MGB-GT Conversion has started - splines to studs

[drooartz]

Stupid exhaust, but some progress

My Moss order came in today and I had the evening free so I went out to my little shop to try and make some progress. The plan was to try and get the exhaust out of the way. Nice plan. The exhaust is a stock-ish system, but it turns out it is tack welded at all of the joints. All the way back to the Y-pipe. Looks like I'll have to unbolt the Y-pipe down pipe from the manifold in order to drop the system. Much more work than I was hoping for. Best guess is I'll need to pull the carbs to get access. Lovely.

Giving up on that for the night, I did at least get new studs into the front hubs so at least I made some progress. Then I went back in the house and had a beer. A frustrating evening, but at least I made a little progress. Should be able to make some more headway this weekend.

 

[DrEntropy]

Anything you can do now is one less thing to do later. "A journey of one thousand miles begins with the first step." An' all that. :wink:


...and soak the nuts at the manifold with weasel pee!!! REPEATEDLY.

 

[drooartz]

Gonna start that process after work, Doc. A few doses daily while I'm sorting out other parts.

At least the front hubs should be straight forward to reassemble and reinstall. That and pulling the handbrake cable are tomorow's job.

 

[drooartz]

Axle is out!

Put in a good number of hours today, and the axle is out!

Started out dealing with the exhaust down pipe. Initial inspection said the nuts needed to be removed from the bottom, so out came the ratchet, 18" extension, various sockets, and a universal joint. Five of the six came out just fine, with the last one putting up a bit of a fight -- but a few extra minutes and some wiggling and out it came.

Next tool to see some combat time was the Dremel, used to cut off a little nut holding a bracket for the parking brake cable to the axle. Once that was off the axle was free to come out. Loosened the rear attachment at the shackle and removed the bolt from the front bracket -- that seemed the easiest way to get the springs to where I could get the axle out.

One nice thing is that at some point a PO replaced much of the rear suspension bits -- the bolts all came out easily. One not-as-nice thing is that there is a bit more rust in the rear than I previously thought. The boot floor is perforated in places (I knew that) but from underneath I could see that it was a bit more extensive. Ah well, it'll either get fixed in a few years or it'll be the next owner's issue to deal with.

Once out, I got the old axle up on my trailer and working in the shade of a tree (a time honored tradition) I got the few necessary things moved over to the new axle, which is now ready to go into the car. Before that happens I need to mount the new fuel pump and re-run the lines, cleaning up the mess that's there now. Lots of space to work with the axle out.

The parking brake cable has been removed as well, so all that's left on the car to be removed is the old fuel pump and soft lines. Tomorrow's job will be fuel system stuff, and maybe axle reinstallation. Then it's assembling the front hubs, bleed the brakes, and she'll be back on the road.

 

[WillR]

so close! Im very interested in how taller wheels feel on these cars.

 

[DrEntropy]

The taller wheel/tire combo may prove problematic. Inner wheel well in the front and outer fender lip clearance come to mind.

The boot floor is perforated in places (I knew that) but from underneath I could see that it was a bit more extensive.

Be aware of the possibility of exhaust fumes getting into the car, Drew. Not so much an issue in a roadster as in a GT. And I see what you mean about the fuel supply "plumbing".

On another point, that spare tank you got is gonna fit!

 

[drooartz]

so close! Im very interested in how taller wheels feel on these cars.

..but yet so far! Didn't get to the car at all on Sunday, too much other life-stuff to take care of. As for the taller wheels, we'll see. I had standard 14" wheels on my last MGB and they were just fine. These 15" ones will be an interesting experiment, but I'm mostly just hoping they'll work for now.

The taller wheel/tire combo may prove problematic. Inner wheel well in the front and outer fender lip clearance come to mind.

Be aware of the possibility of exhaust fumes getting into the car, Drew. Not so much an issue in a roadster as in a GT. And I see what you mean about the fuel supply "plumbing".

On another point, that spare tank you got is gonna fit!

The tires/wheels came off a MGB (same one that donated the rear axle) so I'm hoping they'll fit my car. I'm not particularly interested in the larger wheel/wider tire setup, but resources are tight so hopefully they'll fit.

I am concerned about exhaust fumes working through the rust holes. I'm going to have to figure out a cheap quickie solution until I can afford to do the correct repair (ie some serious welding and panel replacement). Probably some fiberglass or other cheesy fix for the next year or so, there's just no funds to do it correctly now.

Glad the tank will fit. Haven't dropped the current tank yet, but with the boot floor issues there's a chance the tank top is rusted too. Good to have a spare solution handy.

I still like this car, but the more I dig the less happy I am with some issues -- a few things I should have caught when I was doing my inspection. Ah well, live and learn.

 

[DrEntropy]

Dynamat could be a fair "temporary patch" for the boot floor.

 

[drooartz]

Hadn't thought of Dynamat, Doc. That would work well enough for the time being and would be easy to install -- this car's not going to see much if any rain anyways. In a couple of years (or sooner if we win that lottery) I should be able to get the bodywork attended to. Just need to get by for now.

