July 10, 2009

My Wifey made me go camping this weekend…so many things to take away from my manly MG restoration efforts…but I got tent loving so it’s okay!!!

I finally decided on a configuration for the switches on the radio console. I am replacing the factory switches wherever possible with the racing toggle switches that have the flip-up cover over them to prevent them from being switched on accidentally.

The center console will have two cigar lighter/power outlets on either side and the heated seats controls under them. There will be six toggle switches across the center to control the fog lights, driving lights, two interior light switches and one switch to kill the daytime running lights. The DLR-kill witch will be mounted upside down so that turning it to the “on” position will actually turn off the daytime running lights. The sixth switch will turn the heater fan on and off.

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That switch is in the center consol because I have rewired the hazard lights switch and indicator lamp and moved them to the dash. I pulled off the old dash light dimmer rheostat and jumped the two leads together and then pulled the fan switch out of the dashboard, I them added jumpers to the wires on the hazard switch harness and ran them up to the dash with the indicator light where the old rheostat used to be.

So now the hazard light switch and indicator are where the fan switch and dash light dimmer were and the fan switch is now on the center consol where the hazard switch used to be.
I will be having an aluminum panel made to place over the old, beat up center consol face which will hold the switches. It will be more sturdy for holding the switches and it should look pretty good too.

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I finally broke out the mig welder for my first attempt at welding. After about 30 minutes of screwing around with it to get the wire feed to work right and keep it from just spattering little dots of molten metal all over the place, I finally got it working properly. I started laying down some nice, long beads on 16-gauge steel. They looked good with a nice, smooth bead and good penetration. Then I tried some plug welding…not even close to acceptable. Holes that weren’t distorted were burned through and a total mess. I need some more practice on my welding but I guess it’s an okay start.

I ordered the LED and cold cathode tube lights for the interior as well as the 80-amp relay for the new interior cockpit fuse panel. The headlight relay kit has arrived and my shock absorbers should be her in another day or two so I’ve got some work to do.

New fuse panel installed

The new 8-fuse panel is installed and the headlights/horn relay kit is on the way. I still have a lot of cleaning up and redoing of the wiring left but it is all getting closer to finished. When the healight relay kit gets here I'll install that along witht he new headlight harnesses I bought.

















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I've also started work on the new 6-fuse accessory fuse panel that will mount on the cockpit fire wall behind the glove box area.

The relay sitting at the top center of the panel will actually be replaced with an 80-amp relay which will provide power to the entire fuse panel and be triggered by a line from an igintion-on circuit.
The relay to the left will turn on the audio amplifier and the two relays to the right will turn on power to the seat heaters.

Perhaps too modern for some but this car will be a daily driver and I'm a lot less of am LBC purist when it is 4-degrees outside and my butt is frozen to a hard vinyl seat cover :)

Airdamns and fuses and carpet...OH MY!

6-30-2009
I’ve done most of my work inside lately and primarily on the electrical system. I’ve completed wiring up the new 8-fuse panel to replace the factory fuse panel with 4 glass fuses. It sends the wires going into and coming out of the factory fuse panel between the 4 original glass tube fuses and splits them between 6 modern blade-type fuses. The remaining two fuses will be used for the fog and driving lights which will also be connected to relays. I’ve run a new 10-gauge power line up from the starter to power the two additional fuses.

I’ve ordered the new relay kit for the headlights and horn from one of the members on the MG Experience forum and I got a new 6-fuse panel that will mount under the dash on the starboard firewall for the new accessories such as the heated seats, stereo, amplifier, video system and new interior LED lighting. I’ve also run an additional 10-gauge wire from the starter to power the accessories inside the cockpit.

I’ve found out that redoing an MGB electrical system involves buying a shitload of new wire and connectors…and I do mean a shitload.

Instead of buying the premade carpet set for the car I purchased two 4’ x 8’ rolls of low-cut-pile carpet on sale at the Home Depot for about $36.00. IT is the right color, cheap as hell and all I need is a pair of scissors and some contact adhesive to install it. I made my first carpet set for the MG back in 1989 out of a roll of carpet and I can do it again…and save about $200.00+ in the process!

I pulled the gear shift lever off, ground off about 1.5” and cut new threads for the shift knob.. It was a bitch and the die I used to cut the new threads was a crappy Harbor Freight die so it did a shitty job. Not to mention that the grinding down I did on the shaft looks really sloppy…but it worked and you won’t see any of it since it will be under the gear shift boot. Of course, after I spent two hours shortening the shift lever I found that the guy on the MG Experience forum that I’m buying my front shocks from also makes shortened shift levers that look like they come straight from the factory…oh well, oh hell.

