fuel tank

12 March 2022 Fuel’s errand

I’ve had a fuel leak / seep from the petrol tank for a long old time and today I got it sorted. I suspected the seam where the sender unit goes in, but to be honest, I wasn’t sure I had the sender in properly or the filler spout. I had obtained a replacement tank from the supplier which was a larger ‘touring’ unit so a swap was on the cards in any case. I was on my own today so not the easiest operation. I began with jacking up the rear and putting it on axle stands which enabled me to remove the end section of the exhaust which bolts on about midway along the car and is then attached to a rubber hanger at the other end. Then I detached the fuel line and with the tank propped up on a couple of boxes I undid the bolts and nuts on a diagonal pattern which sort of allowed it drop in a controlled manner.

Now to fit the new tank, but learning from previous experience I took great care to fit the sender, the rubber seal and sealing ring to the tank, and to slop some petrol in and check for leaks before it went anywhere near the car. Miraculously the new tank could hold petrol and I had confidence the sender was properly seated in place. Now for the awkward job of offering up the tank to the receiving bolts (fixed to the chassis) and simultaneously dropping the bolts from the boot floor through the brackets and lining up the threaded connectors. I needed to have a couple of extra hands, but with none being available I did my best octopus impression and managed to have all the nuts, bolts, washers and connections properly done up. The fuel line was easily fitted, so it was onto the exhaust. This was another job which was fiddly to undertake solo. It took me a while to get this done – the bolt up connection at the midpoint is easy enough, but the rubber hanger where the exhaust exits is seriously fiddly. The bolts just did not want to bite and the rubber hanger was pulling the bracket away from where they needed to be. Furthermore, the sun was streaming in my eyes making it difficult to see the holes. I had to drape a throw over the back of the car and crawl underneath just to see! Helen came home from popping out to see my feet sticking out from under the car with a cloth draped over it. She must have wondered what on earth I was doing. I refused to be beaten and just persevered until eventually I got one bolt and then the other started. Then it was just a case of tightening everything up which was tedious as the threads were long and the bolts were tucked up between the fuel tank and the exhaust (I did say a little prayer – so, thanks God). There followed some very tedious petrol movements while I harvested the petrol I had only recently put in the old new tank, but finally I had a working fuel system.

Looking up at the tank fittings

A long time ago I realised that I was missing some chrome trims from the B-post of the MGB and last week they literally fell out of a box at me which saved me from fretting about where to get new ones from. I was looking for a different profile of trim, but these turned out to be the right ones. I fitted these relatively easily earlier today, giving them a brief polish before fitting them with self-tapping screws. I had intended to rivet them on, however the space was a bit tight, so screws it is. This has finished off another aspect of the MGB nicely.

Without the missing trims
…now fitted on both sides

Last job of the day was to fit the wooden wheel which my friend John had lent me ‘on approval’. I had established that this would fit (with a new boss) and the smaller diameter would give me more space for my legs which are wedged up against the steering wheel in the standard configuration. I popped it on the splines and tightened up the nut. I still have to install the horn switch, but that was enough for today.

I finished off the day with a quick test drive of about 2 miles (brave!) with Mrs T on board. This was Helen’s first time in the car and the first time I had driven it out of our estate in the three years I have had it. It was also the first time the car has driven more than about quarter of a miles in around ten years. I had already warmed up the engine and done some checks looking for leaks and we were good to go. Its quite intimidating driving a car that you’ve restored for the first time, being conscious of everything that can go wrong I suppose and also nervous of other traffic. However all was well and were were able to go through the gears into fourth and to cruise very briefly up to 50mph. The drive illustrated a few things, firstly that the hatch needs to be finished off with the rubber seal I have bought and the catch adjusted to stop it banging up and down, and the carburettors need tuning as the car is not pulling cleanly through the revs. The gearbox was a pleasant surprise, being nice and slick to shift although I dig get a ‘box full of neutrals’ at one roundabout while I grounds the gears. Fortunately, the MGB is torquey enough to pull out of the roundabout in third, although this coincided with the flat spot I mentioned so we sat at 32 mph with a BMW following curiously behind on our 50mph limit bypass. Helen commented favourably on the comfort of the seat, but noted the loud exhaust. With the car only partly trimmed and with a lot of grommets still to locate, I think I can tone down the noise a bit, and also I need to check the exhaust it properly done up. have to say, it does sound good and was turning heads. A good day!

Warmed up and ready to go
The lovely Mrs T ready for the off
I’m concentrating so hard at this point!

