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Pham Nuwen posted:So to replace my turn signal stalk, I have to remove the plastic cowling around the Midget's steering column. To remove this cowling, you have to... drop the steering column? Goddamn. Ont the other hand I'm pretty sure it is just two bolts to drop the column. Whereas every time I touch the column in a modern car I am left with a pile of broken plastic fasteners and tears.
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Feb 2, 2015 23:18
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Bibendum posted:Ont the other hand I'm pretty sure it is just two bolts to drop the column. Whereas every time I touch the column in a modern car I am left with a pile of broken plastic fasteners and tears. 3 bolts holding it up near the wheel, 3 bolts going through the firewall, and then a pinch fastener where it attaches to the steering rack. I had hoped that loosening the 3 bolts near the wheel (the easy ones) would allow it to drop down just enough that I could get the cowl off, but it seems not. The hardest part will probably be getting a socket onto the lower bolt going through the firewall, on the engine side. I think I may try pulling the steering wheel off first, though, just to make sure that doesn't help.
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Feb 2, 2015 23:46
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Windshield! Looks sort of funny without it:   Really happy it wasn't rusty under the rubber seal:  This steering wheel is stuck on there good, I hit it with PB Blaster and let it sit:  Shots of my dirty engine bay:   The neighbor's tree was in bloom: 
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Feb 8, 2015 19:52
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So thanks to NotJustANumber99's post in the post your ride thread I've been reminded there is a MG TC (1948?) that belonged to my Grandpa gathering dust in my Grandma's garage. The story is he brought it back with him after the war and daily drove it for a while then it turned into a car for special occasions. It was restored at some point around 10 years ago but has mostly sat since then. I don't really have the space at the moment but the car likely isn't going anywhere. I need to have Mom mention I'm interested next time she goes over. It's only 65+ years old, how bad could it be? I had a MGB for a while in high school but it was the years with big ugly bumpers and I didn't keep it around for long.
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Feb 12, 2015 17:15
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you should really put dibs on it. It would go well with your theme of cool old sports cars.
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Feb 12, 2015 19:53
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NitroSpazzz posted:So thanks to NotJustANumber99's post in the post your ride thread I've been reminded there is a MG TC (1948?) that belonged to my Grandpa gathering dust in my Grandma's garage. The story is he brought it back with him after the war and daily drove it for a while then it turned into a car for special occasions. drat, gotta see pics of this!
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Feb 12, 2015 21:48
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BrokenKnucklez posted:you should really put dibs on it. It would go well with your theme of cool old sports cars. Pham Nuwen posted:drat, gotta see pics of this! Looks like the TC was the 'sporty' one and it can kind of do interstate speeds. That would be one bad rear end commuter. poo poo now I really need to fit a lift in the garage somehow so I can fit everything. Speaking of pictures, some of his old English/British cars.    
NitroSpazzz fucked around with this message at 01:08 on Feb 13, 2015 |
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Feb 13, 2015 01:06
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Well, it's finally happened. As I said earlier in the thread, every spring I get a little bit closer to buying an Old British Sports Car, usually an MG Midget, and this year it reached the stage where I now own this:  It's a 1975 Midget 1500, restored about 10 years ago and lightly used since. As a '75 should it (obviously) has the Federal-spec 'rubber' bumpers and the raised ride height, plus a Triumph 1500 engine rather than the good ol' BMC A-Series. At least in the UK we kept the 'full fat' Triumph unit with twin SUs and 64 horsepower, so despite the added weight of the bumpers the Midget 1500 is actually the fastest of all the Midgets. But the engine isn't great - it's undersquare (so it doesn't rev anything like as freely as an A-Series) and the bottom end isn't as strong as it could be.   But even if they're not as good as a 'proper' chrome-bumper Midget, 1500s are still huge fun to drive and, more importantly, they're about half the price of a MkIII and they're the only Midget I could hope to afford in decent condition.  This one is absolutely stock apart from a smaller-diameter steering wheel, which would have been the first thing I'd have put on anyway because the huge standard one is just ridiculous in such a small car. It had a high-rev misfire when I test-drove it, which was good for haggling. It popped, banged and stuttered its way 60 miles back home. This evening I put a new condenser and rotor arm on it and now it runs beautifully. I think the failed condenser has also fried the battery because it needs to be left on a trickle charger overnight to have a hope of starting in the morning. But apart from that, and a bit of a rattle from the gearbox in 1st gear, which I think is just a worn reverse idler - virtually standard-issue on these Triumph 'boxes - it drives like a dream.  
