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MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Lock down tasks

Yesterday's excercise requiring no social contact. Just contact adhesive!

I will show you mine if you show me yours 😄


GuyW

Very nice.

What backing have you used?
Dave O'Neill 2

Hi Dave, I used an oil bonded hardboard. Should be ok for the next 30 years or so! I considered ply and MDF but either too thick or too heavy and didn't really give sufficient benefit over the hardboard. Planning on a coat of varnish on the back as well though.
GuyW

Guy/Dave
I think you know exactly what I'm doing! When I get some thicker shims (thanks Dave) it should solve the kingpin adjustment problem (both sides) and I can fit the springs. I presume I'll need my attractive assistant to sit on the inner wing to stop the car rising when I jack the spring up into the wishbone as the engine is not in yet (how I intend to do it anyway).


Bill Bretherton

Shims posted yesterday, so hopefully be with you soon.

You could also use the long bolt method to pull the spring pan into position.
Dave O'Neill 2

Looks good Bill

I need to paint this Maniflow manifold and just touch up some of the scratches on the exhaust as well before I fit it.





Chris Madge

Bill

Looking good

if you use the slave screw method as described in the workshop manual you should need the attractive assistant ( unless of course that is the objective!!)

Bob
Bob Beaumont

Dave/Bob
Yes, maybe the long bolt method might be better if I can find something suitable amongst the detritus!
Bill Bretherton

I was going to say get a bit m8 studding from a hardware shop then realised.........!!
Bob Beaumont

Hardware stores are allowed to stay open from what I've read but check before you go.
David Billington

I sometimes use a trolley jack under the spring pan. Jack up, spring bolts out, gently lower jack.

I no longer use contact adhesive on trim panels. It always fails after a few years. I think originally the factory used staples that turned back before penetrating the vinyl side. Most recently I used hot melt glue - we'll see! Also after the panels to the rear of the B post got very sodden, I used some polycarbonate sheet that was lying around. This is the stuff with channels in it so it's light, easy to cut, same thickness as hardboard, and waterproof. We'll see how that goes also.

One task done today - new armature in wiper motor. Now to get the air horns to work.

Les
L B Rose

As Les, I use a jack under the spring pan. Or rather, I use a small 2 ton bottle jack which extends up inside the spring seating. This is more secure and also leaves space for fitting the seating bolts. I temporarily fit the spring seat with 1 3/4" long bolts, to align it, but left loose at this stage.
Then by leaving the nut on the top of the king pin off, I start to compress the spring and guide the king pin into the top trunion. The nut will just start on the thread even without the weight of an installed engine, or necessitating an Attractive Assistant. With that tightened a couple of turns I can first tighten 2 diagonal spring pan bolts, fit the other two correct ones and then the second pair, finally tightening the king pin nut.

Final tip, if the car is going to stand for long without an engine, cut 2 small wood blocks to fit between the spring top mounting bracket and the damper lever arms. It stops the rubber bump stop from being permanently squished and getting damaged.
GuyW

Thanks Guy, the wooden blocks are a good idea! Still not resolved swivel axle stiffness but will post on that in my kingpin thread.

Did you use spray adhesive for the trim panels?
Bill Bretherton

Thanks Guy, the wooden blocks are a good idea! Still not resolved swivel axle stiffness but will post on that in my kingpin thread.

Did you use spray adhesive for the trim panels?
Bill Bretherton

This is my current Lockdown task. I say Lockdown loosely as I'm retired anyway. And apologies for the NMC.
Rob


MG Moneypit

Ah, that's nice Rob. Great colour for a mini. I approve of your drive shaft protection too!

Yes Bill. A high strength contact bond spray adhesive from Wurth. Seems to work ok.
GuyW

For panel backing these is a board you can get from art supply companies consisting of two thin plastic sheets with thin polystyrene sheet sandwiched between. Various thicknesses are available. It is quite stiff, very light and completely waterproof.
Not sure what it is called.
Rob
MG Moneypit

It's a year 2000 Mini Cooper Sport in Solar Red. We bought it new as my wifes daily driver and used it sparingly for 10 years but it succumbed to the dreaded tin worm and spent the next 10 years in a garage. Now I'm retired it was time to sort it out. It was the model just before the last 500 with Black/Silver trim and full length electric sunroof. It now sports 4 pot vented front brakes, minifins on the rear, electric windows and central locking, hi-lows all round, negative camber front arms and smoother ride rubber cones - or it will when I finish it.
When we heard production was ending we just had to stretch our finances to buy one and glad we did judging by the prices that model is now going for.
A past regret was in 1994 when on holiday I had the chance of buying a new Mini Cooper Monte-Carlo in red. I kick myself every time one comes up on eBay !!!
Rob
MG Moneypit

Are we at this point yet?


