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From Journal: Chris R's Journal
Author: chris R
Posted on: The MG Experience
Post Date: Friday May 25, 2012 1:35 PM
car painted...looks fab new badge on exhaust sealed going like a rocket
From Journal: Kevin W's Journal
Author: Kevin W
Posted on: The MG Experience
Post Date: Friday May 25, 2012 11:27 AM
I haven’t really had the time to dive into the car itself much yet. There is a lot of work there but I have gotten the whole inside clean and it looks pretty nice. I’ve mainly been cleaning and restoring little parts, I found an old wood shift knob in a box of parts and have it sanded, stained and glossed and I plan to custom make the top of it. I also found an old jack in the trunk so I sanded, primed and painted it custom so it will look nice sitting in the trunk. The only real thing I've done to the car is reinstall the shifter, which wasn’t that hard. I hope to get started real soon on my restoration of the car itself.
Post contains 2 images.
From Journal: Chris Williams' Journal
Author: Chris W
Posted on: The MG Experience
Post Date: Friday May 25, 2012 6:54 AM
I really don't want to take this out again. So as I mentioned last time I thought I may be able to sort it while still in the dash. Reaching around the back again I was able to loosen the two knurled nuts so the gauge came forward about 5mm. It was a bit of a struggle but the bezel and the glass came off and I undid what I did to the needle the other day. ie. unhooked it from the stop and let the needle go back around. It wouldn't go back to zero unless I flicked it or pushed it back. Generally it would sit at about 30kph. Using the two tea spoon trick that someone mentioned, I popped off the needle and moved it around so it was pretty well at zero when it sort of centralised. Took it for a drive and stopped and started and fiddled about and I think I ended up with it as it was before - sort of accurate but very sluggish and won't go back below about 30kph. I think I know what the issue is and it's my fault . We have to go back a few years to when I took it apart before. At that time I cleaned off all the old dried grease and rather than not have any lubricant I used what i had and put a little petroleum jelly on the moving parts. This I think was a big mistake as this is too thick and offers too much resistance to the movement of the needle. To fix this properly I have to strip it down again, clean that off and use something a lot lighter to lubricate. But that is for later, when I forget what a bear it is to take out and put back in. So a bit of fiddling got the...
From Journal: George Heissenberger's Journal
Author: George Heissenberger
Posted on: The MG Experience
Post Date: Friday May 25, 2012 5:00 AM
My back is getting better - I am able to drive again after resting and being out of commission for a few days. Instead of a ruptured disc again my Doctor thinks its a pinched nerve or sciatica. It sucks getting old! Anyways I'm feeling up to a nice MGB drive this Memorial Day weekend, although probably not in the local Memorial day parade as my wife has done in the past few years. Our MG Club used to participate in the parade with a local Lions club who helped put on our annual car show, but they dropped out and there is no car show this year(sniff). I'm also a volunteer fireman and am usually in several parades, but this year I'll just ride in the truck cab!
Post contains 1 images.
From Journal: Drew Bertola's Journal
Author: Drew Bertola
Posted on: The MG Experience
Post Date: Thursday May 24, 2012 11:57 AM
May 24th, 2012 w/ miles @ 26.3 K. I had some rattling in the exhaust, and it was time to change the 20yr old muffler. With some input from my LBC mechanic, I opted for a Borla Pro XS. The only difficulty is that it needed to go where the resonator normally stays. We just swapped positions of the muffler and resonator, and it fit nicely (btw, the resonator was new last season). Got a nice new tip for the tail pipe, fired it up, and gave a listen to a very sweet and deep purr. Love it!
From Journal: Gary Brown's Journal
Author: Gary Brown
Posted on: The MG Experience
Post Date: Thursday May 24, 2012 7:13 AM
Before the car show I replaced the grill on Baby. It was damaged a while back when someone pushed my driving lights back into the grill. Damaged the grill and the driving lights. I got the grill from Victoria British. They were the first to get them in stock. Been backordered at almost all dealers in the States. Quality was OK. Badge was the flat style so I replaced it with the more correct raised style. I got the badge from NOS Locators on eBay. The fitment was typical of aftermarket grills. I definately had to work with it awhile. It will have to do until/if I can locate an NOS one.
Post contains 2 images.
From Journal: Dana R's Journal
Author: Dana R
Posted on: The MG Experience
Post Date: Wednesday May 23, 2012 6:25 PM
I made a simple piston stop tool from barstock to check for true Top Dead Center. This is a quick easy way to verify your damper hasn't "slipped" it's timing mark, and manditory for checking cam timing.
Post contains 4 images.