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Mar 11, 2015 22:48
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I love the pegs on the choke(?).
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Mar 11, 2015 23:15
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88h88 posted:I love the pegs on the choke(?). The pegs (colour coded!) are actually on the heater control in the pic, but they're for the choke. Like most 70s British cars the choke lock has broken, so a cold morning needs a 'two peg' start, and now the weather is getting mild I can get away with one. A new choke cable (with lock) is on the to-do list!
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Mar 11, 2015 23:22
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I've been daily driving a B for almost 3 years now. '75 so just too late to have the chrome bumpers (for now), but what it does have is factory overdrive, and a neat little '50th anniversary of MG' placard on the dash.
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Mar 11, 2015 23:46
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Nice 'B - I always think that the rubber bumpers sort of work with very 70s colours like the light blue. Overdrive is a must-have on modern roads in any classic MG - my Midget is turning over at 4500rpm at 70mph and it could easily pull another gear or two. Of course the Triumph Spitfire 1500 came with an O/D which British Leyland insisted wouldn't fit on the Midget. And of course, it does. It was just a silly attempt to keep Triumph a rung up the corporate brand ladder from MG. Is your 'B an actual special edition? In the UK they did a '50th Jubilee' edition of the 'B GT (green with gold stripes and gold wheels and the anniversary placard) but there were no special editions of the roadster.
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Mar 11, 2015 23:55
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I dont think its actually a special edition, just a neat little placard: Leyland in general made some terrible decisions with triumph, but putting their standardized OD in the 1500 was not one of them. Shame they just aren't up to the quality of TR-6's, as awesome as they look. Batts fucked around with this message at 15:16 on Mar 12, 2015 |
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Mar 12, 2015 00:07
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Over the weekend I stripped down the rear end-end of the Midget in preparation for painting. The only rust on the car is along the back lip of the cockpit, under the rubber moulding. I sanded it, then applied rust converter. The portions which are visible during regular driving will have their pits filled in with body filler and primed for painting. As you can see, I also wire-brushed the paint off over that dent in the rear. As for the dent over the left rear wheel arch, I guess I'll putter this little bastard 2 blocks down the street to the body shop and see what they can do. Probably should have done that before removing the lights but hell, half of them weren't working properly anyway  
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Mar 18, 2015 02:49
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Finally got the engine mounts done in my car. Thought I had chased down the shaking on the highway I assumed was coming from having engine mounts that were basically goo. Nope. So if anybody has a B with the rostyle wheels, just remember that they are lug centric, and that some shops will dismiss everything you say and balance hub centric anyways. 3 degrees of runout is totally acceptable for an older wheel right? 
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Mar 22, 2015 05:30
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The marque of the beast:
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Mar 28, 2015 21:22
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Not really a sports car, but it does bear the mark of the beast.  Sadly, it's scrap yard time for my Triumph Toledo. Too rusty, and I don't have time or energy to sort it. Cut the B pillar to make removing the roll cage easier... the front cage mounts were so rusty it pulled straight out 
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Mar 29, 2015 16:42
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Pham Nuwen posted:The marque of the beast: For a company that spent most of its existence circling (and then going down) the drain, the choice of a logo that looks like a plughole was very appropriate.
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Mar 29, 2015 19:09
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   Sorry for the potato-quality pics.
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May 16, 2015 04:02
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Good bodyshop work, looks mint. Anything else new since the last update?
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May 16, 2015 04:16
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Seat Safety Switch posted:Good bodyshop work, looks mint. Anything else new since the last update? Fighting the loving electronics. Also I need to put a drat alternator in there, because I started it the other day so the gas wouldn't get all nasty in the carbs but it couldn't generate enough power just idling and eventually it died.
