Well, it's been a month since my last posting. And I suppose a bit of an update would be in order.

Since my last posting, I have done the cleaning, scraping, sanding and painting of the underside of the hood and applied the insulating pads and logo. I have also managed to get the radiator reworked and applied the fan and sensor and reinstalled it into the car, although I had to reposition the rad forward about a half an inch so that the fan does not interfere with the water pump pulley. I have fabricated a relay centre and wired it into the system. I have relays for fog/driving lights, daytime running lights, high beams, low beams, rad fan, and horn. Speaking of horn, I installed a compact air horn and had the occasion to fire it up today......awwwwwesome!!!! If you're needing new horns or contemplating getting new horns, you have GOT to get one of these. I can't wait to use this little feature while out driving, lol.

I have also removed the front bumper and have attached the daytime running lights and fog/driving lights to it. I have removed the signal lights and will be replacing them with new ones when they come in. I purchased a front air dam which meant removal of the front valance. I played with it for three days, trying to remove the bolts holding it on (I can only assume that it had never been removed in 33 years). Yes, I applied penetrating oil, for three days, twice a day, didn't help much on the three bolts on each side that get pelted with road grime, dirt, salt, etc., but the middle four finally gave in to my persistence. Eventually, I did manage to get three more bolts out, but I had to drill out the remaining three. Since the air dam was made for earlier chrome bumper cars, I had to modify it to fit my application, which wasn't too difficult as fibreglass cuts easily. I sanded and painted the air dam with black bumper paint to co-ordinate it with the bumper itself and, if all goes well, will be installing it in the next few days along with the front bumper.

Now my next big job is to clean up the garage. I have a 4 foot by 8 foot work surface which has been whittled down to about 2 feet by 2 feet. When I started this project I would put everything away at the end of the day's work, but as time progressed I would leave things out mostly because I would need them again the next day anyway. Well, one thing led to another, and now I am almost out of space, lol.

Well, that's all for the time being. I will try to post more often than once a month, if I could only remember.

In September I purchased a 1976 MGB that looked like a good candidate for a winter project. The body is in decent shape and the paint is, well, let's just say it's battle tested, no dings, but plenty of chips. So, I decided to leave the body for another year (???) and concentrate on the mechanics. Whether it needed it or not, I completely replaced the front brakes and suspension, ie. cross-drilled and slotted rotors, new calipers, stainless backing plates, kevlar brake pads, kingpin bushings, stainless braided brake hoses, polyurethane bushings and 32 position adjustable shock conversion. The rear I replaced pretty much everything (shoes, wheel cylinders, adjusters, brake hardware, leaf springs, shackles, bump stops, u-bolts, spring locators, stainless braided brake hose, axle straps, shock brackets, 32 position adjustable shock conversion and of course, polyurethane bushings and pads. I also installed aluminum brake drum covers to give a cleaner look to the back wheels.
Now, I did all this for one reason. It is something my father always said to me, "You can make a car look good and go like stink, but if it don't stop, it ain't worth a s**t!!" In the last three months, I have also installed power windows, power door locks, power mirrors (Miata), completely replaced the head lights (I mean everything) to halogens, painted my wheels, sorted out some bad wiring, replaced the signal switch, installed a wood steering wheel, cleaned out the boot and installed a boot carpet, wood veneered the console and dash, assembled and installed a luggage rack and mounted a third brake light to the rack, and made wood pieces for the door panels to house the stereo speakers, power window switches, power mirror switch and add some needed storage along the bottom. Yea, I've been a little busy, but what's a retired person to do? lol Some things I still have to do are clean and polish the paint, recover the seats with leather seat covers, replace the windshield (mine's got severe road-blast), clean the underside of the hood and apply insulating pads, recore the radiator, install an electric fan, clean everything in the engine bay, install a mini airhorn, install relays where necessary (did I mention cleaning?) and of course sort out the rest of the wiring. And that should just about do it, unless I find something else to do, to install, to apply, to clean!!