Well today will be the last "warm" day for at least a week. That means that little will get accomplished on the other things needed to get The Red Baron" into operating shape. The weather here in Rock Hill, SC has been tolerable; but wet. Working in an open sided carport in the damp inhibits work on the Baron.

Yesterday I splurged another $157+change on getting some trunk tools, rebound strap kit and a stick gator for the Baron. I will have to disassemble the new shift knob on the stick (now that I have the right one!) and clean the stick in preparation for the new gator. VB states it will not leave 'til tomorrow; due to them doing inventory...

The Red Baron gets better care than the VA gives me! Writing this the following day; I've checked the VB site and confirmed that my order has left its warehouse in KS. Weather predictions for Rock Hill, SC are looking unseasonably cold for the next two weeks.

So, I've determined that I should run it each day while temps dip to the teens at night. I'll run it for 10-15 minutes and then run it to 2K rpm so it will put a charge back into the battery. It's looking pretty sad out there in an open carport with towels hanging off the splines. Trying to keep the frost and damp air from rusting my metal surfaces that I've spent so much time and effort getting clean.

If it ever gets warm enough, I'll pull the old rebound straps off and assemble the new ones from the kit I'm expecting from VB. The rebound straps on it now are pitiful. I can't say that they are near being functional and they certainly don't enhance the road operability of a moving vehicle.

Additionally I've ordered some tire changing spoons from VB as well. I'm convinced that I will do my own tube and tire mounting. I've had quite a bit of experience doing this while replacing tires on military vehicles back in the 70's. The major difference is that these rims don't have the "D Ring" that infamoulsy hurt so many unsuspecting and careless GI's. The secret and benefit of me of doing this mount myself, is that I can do this without pinching the tubes. Of course this all will eventually come to some happy conclusion after I get the wheels "trued" and painted.

Today we enjoyed our fourth day of winter in Rock Hill, SC. Skies were overcast but temps were in the low 50's this afternoon. With such balmy weather in December, I decided to work some on cleaning and prepping my splines (front and rear) for eventual remount of my spoke wheels. We've seen more rain in the past 2 weeks than sunshine, so that has had a detrimental impact getting things done. The Red Baron sits in an outdoor carport with open sides.

The wheels have been sandblasted but I need to have the spokes tuned and the wheels in general, trued before I go to the next step of remounting my new 185 X 14 on the rear and the old 185 X 14 on the front. Yes, I will use tubes and sealant around the the nipple ends of the spokes, as well as rim bands for all five wheels. Before I have the spokes retuned/replaced; I will need to PB Blast the nipples to hopefully loosen up the spokes for whatever they may be good for...

Anyhow... Using some good ole engine cleaner, electricians tape and some Purple Power, I've managed to get 3 of the 4 splines and the hub for the front disc brakes clean. I have some sanding to do before I will consider this project near done. After I'm satisfied that everything is the right color of metal, I will apply a light coat of marine grease to the disc hubs to prevent rusting. Aside from the rear drums having been previously painted silver, I don't think these splines or wheels have ever seen any manintenance on them per the picture. Other shots are posted at:

http://s842.photobucket.com/albums/zz347/fasurveyor/1%20My%20Red%20Baron%20is%20Making%20Me%20Barren/

I want to match my wheels to the paint on the car. The wheel rims and hubs will be the same; the spokes will be painted chrome or black... TBD... Behind the wheels, I will also paint the brake hubs and drums the same color to match the body. I want this car to look different than it has for the past 3 years.

While The Red Baron is in this "profile" on jack stands, I am considering pulling the drums, shoes, disc pads and seeing if anything there can or needs to be replaced or improved on. I also desparately need to replace the axle straps as they are beyond worn. Torn, frayed and pretty much non functional at this time. Will order more parts after New Years!

A typical experience working on a PO LBC.

Don't expect anything to be OEM! If more than one person has owned the vehicle; their imagination will be reflected in your purchase. This surely is the case with The Red Baron.

My 18V series engine has the 797 series in the VIN. This, per both MOSS and Brittish Victoria was built for the 1975 MGB. The car was assembled at the Abingdon (sic) plant and not meant to have an Over Drive Transmission. Curious thing here, as there is an active OD switch on the column.

A couple of weeks ago, I ordered a shift knob to replace the one currently on the stick. When I ordered this part, I discussed with the customer service at MOSS that my tranny wasn't an OEM for the '75 model year of my vehicle. (Later it would be seen that the stick, the knob were transferred from a newer vehicle...) Having made a point of this, the part was ordered and arrived with the other $113 worth of parts for assembly or replacement on the Red Baron.