Dominic Clancy

Lol - and now you know why they get so excited about going for a walk!
Chris at Octarine Services

I have fixed the air horns. I learned that the pump must not be lubricated, or the little vanes stick and won't slide out. Now what's next? Probably that small oil leak from the rear tappet cover.

Les
L B Rose

Les,

It would seem to depend on the pump as a Lucas pump I have has no oiling provision but a Unus pump does have a 710 point.
David Billington

I've had both Stebel and Fiamm pumps with the '710' point that David mentions ;o)
Dave O'Neill 2

Mine pump is Fiamm. In the past when it got a bit hoarse a squirt of WD40 into the outlet freed it up, but the lubricant congeals and eventually more of it doesn't help. I just have to take the cover off and clean it out.

Les
L B Rose

If I were lubricating a horn air pump I would use air tool oil, partly because I have a bottle but mainly because it is far more suitable for the task than something like WD40.
David Billington

Really should crack on and get my fuel injection project done...

But sadly I still have to spend 40 hours a week in an office!

Malc.
Malcolm Le Chevalier

Been having a big clean up in The Shed and making some more shelves from a part sheet of 3/4" plywood I was given. Before and after pics...
I also inherited three lengths of track lighting with ten R80 spotlights. They are 100W each so I'm not going to use them, but I've just ordered a box of ten 15W R80 LEDs, supposedly equivalent to 135W.
I've put the tracks up today and I'll wire them up tomorrow.
Blimey - I'll have to wear my welding mask!
While cleaning up I have been wondering what to do with the set of five rostyles I have shoved under the bench. I hung onto them with the vague idea I might fall out of love with my Minilites, but the time has come to find them a new home.
Any of you fellas interested, before I eBay them?






Greybeard

Rostyles. Clean and straight...


Greybeard

Good idea Dave, I have a big bottle of air tool oil.

Les
L B Rose

Unfortunately, Rostyles are difficult to shift.
Dave O'Neill 2

Well, that was fun. SWMBO decided that the kitchen and laundry room floors needed to be stripped of their old wax and all of the dirt that has accumulated. She let me have the smaller of the two, the laundry room which is also where the back door is and where most people come in bringing in lots of dirt, mud and what not. It also wasn't done last time the kitchen was done so twice the dirt. She was done long before I was even though I got the "easier" room. Can't wait for this lock down to end.
Martin

Greybeard I have workshop envy. Very nice.
Chris Madge

Finished wiring the new lighting. Blimey! What a difference! Can't wait for the LEDs to turn up.
Had an "oh sh*t" moment when I first turned the lights on and the breaker tripped. Couldn't think what I'd done wrong. It turns out that one of the lamps popped immediately and the current transient knocked out the breaker. So I just reset it and it's all good.
Just waiting for darkness to fall so I can go out and see the full glory of it haha!





Greybeard

Greybeard,

Nice work but will you start to suffer from horizontal surface storage syndrome soon. Re the light darkness shouldn't be needed, when I fitted the full compliment of fluorescent tubes in my garage, the previous owner had only connected half of them, I could then walk into the garage on a sunny day and not have to wait for my eyes to adjust.
David Billington

Greybeard This is just too good. It won't last!
GuyW

I am waiting for my LED panels to turn up from eBay too. Have had LEDs in all the lights in my apartment for 10 years. the latest generation of spots does everything including disco party mode! all in RGB WW dimmable and all controlled from a wireless wall switch

Dominic Clancy

Greybeard — now you need to go and make it messy and make or mend something :)
Chris Madge

Haha >>horizontal surface storage syndrome<<

Lol, yes that's definitely a thing. It happens a lot in the workshop at work. I'm not the only person with access to it.
Last time I cleared it I got a big Magic Marker and wrote on the bench "This is a bench - it's not a bin. Thank you".
Greybeard

A really impressive set-up Greybeard.

I'm glad you've got your first aid kit prominent where it won't get swamped when HoSSy (horizontal storage syndrome) sets in - mine's hidden under stuff in a wall cupboard. Must find a spot to fix it on the wall - by the door and next to the fire extinguisher perhaps. I was going to get a cork-board too but my daughter gave me a white-board and pens, they're fixed to the back of the door so they're easy to reach and can't get lost or covered with clutter.

I also really like my LED strip lights. I ran up a lengthy spreadsheet to try to get the best value for money (Lumens/£) but, in the end, just went for cheap weather-rated 4' units from Screwfix and they give much more light than I expected. I'll be doing the same when I get our other sheds re-wired when life returns to normal.
C Mee

Colin,
light is reflective, have smooth white surfaces that are clear and you'll have more light for no extra energy. Its things like dirty tractor oil, tyres, greasy oily components everywhere that swallow the light.