 

[DrEntropy]

You're welcome.

 

[drooartz]

If nothing else, this car is going to teach me patience.

My normal tendency is to dive in and fix things the correct way, pay/spend what's necessary. With two cars now to care for (and one under full restoration) that's just not possible. I really don't like having to half-do things, but that's what I need to do for a while. Frankly, it's probably a good thing for me to learn. :grin:

 

[DrEntropy]

The "Fix-I-Go" philosophy has always worked, Drew. You can get to "the other end and back" with knowing what/how the beasties need fixing for the "faliure to continue." Sometimes it's duct tape, sometimes a coat-hanger... Tapping the bulkhead in front of an uncooperative SU fuel pump with a hammer or a ROCK can even get you all the way across Alligator Alley in a pinch. :wink:


EDIT: I can't resist this... Kinda like knowing where that <<censored>> is...

 

[drooartz]

The "Fix-I-Go" philosophy has always worked, Drew. You can get to "the other end and back" with knowing what/how the beasties need fixing for the "faliure to continue."

It's a good education for me, and a lesson in patience -- always a valuable reminder for me. :grin:

 

[drooartz]

The new axle is in!

Got the fuel pump install finished this morning, and with that done was able to turn my attention to getting the new axle installed. Took some grunting and backyard engineering to get it off my trailer by myself, but a floor jack and some sweating it was off the trailer and under the car.

Getting the everything lined up too a bit of doing, but in the end I got the springs back on the axle and reattached to the car. The main attachment bolts are all a bit loose still, need to get the car back on its wheels to get everything back there to settle in before the final tighten down. Started a list on my marker board of everything still to do so I don't forget something important -- like filling the diff or bleeding the brakes!

Next up is to reattach the exhaust system, then assemble and install the front hubs. Have to put the new handbrake cable in as well. A couple evenings of work still. Will be a week or so before I can get back to it, but at least I made some good progress today.

The new wheels are not really my style, but they do seem to fit fine (and they were generously donated to my project along with the tires, so I can't complain). They'll do for the rest of this year at least.

 

[Silverghost]

So far, so good! Keep at it and you'll be motoring again in short order.

 

[drooartz]

Did feel good to make some real progress, but now it'll be at least a week until I can get back to it. Life intervenes, and all that. :grin:

 

[drooartz]

Progress again, front hubs installed!

After a complicated couple weeks when I didn't even open up the door to my shop I was finally able to get out to there this weekend and make some progress. The handbrake cable is in and the exhaust back on. Even fired up the car and she ran! Small victories. Rear suspension bolts are still all pretty loose, need to get the car back on its wheels first and let things settle before tightening everything back up.

Today I got the fronts reassembled and installed. Re-watched the John Twist video on assembly and read through the manual. Picked up a (admittedly cheap, but serviceable) dial indicator, and got busy. I used the bearing kit and front brake kit from Moss -- had all the necessary bits included, made things easy. New bearing races tapped in simply enough, greased the bearings, and all went on the car. Took a couple passes with the shims to get everything to where it needed to be, but was easy enough to do. Had fun playing with the dial indicator. It's a Harbor Freight cheapie but it had repeatable measurements so was good enough for the task. Some day I'll invest in some better measuring tools, but these are adequate for now.

All that's left now is to install the calipers and new pads, and bleed out the brakes. Need to do a drain and refill on the rear diff as well, and I'm back on the road. This has been an annoying time suck for sure, but that's the way it goes some days. :grin:

If nothing else, I'm learning more about this car and MGBs in general, never a bad thing. And I've touched a few more of the systems and earned that ever-so-nice x-ray vision that you get the longer you work on a car.

 

[DrEntropy]

For most of what you will use it on, that dial indicator will serve for a LONG time, Drew. Just remember to remove the batteries when you're done with it... may be a while between uses!

 

[JPSmit]

Thanks for the update - though I chuckled a bit at the dial indicator. I have generally worked from the assumption that these things were put together with hammer and tongs - and that a one cigarette/ two cigarette/ three cigarette butt gap was close enough for British "craftsmen" of the 60's and especially 70's.

 

[drooartz]

For most of what you will use it on, that dial indicator will serve for a LONG time, Drew. Just remember to remove the batteries when you're done with it... may be a while between uses!

I expect it will perform similarly to the digital calipers I have (also from Harbor Freight) -- good enough for what I'm doing. I did price out some higher quality bits, but they're far outside my budget for now. Good reminder on the battery, though.

Thanks for the update - though I chuckled a bit at the dial indicator. I have generally worked from the assumption that these things were put together with hammer and tongs - and that a one cigarette/ two cigarette/ three cigarette butt gap was close enough for British "craftsmen" of the 60's and especially 70's.

Whoever assembled the hubs when new probably had a jig or some other fitting to set the end float. Or they assumed the machining was accurate when new and used a standard set of shims on each car. I was reasonably impressed with the overall engineering -- easy enough to get right using simple tools. In my reading I did come across lots of folks saying to just leave a little bit of play in there and you'd be fine but the correct tool was cheap enough. Besides, always fun to acquire a new tool. :grin: