Getting ready for restart!!!

Well the engine and gearbox from the 74 roadster are have been installed in the GT.  Too much work to list here but some highlights are:

* Got the HS4 carbs installed but I'm pulling them of and going with the HIF4's because I don't like the crankcase venting setup I have now.
* Car modified for the 4-synchro gearbox from the roadster
* New DIY LED tail light assemblies are almost finished
* New modern sound system being installed
* reverse lights added to the car as well as headlight relays, an aux fuse panel under the passenger side dashboard for accessories
*  A coolant fluid recovery system has been added
* I did the Saturn 109-amp alternator conversion.
*  the LED daytime running lights in the airdam have been installed (see pics below)
*  I've torn out the interior and headliner and have recovered the seats and rebuilt the door panels.
*  New headliner and vinyl trim material have been purchased
All in all the car is about ready to fire up.  My work schedule is pretty busy this weekend so it should be running by next week.

The really bad news is that the rust on the driver side floorboards and sills is even worse than I thought.  This GT needs radical surgery to correct this but I am neither willing or financially ably to do that right now.
I'm going to stabilize the rust as best as possible and then fiberglass the hell out of everything.  It may only last 10 years but by then I'll either be able to afford a re-shelling or I'll be in the poor house :)

As far as the previous rust work done on the car all I can say is that the quality of repairs done was staggeringly shitty.  Galvanized metal roughly formed and riveted into place...sickening. (see bottom picture)

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Getting ready to put an engine back in the GT

Well the Roadster engine/gearbox is just about ready to go into the GT.  All I have to do is drain the oil from them both and refill them, change the filter on the engine and put the motor mounts on.

I have the harness cleaned up and I have to install the new rubber grommets on the underside that hold the hydraulic and fuel line and wiring harness in place.

I have added a small section of wires to the backup light switch on the gearbox so I can ad reverse lights to the car. pretty straightforward install especially since I have already added spare wires to the harness that runs from the front of the car to the rear.

The gearbox crossmember is rebuilt, cleaned, painted and has had the bolt hole modification made.

I puled the tachometer out and did the conversion to it for negative ground...the bad part:
I pulled the tach apart, cleaned it, painted the inside of the housing white to better reflect the internal lighting, and cleaned the hazy glass and cleaned and shined up the chrome bezel.  Why is that bad?  Well it's not.  The bad part is that after I reinstalled it the rest of the gauges look like absolute shit!!!  Now I have to pull the other gauges out and clean them too...like I don't have enough work.

Also needing done:
Rewire the car for negative ground-not too difficult.
Fix the broke female spade connectors for the fuel sending gauge and coil wire.
a ton of other little things involved in an engine swap and negative ground conversion.
I hope to have the car back on the road by the end of the Month

Since my wife and I are separating I have to have the GT, the Corvette and the Spitfire running and roadworthy and the 74 roadster ready  to be rolled around at least  and I have to have all that done by August 1st

I is gonna be a busy little bee!

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So much to tell you

Well, much time has passed since my last blog entry.  I spent the summer enjoying the GT.  I drove my10 and 12 year old sons to the swimming pool quite a bit and it wasn't nearly as hot in the summer as I feared...but "Toaster" is still a great nickname for it.
So far I have completely rebuilt the braking systems, front and rear suspension with the heritage springs.  I have about half of the interior panels restored/recovered and in the spring I'll get new seat cover kits.
the car is mchanically sound except for one little thing.
THE FUCKING MOTOR BLEW!














Actually, It spun a rod bearing while on interstate 40.  I have never, in around 42+ years of driving, ever had to have a car towed...until now.

So I've been stripping down the motor to prep it for pulling and I'm either going to put the Roadster engine in it or see if I can buy a running one locally (which I'd prefer to do)
Unfortunately, I am also now unemployed so money has become an issue.
I also pulled the fuel tank, cleaned up the area under it and got it all painted and sealed up before I installed the new tank.

Oh well. At least I'm getting some work done on the car.







Yes, I know you aren't supposed to tow a wire wheel car backwards but I kept checking to be sure the  wheels weren't coming loose.

While the engine is coming out I'm also replacing the drive shaft u-joints, clutch kit if it needs it and I'm converting to negative ground and a spin-on oil filter. Ill also be cleaning, degreasing and painting the underside and engine bay so it's all pretty too.  Plus I'll tidy up the electical system.
In other words, I'll be doing a rolling restoration on the car that was just supposed to be my "hop in and drive" daily-driver.
Damned British cars.

These cars can KILL YOU!!!

After finishing the rear re-spring and suspension/brakes rebuild the other night on the GT, I immediately started on the front rebuild.

I pulled the passenger side wheel off and started fighting with 44 year old bolts which mostly wanted to break off rather than turn. I then noticed the tie rod end seemed to be sticking up from the steering knuckle about 3/4". I wiggled it and it was very loose and completely worn out.

I got that side stripped down, cleaned & painted everything,etc. then moved to the driver side. I looked at the tie rod end as soon as I got the wheel off and it looked just as worn out.

But when I pulled up on the driver side tie rod it just came apart. The post in the tie rod that is attached to the steering knuckle just popped out of the tie rod body with almost no effort!

That certainly explains why the front end felt so loose driving down I-40 at 75 mph.
If that had come apart while driving the result could have been...challenging. The two front wheels pointing in different directions while driving is not a good thing.