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May 16, 2015 04:26
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Had an interesting event yesterday. Engine stalled out and failed coming off of the highway, with no forward warning of any sort. Managed to get off into a parking lot and tried to check things out. No leaks, fuel in the filter, everything looked good to my eyes. Tried starting and the fuel pump kept clicking. A while later I ended up having to give up as I didn't have tools on me and got it towed to the local MG expert. Well, his find was a new one...  I filled up on fuel the day before, not sure what this is but it got lodged into my fuel pump, stopping it up. Theres now a filter between the tank and the pump but still,  Still debating on whether or not to contact the gas station...
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May 16, 2015 04:44
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 Looks drat good with the top reattached
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May 17, 2015 01:02
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Pham Nuwen posted:Also I need to put a drat alternator in there
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May 17, 2015 19:24
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Pham Nuwen posted:
Holy heck it is actually got clear windows, not opaque or partly translucent
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May 17, 2015 23:45
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InitialDave posted:Convertible just meant the roof comes off, whereas roadster implies sportiness. Not to get to spergy on this but technically a roadster is without roll up windows. Many roadsters were able to be fitted with a cloth top and even side curtains (plastic windows that snap on) but the feature of side windows is convertible fare only. So technically yes, many British sports cars are legitimate roadsters. /end semantics
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May 18, 2015 21:35
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 Headlights still don't work but that's OK because I'm in California and nobody else signals either
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May 25, 2015 04:34
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Quick question for my brother and his spitfire, how the hell do you balance twin SU carbs? He's had them cleaned and new parts (needles etc) fitted, they sound the same when running but if you block the front one no effect, if you block the rear one it dies. Any tips?
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May 25, 2015 18:25
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Buy/borrow a carb synchronizer. It's a tool that you shove into the opening of the carb and it measures the airflow. Then just keep tweaking the adjustment screws until they're both the same.
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May 26, 2015 10:28
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Simple answer, thank you. I'll ask around.
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May 26, 2015 13:17
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I always thought it was nice of TVR to keep the tradition of the British Sports Car alive until its own demise. Unreliable, bad electrics and a desire to kill you on every turn. Of course if you can live with that you get to drive something that looks like Satan's daily drive
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May 29, 2015 14:55
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BigPaddy posted:I always thought it was nice of TVR to keep the tradition of the British Sports Car alive until its own demise. Unreliable, bad electrics and a desire to kill you on every turn. Of course if you can live with that you get to drive something that looks like Satan's daily drive https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGATSb54YEQ
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May 29, 2015 21:20
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The Midget got to Albuquerque a few days ago and it needs a loving carb adjustment. Doesn't idle for poo poo here at a mile elevation. Luckily my tools are getting dropped off tomorrow along with the rest of my household stuff (and the motorcycles).
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Jul 27, 2015 04:00
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BigPaddy posted:I always thought it was nice of TVR to keep the tradition of the British Sports Car alive until its own demise. Unreliable, bad electrics and a desire to kill you on every turn. Of course if you can live with that you get to drive something that looks like Satan's daily drive And it's now a 10 year old design and still looks more current that 99% of cars.
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Jul 27, 2015 12:07
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BigPaddy posted:I always thought it was nice of TVR to keep the tradition of the British Sports Car alive until its own demise. Unreliable, bad electrics and a desire to kill you on every turn. Of course if you can live with that you get to drive something that looks like Satan's daily drive its actual dragon and i want
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Aug 19, 2015 04:22
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There was the TVR club at an event I was helping at last month Didn't manage to get many pictures sadly    A bit of a life goal is to own a TVR in order to learn more about fixing cars 
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Aug 19, 2015 14:48
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Haven't driven the Midget much since moving except to go to the MVD for registration... Gotta fix another mystery clunk, this time it happens when I take my foot off the gas (solution: never lift). I'm hoping it's just loose suspension again instead of bad splines. Some of the mountain roads out here... drat. And it's running great since I tuned it for altitude a month back.
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Sep 23, 2015 22:22
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When was the last time you inspected the motor mounts?
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Sep 23, 2015 22:30
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BrokenKnucklez posted:When was the last time you inspected the motor mounts? 5-6 months ago. I'm pretty sure the sound is coming from the rear of the car.
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Sep 23, 2015 22:35
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I'd suspect anything rubber first.
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Sep 23, 2015 22:50
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