Author Topic: '72 MGB - The Official Cars of Autos.ca? (Read 12644 times)

KD · « **Reply #20 on:** May 26, 2017, 10:13:32 pm »

Quote from: Firm on May 25, 2017, 10:50:39 pm

It's true! Also, I can work inside so I am not fighting weather, daylight, etc. Work at a nice relaxed pace, it's therapeutic.

I agree with that! I love working on little detailing type of projects myself and am usually always tinkering around with something or other around the house, and at work.

Firm · « **Reply #21 on:** May 28, 2017, 08:22:52 pm »

Spent a couple hours on this over the weekend. Finished replacing all the rubber fuel lines, put the air cleaners back on and polished up the chrome. While I was on that Mrs.Firm cleaned and detailed the interior. Obviously it still needs a new steering wheel and the missing panel under the dash replaced, but everything else inside cleaned up well.
Still waiting on my alternator to come in, so no driving.

Firm · « **Reply #22 on:** July 04, 2017, 10:44:10 am »

Put a full day in on this Saturday. Since the last update I've replaced the alternator which took care of the charging issue, and then the car promptly started running like crap, then dumping fuel. One of the floats in the carbs were stuck, so I had to pull the carbs off and take the bowls apart for a good cleaning. That got it running nicely again, but still with a bit of a miss around 2500rpm. My dad (an old MG guru) came by and tuned the carbs a little more while I replaced the plugs. That solved it and it's running and sounding very strong now.

The paint had a ton of overspray on it, so I started with some rubbing compound, then a clay bar, a couple grades of polish and a finishing wax. Came out really good, without a massive effort (no wet-sanding or machine necessary).

Next up will be to re-paint the wheels, detail the engine bay and install a new top (which I need to order).

Brig · « **Reply #23 on:** July 04, 2017, 06:18:40 pm »

Piccies no workies.

Firm · « **Reply #24 on:** July 05, 2017, 09:36:11 am »

Fixed! I think...

Sir Osis of Liver · « **Reply #25 on:** July 05, 2017, 09:55:19 am »

Pictures working now.

Awesome job on the paint. Night and day different.

Weels · « **Reply #26 on:** July 05, 2017, 10:22:25 am »

Beautiful job on the paint.
Need to hook your MG up with 84im's Thing:

https://www.autos.ca/forum/index.php?topic=83295.msg1290148#msg1290148

Quote from: Firm on July 04, 2017, 10:44:10 am

Next up will be to re-paint the wheels, detail the engine bay and install a new top (which I need to order).

So how does one go about re-painting wire wheels? That looks to be a very un-fun job

tpl · « **Reply #27 on:** July 05, 2017, 10:38:25 am »

You do what they do on Wheeler Dealers! Take it to some gnarled old guy with a back street workshop who just happens to be a total expert in such things and does it for $50 a wheel. If only Canada was as easy as California or even the UK for things like that.

Pics still not working for me.

Firm · « **Reply #28 on:** July 05, 2017, 11:04:19 am »

TPL - probably need to clear your cache for the pics?

As far as the wheels go, the easy (but more expensive way) would be to take the tires off and then bring the rims in to have them media blasted, then spray them, then remount the tires.

I opt for the more tedious but cheap method....First I degrease them with engine degreaser. Then I use a 3" wire brush on a drill to get the easy areas cleaned up, then I get a few of those little wire brushes for the drill, the ones that are like an inch diameter (3 come in a pack at CTC for like $8) and do each spoke and in-between each of the spokes. Takes about an hour per rim to get it ready. Then spray it down with brake clean to get rid of the dirt, mask off the tire using a cardboard ring, and spray with tremclad gloss silver.

I did the spare already and it turned out pretty good, not perfect, but definitely more than nice enough for a driver car like this.

Firm · « **Reply #29 on:** July 17, 2017, 04:18:16 pm »

Another couple hours on this on Saturday....FINALLY got the correct mount for the fuel pump and got it mounted right. Installed a new shift knob, took it for a solid run around the neighborhood, mounted a freshly refinished rim, and mixed up my own Blaze Red paint match using Chevy Sunset Orange and some Random Orange from CT to get a near perfect match - Apparently nobody mixes this color anymore, at least not without spending a fortune. Picked up about $200 in odds and ends, including a new dash pad, from a local supplier, and ordered a new top.
She's starting to look pretty again, and really is running quite well. I can't wait to get rid of this old top though...

(let me know if this photo doesn't work....experimenting with google hosting)

tpl · « **Reply #30 on:** July 17, 2017, 04:28:00 pm »

I did clear the cache. See the new pic but not the old one in post of July 4th

Arthur Dent · « **Reply #31 on:** July 17, 2017, 04:29:17 pm »

Photo works for me. Car is looking great. Well maybe except for the top which looks serviceable.

Firm · « **Reply #32 on:** July 17, 2017, 04:50:18 pm »

iunno why hosting photos is so damn tricky recently.....

Glad this one is working at least.

The top is surprisingly not ripped; but it's really sun baked. The rear window, which I zipped out here so I could reverse, is opaque, and the material has shrunk so much that I can't for the life of me stretch it onto the side snaps. Oh well, new one is on it's way. Until yesterday the car was outside, but covered, so I needed to keep the top up....I moved it inside now, so I guess I could take this right off now, but at this point I probably won't bother until the new one comes in.

Firm · « **Reply #33 on:** August 20, 2017, 08:51:40 pm »

More slow progress here....Feel like the summer really got away from me, so I doubt this car will be 'done' this year, but it is shaping up to be a really friggin nice B.
More wheels painted, but the big update is I installed a new soft top with some help from my dad on Saturday. Took about 2 hours, but it turned out really well. We're pretty experienced at soft top installs now having done 3-4 in the last couple of years.

revalations · « **Reply #34 on:** August 20, 2017, 10:02:41 pm »

Looking fantastic!!

Arthur Dent · « **Reply #35 on:** August 21, 2017, 12:10:52 am »

Nice job on the top makes a big difference.

Blueprint · « **Reply #36 on:** August 22, 2017, 12:33:08 pm »

It looks fantastic!!

Sir Osis of Liver · « **Reply #37 on:** August 22, 2017, 01:06:53 pm »

Wow!

Firm · « **Reply #38 on:** June 03, 2018, 10:56:15 pm »

Well - I've been super busy, but I took a day off and made some time to get through the last few tasks that were preventing me from getting this one rolling...

I am probably forgetting something; a few weeks ago I replaced the front brake flex lines, because I knew they were suspect. So this week I just pulled it outta the garage, tossed in a fresh battery and drove it about 25kms from my grandmother's place to mine, all incident free.

Got it home and gave it a good detailing, replaced the dash cap, cleaned the underside of the hood and installed some of that reflective insulation stuff, replaced the window seals, including the vent window seals (not a fun or easy task...but there is a trick), straightened out the front valence, fixed the radio (popped fuse), and a bunch of other little things.

It was running "good", but would hesitate just a but under hard acceleration; pulled the plugs (which were new last year) and they were obviously very lean. Some diagnostic work on the carbs suggests that there's some tiny blockage in the fuel inlet or jet in the front most carb. Ended up pulling them both, my dad offered to rebuild them (awesome!) this week, so next weekend I'll just need to toss them on and tune.

Anyway, here's a few updated shots....This car is in ridiculously good shape for a 46 year old unrestored car. I am hoping that next weekend I can get the factory stripe kit installed, and will take some better photos, but these will do for now.

rrocket · « **Reply #39 on:** June 03, 2018, 11:09:58 pm »

Looking good!