From Journal: Dana R's Journal
Author: Dana R
Posted on: The MG Experience
Post Date: Wednesday May 23, 2012 5:17 PM
If you do not have micrometers and dialbore gages to check main and rod bearing clearances, a product named Plastigage by Clevite77 bearing co. can be used with very good accuracy. First clean the journal and bearing well. Then cut a piece of the material to width of the shell. Without turning crank, install cap and torque to spec. Carefully remove cap, and compare width of "crushed" plastigage to the marked spaces on outside of package. Should be within range given in MGC engine section of shop manual. Clean off material with plastic scraper, and lube bearing with assembly lube, and final torque to spec found in manual. Do this to all main, and rod bearings turning crank after each is installed to spread lube, and insure no binding. At no time turn crank with plastigage installed! Obtain a dial gage,(doesn't have to be expensive) and check end play in crankshaft to be sure it's .002 - .003 thousands. You will need a dial gage to check cam timing later. A good tool to have in the shop. Very useful in setting front wheel bearing clearance.
Post contains 6 images.
From Journal: Dana R's Journal
Author: Dana R
Posted on: The MG Experience
Post Date: Wednesday May 23, 2012 3:20 PM
Some of the photos I took during the complete rebuild of my '69 C engine. Specs: Bored +.020, Moss/County 9:1 pistons, New cam bearings, Decked to true up top surface of block. Crank turned .010 / .010, Rods balanced and matched to 2 grams. Flywheel lightened to 28 lbs. 3 sets of lifters were checked for hardness by the machine shop to get a full set that were at least R58c to mate with the reground cam.
Post contains 8 images.
From Journal: Chris R's Journal
Author: chris R
Posted on: The MG Experience
Post Date: Wednesday May 23, 2012 7:05 AM
got my paint today...perfect match for my work...nearly there.,just a blow in the exhaust to sort.,get my stereo spot on nd new headlight bulbs
From Journal: Gary Brown's Journal
Author: Gary Brown
Posted on: The MG Experience
Post Date: Wednesday May 23, 2012 6:53 AM
Went to a local car show at Douthat State Park this past weekend. First show I've had Baby out to this year. The Park is a beautiful setting. Baby was the only LBC there, but I had a lot of people come up and tell me about the LBC they had years ago. Fun day. The second picture is Baby down by the lake, it was taken last year but I wanted you to see the lake in the Park.
Post contains 2 images.
From Journal: Chris Williams' Journal
Author: Chris W
Posted on: The MG Experience
Post Date: Wednesday May 23, 2012 5:48 AM
Went to Docs and gym this morning and when I came home I was sitting in the car and started thinking about and looking at the two gauges in front of me. Next thing I know I'm sitting there with the tacho in my hands and thinking 'well that was easy'. Popped off the bezel and the glass - again easy! Then pondered on how the innards came out. Took it inside and used a kitchen knife to pry out the surround with the rubber in it and could see that only 2 screws where holding the guts in there. Screwdriver made short work of that and I'm studying the innards. Don't think I'd had this apart before. Well the trim pot is very obvious, it's that black thing at the top: It looked like it would be easy to hook the innards back up in the car and attempt to adjust with the other gauge as a control. When I first hooked it back up it wouldn't work! Then it dawned on me that it needed an earth. So I found a short lead with an eye on it and attached it to one of the screws that I'd removed to take the innards out. That's the green wire here: The engine analyser was attached to the motor and sat just in front of the windscreen:
From Journal: John C's Journal
Author: John C
Posted on: The MG Experience
Post Date: Tuesday May 22, 2012 7:05 PM
These are some pictures from one year ago when I finally got around to starting the project.The car was put on stands, the suspension removed, fuel tank removed, interior removed, trunk lid replaced, left front fender removed because the car was in an accident. You can see this in the before pictures. Two completely rust free doors off of another'79 MGB were purchased and are in storage. A lot of other parts and supplies were ordered as well. The doors that are on the car now and the old fender should provide plenty of spare metal for patching purposes. This will be a chrome bumper conversion.
Post contains 1 images.
From Journal: John C's Journal
Author: John C
Posted on: The MG Experience
Post Date: Tuesday May 22, 2012 6:42 PM
...
Post contains 1 images.
From Journal: Norm Nolde's Journal
Author: Norm Nolde
Posted on: The MG Experience
Post Date: Tuesday May 22, 2012 1:53 PM
Last Friday I completed installing the relay assemblies from Bits4Brits (Fuse box and headlight/horns). The horns now work like they should. The wiring doesn't look very neat, but I'll neaten it up when I redo the engine compartment this winter. Today I tested the "Ignition" light on the dash and found that it worked as advertised. Made the ground from the plug on the alternator to the engine block, and the light came on. It hasn't worked since I bought the car in January. Seems like the diode in the Lucas alternator isn't doing it's job. Also, today I ordered an alternator kit from MGCCars to replace the Lucas alternator that isn't working. Now I'll have 105 amps of power, bright headlights, loud horns, and I can drive in the dark. The current alternator craps out when the headlights, marker lights, dash lights, and radio are on. This weekend I'll be installing the new alternator. Slowly but surely, Lucas is leaving the car.
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