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Post by johnno on Nov 12, 2016 23:31:52 GMT
Had this old girl a month now, re commissioning to make it road worthy, its done about 244 miles in the last 10 years. Previous owner had it 6 years and only did 48 miles in it and he never looked after it. He had it under a canvas cover at the side of his house gathering dust and more. I asked him if it had the head conversion so it could run on unleaded and he didn't know . I might just run it on unleaded till the exhaust valves pack in and then stick a stage 2 head and a 716 fast road cam in it Engine bay is almost finished, just needs carbs setting up and check timing left to do, running a bit lumpy. Got a shed load of parts on order, thankfully you can still get all the parts for a 78 MGB. I've just finished doing the electric's at the back end tonight and started to strip out the dash, heater controls are seized up, and some heater ducting is missing and while it's out I'll fit chrome bezels around the instrument clocks and fit new bulbs all round and a walnut effect dash and sort out the wiring on the radio which was disconnected because it has the wrong wiring loom to it, indicators and hazards are playing up hopefully its just the flasher & hazard units that are knackered, that's all that's need doing in the cockpit fingers crossed. Then it's brakes, steering and suspension. Don't know what I might find there, but one thing its got going for it is that its rock solid underneath, who ever did the first restore did a good job there's not a bit of rust to be seen anywhere I even drilled hole's and put a endoscope camera down the B posts and door sill's so I could check the castle rails and inner sill and they have been waxed oiled. Hopefully I shall have it on the road in the next 2 weeks. oh and do a headlight conversion as these have the old sealed beam units.
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Post by davy on Nov 12, 2016 23:46:56 GMT
Was working on one before I done my arm in,, burn out,, wiring to ammeter shorted out,, lovely job,, had to rewire half the car,, would not start either,,the joys. John,, you used to be able to fit a fuel filter kind of thing,, it had lead balls or something like that inside it to help save the valves,,don't know if there still around.
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Post by howie1 on Nov 13, 2016 2:11:38 GMT
Always wonderful to see an engine bay where I can see, name and fix all the parts! Brings back so many memories working with my Dad pulling out engines. Feeling the heat, smelling the grease and oils. Lovely stuff johnno. Thanks for putting a smile on my face as I sit here and remember good times. Best wishes with your project ... can't wait to hear reports from the outings!
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Post by davy on Nov 13, 2016 8:14:46 GMT
Lol,get that feeling five days a week ,,33 yrs on the tools and counting,,the modern car is soulless compared to the classics,,
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Post by ChrisV on Nov 13, 2016 9:15:05 GMT
Agreed Davy. Plus, my old mini (before it got stolen and incinerated) - I could even fix most things on it. It didn't take rocket science. Felt involved with it.
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Post by Dragon Man on Nov 13, 2016 13:26:59 GMT
Good stuff John!!! I saw an MG drive past my place today on its way to the car show at our local football field. One of the older models with chrome bumpers. Old stuff is the best.
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Post by johnno on Nov 14, 2016 23:32:18 GMT
I've heard of them lead balls but never seen any, Davy, electrics are poor on this chariot, I sort one problem out and another shows its ugly face, somewhere behind the dash there must be a broken wire thats feeds the instrument panel lights, I've been working backwards towards the firewall breaking into the loom to find it but no joy, So I've ran a wire from the light switch to the nearest instrument which is the water gauge and jumped a wire across to the next one and so on using scotch locks. I thought I had done in the engine bay apart from the timing and carb setup, ended up removing water pump today and order a new one, the heater valve is seized so that's another couple of days waiting for them to arrive. Tried to remove the heater box and that's stuck in solid as I need to get to the cable controlling the hot air flap, I can see the BA nut from inside the side vent in the drivers side but I have to use a mirror to see it and the pedals are in the way so that's one job I'm going to leave. Had a quick look underneath and I think re-bushing everything is the order of the day for its MOT, I can get new polyurethane bush kit front and rear for £180. Replacement parts are dirt cheap like the heater valve and water pump with gaskets come to £32, but body panels like wings and bonnet are expensive, there is a big spares network up and down the country so have no trouble there. Got this insured fully comp for £80.50p for the year with limited mileage with a option of market value or agreed valuation, with the agreed valuation they need 7 photo's of the car including speedo mileage reading. Tomorrows job is to sort out the radio loom, new speaker cables to the radio and get a Ariel extension cable and most important to fit a new cigarette lighter Ken the bloke who i bought this off had a chrome bumper version for sale also, a couple of grand dearer than this one , I went to have a look at that one first as it looked good in the advertisement with a lot of new parts fitted for the restore but when i got up close to it, it looked like a 5 year old kid had put it together, not one panel lined up, it was a mess really which is a shame as this could of been a really good car and I'm useless at doing body work, when I left school I started out on the spanners so the mechanical side of things is no problem unless it's on the newer cars. This yellow one looks good in the photo, poor respray, panels not fitted correctly and major oil leaks from engine and gearbox and under the hood is a mess for my liking. At least the red one has nice lines all round and overall is a decent car all round, could do with a respray in a couple of years time or maybe longer it has new panels all round including boot and bonnet.