3 March 2022 Batch Day #2

Day two of the batch of jobs was again a damp day but we had a gazebo erected over the the MG butted up to the open garage door so were protected from the worst of the elements. Ashley was again on hand to help with the list of jobs.

Gearbox cross-member: We started with what we expected to be a very difficult job which was doing up the bolts which fit the gearbox to the cross-member. This was a job left over from the engine install, over two years ago and was essential for the car to be roadworthy. While recognising that the bolts are very fiddly, Ashley managed to do them both up and it was a bit of an anti0climax really.

Brake bleeding: Next job was to bleed the brakes. A long time ago I had got the system operational (with help!) but I had a soft pedal which needed a pump to get them to go. We bled them using my Gunson pressure kit which worked well and we had a little air out of the system. A later short drive around the block confirmed that we now have a firm pedal and effective brakes, albeit not quite in the same league as my 400 bhp Polestar 2 EV. I will keep a close eye on how its braking and keep an eye out for any leaks. Dad insists I get a low level warning lamp – its on the list Dad.

Fuel tank leak: The fuel tank has been seeping petrol annoyingly for a while when topped up over the level of the sender. I have tightened the sender, and from inspection today it looked like it was seeping from the welded section around the sender, not the sender connection itself. Annoying, as I can’t do anything about a manufacturing fault apart from complain to the supplier (which I will) but even if they give me a new tank, I’ll have to fit it, so not happy. I have bought some tank putty which I may put on as a temporary hold. No solution at the moment, and fuel is rather important to the whole project.

Is that seeping from the seam. It looks like it

Seat fitting: We were feeling really confident about fitting the seats. We had the runners all ready to go, so we offered up the driver’s seat thinking this would be an easy job of simply doing up the backs, then sliding the seat back on its runners and doing up the front. Four bolts – easy! Several hours later and having tried a few different things, including changing up the sequence, and changing a runner, we were still without a satisfactory fit. The basic problem was that we could not get four-bolt to seat runner alignment. We could get two out of four and even got three out of four with a lot of work, but the fourth bolt would not align with the captive threads in the floor. So this is baffling us at the moment and we had to admit defeat of this for the moment pending inspiration. Around the same time we concluded that the old seat belts were really not going to cut it as the mechanism was not operating right and the belts looked well past their best. Safety first, I ordered new from Moss to collect the following morning.

We were nearly out of ideas so decided to stop, think and retry tomorrow

Door cards and capping: While Ashley was experimenting to try to fit the seats I fitted the passenger side door card and capping. The door car is a very simple fit and it went on like a treat. These are second hand ones that I fitted and I am pleased with them. The door capping, which is a chunky piece which fixes to the door top screwed on nicely. I was feeling chuffed until I noticed a gap around the door handle and realised that the I did not have the escutcheons – darn! Another thing to add to the Moss order

It’s starting to look like a car!

Road test: A start up (best avoided usaully) had been essential today as we had the car up on ramps. So as our working day drew to a close, its seemed justifiable to run the MG around the block. Gingerly backing off the ramps I reversed onto the road (I am fully insured) and waited while Ashley jumped in (sitting on the floor). I was in the drivers seat which had three out of four bolts, was fully back (a bit too far) and with no belts. We weren’t planning on going over 15 miles per hour so I judged this to be okay. First to test were the brakes which pulled the MG up nicely. Otherwise, the test went fine, the MG pulled cleanly, although the steering feels really heavy and the large wheel is in the way of my thigh. I have a wooden wheel just needing the correct boss, so that will improve things.

So a few more jobs to do tomorrow to conclude this three day burst. Ashely has been brilliant, a calm, considered, clever and strong par of hands to lend to the long list of jobs. We’ve made good progress.

9 Aug 20 Fuelling around

So having demonstrated that the MG would start, it was time to connect up the fuel pipe and provide a reliable supply to the carbs to sustain running. I had a reliable assistant in the form of Matt (Ellie’s boyfriend). First we bought some fresh fuel and charged the tank with 5 litres. Next we connected the fuel pump wiring, connected the battery and heard a reassuring tick from the pump (err, surely after you turned on the ignition…). After a short while we were concerned that no fuel was flowing through and sure enough, on checking I found the pump was plumbed the wrong way around. I wonder who did that?

After a bit of replumbing and we were back in business although still there was no fuel feeding through to the filter let alone the carbs. Vaguely remembering something about air locks we released the pipe at the carbs end and with a hiss we started to see fuel travelling through the filter and turn up to the carbs. Progress!

