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MG MGA - Not MGA but Heinkel Kabine

Well the Heinkel is an adventure. Finding parts is a nightmare, getting a detailed workshop manual a no-hoper, and even youtube has almost no information on the engine. I finally tracked down a hi-res printed parts list with some exploded diagrams today, and have run it through the scanner to create a searchable PDF. The only TWO parts sources don't use the same parts numbers and have only primitive online ordering facilities, one can't even get it's PayPal function correct. We are really really lucky in the MGA world to have the online resources we have and the range of specialists.

I have decided with the owner that me doing the gearbox is not financially a good proposition. By the time I have worked out how to take it apart, bought the special tools (if they are all available) and worked out what is wrong, then bought the parts and put it all back together, we can get a professional full rebuild for less €. So it is off to a specialist in Stuttgart for the next few weeks. It is all nicely wrapped in clingfilm and ready to drop into the back of the car in the next few days. Incidentally I found two rebuild specialists in the whole of Germany, and one hasn't answered his phone all week. The other had a phone that dropped the call every 20 seconds.....

In the meantime I will be giving the undercarriage and engine bay a deep clean with a pressure washer (fortunately its warm here for a few days) and then the brake parts I have found will arrive and I can get into that and the suspension. for this I have remounted the front wheels and used my engine dolly and a big piece of blockboard under the rear so I can move it outside. All the oil leaks and ill fitting air cooling fittings have blown oil everywhere, and although this has preserved the rear of the body well, I hate working in such dirty things.

And yes I will use brake cleaner to clean up the drums and backplates of all the old fluid and grime, but take the warnings from Willi seriously ( as should all) and there will be no heat applied at all.
Dominic Clancy

Wheres the pictures?
S

Dominic, does the one you're working on look like this one that I saw in St. Augustine, Fla., USA?

Jud


J. K. Chapin

This information on the car FYI per the owner. Jud


J. K. Chapin

Dominic

Didn't Wheeler Dealers do something similar a while back? Might be worth trying to contact Mike Brewer to see if he still has his contacts.

Steve
Steve Gyles

Jud, yes.

will add pics later today
Dominic Clancy

We are indeed very lucky with our large number of suppliers, even if the parts aren't always perfect.

A guy near me has a couple Trojans, plus a lot of other micro-cars. Fun stuff!


Steve Simmons

These micro cars can demand serious dollars; here's one on Hemmings for $55k:

https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/heinkel/kabine/2357830.html
Nick Kopernik

Wow. I never thought I would see the day when someone offered to trade a Heinkel for a Ferrari.

And I sold mine for £10 but that was a long, long time ago.
Malcolm Asquith

I gave it a pressure wash and a wipe over yesterday, already looking a lot better. The engine bay will be painted while the power train is away. I am told by the parts guys that they will send me an invoice sometime this week or next week (?), and that the parts will be despatched a few days after getting paid. Even brake shoes are exchange items.

Anyone know what the Radial equivalent of a 4.40-10 tyre is?
Dominic Clancy

The Kabine is the same car as the Trojan, except this one has twin wheels at the rear.

I've been busy tonight so no workshop time. More photos on Friday.... otherwise look to the end of the 1622 service thread

BTW happy memories of St Augustine from my flying days out of Altamonte Springs international airport using airport transfers tunbridge wells
Dominic Clancy

OK. A few photos of the car as it now is

First from the front


Dominic Clancy

The controls


Dominic Clancy

The engine as I was packing it up


Dominic Clancy

And finally the engine bay ready to paint in Chrysler Hemi Orange POR15 to match the rest of the bodywork more or less for colour. I still have to treat with the final prep product and rinse so paint will probably happen on Monday.

I also received a PayPal invoice for the parts I have ordered and can pay in the hope that they get here next week


Dominic Clancy

Dom.
If you want to stick to crossply tyres you can still get 4-50x10 , they do them for boat trailers
I'm thinking around a 135 x 10 radial but that might be getting a bit wide--? or not
William Revit

Well the front axle is also a study in perished rubbers and disappeared seals. All is now stripped apart from the steering rack ( I need to be given a tip on how t separate column from the rack) and I have to remove the gear change to replace the rubber bushings in the linkage. But all is pretty much cleaned up. It was filthy dirty and some encrusted muck had to be chiseled off! But all is now ready for paint and reassembly. All the parts are ordered - so expected in about two weeks. I should get the first parts I ordered on Saturday, so I can start at the back of the car again and work my way forward as the parts arrive. It looks very sad, but I have only found two small rust holes so far, and have treated with rust converter and used epoxy to seal them before I apply stone chip to the underside.