I finished cleaning up and priming the Factory Tuning air dam and I test fit it on the car. It fits like a glove…OJ Simpson’s glove. The car was hit hard on the front starboard nacelle (which the previous owner never bothered to mention to me) and the whole front end is a bit screwy now. The air dam looks to be hanging low on the starboard side but I won’t really be sure until I have the car back on all fours and the front fenders reattached. I think I’ll have to do a fair amount of fudging to make everything line up properly.

Not going to do much this week since I’m going up to my boyhood home of Youngstown Ohio with my son for the 4th of July holiday to see old fiends and maybe take in a Pittsburgh Pirates game.

When I get back the serious work starts. I’m going to get al the electrical, suspension and other mechanical work done plus the rebuilt carbs go back on and I’m going to get here running properly. Then, of course, back to the body and a ton of cutting and welding…now that’s what I call fun.

I found four, 14” Mini-lite replica wheels for $200 for the set plus a friend of mine runs a tire shop and offered me tires for his actual cost…the problem is that they are Firestone tires and there is not one hunk of crap Firestone tire I’d ever put on a car…even if they were free. Life can be such a crapfest…why couldn’t he run a Pirelli or Kumho dealership.

6-14-2009 through 6-23-2009

6-14-2009

Been working on the air damn some more. Sanded down all the rough edges and the resin drips on the front. It likes it will all work well.

I set the LED fog lights that will be the daytime running lights. They fit in just fine but I still have to fill, smooth and prime the openings.

I cleaned up the steering wheel and hub, wire brushing and sanding them smooth and down to bare metal. I primed them and painted them gloss black. The leather still needs replaced but the metal looks good.

Big parts haul, carbs back and actual work 6-19 through 6-22, 2009

Went out to see Butch in Burlington. He finished my SU carbs and they were in pretty good shape. The needle and jet assemblies still looked like new though they have about 165,000 miles on them. New solid butterfly valves on the throttle shafts, new seals, springs and a few other minor bits and the carbs should be good.

Went out to his MGB graveyard to pull parts. About 30 MG’s and a billion crickets, wasps and weeds…what fun on a hot southern day.

I got a new vapor recovery canister for the engine bay (it will be show since the car has been desmogged) a center consol and radio consol, various little clips for the upholstery and to hold down the hydraulic lines n the engine bay, mirror bases, fresh air grill, window crank, back up lights and a bunch of other little parts.

I also found a set of Mini-lite alloy wheels that I think I’m going to get for the car, a deal at $200 for the set.

Other tidbits. I got the steering wheel and hub painted and the new gas tank finished. I cleaned and degreased the tank on the outside and sanded it. On the top I sprayed two layers of truck bed liner followed by two coats of paint and two coats of flexible rubber undercoating so I shouldn’t have to worry about the tank top rusting anytime soon.

On the bottom of the tank I sprayed on two layers of self-etching primer and four layers of Rustoleum black gloss paint. The tank has a better finish than most cars.

I started on the major body work today. I began by getting out my new air cutter and taking off the lower half of the rear valance. The freaking thing has like 300 spot welds in it and I’m NOT going to try to drill all of those out. I’m just cutting off as much of the old panel as I can and welding the new one over it. It already test fits well so good for me.

I cut off the starboard side dogleg and cut out all of the bad metal in the sill areas. The outer sill which extends up under the dogleg was all but gone and now I just have to drill out the spot welds that are left and I can start the final welding prep. The front of the inner sill has a hole in it so I’ll cut out the bad metal and will weld a patch over that before the outer sill goes on.

Cutting off that metal afforded me a peak inside the inner sill behind the castle rail and it looked pretty good. At some point a previous owner had slopped some kind of rust preventative up in there and the metal is still pretty strong. I reached in with assorted wire brushes and a dryer vent cleaning brush and got any dirt in the area cleaned out,.

I then put the nozzle and extension tube from a brake cleaner can on a can of spray-on bed liner and shot it up into the area via the small drain holes along the bottom or the “frame” rail. The coverage was pretty good for doing it blind and I sprayed up in there until it was dripping heavily from the drain holes. I’ll do another couple of coats of that after it dries.
Then it’s onto the other side to repeat the process.

Oh joy!