If you hire a skip I'll come round and clear your garage and sheds of such nastiness, I won't charge you I'll just do it for the joy of it and to see nice shiny expensive oil can labels facing out from the shelves and a car ready to drive rather than parts soiling the area. I can work to any spreadsheet you like as my wife is queen of spreadsheets and her brother literally a professional expert in them.

I'm really fired up for it, hire two really big skips!
Nigel Atkins

Hossy? Is that similar to the grandkids floordrobe?
Rob
MG Moneypit

Nigel, with retirement due roundabout the time we Might be coming out of lockdown, the shed's high on the list of priorities - after Mrs. M's priorities that is!

I'm managing to keep my new garage relatively under control - oil cans nicely lined up and labels outwards (well, mostly). The timber wall studs are the ideal depth for fitting oil can shelves. I was going to insulate and white panel it, but, in another shed that I have insulated, it provided an ideal home for rodents, so I'm leaving the garage 'naked' - it hasn't stopped the little b*****s finding their way in and leaving left-over bird seed that they've nicked in corners! .

Rob: Hossy - made up on the spot, I preferred it to my original HSS, but exactly as you surmised, very similar to the floordrobe.

Sadly I'm WFH full time at the moment, which, in some ways is worse than being in the office as I can only look out of the window at the garage and wish I was out there engine building and tinkering.

Colin
C Mee

Colin,
you can just paint existing coverings white, no need to go all DIY. We certainly can't allow shelves for oil cans, and certainly not cheap tractor oils. One shelf for all lubricants, one top up bottle of each (expensive English brand only) and various other required lubricants, one can of each for the use of.

By the time we've finished I think you'll have to put the Sprite outside or it'll made the place look messy, I'll asks Mrs. M how best to use the newly acquired clean and tidy space from the car's departure - forward thinking too, and I'm not charging you a penny!
Nigel Atkins

This lockdown thing is driving me nuts--got that bored yesterday that I steamed my unsticking Porsche posters off the wall in the shed and restuck them back on
They look no different but it was semi satisfying
Tried to move the lathe to a different spot, they're quite heavy aren't they, it's ok where it is
I have jobs to do to my son's MX5 but he usually wants to be involved in that but can't travel to get here
Been trying to get into the dentist but they're all closed for the next month-great news
Postage and freight are really slow at the moment but ordered some inlet gaskets for my friends V8ZT from the US online and they arrived in 4 days--? go figure that.
Trouble is can't go to his joint to reassemble his car with the lockdown in place--could be a very expensive trip.
Big issue at the moment is trying to decide what colour to paint my Y special, I don't have any body for it yet but have fabbed up a firewall and need to paint it body colour before I can start mounting it up
So what's your favourite colour suggestion for a racey looking old car that will roughly resemble a cut down T type
willy
William Revit

BRG?
Greybeard

Oxford Blue
David Smith

Maroon
GuyW

Any photos Willy?
Greybeard

Colin

You need a couple of these guarding your shed.


Dave O'Neill 2

Greybeard
Not real sure what you want a photo of but here is roughly where I'm up to so far
This has been a l o n g term project that I just fiddle with now and then
I got the chassis and a trailer full of bits from a deceased estate and it'd all been sitting there since 1949 under the bloke's house, Noone knew it was still there till they went to clean the house up to sell when the oldfella died
Have had to do quite a bit of cutting and shutting on the chassis to get it right, but there is light at the end of the very long tunnel
Pic 1 as I found it
Pic 2 roughly where I'm at now






William Revit

Ooooh, nice.

MGB running gear. What’s the blower off?
Dave O'Neill 2

Wow Willy, who wouldn't want to see that? Great stuff mate.
Is the charger the one you knocked up from an aircraft cabin blower?
Greybeard

Mrs. M thought it would be a good idea to go for a bike ride for our daily spot of exercise.

Not unusual for many but, in our case, it's many years since we went for a bike ride together. Surprisingly, after blowing the tyres up, Mrs. M's bike was fine, dusty but fine. Mine was rideable but the gears were reluctant to change, so I was restricted to two out of a potential 27!

We are located well out in the country and just did a local circuit of almost deserted lanes, only a couple of miles but enough for my tender rear end on that saddle!

When we got back I spent a happy hour or so tinkering with gears and gear-shifts. It has two-switch gear shifts, one switch for up, the other for down. I have been told that, over time, the grease in them hardens and restricts movement. Liberal blasts of degreaser followed by plenty of manipulation and doses of 3-in-1 brought back all the rear gears. The front end is more reluctant but a bit more tweaking and exercising should bring it back into action.

It was a beautiful, quiet day for cycling and we were only passed by four cars in the whole trip - and here's my 'Take Care If You're Out On The Road' tip - watch out for Boy Racers in hot hatches.