Today, while addressing the knob I'd ordered, I had to remove the other knob. The knob I was removing had the "switch" on it. This would take about 45 minutes! As I knew my vehicle had the toggle switch on the column, I knew this to be a more "recent" model transmission. After discovering that I didn't have a "spanner" tool to turn out the "spanner nut" holding the lower assy to the stick, I used a screw driver and a friend's muscle and determination to get this loose and eventually off the stick. This is when I attempted to match my new $25 knob to the stick. Yep! The knob was designed for a non overdrive stick(!) which is thinner than the OD stick!

MOSS was called and a different service rep stated that he would send out the correct part after reviewing and once again ascertaining the right part as described in their manual. He agreed to send it out today, no cost to me (of course I will have to ship the other back and pay the restock fee!).

I thought that last entry would keep me for a while.

Man, I'm on to something else. Wheels! Spoke Wheels! Tubes and then, Rim Bands.

After spending $165 for two tires and experiencing a 4 1/2 hour ordeal at my local Wal-Mart, I decided that I would need to understand and take precautions against further experiences of the same kind.

I determined that if a whole can of sealant per wheel wasn't going to keep air in the tire, I might go the old fashioned route. Hmmm Tubes on rims. Hmmm tubes that would need rim bands to protect them and then there was the spoke issue.

Since my Wal-Mart mounted tires (3 of 4) were flat by the next day, I might as well get this done right the next time and not the time after that! Since I've got to take the tires off again, I will get the spoke wheels "trued" or another way of saying it "the spokes tuned", and while the tires are off I might improve on the spoke wheel system with a good glass bead job and spruce up the rim and hub and spokes with some good paint (they aren't chrome, thank God!).

Have you ever tried to buy Rim Bands? Take my advice and don't “shop around” for them! You won't find them on any internet site using Google. You will, as I have, settle for the ones for sale by MOSS. Seem kind of expensive? Add shipping? Order something else and make it worth the shipping cost! I ordered $148 of merchandise to make it worth it to me. (A side note here: MOSS customer service can mix up a gear shift knob quicker that you can spit!)

While I waited for my MOSS order to arrive, I enquired about how to prep the rims for paint. A journal on this site suggested muriatic acid. Went to AutoZone; then to Car Quest; and then upon their personal advice, to a restorer here in Rock Hill, SC. I'm civil enough not to mention the name, as the glass bead service he promised, hadn't happened after a week of waiting... I did find muriatic acid at the ACE Hardware store. Wouldn't you know it, they have no idea how to "recycle or move it out of the home environment. $4 bought me a gallon. I will need it if other options don't work out. Luckily I found somebody who'd "sandblast" my wheels for me and hope to see them later today or tomorrow.

I anticipate that this particular entry will take some time to write and almost as much time and frustration that I've experience thus far getting things done.

Lets start with the flat tire I experienced 80 miles from home; with my girl with me while heading to a museum. The flat tire was replaced with a spare that I had with me. This was the reason the rest of this journal follows:

Having enjoyed our museum visit and safely returned to Rock Hill, SC; I endeavored to see what I might do about the flat tire. The next day I went out and looked at the tire. I couldn't see any obvious damage, so I presumed a rather drastic scenareo in the event I had to replace my tire. I got the size off the tire. This is simple enough... I checked that tire against the other tires on the car to ensure I had the same "design and tread patch" on the ground with a new tire purchase. This is where it got interesting!

The tires on the front were Goodyear and the tires on the back were "Mohave"... Never heard of the latter brand. The tire size on the front were 185 X 14 and the size on the rear were 175 X 14. Who'd of done this? I could go on what I've read about distance between the wheels in the front of the car and the distance between the wheels on the rear of the car differing by 1/4 of an inch but why? Oh by the way, did I mention that these were mounted on SPOKED WHEELS?

Up to this point, I only knew that I had two sets of tires that didn't match, and that I had 14" spoked wheels. Let's stay with the tires for the moment as they would eventually have to be remounted on the spoked wheels... I went to the internet and "shopped" for tires. The best deal I found would be at WalMart. My intention was to move the 185 X 14 from the front, to the rear; and buy two new ones and replace those moved from the front.

I called WalMart and got a personable party to ensure that the tires I wanted would be there and she informed me that they would also mount and balance them if I waited. The price for the tires was right and it seemed logical to have them mounted during the same drive out.

I got to WalMart. The shop foreman didn't have a clue what had transpired on the phone between the agent selling the tire and myself. Nothing like starting over again... Ok. Movin' on... He understood that the tires would be moved from the front and the new ones mounted for the front using the spare wheel and another wheel off the back. I have to sign a waiver with WalMart because "new surveys find that the new tires should be placed on the rear". I'm from the old school and understand that my braking and steering happen in the front and my vehicle is still a rear wheel powered vehicle. I would pay the environmental costs of shipping the old tires... 20 minutes later my car is out of the shop! Now that's fast!