6-23-2009

Got all of the remaining pieces of the starboard sill assembly cut out. Very much a pain in the ass.

The toughest part was the section towards the rear that is sandwiched in the center of 3 panels where the door goes vertical and up beneath the dogleg.

I drilled out the spot welds on the outer piece that curves upward on the rear area of the door sill and then just jammed a chisel up inside to cut the aft sill section under the dogleg out of the area. That part of the rear sill section is still sandwiched up under the side panel but I’m just going to weld the new sill section over it.

I still have some more grinding to do in the area and I have to split the remaining pieces of metal off the wheel arch where it meets the rear of the dogleg.

I test fit the new sill section and it fit pretty well. The new dog leg fit is more “problematical.” and it is going to need a lot of fudging and wrangling to get it to fit even close to how it is supposed to.

I used my new air panel punch to knock out all the holes all along the edges of the sill piece that I’ll use to plug weld it to the car. Took about five minutes to punch out all of the holes. It would have taken at least ten times that long to drill them all out. I’d say the $29.95 tool from Harbor Freight was well worth the money since it save me a great deal of time, sweat and swearing.
I cut the bad metal out of the front of the center membrane and bought some 16-gauge metal to replace it. I’ll cut that out and weld in place.

When everything is all welded up I’m going to wiggle a modified garden sprayer up inside all of the sill and “frame” rails areas and spray several good coats of paint mixed with Penetrol (which I also bought today) as the final rust protection.

I got the fiberglass air dam cleaned up and sanded and laid down two coats of filler primer. I then filled in the scratches and factory flaws in the air damn and imperfections in the holes I cut out for the daytime running lights. I’ll fine sand and clean up spot filler, put a final coat of primer on it and set it aside until I’m ready to spray the epoxy primer/ sealer on the whole car. On Sunday I test fit the LED DRL’s and got the brackets adjusted so the lights will just bolt right in place when the car is finally painted.

I finally found my box of around 500 LED’s that I used to use for scale model work and with any luck I’ll have enough white ones left so I wont have to order a bunch of new ones. I’ll be using LED lighting for everything but the headlights and turn signals which will drastically reduce the stress on the old wiring and pretty much insure that I won’t have to replace a burned out light bulb until I’ve retired.

I already have some of the cold cathode lighting tubes (CCL’s) that I’ll be using for interior and trunk lighting. The neon lighting you see for cars isn’t actually neon but is cold cathode lighting. The tubes are sealed in clear plastic tubes to protect them, put out a lot of light and use very little power so they are perfect for use in an MGB. I’ll be putting CCL’s in each footwell, up under the lip in the cargo area behind the seats. They’ll be controlled via a radio consol-mounted switch that will also control the LED task/map lights. There will also be at least two CCL tubes in the trunk in addition to the center trunk light, all of which will be controlled by the stock trunk pin switch.

Doing little things here and there

6-12-2009

Well I got the seats reupholstered. I bought the vinyl seat covers in used but nearly-new condition but didn’t realize that they were for later models MG’s. My original 74 seats had a smooth stitched surface whereas these have the mesh/waffle pattern. Not too much of a problem but the headrest covers are different and I can’t use them. No biggie since my headrests are in okay condition.
















I stripped the frames, primered and painted them and then lubed up all the mechanisms. The seat recliner mechanism on the driver’s side was completely frozen with rust so I got that cleaned up and lubed and it now works as it is supposed to.

I began work on the special factory tuning air damn I ordered from Moss Motors. It is so flimsy and thin that I’m pretty sure a bug strike at 60 mph would tear it off the car. To cure this I laid another layer of fiberglass and resin on the back side of the air damn and two layers on the lip that mounts to the car.
I also took my hole saw and put two openings on either side of the air damn for the LED daytime running lights. I fiberglassed in two metal brackets to support the lights. It should wind up looking pretty good though I still have a lot of sanding to do to clean up my work and the flaws in the air damn.












The resin is pretty tough stuff but a palm sander should take the edges down fairly easily (I hope) and then it’s hand sanding, roughing up the gel coat and priming. After I get the lights and their wiring done it should be ready to put on the car.
I’ll leave the final install, however, until the front fenders are back on so I can be sure it all lines up properly.

I’m still working on the wiring diagram for the new fuse panel that I’ll be installing under the starboard side dash in the cockpit. I’m figuring with all of the additional lighting, sound and other electrical components I’ll be adding to the car I’m going to have to get a GM alternator conversion since the wimpy little Lucas alternator just won’t put out enough juice to keep the battery charged.

