Beetle Progress Report

I managed to finish my repaint of the rear wheels through the week so first thing this morning I removed the last of the masking tape and refitted the wheels. There’s a nack to putting a large heavy alloy wheel on with studs and I started to get there today, with it between my knees and shuffling on my knees to ease it onto the stub at the same time threading one stud to secure it.

Given the aggro when removing the wheels (one broken wheel wrench) I applied a little Copper grease to each thread on the rear wheels. Then I had to remove the front wheel studs one by one to grease them. So that’s 16 studs I greased and then had to retighten to the correct torque with my torque wrench. I really do sometimes question my life choices and as I’m selling the car will anyone really care.

Anyway, a few mins of a puny compressor had both rears inflated and the Beetle was once again in its own four wheels.

I am never ever doing alloy wheels myself again, it takes such a long time and is very fiddly. The results are pretty average versus the effort but as this is a budget job it will have to suffice. The car sadly is not worth enough to send the wheels away for refurbishment.

In between doing this I had given the bodywork a quick once over with a spray on cleaner that you can use dry. This was just to give it a bit of shine as it was looking a bit sad.

Next I removed the wipers arms which are in a rough state. The sprung mechanism is worn and so it’s scratched itself to bits. To begin with I’ve oiled it but I may need to replace as I can’t see a way to repair them. New units are over £60 so I will see what can be had second hand.

As I still had some time I explored removing the air filter which is at the rear of the engine bay tucked under the scuttle. This means that the front three screws come out easily but the back two are very awkward. I tried a few different tools, eventually finding that my screw bits fitted a socket in my mini-socket set and that gave me a low profile screw using the ratchet. I was impressed with myself for my ingenuity! I was glad when the air filter was found to be dirty because that justifies the effort in removing it. I’ll order a new one online.

Unbelievably that little work took most of a day but to be honest I was just doing it all for fun really and just enjoying being outside in the sunshine. Oh – I did clean the interior of Helen’s car as well so not that unproductive!

Beetle Report: Dashboard

One of the face vents on the Beetle had ceased working a long time ago and with me also wanting to replace the hazard lights switch which is in the same panel it was time to tackle the not uncomplicated task of removing the central dashboard panel.

First you have to remove the front top panel which simply slides out and lifts off to reveal 2 x screws. At the bottom end there is a switch panel which comes apart with a combination of push fit and screwed fittings.

Next to remove is the radio and I’m going to give the short version here. I used two special keys which slide into slots on either side of the radio unit which unclip the radio and allow you to pull it out and disconnect it. I made that sound simple. It wasn’t.

This reveals the final 2 x screws which enables the panels to be removed and all cables disconnected. Only the panel doesn’t want to come off. Something is keeping it on – it comes so far then stops fast. Mmm. A wiggle. An exploratory tug and the brittle plastic creaks ominously. more perseverance, a few different angles and I can ease the panel off – phew.

Panel removed I can clearly see the snapped lever which operates the face vents. Later I try to screw it together and end up drilling a tiny hold and using a small cable tie. Not elegant but effective.

I borrow some long nosed pliers from a friend to free the hazard switch and order a new one online. It will be funny if the new switch doesn’t fix the clicky indicators….! (An internet search diagnosed this as the problem).

Watch this space!

Beetle Report – More Wheels

A brief easing of the relentless rain and a spare hour or two gave me the opportunity to pay some attention to the Beetle. First job was to inflate the two front tyres which had been deflated for repainting and torque the studs, duly completed with my trusty torque wrench. There followed a brief test drive around the estate during which nothing fell off.

Giddy with excitement I went to loosen the rear wheel studs which had apparently been put on by an ape. Hmmm. I was using my old wheel nut wrench with its useful extension which usually has the upper hand, but after loosening each nut by standing on it (approx 98kg) and breaking the bond with a rifle like crack the poor old wrench was split. Damn. As was my 17mm socket which was pretty stretched. Damn. Fortunately not my best 17mm socket.

Anyway the rear wheels are off and ready to refurbishment in the garage, then I will have a matching set!

