw is no longer available so I’m either gonna have to find a used one or find a way to fix the old one.

Started pulling the heater box out…it’s a bitch! If its this hard to get the heater box out, I can’t imagine the hell it will be to get it back in…much fun awaits, methinks.

9-16-08
I pulled off the alternator but I’m not sure I’m going to use it. There is a fairly simple Bosch or Delco conversion that I may do since the Lucas alternator is rather lacking in certain areas. It works fine at speed but at idle it barely puts out enough and with the greater electrical demands from new stereo systems and other electrical equipment that will be in the car, an upgrade is probably warranted.

9-16-08
I sprayed the engine and engine bay with foaming degreaser and let it soak. I’ll do that again before I whip out the pressure cleaner and clean up the entire drive train and underside of the car. I also hate working on a dirty, greasy car. You’re gonna get dirty no matter what but 10 years worth of big grease globs and road funk I can do without.

9-18-08
After I get the car all pressure washed and dried off this weekend I’m gonna start back to work on cleaning out and stripping the cockpit and glassing the rust holes. Then I think I’m gonna whip out the sand blaster and start cleaning up all of the various odds and ends that need blasted and painted. Things like the wheels, suspension, air cleaner pots, radiator surround panel, you know…just about everything. Then (unless the budget allows for me to purchase that MiG welder to do the rockers) the dashboard gets pulled.

As a side note, I’ve decided that I’m going with the new LED lighting systems where ever possible. The taillights, side marker lamps, dash and instrumentation lights will all be the LED lamps. They have a much, much, much lower current draw and a lifetime of at least 25,000 hours. The back up lights, however, will be halogen lamps. I took the old back up light bezels, cut out the insides and drilled a mounting for a small 12-volt halogen lamp. It puts out a lot more light than the original incandescent…I’m just afraid of melting the lenses!

9-19-08
Rolled the car outside today and sprayed off the grease from the engine compartment and engine. still have more to do. Just found out the pressure washer won't be available until next week so I'll have to wait for the final cleaning until then.

Pulled out the heater core and was cleaning it out when I noticed it had a small hole in it. when I take it in for professional cleaning and pressure testing I'll find out if it is reparable. If not, its another $100.00 or so that I didn't want to spend.