6-14-2009
Been working on the air damn some more. Sanded down all the rough edges and the resin drips on the front. It likes it will all work well.
I set the LED fog lights that will be the daytime running lights. They fit in just fine but I still have to fill, smooth and prime the openings.
I cleaned up the steering wheel and hub, wire brushing and sanding them smooth and down to bare metal. I primed them and painted them gloss black. The leather still needs replaced but the metal looks good.

battery cut-of switch

I picked up two battery cut-off switches at Harbor Freight this weekend figuring on installing one for the negative and positive leads off the battery.

But... where to put them, where to put them...

Well, I did a rear tube shock conversion which I was, and still am, happy with and looking at the rear cockpit shelf that the old plugged holes used to fill the shocks with hydraulic fluid were just sitting there unused. Drilled two holes, bolted the switch in place and viola'...premade mounting hole for the battery cut-off switch.

I was reinstalling my turn signal and wiper arm assemblies onto the steering column and noticed a wire on the underside of the ignition switch which seemed very loose.

I barely touched it and it came off. The plastic clip the wire plugged into on the column also broke in half...brittle with age I assume since it seems more like bakolite than plastic

The wire is purple/pink and plugs into a little plastic clip that in turn snaps into place on the underside of the ignition switch body

In the picture below the little clip that snaps into place on the underside of the ignition body is being held in the vice grips (as the JB Weld sets) The P/K wire is to the left with the clip on it and the little recepticle the clip snap into is the recess with the little nipple on it just above and to the right of the vice grip.

The wiring diagram shows that the P/K wire goes to the LH door switch then to the buzzer and on into the seatbelt module (which I assume was bypassed by the DPO since there is no buzzer or seatblet lockout and/or warning function) I don't see this clip in any catalogs, the Haynes manual.

A member on the MGE says it is just for the door buzzer so I assume I can seal off the end and not worry about it. I'm going to try to repair/replace it and hook it up anyway.

I am a loser today

Today, June 6th 2009 was my target completion date for my restoration project...

I'm not even close.

I did my last resto in less than 10 months and that included a full engine rebuild.

Oh well shit.

I shotened my shifter by about 1-1/2"

That is all.

Work, work, work

06-03-2009

Well this morning was just more cleaning up small stuff.

After organizing the buttload of various electrical connectors I bought I crawled under the car and started cleaning up the wiring.

I finished taping up the harness that runs along the undercarriage. I added the new wire for the fuel pump and soldered BL bullet connectors to it and the pump and ran two additional wires into the trunk.
I blue electrical taped the entire harness form the rear all the way up into the engine compartment. I also crimped a large eyelet connector to a 10-gauge wire and ran it up into the engine compartment. It will be connected to the starter positive post and power the relay-activated aux fuse panel.

I’ll be ordering relay kits from http://www.bits4brits.net/ that will be powering the headlights and horn plus their relay fuse panel which will replace the original fuse panel and starter relay plus an additional relay for the heater blower motor.

I’ll also be adding relays for the following: Fog lights, driving lights, seat heaters (2) stereo and amplifier.

I’ve also decided that I’m going to install LED fog lights under the rear bumper to use as backup lights and I’ll be installing red, super-bright 12-v LED’s in the original backup light lenses to act as additional brake lights. I’ll also put in a 3rd high brake light if I can find one that looks good. A daytime running light setup is also in the works since I want this car to be as visible as possible when doing highway battle with distracted soccer moms in SUV’s.

I got the transmission cross member with all new bushings installed. Took about an hour and was a bit of a pain but not as bad as I had feared. The key, as I was correctly told on the MG forum, was to put in every bolt only loosely and then tighten them all up when everything is in place.

I also did the cross member modification to allow a socket to fit up behind the square rubber transmission mount blocks. That simply involves drilling two holes in the bottom of the cross member at an angle that allows a socket on an extension to get up inside.

Also added the new battery boxes I got from Moss and wired the port side one for the battery. They aren't as sturdy as I would have imagined them to be ut I think they'll work nicely. I'll use the starboard side box for tool ans spares storage.

Relay wiring diagrams

Here are two wiring diagrams I did for relay installation.

The first is a typical relay setup using the Bosch 4-pin relay available at just about any auto parts store. It will work for any setup and take most of the current load off of the fragile switches.

