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Author: Steve Lyle 
Posted on: The MG Experience
Post Date: Wednesday September 8, 2010 4:21 PM
No entries since June. What's up with that, if anyone cares? Well, ever try to work in an unairconditioned garage in Tulsa, OK, in July or August. Believe me, you won't do it unless you really have to, or are getting paid plenty. But it's back below 90, more or less, so back to work I go. My MGB buddy, Bill S., came over to check on my progress (bringing his new-to-him '73 with him, which he figuratively stole from someone who redid all the mechanicals and interior - nice ride, Bill!) which wasn't much. But I showed him my fender beads, which had been eaten away by rust in spots. They looked bad. My original plan was to fill them with an all-metal filler, then shape them back into the original shape. I gave that a try, but didn't like the results - just too fine a feature to try to reproduce in filler, or well beyond my skills, or both. Showing my crappy beads to Bill was just what I needed to commit to replacing both of them. So I did a little research. The beads are available from Moss, and there's a procedure for replacing them. Lindsay Porter describes one approach in "The Car Bodywork Repair Manual", which is basically to grind the existing bead o... read more
Author: Trevor Whitehouse 
Posted on: The MG Experience
Post Date: Wednesday September 8, 2010 11:00 AM
So being unaware of what was going on in town, I got caught on the main crosstown highway in a parking-lot collection of fans on their way to a Justin Beiber concert. The singing of car loads of teeny-boopers just about drowned out my cries of anguish as for over an hour and a half I never got out of second gear and I couldn't keep my eyes of the temperature gauge in the 90 degree heat. When the traffic finally broke and I stated to accelerate there was some farting until the car settled down into its customary smooth and easy running. But - at the first off ramp - my brake pedal went from a very stiff hard pedal to a light responsive power pedal. In my rebuild last year, I changed the master cylinder, all of the flex lines, the steel axle lines (crushed), wheel cylinders, brake shoes and brake pads. After everything was bled, I drove around in the mistaken belief that very hard pedal brakes with a dose of - is this going to stop in time feeling - was typical for the B. Looks as though the extended heat period on the highway was more than the car has experienced in the 2500 miles that I have put on it since rebuild and something in the booster has decided to break itsel... read more
Author: Larry Graves
Posted on: The MG Experience
Post Date: Tuesday September 7, 2010 3:27 PM
Today I got the wishbone arm assembly back together with new bushings. Got them soaking in cleaner and will clean all the grease off and then give them a new paint job.
Author: Ian Noden 
Posted on: The MG Experience
Post Date: Tuesday September 7, 2010 1:56 PM
After head gasket redone etc, engine put back together, test run revealed plumes of smoke - you got it, worn piston oil rings! Restrip once again, new rings needed! Good news is that the shells are okay! Find out tomorrow the extra cost. At this rate, the engine has had a partial rebuild and recondition....
Author: Paul Mansell
Posted on: The MG Experience
Post Date: Monday September 6, 2010 2:28 PM
The final coat of paint is now done and I decided this week to pull it out of the garage and rub it all down with 1500 grit wet and dry then using maguires compound I did one full run around the car to start to bring the shine out. Went well and I will do another compound next week and that should be it. Looking forward to getting the Chrome all back on and the lights and door windows etc, maybe I will even get a chance to drive before the snow flys. I did get the underside of the hood completed with new insulating material and a snazzy logo. Next on the list is the grotty Rostyle wheels, time to take them off, get them sand blasted and painted up ready for the spring I think.
Author: Bob Lewis
Posted on: The MG Experience
Post Date: Monday September 6, 2010 10:37 AM
I purchased my 1980 MGB on 6/19/2010. I bought it from a 70 year-old farmer in Lafayette, IN. He had owned it for 2 years and had driven it very little (his wife didn't like to ride in it), and hadn't made any improvements to the car. He had kept it in one of the sheds on his property and it needed a good cleanup. The odometer read 50,400 miles. My wife and I drove the car and it was definitely driveable. The oil pressure was good and the water temp was steady. The interior will definitely need replacement. The seats had no tears, but the vinyl looks 30 years old and the seats need redbuilding. The carpet also looks like it's 30 years old. The brakes were a little soft, but stopped well when pumped. The only rust I could see was slight on the "dogbone" areas just in front of both rear wheels. The car had old wire wheels and there was no spare. The 4 tires on the car looked relatively new. When I inspected the engine, I noticed that the emission controls were still installed. I could see no major leaks and nothing that really signalled trouble. After some bargaining, I reached a deal with the owner and bought the car. I drove it home (50 miles) with the wife following. ... read more
Author: Greg Templeton
Posted on: The MG Experience
Post Date: Sunday September 5, 2010 7:52 PM
I just bought a 1968 MGB GT. Quite spontaneously too. I've been interested in all these LBCs for while, having helped with an old Spitfire racer and my uncle's TR6. He mentioned that someone down the road from him had an old GT laying around, so we went and checked it out. It's pretty rough, been sitting a long time. But the tires hold air, it was driven around the block about 2 years ago, and there is surprisingly little rust on the car for being outdoors for so long. Its going to be a long road, but I hope to get it cleaned up and running, soon! Heres a link to a Photobucket album. http://s137.photobucket.com/albums/q227/kmbtkrl/The%20MGB%20GT%20Project/
Author: Steve Glochowsky
Posted on: The MG Experience
Post Date: Saturday September 4, 2010 5:21 PM
My son got on this site, and found that there were people looking to get back in contact with me. It's been a minute. I saw a couple of screen names. One was someone's son, saying his dad asked him to post. Let me know who you are. What's the real name behind the screen name? I'd be interested to get back in touch with old friends. Steve
Author: George Heissenberger
Posted on: The MG Experience
Post Date: Saturday September 4, 2010 5:29 AM
With Labor Day weekend here cruise nights will be just about over for the year. I took the MGB to the Log Cabin restaurant this past Wednesday and enjoyed the good friends, music, food and nice cars there.
