Gavin from Reef visited to inspect the MG and to agree details for the respray. The bad news is that his schedule means we have to put the respray back until the first week of January, not mid December as I was planning. The good news is that gives me a bit longer for some final preparation. First job is to remove the wiring loom. Gavin advised this because no matter how well you protect the loom, there is always dust that gets into the connections and there is a danger this may affect systems during the rebuild. The advantage of removing the loom is that you can inspect it and deal with any defects in the garage before refitting. Second job is to remove the front wings. This is to ensure there are no nasty surprises under them (e.g. rust) and also to make it easier for panel removal at the spray shop. Anything to make the job easier is to my advantage, especially as I have asked Gavin for the sand-blasting company to blast a few loose components at the same time. The wings are bolted on, so removal is relatively simple, although I can expect some fun and games with the odd rusty one I am sure. Before I had the car, repairs were made to the front wings, so they have come off relatively recently (in the last five years or so), its not as if we are going back to production in 1974! That’s the main jobs, I also need to arrange transport, order a front valance and do any final tidying up of sheared bolts and so on. 

Gavin was really positive as always and it is exciting to now have a date to work to for the respray. 

Today I rolled the MG out onto the drive and loosened a couple of bolts, one of which clipped the loom to the under-dash and the other which was an earth for something or other. I didn’t really have much time, but I had a good look where the loom from under the bonnet enters the car through the firewall – there is an intact grommet which I will have to remove and I have heard that its a tight fit to feed the cables through, just a matter of being patient I think. 

I also took the Suzuki Cappuccino out for a spin. The Cappuccino is stored under a cover for the winter, but as it was a dry day and with recent rain meaning any salt had been washed from the road, I took the opportunity to exercise the car and check everything was okay. The Cappo started first time, as usual, with a little more screeching from the pulleys which is normal when it has been left inactive. The rear brakes stuck on a little, but otherwise she warmed up nicely and drove fine. The disks had some rust but this cleared with a couple of pushes of the brake and otherwise everything was working. It was really good fun to have half an hour in the Cappo, it’s such a nice car to drive with great handling at moderate speeds, light and direct steering and that revvy little three-pot engine singing away up front. I filled up with fuel as I have heard this can prevent corrosion in the fuel tank and then put her back to bed again under her cover after a cooling down period.