The second is for adding an aux fuse panel that comes on with the ignition or accessory via the key. The relay used for that should be adequate to handle all of the amps going through the fuse panel. I’ll be running about 40 amps through mine so I’ll be using at least a 60 amp relay so there is some cushion.

Feel free to use these if you need them.

Back to work…again!

Still looking for front shocks. I can get them from Butch at Imports Europa for a great price but I have to go pull them off a car out in the middle of a field and I’ll have no idea if they’re good or not until they’re off the car. A member on the MG forum also has a used set but I really don’t feel like paying $100 plus shipping for used shocks that could give out a week after I put them on the car.

Well my shoulder is to the point where I could begin working on the B again without feeling like somebody has stabbed a few knives into my arm.

I pulled the cross member off the transmission to clean it up and replace the rubber mounts…what a joy that was.

















I supported the rear of the tranny with a floor jack and started trying to pull the bolts off. The four on the tranny mounts weren’t so bad though I did find that I only had three since one has vanished. The four bolts holding the cross member to the body were really tight but they haven’t been turned in 20 or more years so that is understandable. I can already tell by how the plate inside the frame moves around that they are going to be a bitch to get back in.

Getting the cross member over the exhaust wasn’t so much fun either. I didn’t want to drop the exhaust so I took a 6-foot brass pipe I had and levered the exhaust down just far enough that I could wiggle the cross member over it. I know that I’m going to have to drop at least some of the exhaust to get the cross member back in so more fun for me coming up.

When I got the cross member off I found some nice things. First, the rubber mounts were all but gone. The large square mounts were half hard as a rock and half mushy goop about the consistency of soft foam rubber soaked in motor oil. The center pin bushings were still kind of round but were also gummy mush.

Since the cross member is u-shaped and points upward it acts as a collection point for all sorts of garbage. It was nearly full of the oil/grease/dirt gunk that builds up on cars after a long time. I measured six heaping cups of the stuff inside the cross member after I scraped it all out.

After much scraping, wire brushing, degreasing, washing, more degreasing and more washing I finally got to the point (after two hours) that it was clean enough to paint.

I also cleaned and painted the engine/tranny stayrod, mounting plates and hardware and those will get new nuts, bolts and rubber buffer pads as well.

I put on two coats of gloss black on the cross member and all the mounting hardware. I’ll put it all back together tonight and see if I wedge the bastard back in place.

I’ve been working on the electrical as well. I ran a new white wire for the melted one in the harness that powers the fuel pump. I also ran two additional heavy wires along with it to the rear for future power needs such as an amplifier in the trunk. To get the wires through the sub frame that the factory harness goes through on the underside of the car I slid a wire coat hanger through the rubber bushings, bent a hook in the end of it and looped the three new wires around it and pulled it through. It was a tight fit but it worked.

I taped the new wires to the factory harness with the correct blue tape and then opened the clamps and reattached them to the underside as the factory original harness was.

I dropped the starter to change out the clutch master flexible hose with the stainless braided one and took the opportunity to clean up the starter harness and all the other little sub-harnesses in the area. I’m adding two additional 10-gauge wires to the power hookup point on the starter and running them up into the engine compartment. These will be taped into the harness and used to power the new additional fuse panels I’ll be adding for new electrical components. I’ll be adding fog and driving lights, daytime running lights and (hopefully) seat heaters so all of those will need new dedicated power. I’m certainly not going to trust the 35 year old factory wiring for that! Of course, all of the new wiring will have relays to take the load off the wiring…as soon as I figure out how to do that! Time to call my buddy Paul.

Lazy

Didn't do shit today.

We don't need no stinking left shoulder!

The big-ish news is that I have apparently either torn the rotator cuff in my left shoulder or have something called peripheral neuropathy (some sort of damage to my nerves) I won’t know for sure unless I get an MRI but since I have no health insurance, it may be a while before I know. Not too easy trying to turn wrenches with constant pain and occasional numbness radiating from your shoulder to your fingertips and your arm in a sling. But such is life.

In spite of that I got some more done last night.
I got the suspension, drive shaft u-joints and parking brake cable greased (because I finally went out and bought a grease gun) and I installed the cotter pins in the parking brake cable clevis pins where they meet the levers as well as the pins in the clutch and brake pedals at the master cylinders.

Upon closer inspection I’m going to have to replace that clutch pedal again since the hole in the end of the arm that links it to the master cylinder via a clevis pin is noticeably egged out.
I pulled the starter out and cleaned it and its contacts and got it nicely painted. I’ll be cleaning and retaping the starter harness next and adding additional wires for more power circuits and fuse boxes.