Reminds me why it is important to check EVERYTHING on these cars on a regular basis.
I do trust the engineering of these little cars but some of them are almost half a century old now.

A nice reminder for me as I get back into working on and driving MGB's again after a 12 year hiatus...lest I forget they are machines and do not care if they kill me.

Rear rebuild finished. 4-2-2011

After 4 weeks I’ve finally finished a job that should have taken one or two long days. Most of that was due to the fact that every time I’d be deep into the job, I would find something else that HAD to be done or I would find there is one small part I didn’t have and have to stop and wait for it to be shipped. I’m still waiting on some parts so I just wound up cannibalizing my 74 roadster whose rear end was already completely rebuilt.

So far, here’s what I’ve done…
New heritage leaf springs
Teflon-impregnated suspension bushings
New brake shoes, pads, springs, cylinders, adjusters. Bled and adjusted
Underside, wheel wells axle, suspension, completely scraped, wire-brushed, degreased, rust-treated, undercoated and painted.
New metal welded in to replace the rusted rails at the trailing driver side leaf spring attach point.
New axle oil seals, adjuster cleaned, adjusted and lubed. Axle fluid topped off, breather cleaned out. Driveshaft u-joint nuts & bolts checked
Exposed wiring harness covered with plastic split loom
Trunk/cargo area repainted and new carpet installed.
Factory wire wheels degreased, cleaned and repainted.

I still have to replace the oily, dented and apparently leaking fuel tank but that can wait a bit.
Next comes replacing the rotted metal in the floorboards, firewalls, and inner sills on the driver and passenger sides, urethane bushing replacement and front end rebuild, Acoustic and thermal installation and installing new carpeting, interior panels and a bunch of other misc interior work.
All this has to be done by April 17 for the British car show at Shelton Vineyards in Dobson, NC.

Oh, and I have to get the Spitfire running too…
…and the 74 Roaster…
…and the Corvette…

The fun is in the overdoing!

Quick update 3-3-2011

Update:

The leaks from the rear axle were actually the rear brake cylinders leaking. Surprising to me since the previous owner said all of the brake hydraulics were replaced. The oil seals seem to be okay but since I’m tearing everything apart anyway, they will be replaced as well. I ordered the brake kit from a member of the MG Experience forum which includes all the springs, clips shoes and cylinders for the rear brakes. Rebuilding brakes is fairly a fairly easy job, but since it is so damned filthy up under the car, half the battle will be getting it all cleaned off so I can work on it without looking like the Swamp Thing when I’m done.

3-14-2011

Happy Pi day…my stepson instantly thought that it meant we should go out and get a pie for him. We did not. What it meant is that everything takes 3.1415 times longer than you think it will.

Here’s the list of fun in changing out the rear springs and bushings that has turned a single long afternoon job into one that is up to a week and counting.

1. The sub-frame rail right over the aft driver side spring shackle mount had some fairly serious rust through which meant I had to do some welding…and I am a shitty, shitty welder. But I got it done, ugly done, but done.

2. I broke one of the rear u-bolts that connects the axle to the leaf spring so I had to scavenge that off the roadster which took for-fucking-ever. Then I had some stripped shafts on the old GT u-bolts so I had to rethread them. Actually, I didn’t have to, I’m just too impatient to wait for the new ones that I ordered.

3. The underside was so caked with 40+ years of grease, crud, dirt, road spooge and rust that it took forever to get it all clean. But it is better than working on a dirty, greasy car.

4. I got rear axle oil seals for the GT at O’Reilly’s auto parts. The girl behind the counter assured me that they were the correct ones. I had her cross-reference the part number with other year MG’s to check it. She assured me that they were the correct seals. They were correct…for a Volvo! I went to another O’Reilly’s and talked to a greasy guy behind the counter. He couldn’t figure out how the girl got that part number, but we both knew how. I should never order parts for an MG from somebody who was not yet born when MG’s were still being made. Greasy guy had to order the correct ones so after another 2-day delay I finally got the right ones…but greasy guys are worth their weight in gold!

5. The brake kit I ordered was missing two springs and the clip that holds the hydraulic cylinder to the back plate broke when I tried to use it…they’re all junk. Luckily I’m a hoarder so I had extras to use.

6. The brake shoes were so tight that I had to tap the brake drum on with a very big hammer. I’m still not sure why it’s still so tight, especially with the cylinders retracted and the adjuster backed all the way out…hmmmm…

7. I spent about an hour looking for the castle nut that holds the hub onto the axle. And then I spent another half hour trying to get the passenger side hub nut off. It is not being very cooperative. I shot PB Blaster on it a few times and I’m letting it soak overnight. Hopefully that will let me get the little bastard loose. If not, I’ll have to hit with the torch to try to loosen it up a bit. If that fails I may have to break down and buy an air impact wrench.

And if there wasn’t enough bad news, I found more rust on the front reinforcement panel called the “trumpet” that extends forward off the outer, upper areas of the firewall underneath the rear tops of the front fenders. The one on the passenger side has been repaired and still has a rust hole on the top. The driver side one seems intact.

The replacements are only $35.00 each for the 2 Heritage panels but to install them, I have pull off the front fenders which involves a whole ’nuther horror show of rust for me when I see what’s under there.