So today I fitted the brake and clutch master cylinders into their assembly and then fitted that to the car, including the pedals. Sounds easy doesn’t it, but it took a while believe me. First I had rashly mounted the pedals to the assembly and then when I took it to the car realised that the pedals wouldn’t fit down the hole. So I took it apart again and mounted the assembly sans pedals. This went quite well although at one point I had to lie upside down in the footwell to do up the nuts and that involved some interesting contortions, hence the MG yoga title above.
With the master cylinders in place I can now imagine the first job involved in replacing the brake lines which is to fit the first two lines which come from the master cylinder. This involves them coming out of the cylinder and then performing a 180 degree turn so that is going to test my pipe bending skills. Might get some help for that bit! I did have Mark on hand today to help me fit the bonnet gas struts but with it being a windy day (Storm Hannah), we thought better of doing a delicate drilling job in a gale and instead had a good look at the brake kit which seems quite organised.
After a pleasant meal out with colleagues I returned to my chalet (I’m working away at present) and got the carbs out on the table to do some more work on the cold start enrichment mechanism on the rear carb, which I will call the choke from now onwards. Despite some earlier efforts to clean this up, the mechanism was still so stiff that the return spring couldn’t well, return it.
So I stripped it down again and sanded the surfaces with some 1200 grade sand-paper. On reassembling it still wasn’t very free, so I took it apart and used some 800 grade sand-paper and concentrated on what appeared to be some corrosion within the body of the carb which I think was causing the friction. The frustration is that when loosely inserted it moves freely and only tightens up when fully assembled. Sigh. End result, moving better, but still not enough, so another strip down and sand is due, but not tonight because I don’t want to be doing this all night!
On the plus side, I am cleaning more bits as I strip them and I am getting to know how it all fits together, which can only be a good thing for the future.
First opportunity this morning, since the respray, to push the MG out of the garage and look to see what jobs could be done. Noting that I haven’t got the harness yet or the brake pipes I can’t get started on the critical path items, however I am able to put components back on the car which need to be done sometime and which don’t affect anything else.
So I bolted the quarter lights back on to the doors, easy enough as I could remember how they came off. It was a bit awkward feeding the leg through the narrow slot at the top of the door without scratching the new paint, so I wrapped the end in a cloth bag and eased it through the gap at the middle of the door where I could make a bit more room. After this I was reacquainted with the very long threads on the bolts and the restricted access to them.
Just to be make room in the garage I also put the spare wheel into its recess, laid the cover over it, put the battery into its cradle and put the loose rear seat base in place. Well why not.
I also put the heater into its place to try to reacquaint myself with this unit which is an early fit item as the brake lines run past it under the bonnet. Nothing screwed down, just getting a feel for it really.
One annoyance was when I went to bolt in the engine mounts to find that at the MG spares day I had bought two o/s mounts instead of a pair of each. What a dummy.Still, not an expensive item, just need to buy the right one now.
Had some passing interest as I was working on the MG including a dog walker who came up to say hello and tell me about that he had built a Westfield 21 years ago. We had a nice chat and as I’ve said before, this project is about the experience and the people I meet as much as the end product. A nice morning’s work.
Treated myself to some easy time in the garage today. I had a grub through a few boxes and made a pile of parts which are not going back on – water pump, distributor, oil cooler and hoses. I haven’t decided whether to hoard these in the long term or just toss them. I think once I have rebuilt the MG I will cart them off to the recycling centre. It helped to thin out the piles a bit. I also sorted a few of the boxes a bit better – all the heater components in one place, that sort of thing because it didn’t all come off at the same time. I can then concentrate on one system at a time when I rebuild, that’s the idea.
I did take a couple of steps forward though. I trial fitted the starter motor which goes back in place very easily and I fitted the new water pump in its place, together with its new gasket. I realised in doing this, that I needed to get the pulley off the old water pump (I presume it comes off). The pulley appeared to be held in place with four bolts, which I did manage to get off, but they were extremely tight. As it was a 7/8 fitting, I was using my mini-socket set, which is great but it doesn’t get much leverage. I did manage to get them all off without rounding them off or snapping them, so maybe I am learning something here. However, this effort was not rewarded with the pulley separating from the water pump, so I will need to investigate further or consider buying new.