The reason I pulled the starter was to be able to replace the flexible rubber hose to the clutch slave cylinder…fucking pain in the ass that was!!!
I finally managed to get the old line off and the new one in place but it was a huge wrestling match. I had to hacksaw off the metal of the hose where it meets the support bracket so that I could get a deep well socket on it since a wrench just couldn’t turn the fixing nut without stripping it.

I also installed an Ezi-bleed bleeder nipple on the slave and just “sorta” bled it. It seems that Ezi-bleed bleeder works as advertised. When I do the others on the braking system I’ll report back.

5-21-2009 Fighting a multi-front war

Well the brakes are all back together but not without a bit of struggle on one side.

I went to adjust the port side brakes and found that the adjuster was nearly impossible to turn. I wound up pulling the brakes off and removing the adjuster. I sprayed it with PB Blaster and that made no difference.

I finally but a big vice grip on it and heated with a propane torch. I then put a wrench on it and just worked it back and forth until it started loosening up. I finally got it to go all the way in and back out until it turned smoothly.

Still not idea as to why it was so tight as it looked straight and clean but it moves freely now.

I put a small dab of high-temp grease on it and ran it back in and out and then installed it back on the car. I put the brakes all back together and got them adjusted with no problems.

I tackled the parking brake cable while I was down there. Pain in the ass to do but not the worst job ever. Took the compensating lever apart (the one bolted to the differential pumpkin) got it cleaned, painted and greased. It is important to do that on a regular basis since most problems with the parking brake are a jammed or corroded adjuster.

I replaced the flexible rubber brake hose on the rear axle with the braided stainless one. A bit of a bitch at one point but it’s all nice and tight. The brake lines are now hooked up to the new cylinders and the parking brake cables are connected to the levers (but I do need to get some new cotter pins for them)

As I wrote in the title I am pursuing a multi-front war on the restoration. I’m trying to do as many things at the same time as possible.

I’ve started to tear the seats apart for then new foams and covers. Cleaning, painting and cleaning up the mechanicals while I also start tearing the rusted body panels off the car and cleaning up the wiring.

I had a nice little surprise when I pulled apart starboard seat. I found that the seat back was completely packed with old fiberglass and assorted junk, courtesy of a nice little mouse community. I pulled most if it out when I realized I should probably get a picture of it.

I got out the spot weld remover drill bit and started cutting into the car. This is going to take some time. I drilled out the welds on the top of the outer sill where it meets the top of the starboard forward kick panel. The welds were not even close to straight so I fear I may have gotten a “Monday-Friday” car!

The rear valance is going to be an absolute bitch. There are so many welds in so many places for such a relatively small panel that I may just cut the thing of with the cutting wheel, grind it up and weld the new valance over it. The way the old panel is installed will let me fudge it in that way and still wind up with a perfectly good new panel install.

Note on the new dashboard coverlay:
I put the new coverlay in place and it really looks good. The fit is great compared to the ones available 15 years ago and the texture, unlike the plastic-looking crap surface on the old one, actually looks like it is made of soft vinyl. I’m pretty happy with it.

Wednesday's work 5-20-2009

Received and installed the new axle hub oil seals. The day before I pulled the oil drain and fill plugs from the differential and drained the unit. When it was empty I sprayed brake cleaner fluid to clean any gunk out of the bottom of the unit and let it sit overnight. Letting sit that long let any little bit of old axle oil drain out plus it ensured that all the brake cleaner solution evaporated out.

I reinstalled the drain plug and refilled it with 90-wt gear oil. Half synthetic gear oil and half regular gear oil with Teflon additive.

Tip: removing the drain and fill plugs is easy if you just push a ½” wobble drive extension into the square opening of the plugs and turn them with a ratchet. You don’t need the special tool and the wobble extension has the perfect taper for a snug fit.

After the oil seals were installed I reassembled the split seal plate plates and rear brakes on both sides, fit the whole brake assemblies to the axle, put the hubs back on and hooked up the hydraulics. I doubt I got the 150 lbs of torque on the hub nut since it is so damned hard to so without brakes to hold the hub in place and with the car off the ground. I’ll do a final torque when the wheels and tires are on and the car is back on the ground. I haven’t bled the system yet since I still have to replace the flexible rubber brake hose on the rear end with the stainless braided Teflon hose.



















