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SaxMan's Winter 2014/15 Project Thread

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The parts catalog said I only needed 16 clips -- there's closer to 40 in this box...from one seat!
DSC_1209 by onyxsax, on Flickr

I thought I had a brilliant idea by putting the clips on a clothes hanger to paint them:
DSC_1211 by onyxsax, on Flickr

They fell off with the slightest tap, so back to just spreading them on a piece of cardboard:
DSC_1218 by onyxsax, on Flickr

I removed the drivers seat tonight so I could use it as a reference while recovering the passenger seats. You can see the "before" and "after" comparison between the two footwells.
DSC_1230 by onyxsax, on Flickr

When I pulled the seat, I did find two things of interest: 1) a fossilized potato chip, and 2) one of the bolts which holds the spring plate to the body was missing! I found a replacement bolt in my parts bin and took care of that post haste!
 
Looking good!

You're getting me motivated to get out there and start my projects on the MGBGT -- I need to do the seats as well. I've got all the bits in hand, just need to pull the seats and get after them.
 
I was wondering what happened to that potato chip��
 
Finished up the passenger seat, minus the headrest for now. When I started taking apart the drivers' seat, I discovered I didn't secure the seat back cover properly, so I'll have to go back and fix it again.

I tore down the drivers' seat. Once again, the frame to the seat bottom had significantly more corrosion than the seat back. In fact, the driver's side seat frame was in far worse shape than the passenger one. I had to spend quite a bit of time brushing, sanding and grinding out the rust. More pics to follow soon!
 
I'm getting ready to place an order for the LED dash panel lights. Can someone tell me how many bulbs I need to order if I want to replace them all? I also want to replace the turn signal indicators, since one of them has blown out. Are they the same bulb spec or different? And, I might as well replace the brake system warning light, high beam indicator and generator light -- all the same size?
 
More progress pics.

Installing the new bladder. Whoever dreamed up this design must have been a sadist. I had to use a spring puller from my daughter's trampoline to get it to stretch properly:
DSC_1301 by onyxsax, on Flickr

One seat down (except the headrest), one to go:
DSC_1306 by onyxsax, on Flickr

Someone used a leather belt in lieu of the deteriorating bladder:
DSC_1309 by onyxsax, on Flickr

The driver's side seat frame had far more corrosion than the passengers:
DSC_1313 by onyxsax, on Flickr

The seat back frame wasn't in bad shape...except for the bottom:
DSC_1315 by onyxsax, on Flickr

Opening up and unstuffing the headrest:
DSC_1323 by onyxsax, on Flickr

There was corrosion on the headrest, too:
DSC_1324 by onyxsax, on Flickr

Seatback frame ready for paint:
DSC_1326 by onyxsax, on Flickr
 
Seat bottom stripped and ready to paint:
DSC_1328 by onyxsax, on Flickr

Painting the seat frames:
DSC_1330 by onyxsax, on Flickr

Headrest stripped and sanded:
DSC_1334 by onyxsax, on Flickr

Steering wheel with chipped paint:
DSC_1341 by onyxsax, on Flickr

Steering wheel after stripping. I thought about leaving it unpainted and just clear coating it, but I didn't like the way it looked with the Austin Healey center cap.
DSC_1342 by onyxsax, on Flickr

Steering wheel masked off and ready for paint:
DSC_1346 by onyxsax, on Flickr
 
When replacing the turn indicator lights I think I would stay with the conventional bulb's since the flasher is kinda fussy to resistance and LED have only a tiny resistance compared to the original. Might not work right with the charge light as well.

I always preferred the bladder system over the strap's myself. Just thought they felt better. I used cut out pieces of inner tube to repair and improve the seats.

Kurt.
 
Saxman,
i like to split soda straws and slip them over the spokes when painting steering wheel hubs...it gives a very clean paint line and no tape residue!
Rut
 
With the seats back together (sans headrests), I set about to run down some of the electrical gremlins that were annoying me. First stop: Reverse lights. I popped off the shifter boot and didn't see anything. I looked a little farther towards the firewall and spotted two wires coming from the transmission. Knowing that the only thing electrical on the tranny is the reverse switch, I started tracing the wires. The wires were cut and just hanging there, with no other wires from the harness to connect to.