Alloy Wheel Refurbishment

Here’s a record of my first experience of refurbishing an alloy wheel. The alloys on Lou’s VW Beetle were pretty beaten up, despite having been professionally refurbished three years ago. A combination of factors – a low profile (40 section) tyre and difficult visibility of the car’s extremities meant that they had extensive scuffs. There are lots of companies offering wheel refurbishment (I have had previous cars done in this way) but something made me want to have a go at these wheels myself and see what sort of standard could be achieved using hand tools and spray cans.

The photographs below first show the wheel in-situ. The rim is scuffed as well as some of the spokes so the initial rubbing down had to be quite extensive, although it was interesting how thin the previous finish was and I wondered how good a job that had been. I masked off the tyre with tape and then covered the rest with an old bed sheet with a round hole cut out of it. I mounted the wheel on a black and decker workmate so it was a good height to work on.

I used some alloy wheel filler to fill in the deeper scuffs and then used grades of sandpaper to rub them smooth. This was the most time consuming part of the exercise as the filler cures extremely hard – there is a careful balance to strike between rubbing the filler down to nothing with course paper and seemingly having no effect with the finer stuff. This is really not my forte and I regretted those areas where ‘put plenty in’ had been my approach, creating me a lot of avoidable work. Further, it is very hard to accurately replicate the profile of the alloy wheel which has subtle curves and radiuses. Also, I had decided to keep the tyre in place and just deflate it and this caused a problem trying to get a good edge to the rim. For a wheel in bad condition I think it would be better to remove the tyre.

After several evenings sanding the filler I got to the point of just wanting to get some paint on it. I applied about four coats each of primer, colour and lacquer. I used a heat gun to gently warm the wheel as the ambient temperature in the garage was in single figures and after each coat I used the gun again to encourage the drying process. I was reasonably happy with the overall result which is less sparkly metallic than the professional finish from a paint gun, but not bad from a rattle can.

I wonder now whether I should have started with the ‘best’ wheel and aimed to improve technique as I move through the set, but I chose the worst instead. The next wheel I have lined up is a partial respray so I will need to learn how to blend the new with the old or just commit to a complete respray. Watch this space…

Wish me luck!

The most understated Ferrari

Tucked around the back of the Pistonhead’s Annual Service event was a beautiful example of the most understated Ferrari, the exquisite 365 GTC/4. I got to know of this model in a copy of Sportscar and Classic magazine where the writer waxed lyrical of this often overlooked Ferrari via a road test in Wales.

This real life example was no disappointment, the perfect bodywork was painted a subtle maroon and the trim was in black (or should I say Nero…). The styling is extremely neat, the front end a little generic, leads to a long bonnet and an airy glasshouse with thin pillars possible in the period before crash testing got to define critical dimensions. The roof slopes down to a neat booted tail with triple tail lights and quad exhausts as befits the marque.

I wasn’t lucky enough to hear it start up but will remind myself that under the elegant bonnet is an aristocratic V12 with four cams fed by carburettors which would have made an incredibly evocative sound as it burbled up the road.

Someone is very lucky indeed.

15 March 23 – Under bonnet tidy

A brief bit of work tonight, simply giving the under bonnet a light wipe over to get rid of some of the marks which have accumulated over time. I find that the marks came off with a little T-cut on a cloth. Afterwards I gave the area a spray with some detailer and wiped it off.

I discovered that I’d neglected to put the fuse cover on the fuse box so I located it in a likely looking pile of bits and popped it on after a wipe over.

Looking across the other side of the engine bay the bonnet release cable was looking a bit floppy and there was a blank bracket which must have held a clip at one point. So it was now just a matter of finding a clip to fit and popping it on. I found one that looked right but it needed a clean up so I spent 30 not very interesting minutes with some sand paper making it more presentable. Fitted that and called it a night.

12 March 2023 a matter of timing

A promising conversation with my Dad this morning inspired me to have a go at getting the distributor back in the MG. My previous blog explained that I had removed it pending adjusting the timing when I discovered that the securing bolt on the clamp was the wrong way around. With that all sorted it was time to pop it back in and make the timing adjustment.

The distributor on the MGB is a fiddly fit made worse because of how I’ve orientated the oil cooler pipe work. One day I’ll loosen that connection and rotate the L-shaped connector to reroute the oil pipe out of the way of the distributor but today was about timing.

With a bit of help from Helen (the long suffering Mrs Relentless Duck), we got the distributor back in place and it was then just the tedious job of tightening up the clamp bolts which are not easily reached. In lieu of an open ended 7/16th spanner I used an 11mm ring spanner which fitted more easily and allowed me a larger turn each go. I was getting about 1/3 of a turn per placement of the spanner so it took a while…

Once I had the bolts tightened, I connected up the cables and put the distributor cap on, managing to get the clips on first time which was a miracle and then popped the coil lead and one HT lead which I had removed for access. We were ready to go for a start up!

The MG started a little reluctantly, not unusual when it’s been left to sit for a while before then smoothing out, albeit idling too fast, and I was able to back it out of the garage. However as soon as I pulled away I could hear pinking so I stopped and trickled back to the drive for an adjustment, retarding the ignition by rotating the distributor anti-clockwise.

It took two more attempts to get it right but then the pinking had gone and it was idling nicely too (not too fast as before). I drove it up to the roundabout, my standard shakedown, before returning to check everything looked alright and to tighten the clamp bolt.

I had intended to do a longer run around our local bypass but unfortunately it had begun to rain so it was time to put the MG away. Good progress and I’ll find time over the next couple of days to do a longer run and find a friend with a strobe light!

25 Feb 2023 Distributor

After I sorted a leaky servo pipe recently I needed to retard the ignition as the advance was now way to aggressive under load and pinking was occurring. Basically the advance on the distributor was now getting a good suck if you’ll pardon the expression. This at least is the working theory.

My friend John was on hand as we set about loosening the distributor clamp to make an adjustment. This turned out to be a long awkward job as the bolt head was rounded off. We decided that this was a situation worth resolving otherwise it would always be a problem and so committed to removing the distributor, and the clamp.

On removal, we discovered that the bolt had been fitted incorrectly (by whom I wonder?). The clamp is cleverly designed to hold the bolt head so that all you need to do is tighten or loosen the nut. No need for two spanners. This is probably obvious to many people but it was a learning point for me.

Anyway, we concluded that we’d set the timing from scratch with a strobe light on another day so I finished up by cleaning the bracket because why not make it a bit more presentable?

Here is the dizzy in place but the bolt is the wrong way around

I’ll update when I’ve got it back on

12 February 2023 Little steps

Oh how time flies – no blog entry since September! anyone would have thought I was busy [sigh]. Some progress since the last blog – I have the bills to prove it! A couple of significant garage spells have seen some overdue tasks now completed. These include such delights as wiping wipers, a heater which blows and heats, washing washers, a rear hatch with all the right seals, working indicators and correct mixture in both carburettors.

Today, as well as recording the above progress, I can report a couple of minor jobs squeezed in between studying for an upcoming exam and visiting a local National Trust property (not in the MG, too much salt on the road).

Job 1 – SU Dashpots: I am chasing down a fast running issue, and following a suggestion from Dad, decided to check and clean up the SU dashpots to ensure they can slide up and down nicely. I wasn’t at all sure this would make any difference, but it was worth a try so Matt (future son-in-law) used some metal polish to clean these up while I did another job.

Job 2 – Repair servo hose: In chasing down the fast running issue, I decided to improve the seal where the servo pipe fits to the servo manifold. The pipe end (pictured below) was very ropey and I wondered if air was leaking through there and messing up how the carbs operated. So I used a junior hacksaw to saw a length off the pipe and then refixed it to the inlet manifold.

Road Test – Matt assisted to put on the air filters and we took the MG for a spin up the road to see if we had seen to the fast running issue. Straight away we found a problem, but we are now reflecting that we may have solved one issue, but caused another. In short, we now had a pinking issue under load. We cut the road test short and slowly returned to base. I am now wondering whether with a good seal on the servo manifold, we now to adjust everything to suit that new condition. Certainly the MG was not pinking when I picked it up from Clive and we haven’t made any other changes. What do you think?