Thursday I’m going to replace the flexible rubber brake hose on the rear end, and the parking brake cable, adjust the rear brakes and do any final paint touch up on the differential. I’m then going to bleed out the hydraulics to test the Ezi-bleeders on the rear end. I also got a new engine oil drain plug with the magnet on it to pull any metallic junk out of the engine. I’ll install that when I change the engine oil before the next restart. I also received the second palstic battery box, yippy for me!

My dash coverlay came in and it fits perfectly unlike the one I bought in the early 90’s which fit like OJ Simpson’s glove. I also got the fiberglass “Special Tuning Air Damn” from Moss (part # 475-195) and I must say it is a huge piece of shit. It is one of the worst casting I have ever seen. The cutout in the center is not even close to symmetrical, there are creases and dimples all over it and it looks like this particular one was dropped on the pavement and dragged over to the shipping box. But it was on sale for around $75.00 so I really can’t complain much. I was gong to put a few layers on fiberglass on the back of it to reinforce it anyway so a little cleanup work isn’t such a big deal.

Put in another parts order today. Had to get new seat back foams (the ex wife threw my new ones away when she cleaned out “her” garage. I also ordered the urethane bushings for the tranny center mounting pin, splash guard extension seals, metal plates for the tranny stayrod pads and the poly bushings for the shock absorbers when I replace them.

Aside from some big items like the windshield, tires, battery and carpet, I have just about all of the small assorted parts needed to finish the car. Of course, not that I’ve written this, I’ll find out I need a buh-zilion other little things that I missed on this parts order…such is life.

Brakes getting close

I pulled the port side rear brake assembly of as a unit after pulling the hub and disconnecting the brake line and parking brake cable.

I then rebuilt the starboard side assembly right next to the one I just pulled off.

It is so much easier to rebuild these things off the car. Especially if you are replacing the brake cylinder since you have to use that little frakking that just loves to shoot off into the great unknown as you try to put it back on.

After that, I pulled apart the assembly I just removes, cleaned it all up and painted it. I used brake cleaning spray since these things are loaded with asbestoes and getting it all we with the cleaner keeps it from getting blown into the air and inhaled into your lungs.

I'm hoping my parts order arrives today so I can replace the axle oil seals and reassemble the axle and rear brakes. It shouldn't take more than an hour or two to put everything back together.

Unlike the front brake calipers, the Ezibleed bleeders I bought screwed right into the rear brake cylinders without the heavy resistance I encountered with the calipers. As soon as I bleed the system I'll post here how well they work.

I relplaced the axle rebound straps. It went fairly smoothly though the bolt on the axle for the port side strap was a bit of a bitch to get off.

Next comes replacing the flexible rubber brake line on the rear axle with the teflon stainless braided hose and then replacing the parking brake cable assembly. I'll bleed the brake and clutch hydraulics and then get back to cleaning and repairing the electrical systems.

The carbs are off and go in for their rebuild today and the oil cooler goes to the radiator shop for cleaning, pressure testing and any leak repairs if needed.

Not a whole lot got done last night…I has tired.

I got the battery boxes cleaned up. I cut off the bad metal on the starboard side box, wire brushed them both down and put on two coats of truck bed liner. I then put two coats of white paint on them because that’s what I had laying around. I bought some more silver paint tonight and sprayed two coats on the box frames.

I touched up the underside of the car, painted things like the transmission cross member black. I also finished cleaning up the rear suspension and painting it. I was going to wait to paint the rest of the rear axle until I got the cover gasket changed but it’s not leaking so I skipped that step.

Got two coats of ultra high temp paint (1200 degrees) sprayed on the exhaust system. It is 16 years old but still looks to be in pretty good shape. If I can get another two or three years out of it I'll be very very happy and getting the high temp paint on it should help protect it a bit.

The insides of the new sills and lower front fender quarters are lined and painted. I’ll probably put a few more coats of paint on them just to be sure they are well protected before I weld them onto the car.

The parts for the rear axle oil seals came today. Unfortunately, nobody was there to sign for them so I guess I’ll have to wait until tomorrow for another delivery attempt. I’ll be stripping down the port side brakes tonight in preparation for the oil seal install and brake rebuild. I’ll be pulling the backing plate off with all the brake hardware still attached so I can rebuild the brakes on both sides on the bench instead of on the car.

Didn't get around to pulling off the oil cooler or carbs for servicing. Hopefully in the next few days but I've got a very busy weekend so it'll be a bit here a bit there....