In each of my three outings in the past two weeks I have encountered Boy - And Girl - Racers in hot hatches making the most of the empty rural roads. They were really putting their feet down and pushing limits on bends. I will not be at all surprised if there are a number of accidents down to this sort of driving during this lock-down/empty road period.

In case you're asking, those trips were: 1 x shopping, 2 x collecting prescriptions, so definitely essential (though if I did take the longer scenic route home for the last 10 mile round trip to the dispensary!)

So - make the most of the Lock-Down for tinkering and finally tackling those Roundtuit jobs, keep fit and stay safe and, if you're on the road Be Careful Out There!

Colin
C Mee

Looks good - reminds me of formula ford racing days!
Chris at Octarine Services

Colin

I had thought of cycling for exercise, expecting the roads to be quiet during lockdown. Nothing could be further from the truth. The roads are still busy, but the speeds seem much higher than usual.
Dave O'Neill 2

quite right Dave & Colin, my soon and his almost-middle-aged pals are saying it's almost like being back in the eighties on the road, and essential trips out suddenly become pleasurable again.
David Smith

That's the one Greybeard, it's an old Godfrey blower ex RAF surplus
There was a guy ,Barry Enkins , out here that used to convert them to superchargers, -Luckily by chance I came accross an end housing and an Austin inlet manifold, had to mod it quite a bit to get him all lined up but should do the trick. The engine itself is mr Angry out of my old midget racer, he's 2300cc and as strong as an oxx--should be interesting

Bit of interesting stuff I found ,worth a read--?
Roadtest on page 8

http://www.amvcnsw.com.au/austin1800/Newsletters/Newsletter02.pdf

Colin
Be carefull out there-
I find the best way to get skittled off the bike is at roundabouts where drivers spear past you into the roundabout looking right but turning left accross your path and also turning into drive ways is another, why do they have to pass you then immediately turn into their drive or pass you ,already with their left winky going and then sit there in the middle of the road staring at you wihle you go past so they can turn in--why can't they just wait behind for the whole second it takes and then turn in ---it's a crazy world on a bike
Stay upright
willy
William Revit

Willy,

One of the things I've learned over the years of cycling is to read drivers. A kind of sixth sense. I still don't understand why they do the things that they do when passing you, like the pass/wait/turn maneuver. Since they've passed me and have their signal on and it is illegal to pass a turning car on the inside ( read 'right side here in the states' ) I always stop behind them so that they can see me in their mirrors and wait while they sit there holding up traffic and making other drivers angry at them. Of course there are many other silly things that they do. Many of them don't seem to know that a cyclist has the same rights and obligations as a car.
Martin

So - let me see if I have this straight.
You want to run a Y chassis rebuilt from scrap, fitted with a 2.3 litre race engine. Supercharged.
Sir, I salute you. Splendid idea!

Can I come and watch?

Haha (as Prop would say).

Seriously that's a brilliant project. I'd love to see that come together. Nice one Willy.
Greybeard

Willy, Martin

Thanks for the advice. Although I haven't ridden much in recent years, those habits are well ingrained. When I was 17 I was passing a junction watching the traffic waiting to emerge as the last time I went that way motor bikers had cut me up by pushing out in front of me. I didn't spot the learner driven Fiat Multipla that was turning right across me. It hit me, jumped on top of me and dragged me along the road. It had so little power that it couldn't overcome the braking effect of my and my face on the road surface. Fortunately it was also quite light, so passers by just tipped it up and dragged me out. It was very close to home and it gave my mother chills for weeks each time she walked past and saw the chalk marks and blood stain on the road.

Fortunately we live out in the sticks, so there are no roundabouts or traffic lights to contend with. I would use my bike a lot more in normal times if I felt safer as the roads are all narrow, bounded by hedges with lots of blind corners and too many cars and going too fast or farm machinery with drivers busy on their phones. At the moment, all is quiet, with very few cars, so you can hear them coming some way off. I keep well 'tucked in' but I'm continually having to remind Mrs. M to keep in as she wanders all over the road!

Reading drivers is a skill learned years ago driving my green Morris Traveller which, in the countryside, is, apparently, invisible to other drivers who pull out in front of you and cut you up as if you weren't there! The Morris also ingrained road reading - our regular route through Warwick had a definite rhythm to it as we steered around or straddled inspection covers and other bumps and holes to ensure the smoothest possible ride.

Colin
C Mee

I cycle fairly regularly. I have a 1982 Claud Butler Majestic (reynolds 531 tubing) which I used to commute to work on. It's covered thousands of miles and still goes well.
Bill Bretherton

I have to tell you this --In the latest round of bans here Mr. Gutwin,our State Premier banned all sex workers from working, and said(with a little restrained grin) that even at a stretch he couldn't see how appropriate distancing practice could be achieved.
William Revit

This thread was discussed between 27/03/2020 and 04/04/2020

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

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