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.