Spent the weekend working on the rear suspension. I bought a lot of used parts from a member of the MGs mailing list, and one of the items I purchased was an unused set of Energy Suspension red poly bushings for the rear of the early (no rear swaybar) cars. I didn't really plan on doing that, but the price was right, and I got really excited reading others' testimonials about what an effective upgrade the poly bushings are. I'll probably buy a set for the front soon.

It sure was a lot of work, though. First, moving the jackstands around to the very rear of the "frame rails", so I could remove the rear springs. Then pressing the large bushing out (one side went easy, the other required a hacksaw), and pressing the new bushings in. Actually, pressing them into the springs was easy (a C-clamp works well here), but fitting the rear shackles took quite a bit of tedious squeezing with a large pair of slip-joint pliers, due to the close quarters and the tightness of the fit. But they finally went in, and I got everything reinstalled, and a new set of rebound straps to boot.

Next job is to replace the thrust washers in the differential, then I can consider the entire rear end to be finished. Well, except for the fuel pump, which has been sent off to be rebuilt...

In between other obligations, I found time to disassemble and re-lube one of the wiper assemblies I have on hand. Really wanted to test it, but I couldn't get any action out of it just by attaching a couple of test leads to 12V. Will have to wait until I have the wiring sorted out on the car.

Also jacked the front up and re-lubed the steering rack, fitting new gaiters. I think, however, that I'm going to have to rebuild the spare rack in the shed, because the one on the car seems to have an awful lot of play on the driver's side of the rack - almost as if the bushing on that side had disintegrated...

After ten years off the road, it's time to reassemble the MGB. Divorce, relocation, storage units, and hurricanes have come and gone, and somehow I still have all of the boxes full of parts. The new carport is finished, the shell is back from the body shop, but we'll see whether or not my memory has held out!

The car is a 1974 "Sabrina" bumper model; my mom bought her when she was only 6 months old, and it's been in the family ever since. I'm really excited to get her up and running again!