Today the quest continues with more great discoveries. The past few days I’ve been working through replacing all the bushings and the two rear leaf springs. After a day of removing worn out bushings and busted springs, the car was lowered to the ground…only to discovered that I know have a jacked up drag racer with a 3 to 4 inch lift in the back. Bummer
So while I contemplate on how to fix the spring issue…I discovered another “clank” in the back end. This time the noise came from the Right side axel. As I crawled under the car and started shaking it from side to side, I noticed that the brake hub was popping out by at least ¼ inch. I don’t think it supposed to do that.
Further inspection showed that the axel nut had a jack hammer taken to it years ago when Granddad had the wheel bearing replaced. It seems that whoever did the work didn’t have the right tool, so they improvised…which also means they probably didn’t put the necessary torque on the nut. Guess this means I’ll be replacing the bearings and trying to find the 1-15/16 nut driver to do the job right.

After putting it off for so long, the day has arrived to replace the leaf springs on the olds girl. New springs came in yesterday from V.B., along with new bolts and bushings. I'm sure the hardest part is going to be getting the old ones off, but I guess I'll out soon enough.

-three hours later: Things are going fair. The driver side spring is off. All bolts and connectors cleaned. Getting ready to put things back together again. I took the rubber bump off to replace it. However, since its not bolted on, but goes over a metal knob it will be tricky getting back on.

Well, the parts are on their way. I've just received my new (rebuilt) starter motor. Also on the way are a new Master Brake Cylinder, starter solenoid, Lucas sports Coil, heater valve, heater fan switch, and new oil filters.

Since I just replaced all the brake lines and the rear wheel cylinders, I figured I might as well replace the mc. I rebuilt it last year, but it seems like fluid is still leaking past the seals. I find stopping to be pretty important.

The starter has been driving me nuts, with it just spinning and not turning the motor over…or slipping out while turning the motor over. Either way, I didn’t feel like rebuilding it…so I’ll just replace it all. The coil should give me a bit more fire and after 45 years, a new solenoid can’t hurt.
Should be a fun weekend. 

Things are almost there. I took my car up to my brother-in-law's shop two weeks ago. There's an older mechanic there that's worked on MG's before. Really all they were doing was small tune up stuff...new tires, new muffler, and going over the breaks.

Then I went up last weekend to do some work on it myself...and boy did I get into it. :-) First I went to replace the fuel sending unit since my fuel gauge hasn't worked for awhile...and I discovered why it hadn't. The unit was completely covered in rust and frozen. So after it was out, I looked in the tank...yuck! I ended up dropping the gas tank and dumping out a bucket of rust and junk from it. So to be on the safe side, a new tank has been ordered and is on it's way. Thankfully, I had a really good fuel filter. The engine runs great...but would shut off after 10 15 mins of running...once the filter got clogged up and it stopped getting gas.

Second, I replaced the water pump since the old one was leaking. I also installed a new Smiths Oil/Temperature gauge. It looks and works great. Temp works for the first time in a long while. (I've not run it much at all since I couldn't read the temp). I also discover that the old oil pressure part wasn't great either, so the new gauge was worth it.

Finally, I've ordered new radiator hoses, new break hoses, and a new slave clutch cylinder as well. I'll install them this week and finish up the breaks.

If all goes well, with the new parts and a little regular tune up, my little blue MG should be ready for the road real soon! I can hardly wait....

Well, it's been one week since I've started working on my little car and things are going very well. I've been tinkering around on it every afternoon when I get home from work. My year and half old daughter, Tori, is fascinated with it and loves to sit inside while I work on it.

The engine is running great and it cranks up every time. I've even driven it around the yard a few times and down the street. However, there is still a long way to go. Here's a run down on the "top of the list" items:

New tires are desperately needed.
Brakes need to be gone over
New muffler
Shocks (either rebuilt ones or convert to tube shocks)
Probably some fine tuning needed to the engine, but I don't think it will take very mush)
Get the temperature gauge working
Get the fuel gauge working
Slave clutch cylinder still needs to be rebuilt, but it does seem to be working.
Replace water hoses
Water pump leaks (I've not determined if its around the seal or from the pump itself)

Secondary items:

Steering wheel replaced
Fuel gauge working
New convertible hood
Paint job and body work. (small amount of rust under the doors)
New carpet


Well, that's it for now. I'm taking it one day at a time, but I think I should be driving it within the month…at least I hope that I will.