Once more into the breach dear friends

4-22-2009

Well it’s about time for me to get back to my work on the MG.
Since my work on the basement has come to an end (for now) I can devote my attention to my LBC.
I’ve been gathering materials and parts while the restoration has been on hold.
Here’s what’s going on.

Major change in plan. Instead of painting the B white with a white interior it will be silver (2005 Corvette pewter) with an Autumn Leaf interior. Of course, I now have to strip out the engine bay to repaint it as well as repainting the trunk and cockpit. Oh well, what’s 30 more hours work on a project 3 months behind schedule…

Have to clean out the garage again…three months of it being the staging area for major home remolding tends to make things a bit messy …

I found material for the cockpit thermal insulation. I found a bubble type material with Mylar on both sides and a strong yet flexible material inside…its an windshield sunshade I found in the Walmart auto section! They are $6.00 each and I’ll need five of them to do the entire cockpit but they look like they’ll do the job. I’ll still need some Dyna-mat-type material for the doors but $30.00 for the thermal insulation is a lot better than the $300.00 I was looking at before.

I think I’ll be having an all day work party on the MG on Sunday, May 3 so anyone in central NC who wants to come get greasy feel free to join in the fun...beer, pizza maybe even strippers!!!! I have no shame.

Since I’m heading into my busy season for work it’s going to make consistently working on the B harder but a few hours here a few hours there adds up.

It seems that my last few posts have had nothing to say except for why I haven’t been working on my MG…very sad.

4-7-2009 Why I haven’t done anything on the MG lately

Well, I’m embarrassed to say that I haven’t done a damned thing on my B in around six weeks now except for moving it around and piling junk on top of it.

Last year, our basement flooded while I was remodeling. Not too bad but just bad enough to get everything wet and moldy. So I’ve been working on that while the weather was cold. Not just because it needs it but also because mold us a major health concern and I’d really not have it all over everything.

So far I’ve finished the den and installed all new hardwood flooring and covered the fireplace, hearth and stair landing in a mix of Vermont and Indian slate…very nice. Aside from some finish trim work and other small things it is all finished. I’ve also finished the stairwell, gym, office and all I have left to do in that part of the house is the kitchen hallway. I’ll still have another hallway, a bedroom, the kitchen and a bathroom to do but I wanted to get the main common areas finished up. The rest is sealed off and can be done over the course of the summer.

I figure I’ll be able to get back to work on the B this coming weekend. I’m going to have to bust ass to get even close to my self-imposed deadline for finishing it by June 1st.

After cleaning out the garage (again) I’ll put her back up on jack stands and start to work. I’ll pull the carbs off and send them to Butch at Imports Europa in Burlington NC to have them rebuilt. I’ll also pull the oil cooler off to get it pressure tested and fixed since I recently found a nice little puddle of oil under it from an unseen leak.

I’m then going to pull off the wheels and do the front and rear brakes and steering rack gaiters and anything else suspension related. This will give me the chance to try the Speed Bleeders I bought and see how they work. I’ll also be replacing all the flexible brake and clutch master lines with Teflon/stainless braided hoses and checking the condition of the clutch slave cylinder.

While I’m down there, I’ll finish cleaning, sealing and painting the wheel wells and underside of the car. I’m also going to run the new wiring for the melted fuel pump wire plus a few additional wires to the rear end for future accessories such as an audio amplifier and the like. I’m going to finish cleaning up the wiring in the engine compartment and dash areas and finish sealing and painting the rest of the cockpit and inside firewall.

When the carbs come off I’ll check to see if the seals on the side covers are leaking or not. If they are, I’ll swear a bunch and then pull them off and try sealing them up again.

The mechanical stuff will be easy for me compared to the next step which will be the major body repairs. Sills, doglegs fenders rear valance and a bunch of other body panels have to be cut off and replaced. I’ve never done major metal repair this involved so it will be an interesting learning experience for me. I’m getting lots of good advice on the MG Experience forum so I’m hoping it will go well.