At this point, I'm not crazy about digging through an entire wiring harness to splice in something which isn't a complete necessity. I may go ahead and trace the leads for the reverse light wiring from the bulb end and see where they get spliced out. If it is an easy reconnection, I'll give it a whirl.
 
You may find out as I did that switch for tranny light was defective and stays on all the time. The switch is accessible by pulling off the tranny cover from inside the cockpit and you can see the sea the switch it comes out on the right side just in front of the shift lever. Easy to get to with the VOM and see if it worksproperly when the plungers depressed.
 
I'm now at the point where I'm ready to pull the dash. Looking at the manuals, it appears I have to undo the phillips head screws between the dash pad and the windshield itself. The problem I'm running into is that I can't find a screwdriver that gives me enough clearance to unscrew them. The stubby short screwdriver is too fat and the more standard sizes are too long to get a good angle. Is there a tool that is missing from my tool kit?
 
Perhaps PosiDrive screws. I know there are PosiDrive on the door hinge bolts. Not sure if they are on the trim pieces. An impact screwdriver abmd a hammer along with prep wirk with PB Blaster will usually get things loose.
 
All British car screws are posidrive. Please get the proper screw driver's...they will come out much easier with less damage to the screw heads. The padded dash is a real headache to remove. What do you need to have it off for?

If you look around for a screw driver that use's replacement bits you may be able to use just the bit in a vice grip's. I have a small ratchet that I can fit various bits to.

Kurt.
 
Posi Drive screw's have a little mark between the four deep screw driver slots and Posi Drive screw driver bits have a obvious ridge between the four flute's. The idea is to get a 90 degree engagement between the screw driver and the screw that the regular Philips head doesn't have. Working on British cars that the PO has buggered up the screw's on is a pet peeve of mine.

Kurt.
 
I found a set of screwdriver bits. You know those kits with 150 bits that you will never use at Ace Hardware for $9.95 on sale. Out of the 150 misc screwdriver bits there were two PosiDrive Bits. I bought the kit for those bits alone. Put the bit in either a short magnetic adapter that goes on a 1/4" Drive or as I stated before an Impact Screwdriver is a most in trying to remove 50 y.o. rusty screws. I found mine at Sears Hardware, $19.95 some years ago. So back to the question, why are you trying to remove the dash other than you want a reason to short up at the ER all cut up on rusty metal. The dash is held on with 4 7/16" impossible to get to bolts up under the dash, that you can't see, that require a MOWOG with small hands to get to and remove. That and the 4 braces under the dash hold the bottom on. The fact that you have the seats out will assist you in getting you in proper position, laying on your back, to see up and under the dash.

If the answer is the dash is cracked, use one of those $49.95 dash overlay kits. They look nice and solve the issue. The amount of work to remove and replace the dash cannot be underestimated. I obtained a fiberglass dash prototype some years back that I was going to install in my '68. After staring up at all of the wiring to be undone and those nasty bolts I decided leave well enough alone. The dash pad worked for me.
 
Going through my kit, I found a Posidrive bit and attached it to a vice grip. It worked. I undid the four screws on the top, three screws on the bottom, the bolts that held the mirror brace and the little 3/8" doohickey next to it. The dash fascia is wiggling a bit, but is holding fast. It feels like I'm missing something, but going over the fascia forwards and backwards, I can't figure it out. Is this just a case of something that has been in the same position for 45+ years and simply doesn't want to move, or is there a hidden bolt or screw that I've missed?
 
You can bet there is a screw or bolt or two that is holding you up! Don't you have to remove the plastic shroud around the steering column? I haven't done that in years so just asking.

Kurt.
 
Did you remove the four bolts holding the dash to the firewall? All of the way up and under the dash. Wear gloves as lots of sharp stuff under there.
 
I'll look there next! I wear gloves 99% of the time out of habit.

I have two books: One is the British Leyland manual, the other is a "Restoring Sprites & Midgets" by Grahame Bristow. Is part of the LBC experience having to read extraordinarily vague instructions and take your best guess at figuring out what they mean?
 
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