Come to find out, the car was sent out of the shop because the help (including the technician, the shop foreman, and the shop manager) couldn't figure out how to remove the wheels from the vehicle! Yes these are "knock off" hubs... I have to ask you something here... If you had a flat tire, where would you look for the spare and the tools to replace the flat? Don't go to WalMart and expect them to figure this out because the help apparently has never had a flat on their own personal vehicle. Would you like to buy a warranty with that sir?

OK... The car goes back in and a different tech is working with my vehicle. He knows how to use the tools that I pulled out of the trunk to remove the wheels from the vehicle. Only too well! He's got all four rims off the vehicle and all four tires dismounted. So much for moving the two from the front to the rear... It seems that communication is not a strong suit for WalMart management or their employees.

I have to go into the "authorized personnel" area and get my job order straightened out with the tech, because the shop foreman is on break... off the clock, don't talk to me...(Maybe WalMart has a union now and ...) The tech responds that he though he was putting on a whole new set of tires. OK...!

This poor uniformed tech has the patience of a saint! Not only is he misdirected, he is trying to put 4 tires on spoked wheels that now reveal that they had tubes in two of the tires. He doesn't ask me about this and I haven't seen that yet. Hmmm tubes... Tubless tires.... Spoked wheels... He figures out that the nipple end of the spokes are leaking air. He liberally applies a sealant (a whole can per wheel) on each of the rims. 3 out of the four hold air! he put the tube not destroyed from the flat tire, into the remaining mount.

In the mean time I have a very civil conversation with the manager of the auto department of the WalMart. She takes my praise for the tech who's misdirected, but is concerned why a 1/2 hour job is taking 4 hours and they are still working on the last leaking wheel.

She tells me in the end that WalMart should never took the order to sell me the tires I requested as they weren't under the WalMart database for this vehicle. The only tire WalMart was authorized to sell, (if they had them) were 165 X 14. They didn't have them and couldn't get them. I didn't go to WalMart with my MOSS parts book to show them the wheel sizes and tire sizes that the vehicle could take; thus any further argument along this line would be moot! She did state that she would give me $20 gift certificate from her store for my time and experience, and that the original tires would be remounted on the car and there would be no cost to me, when I left her.

I returned to my car and the new 185 X 14 were on the front and the old tires were moved to the back as I'd initially requested. I had to return to the shop to get my keys, and asked her to accompany me back to my car that was once again out of the shop. She obviously didn't get the whole story from the help, as she saw that I could've left with two new tires for free... We went back inside and "settled" the issue. I also met with her whole crew and her at the same time.

The following morning, my car parked in my yard had 3 flat tires on it. Thank you for shopping WalMart!

Lesson learned: When buying tires for a vehicle older than the help paid to work on it, bring vehicle specs and talk with a "manager" before they dismount your tires for those they can't sell or seal! Additionally because they won't "write down what you want" write it down for them. Keep a copy for your own use on site.

So much for tires!

Now this experience was "pain staking"!

Not having previously replaced head lamps on an MG, this would prove to be another challenge that would involve understanding electronics, relays, more current for brighter light; a commitment for cutting on the car fenders and OEM lamp holders. My lights were dim on the best of nights, and too dim on rainy and foggy nights. I determined to improve drivability at night by getting better light to the road. I elected to buy sealed beam halogens and the wiring harness for them through "Brittish Victoria Parts & Accessories"; as they weren't available through Moss. BV does real well in customer satisfaction and shipping.

My parts came together and I read up; again through Astley's "MG Electrical Systems" to orient and fortify myself with important knowledge for this new experience. The learning here involved understanding the voltage and amp requirements for the OEM system; and the purpose of "relays" necessary to provide clean switching and the extra power that halogens would require.

When The wiring harness arrived, it was packaged with mostly Chinese and Japanese writing. The only English language stated that with some "thinking, that the harness that appeared to be too short, would prove to be long enough even for vehicle where the battery is not located under the hood." Hmmm! Additionally the wiring harness colors were not matched for MG! They were meant for a TOYOTA! Make those colors match!

A lot of trial and error and processes of elimination went into play before I was satisfied that the lights would work and that I would be committed to the anticipated changes to my vehicle. I would have to cut the MG lamp holders and the inner fender walls to run the harness and make the harness ends fit the new lights. The old lamps and the wiring harness were mated and the extensions (pins) were connected before the body had been assembled at the Abdingen plant.

I over came the issue of "the harness that appeared to be too short" by connecting the 2 power leads directly to the positive lead on the starter. Not ingenious, just had read Astley's book!

Today, I have operational sealed beam halogens. I don't worry about "over driving" my lights at night, and they really do have a side light ability that improves what you see on the shoulder.