Clarification on left/right/driver/passenger side definitions

Since we are dealing with a British car here and driver’s side of the car means the opposite here in the States as opposed to the UK, I have decided to use ship terminology from now on to avoid confusion.

From now on the left side of the car (if you are sitting in the driver’s seat acing forward) is the PORT side. The right side is the STARBOARD side. The front of the car is FORWARD or BOW and the rear of the car is AFT or STERN.
Specific parts of the car offer a different challenge. Since a hood in the UK is the convertible or hard top and in the states it is the lid on the front of the car over the engine, we have to be very specific.
Here are the definitions, or UK to American translations

UK USA
Wing -------------------- fender
Hood -------------------- top
Bonnet -------------------- hood
Boot -------------------- trunk
Windscreen -------------------- windshield

Others terms
Petrol -------------------- gasoline
Spanner -------------------- wrench
Impulse extractor -------------------- slide hammer/dent puller
Torch -------------------- flashlight
Wanker --------------------jerkoff

Hope this was helpful :)

Wifey graduates from college!!!

Well I didn't get much done this weekend because my Wifey graduated Cum Laude (sounds dirty) from Winston Salem State University with a degree in Molecular Biology!

Most impressive and I am so very proud of her.

Blond, smart and hot. And as you can tell by her graduation cap, she is also a Battlestar Galactica fan like I am...I be a lucky man!

Please note that the colors on her cap, Black and Gold, are Steelers colors! And yes, we are both Pittsburgh Steelers fans!

Knocking it out!

Much done in the last two days.

Cleaned the entire underside of cars plus wheel wells
Put two layers of spray-on truck bed liner.
Painted two coats of silver paint on entire underside and wheel wells.
Completely finished the cockpit sound deadening and thermal installation install.
Applied two coats of truck bed liner to the inside of the new body panels- i.e. both sills, the lower front fender halves and the doglegs. When those are dry I’ll put at least three layers of rust preventative paint on them. When they are actually welded to the car I’ll pump paint mixed with Penetrol into all the body cavities and then finish it off with an application of Waxoyl.

I’m still waiting on the latest parts order to arrive so that I can replace the oil seals on the rear axle. Once that is done I can finish rebuilding the rear brakes, clean and paint the rear axle and refill it with 90-wt gear oil. Then I’ll be replacing the parking brake cable plus the rear flexible brake line and clutch slave line with the braided stainless ones. Then, of course, all of the hydraulics get bled and I can test out my Ezi-bleed bleeder tool.

Tonight I’m pulling the oil cooler back off to get it flushed and pressure tested and to get what is apparently a small leak repaired. I’ll also be pulling the carbs back off and sending them off to Butch at Imports Europa in Burlington so they can get rebuilt.

Work is actually going fairly quickly now and I hope to start the major body work and welding in the next 8-10 days

Oh, I also got a like-new set of autumn leaf seat covers from a member of the mgexperience.net forum. They were installed but not liked so they got pulled back off. They are just about new and I got them for next to nothing compared to the $400.00+ price that Moss Motors charges for a

new set.

5-09-2009

Did I tell you all that I got a new grill? Well I did from a member on the MG forum.. A brand new one with the black honeycomb inside…very purrdy.

I also just got a new in-the-box autumn leaf interior panel kit from another member on the forum. Got great prices on both so I is a happy little bee.

Finished installing the sound deadening material and thermal insulation in the cockpit. I think it will work out nicely and, again, all of it only cost a total of around $100.00.

I also got the emergency brake handle cleaned up and the metal part painted. The chrome was a bit pitted and ratty looking so I just sprayed it silver. I’ve also just about finished respraying the cockpit silver. Still some touch up and some painting behind the dash but I’m pretty much done.
I’m going to pull the shifter lever out and shorten it around 1½” -2” to give it a more modern throw. I’ll have to grind it down and use a die to make the new threads and then cut the top off of it.

Ordered the outer oil seals for the rear axle. Only the passenger side seal was bad but since the entire brake assembly and backing plate are coming off the driver side too, replacing the oil seal on that side becomes a “might as well do it while I'm in there” job.

I finished cleaning and repainting the driver side front suspension. I’ll still have to pull it all apart again to replace the shocks but I hate working on a dirty, greasy car.

Final cleaning, sealing and painting of the underside is going slowly, but it is going. The rear axle and suspension are all cleaned and repainted except for the area right around the differential cover. Since I have to change the lube in the differential I’m waiting to paint that area until it is refilled and the new cover gasket is in place.