Attempting to remove the pulley from the old water pumpThe new water pump in positionThe Starter motor bolted back onto the engine
I also trial fitted the rev counter, speedometer and choke knob to the dashboard just for fun. First I dug out the dashboard cowl (a plastic item on this MGB) which needed a good clean and then treatment with an Autoglym trim product which feeds the plastic and makes it all black and shiny. I fixed the cowl back in place with the original screws which I HAD CAREFULLY stored when I removed it. It amused me that the cowl had been such a pig to remove when I had done this in the summer with the dash in place, so needing me to feed my hands through behind the dash. What a muppet I was attempting that, anyway, lesson learned and that all part of the fun. The grazes to the back of my hands have healed up anyway so no harm done!
Trial fitting the gauges
So that’s it, barely an hour’s work in total, but it was nice to just take my time and the rebuild is all about putting back new, or at least cleaned up stuff, rather than the strip down which was about penetrating years of grime. Working for the rest of the week, so no progress on the MG although I’ve got some researching to do and purchases to ensure the paintshop can continue to progress.
I popped over to Gavin’s paintshop to deliver the front grille which he wanted so he could do a trial fit. Things are never simple, I found the grille brackets but as I had needed to cut bolts off, they weren’t in good shape so I had to order them new, along with door rubbers (I was going to buy new anyway) and the little rubber pads which go on top of the wings to support the bonnet. All these parts are needed so that the guys can check for panel fit before they commit to paint. I ordered the parts from a supplier new to me, who seemed okay, but they were unwilling to deliver straight to the paintshop (unlike Moss), so I will have to make another delivery drop next week. Nuisance.
Anyway, that was just the start of the worries since Gavin wanted to discuss a few challenges he was facing with the MG at the moment. Lets break them down into topics:
Valance fit
Passenger door fit
Rear lamp fit
Valance – I had ordered a fibreglass ‘Sebring style’ valance from Moss and this has proven to be a difficult fit. See the pictures below which show that when offered up to the MG its short on one side by about 1 inch.
The valance is properly centred and fits well to the n/s, but is short on the o/s
Close up of the valance
I agreed to ring Moss and to give them their due they have offered to refund the part (subject to Management confirmation) on return. This however has left me in a dilemma – do I buy another Sebring style valance from another Supplier (they are available)? Do I buy the posh product from Frontline which you would hope would fit, or do we modify the Moss one to fit? On the FB group there was a suggestion that you can chop it in half, make each end fit, and then fill any gap with fibreglass. Or do I even just put the bumpers on with a standard valance? (but I did always want the bumperless look…)
Passenger Door Fit. Now that the doors and wings have been on and off, Gavin was finding that the passenger door gaps were tight even with everything at maximum adjustment. On measuring the gap between the A and B post he found there was a 5mm difference from n/s to the o/s. After some speculation about BL build quality (but surely they were right from the factory), we guessed that perhaps the body wasn’t perfectly straight when the new floors were welded in prior to my ownership. Anyway, Gavin is going to try to work with what he has got and make it as good as possible.
Rear Lamp Fit. This is an annoying one. The back of the rear wing curves nicely around the rear lamp on the MGB. Its a nice detail on what is a elegant car. Unfortunately, on my MGB, there is a lip on the o/s and the lamp is flush on the n/s. Another poor repair. I’ve agreed with Gavin that it needs to be right and the rectification isn’t too difficult, just some cutting folding and re-welding.
The value of trial fitting – the lip around the rear light shouldn’t be there and wouldn’t have been known without checks
So this is not as straightforward as I thought, but then who ever said a car restoration was easy. I think the end result from Reef Paintshop is going to be superb, so a great basis for the remainder of the build.
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.
With the master cylinders in place I can now imagine the first job involved in replacing the brake lines which is to fit the first two lines which come from the master cylinder. This involves them coming out of the cylinder and then performing a 180 degree turn so that is going to test my pipe bending skills. Might get some help for that bit! I did have Mark on hand today to help me fit the bonnet gas struts but with it being a windy day (Storm Hannah), we thought better of doing a delicate drilling job in a gale and instead had a good look at the brake kit which seems quite organised.
Just to be make room in the garage I also put the spare wheel into its recess, laid the cover over it, put the battery into its cradle and put the loose rear seat base in place. Well why not. 
Still, not an expensive item, just need to buy the right one now.
Classic car events and fettling 