Little1's 75 Midget 1500 Thread

[Little1]

Here is the new little one as found, or at least as found on my trailer while stopped for a latte on the way home. And also a picture after a bath.

It had been partially disassembled (top and bumpers) for a refresh by the prior owner when he found an earlier model and purged this. It has sat for a couple years, indoors.

I put the top on and it's in good condition. The interior is worn but serviceable. The engine bay seems complete.

It's an unmolested, solid, mostly dry, resprayed driver that some one cared about at one time. I intend to enjoy it.

The rubber bumpers are not going back on.

 

[Little1]

To get on the road I just had to bleed the front brakes, drain the old gas from the fuel tank and carburetor bowl, and put the turn signals in up front.

I pulled the turnsignals out of the rubber bumpers, and fit them directly in the fender holes with some large washers behind. It's as if MG planned this ability to pull the rubber off.

 

[Little1]

Enjoyed an afternoon cruising the country roads under an overcast sky. Feels very English, in a stereotyped way.

 

[JPSmit]

looks great and love that you are enjoying it already

 

[Little1]

My clutch barely disengages even when pushed to the floor, so I figured it had air in the hydraulics. From a search, I stumbled on a nifty idea to lift the master cylinder up and let air out the top by pushing the fork a couple times. I tried it, like the idea, but it did not solve my particular issue although others reported success with this when their problem was an air bubble in the line. Pictures attached.

 

[Little1]

So I figured next that there must be an air bubble in the slave cylinder, so I would bleed that slave at the nipple on the slave cylinder using a Harbor Freight power bleeder that creates vacuum from my air compressor and sucks the fluid through the line at a good pace to clear any bubbles in the system. I flushed the fluid, which was dark and dirty, and took the car for a ride. Still no improvement, in fact it's a tad worse. So I flushed it a second time, and found the brand new fluid looking just as dirty with black dust, rather than clear even though its new. So I have concluded the rubber o-ring in the master or slave is deteriorating. I ordered a master cylinder /slave cylinder / flexible hose kit (British brand) and packed everything away for the night. When those things arrive I'll install them and see how it goes. There is an occasional rattle when down shifting into first and I can't yet tell if it's something in the dashboard loose or if it's in the drivetrain. Hopefully it's not the throw out bearing. I do think the disintegrating ancient cylinder rubber is the better bet. We will see. Pictures attached.

 

[JPSmit]

probably worth rebuilding - keep us posted.

 

[Little1]

In the meantime... this dash cap has to be the lowest effort, highest return I have ever experienced in fixing up an old car. It comes with adhesive, but I didn't use it. The thing just snaps in place and looks fantastic. Pictures attached.

 

[Little1]

I replaced the clutch hydraulics (master/slave/hose) with a kit of Lucas parts and the clutch works great now. Had to reuse a threaded adapter from the original master. Pictures attached. This little car sure is fun to bomb around in!

 

[Little1]

I won a set of split rear chrome bumperettes with brackets and bolts on an Ebay auction for 50 dollars. They are a little tweeked here and there, and so is my car. I taped some lines for reference accross the back of the car, hung the bumperettes with the one bolt on each side that matched an existing hole, marked some points with a sharpie and drilled some holes. Then I took off the high rear license plate bracket with lights, and installed the bracket from the front rubber bumper on the back upside down to bring the plate down a bit, while still obscuring the old wire holes, which I will plug with something. I ran the new light wires from the bumperettes through through the remaining unused bolt hole on each side. They fill the gap under the tail lights nicely. I like it alot. Pictures attached.

 

[JPSmit]

looks great - I really prefer the split bumpers. (my 1500)

 

[Little1]

looks great - I really prefer the split bumpers. (my 1500)

View attachment 93859

Excellent.

 

[Little1]

To fill the unused lisence plate light wiring holes I just popped in some rubber electrical firewall grommets, with the centers intact. Picture attached.

 

[Little1]

Up front I got some chrome bumper brackets from AshlyHintonMGParts on the UK Ebay store, and some Grade 8 bolts, along with some nuts and washers for the bumper spring, from the hardware store. It installed where the tow rings would be (mine are missing) and it pokes out an existing hole in the front valance. I mounted a salvage chrome bumper I found on Ebay, which is a little tweaked in places, like my car. Also, AshleyHinton also had a stainless grill with MG badge that mounts without cutting off the front frame horns of a rubber bumper car, just cut off the studs from the frame. Super pleased with the results of this chrome bumper conversion. Pictures attached.

 

[JPSmit]

looks great!