The air hoses are NLA or REALLY expensive so I am going to try using heat shrink to make them airtight again, they don't have any fuel in suspension and should be fairly free from oil leaks.

So I think I am at the end of the strip and clean process, have ordered all the parts I need (hopefully) and can soon start with the refurbishment and assembly.

But I still haven't figured out the wiring bodges.......
Dominic Clancy

Here's a before and after photo of the engine bay. The front axle is dismantled, the steering rack has had all the rotten bushes and gaiter replaced, just have to paint and reinstall


Dominic Clancy

And the refurbished stub axle and front hub assembly. The brakes are adjusted by pushing a screwdriver through a hole in the backplate, and then levering against the bronze wheel to rotate the it - the tapered pin is threaded into the bronze wheel and the other end of the pin is slotted to mate to the brake shoe. Each one has to be adjusted separately, so I will be fitting drums to the axles tomorrow and doing basic adjustment on the workbench, not under the car.


Dominic Clancy

Hi Dominic, this all brings back memories. Back in around 1963 I worked as the draughtsman at Trojans in Purley Way, Croydon. Trojans bought the last 1500 engines and the tooling to produce the bodies when Heinkel stopped production. To convert them to RH drive for the UK I got the job of producing all the necessary drawings. That then became the Trojan 200, a unique little front suspension that.
We may have had a lousy welder, but I did hear cases of the hand brake bracket coming away from the body! Might be worth checking. Best of luck.
PeteT
PeteT

Thanks for the nice memory. Fortunately the handbrake bracket is bolted through the wheel arch so no problem here.

I am still waiting (three weeks now and counting) for the delivery of shock absorber rebuild kits and then I can finish the front end and put it back on the refurbished wheels and new tyres (the old ones had date stamps from 2003 so they went in the recycling). I am astonished how difficult it was to find tyres and how expensive they are. In the meantime I have to sort out and clean up the wiring in the engine bay, which is a real mess, and refurbish all the control cables with new covers, again using PVC heat shrink. Luckily I took photos of all the wiring connections because none of the wiring diagrams I have found match what I have downstairs in the workshop!
Dominic Clancy

Shock kits arrived yesterday (almost four weeks after placing the order) and have been used with success. My weekly driver ( with a public transport system as good as that we have here in Switzerland I don't need a daily driver) in the dealer tonight I made use of established customer privileges and borrowed their hydraulic press for ten minutes to press in the new bushes, I can now refit the front stub axles and shocks at the weekend. Then I am waiting of the delivery of PVC heatshrink to make the air tubes leak free, and for the return of the engine to refit. The 19 year old tyres hit the recycling pile last week and the refurbished wheels are now all wearing new rubber at a cost of 90 USD per wheel for what is effectively a trailer tyre!

I will never again complain about availability of even twin cam spare parts!
Dominic Clancy

Dominic.
I have a very good friend here in Florida that needs a waterpump for a 1959 mga twin cam.
Can you point me in the right direction as I understand they are available in Germany (new).
Sandy Sanders
Naples Florida
esane@msn.com
Sanders

Bastuck.de has them. K14MGA/TC is the part number

The site is also available in English but shout if you have problems and I will try to help

Dominic Clancy

I have spent the last few days tidying up the electrics, removing all manner of extra cables and no-longer-used additional bits, making sure everything is fused. I found almost all the light bulbs were either black on the inside or that the end caps had separated from the wire underneath, so all will be replaced. I had a Duh moment when installing the new battery and testing at the fusebox: Nothing, zero volts, until I remembered the battery cutoff switch....

Also on the list was doing something to the paintwork, which was oxidised and dirty. I found a tin of umbral model paint in my stores of the right colour and haves touched up all the scratches and stone chips. Next step is to polish out with the polisher machine, first pass has brought up a shine.

I have also removed and treated the tank for external rust, reinstalled with new grommets and fuel cap, new fuel tap as the old one wasn't fuel tight any more, and a new fuel line to replace the perished original.

Just now waiting for the engine to come back from Germany (we are not allowed to cross the border at the moment so the owner has to organise shipping to me) and a final parts delivery from the UK club to finish the electrics and then it's hopefully a home run.



Dominic Clancy

This thread was discussed between 27/01/2020 and 28/03/2020

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