A sunny November day was too good to waste, so after returning from Church I rolled the MG out for some more work. Pushing the MG out has got heavier since the engine went in so I enrolled Helen to help. Later I checked the tyres pressures and finding them at 10psi, I did the sensible thing and pumped them all up. The car rolled easier after that!

I found the missing gearlever retainer ring and bolts (they were in a marked envelope!) and fitted them, using a dab of copper grease. The gearbox has a really nice action and I can’t wait for the day when I am changing gears for real. I then jacked up the car and connected the prop shaft to the back of the gearbox. This was a fiddly, but not difficult job which just needed a bit of persistence. After doing up two of the bolts, I needed to rotate the prop shaft, so I enlisted Helen’s support once again, getting her to hold one rear wheel still, while I rotated the other one, watching to see the shaft go through a half rotation. The other nuts went on easily enough if you ignore the rain of debris, dropped nuts and generally cramped position I had to lie in. That was all I managed to do although I did sort a few more parts into order and I took a good look at the wiper mechanism and (famous last words) its looks relatively simple to fit. I will probably have to replace the mountings as the chrome is pitted. These units require access under the dash to install so something to sort now, not later. More shopping on line needed.