But this wouldn’t be the Relentless Duck blog without some ‘issues’ and without detailing all the challenges, we did have a leak out of the fuel sender unit. Not being sure why this was leaking we set up a fuel can to catch the drips until the level was low enough for it to stop. The following day, on a break from work, a YouTube video showed how this should have been tightened up. Another day, another thing learned.

With fuel to the carbs, surely the MG would now fire up and continue running? Sadly not, the carbs refused to take the fuel and the removal of the lid from the float chamber revealed it to be dry. Oh dear. Further investigation needed, the outcome of which will be covered in a future post

Ah, the steady drip from a loosely fitted fuel sender unit

8 Sep 19 Busy day

Cup of coffee and 1/2″ spanner, what else do you need?

Haven’t slept well for a couple of nights. My eldest is job-hunting in London after graduating this summer, and my youngest is off to University next week. At work, I’ve got some challenges and alongside that, we’ve been thinking about whether to move house. Meanwhile, I wasn’t progressing the MG. Hence, busy mind, and disturbed sleep. A day in the garage / on the drive was what I needed and that’s what I did. Awake early, I had the MG pushed out onto the driveway by 7:30am. A busy day followed in which I did the following:-

  1. Painted the gearbox cross-member – this is an overdue job needed before I put the engine and gearbox back in. I sprayed it with crackle finish because I thought it would be durable and because the can was within reach! Hung to dry on the washing line with the other washing.
  2. Fitted the fuel tank incuding the sender unit. This was a bit awkward, doing it on my own, so I used a box and the jack to help me hold it up to the bolts. I cleaned the filler neck and it looked quite presentable afterwards
  3. Fitted the gearbox to the engine. Again, a bit awkward on your own, but I propped the engine on some magazines and used the jack and a bit of man-handling to mate the gearbox. It was a bit fiddly, but overall not too difficult. Bolts need checking and torquing up before installing back in the car
  4. Installed the rear hatch gas struts – this involved me drilling into my freshly painted car for the first time. Helen helped me to measure where to drill the holes. The drilling and fit went okay, although I did have the hatch ball joints on the wrong way around first time and we nearly had a disaster, but I managed to recover it without any damage. The hatch doesn’t sit right when closed now, but I am not going to make any changes until the glass is installed. At the moment it doesn’t have the correct load on it, so worth waiting and then doing it once properly.
  5. Fitted the bonnet pull – not working yet as it needs some adjustment, but its in – needs tightening I think
  6. Replaced the accelerator cable – Can only fit one end as I am missing the engine at present. One less thing to do and all part of having a smart engine bay
  7. Took the rear lights off and installed the foam seal which I had forgotten about, but found in a box this morning. Helen helped with this as she was bringing me out a cup of coffee, so got roped into the job.
  8. Began fitting the rear wiring loom – first electricals on the rebuild. Thought I would start with something simple and so it was – relatively. I have the old loom, which is labelled, so used that to guide me. I actually connected up the new loom to the rear lights – we are making progress!
  9. Fitted the near side indicator unit. Just wanted to see how it will fit – the answer is, not bad, not great. There is a hole just visible unfortunately from when someone cobbledit to fit prior to my ownership. A detail to sort one day. In the meantime, one less thing to do.

This was a sociable day on the MG. People love to stop and see how it’s all progressing and they nearly always have an encouraging word. There was the usual ‘Hello’s’ from dog walkers who stream past our house on the way to the local fields. Helen and I chatted for a while to a couple who are near neighbours and the husband was admiring the MG and interested to hear about what I was doing. Nearly everyone mentions the TV show Car SOS or Mike Brewers’ Wheeler Dealers. I dont have the heart to tell them I find those shows difficult to watch because its all editted down into 30 minutes, they have a huge fully equipped workshop and the talented mechanics make it look so easy. Had a useful chat to Russell (another dog walker), who has stopped to speak before. He has restored many cars, including MGBs so is always a useful person with whom to discuss things. Today he gave me the number of a person who may be able to transport the MG for a reasonable price when I come to get the windscreen and rear screen fittted.

I’ve occasionally worried about whether when I get to finally restart the MG, I somehow forget to say, fill the gearbox with oil or some such idiosy. I spoke to my mate Rob, who races classic cars and is always taking gearboxes and so on out of his cars. He said that when he removes fluids, he puts a big sign in masking tape over the steering wheel to this effect. Hence…

What a day it will be when I remove this bit of tape…

As I worked on the car, I listened to Louis Theroux on Desert Island Disks, a bit of radio 4 and then to the Monza Grand Prix which was won by Charles LeClerc in his Ferrari. What a day for the young man and for Italy.