Job 3 – Wipers: Clive had ordered me some replacement wipers which were on a delayed delivery, so I had picked these up from his garage the other week. As the car was out of the garage it seemed sensible to pop these on. The wiper blades were a little reluctant to come off- they have a dainty little clip which is supposed to release them, but having been fitted approximately ten years ago (conservative estimate) they were very attached to one another. With Matt pulling and me operating the long nosed pliers (surely everyone’s favourite tool) we got them apart and new blades slid nicely into place, immediately making the chrome arms look decidedly second hand. It was getting late, so no time to clean up the arms, that will go onto the list of jobs for another day.

Before putting the MG away, Matt and I dug out the sound proofing material I recently purchased. It was a bit difficult to work out what goes well, but it was clear that this would be an all-day job with the major issue being having to remove the seats to fit the acoustic matting and carpets (not yet fitted under the seats), so that will need a good dry day and a helper on hand. An interesting afternoon all round and it was good to see signs of Spring. I need to crack on with the MG (goodness knows when) as it is required for wedding duty in November!

3 Sep 22 Rework

First job on this hot Saturday was to refit the door pull which Helen pulled off recently when I picked her up from Tesco. To be fair, it wasn’t fixed properly in the first place so this time I used a decent nut and bolt combination on the dodgy fixing so this should now hold.

Second job was to replace the bonnet release cable because the reproduction one I fitted probably two years ago recently gave up the ghost and was beyond repair. I did toy with the idea of using the original but as it had a big old kink I decided to replace it with another brand of reproduction. This unit was of better quality and more closely resembled the original factory item. It’s a fiddly thing to fit and with my limited know-how I had to think hard about how it went together. Eventually I figured it out but it did involve threading the cable down the fitting and trying to find the hole in the cable sheath which I reckon is like trying to crack a safe. Managed it though! 😀

New bonnet pull fitted after some fiddling

Just to also mention a recent Garage tidy up and selling off of a couple of surplus parts which went easily enough on Facebook marketplace. More to sell off where that came from

14 August 2022 Brooklands

A visit to Brooklands Museum and a chance to catch up with a friend, John, on a sweltering Saturday, Summer 22. This museum has been on my list for a while. John and I had visited the adjacent Mercedes Benz World before and meant to go to Brooklands but ran out of time. As unfinished business, a visit was overdue.

A bonus of our visit was that the Aston Martin Heritage Club were meeting the following day and we witnessed the cars being offloaded through the day. The guys were a friendly lot and they were willing to chat to us about what was coming in.

I think the memorable thing about this visit was the volunteers who were mostly knowledgeable and always friendly which really added to the day. The whole museum has a lovely feel with a super blend of aircraft and cars within some (not all) historical buildings and the evocative banked circuit as a backdrop. It was a bit like Goodwood would be if it wasn’t so blooming busy!

A few shots of the circuit

View of the banking from the Members bridge

Probably the best part of the day was the Concorde experience. I’m on a mission to tick off all the remaining Concordes in the UK and this is number 2! This was Delta Golf. They played a video at the end showing off the aircraft in its glory days and I have to confess it moved me to tears!

Under the bird. The RAT was deployed for interest

The aircraft hangers were really good with some special exhibits

The car exhibits were equally special, arranged in historic workshops

And finally a collection of Astons

Zagato bodied DB4 ready for Pan-America Rally

19 August 22 Steering eased

Stiff steering resolved, although not by me. I am striking up a good relationship with our local MG specialist and after a couple of disruptions I was able to get the MG down to him today and he resolved the stiff steering. The problem was with the column itself which had become misshapen and was catching on the mounting bracket. I don’t have full details on the fix as I wasn’t there but it involved reshaping it with some tubing. Anyway, the steering is now bang on and the car drove back from the garage a lot more nicely than it drove down! A major hurdle overcome. He also spotted a few other issues around the car such as the bonnet alignment and non cancelling indicators which are on my list but it was good to discuss possible solutions. The bonnet catch cable has unfortunately also failed, stripping its fitting at the dashboard end which is annoying so that will need a replacement. This evening I reviewed my Completion Schedule, updating jobs done and adding on the new jobs. Its nearly at one page now and with the car basically driveable I can get out and about to get things done. Finally, spotted a rear light out so another job for the list!

A final reflection, it was good to watch Clive drive the MG up the road as I could listen to the exhaust note from the outside – sounded good!

Classic car events and fettling

Restoration of my MGB GT with occasional other stuff

Petrolheads