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Post by davy on Nov 15, 2016 0:03:55 GMT
Scotch locks,,nooooooo Biggest problem sparkies have,, hairy joints are better,, peel back insulation and wrap wires together and tape up. The loom runs through offside fire wall ,,there aren't that many wires to be honest,, trace back to head light switch and tap into side light circuit. For mot, the back chassis legs at rear spring hangers are really bad for rotting,, fuel leaks at fuel pump,, seen a good few in the garage over last few years,,other mechanic won't touch them,,, well before his time,, must mean I'm a more mature mechanic,, cut my teeth on a lot if the old stuff,, rebuilt umpteen original minis as an apprentice,, mk1 Corrina,, ,, some of the junk I worked on are considered classics now,, maxi,allegro, triumph heralds.. of dear showing my age now
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Post by davy on Nov 15, 2016 0:15:08 GMT
It looks like it's had a bit of work done under the bonnet John,, that an electric cooling fan kit that's been added,never seen the mesh fitted before in front of radiator, the timing ,,are you retarding it a few degrees to compensate for unleaded fuel
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Post by johnno on Nov 15, 2016 0:29:18 GMT
Davy I don't really like using them, I prefer to solder the wiring like I did in the boot, but i took the easy option as I'm getting fed up with the wiring, it could do with a new loom really.
It feels solid on the hangers, had a tap around them and a good squeeze, I think the fuel pump is in the boot on this one behind a little box and there's no leaks in there plus it's got a new fuel tank.
Are you allowed to poke around with a screw driver like in the old days for the mot?
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Post by davy on Nov 15, 2016 8:27:04 GMT
We use what is called a corrosion assessment tool a plastic hammer with an alloy shaft tapered like a blunt screwdriver for mot testing,,, sounds like it's a good one if there is no holes in chassis legs at the rear.. I got the wiring diagram off the internet,, could not remember how to wire the rev counter.
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Post by johnno on Nov 15, 2016 13:05:41 GMT
Fitted the wood effect dash, easy fit, peel off the sticky tape backing and bob's your uncle. Wood veneer is £218, me being a tight ass £68 for plastic look alike, The centre console around the gear stick looks like it's home made from wood. Davy, question for mot, the hazard warning switch was nearly seized, wd40 freed it off. It as a red illuminator, when I put the hazards on the 2 green indicator lights flash which is normal, if I put the side lights on the red illuminator lights up, I would of thought the red light would flash the same as the indicator warning lights, is it a mot fail or is that is how it should be?
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Post by davy on Nov 15, 2016 13:19:29 GMT
The wiring to the switch is wrong,. Side lights on should illuminate the hazard switch,, as long as you have a visual or audible tell tale hazards should pass mot..
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Post by johnno on Nov 15, 2016 22:57:09 GMT
cheers Davy, I'll leave as it is for the time being, I've ordered some new electronic units and see how they perform
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Post by Dragon Man on Nov 16, 2016 9:24:08 GMT
Nice dash John. I like wooden dashes
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Post by johnno on Nov 18, 2016 0:31:36 GMT
Almost all the electric's are sorted now, just waiting for the clock to arrive, radio, speaker and Ariel wired in and working. Fitted the latest new electronic type flasher and hazard units rather than going for the original units. theses new ones work a treat. Fitted new water pump and heater valve and now waiting for 4life antifreeze to come so I can fire the old girl up and waiting for new timing gun with digi read out so I can do total advance timing. Had to buy another grease gun as i threw my other one out some years back thinking that i would never need to grease another car Ken the dash looks better than original look but lucks cheap compared to a real wood one, dropped a bit of a clanger when fitting the piece for the glovebox, i didn't line it up properly and its a bit cock eyed.
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Post by Dragon Man on Nov 18, 2016 12:07:24 GMT
Ken the dash looks better than original look but lucks cheap compared to a real wood one, dropped a bit of a clanger when fitting the piece for the glovebox, i didn't line it up properly and its a bit cock eyed. No-one will know but you
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Post by Rick in NWArk on Dec 5, 2016 14:49:05 GMT
She's a beaut, John. I have fancied an MG myself as a weekend driver.
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Post by davy on Dec 5, 2016 17:12:00 GMT
Yip look great and can be fun,,,but me dragging myself in and out them isn't a pretty sight,lol
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Post by Rick in NWArk on Dec 8, 2016 18:54:08 GMT
I'd be the same way, Davy
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