Author: Kevin Builta
Posted on: The Triumph Experience
Post Date: Friday September 3, 2010 8:14 AM
This past weekend, I put gas struts to open and hold the bonnet in place of the old, bent up stock prop rod that I was going to have to replace anyway. After reading about this mod and seeing an example at the Quad Cities British Car Club's Auto Show a couple of weeks ago, I decided that this was my fix. Paul Tegler's advised struts (Sachs SG123002) are available from Rock Auto at a better price than the update on Paul's website. The hardest part of the job was innovating a connection for the ball connector on the piston end. I wound up buying a length of 1x1x1/8 angle steel and cut two one inch lengths from it. Then drilled a hole for the ball connector's screw thread and a hole for a frame bolt that I'm sharing now with the frame. One hole for the cylinder end mount (looks like a screen door mount) was already available in the wheel well part under the bonnet. I drilled a second hole through that cover for the other cylinder end mount (held to the cylinder with a supplied clevis and clip ring). It took minutes to mount them both, including drilling the extra hole in each wheel well cover and voila, the bonnet opens and closes now just like Paul Tegler describes on his websi... read more
Author: GILBERT (Gil) DUPRE (ret Electrical Engineer)
Posted on: The MG Experience
Post Date: Wednesday September 1, 2010 5:18 AM
I had the luck of the draw to be selected to install and evaluated the Moss Tourist Trophy MGA polished stainless steel exhaust. This is a 3 piece system for shipping purposes.A front pipe connects to the exhaust manifold flange, a rear pipe that has the midlle hanger bracket and the muffler. This is a highly polished to a mirror finish almost to pretty to put under a car. It can be installed with existing hangers and one extra clamp. I recommend purchasing new hanging hardware. I took a couple of days removing the old exhaust and installing this one. I believe it can be installed in about 4 to 5 hours however. The fit was perfect. I did a loose fit and positioned the muffler so the exhaust pipe would point inward and slightly down and clear the gas tank by about an inch. Then I tightened all the bolts. The sound was very nice with a nice throaty sound through the gears and downshifting and a mellow rumble at cruising speed. Highly recommended. Now I need mirrors to show it off.
Author: Allen Godin
Posted on: The MG Experience
Post Date: Tuesday August 31, 2010 10:47 PM
It's been 27 years since I had my first MG Midgets. I bought them as a package deal in Denver, Colorado in 1987. The '71 needed clutch work, and the '69 had the bad roof so I swapped the roof and sold the '71 for about 3/4 of what I had paid for them to begin with. The '69 traveled with us to Mountain Home, Idaho through some pretty bad weather and almost passed the Ryder rental I was driving on its own while on some very icy roads in Montana. We all made it in one piece though. I drove it some while in Idaho, but in 118 degree weather a convertible isn't a comfortable ride. The starter gave me some trouble so it sat under the carport for about a year while I thought about whether or not to drag it back to Vermont after I got out of the Air Force or just get something else. Well, as usually happens, something else won. I don't know that I regret letting the little yellow car go now, but I still like British sports cars. So now, for better or worse, I put some money down on a 1965 MG Midget parts extravaganza. No real interior, no motor, (Just a block) no front end or hood, but a whole lot of clean parts for what's left. We'll see where this takes me. It may be a shor... read more
Author: Brian McConnell
Posted on: The MG Experience
Post Date: Tuesday August 31, 2010 8:03 PM
I thought I was all set for summer driving, but it appears my case of the mightaswell's is worse than previously diagnosed. I intended to only replace the blown head gasket, but decided to go all the way with a full rebuild. Took the complete head, block with crank shaft and pistons and exhaust manifold to National Machine in Olympia, WA and the cam to Delta Cams in Tacoma, WA for a mild torque grind. Ordered up my parts (mostly nuts and bolts) from VB (never again) LBCC and BPNW. New 9:1 pistons .020 over made by County, crank shaft reground, .010 under main and rod bearings made by King, new angled oil pump, new timing gears and chain, new clutch made by AP Driveline. Original rocker shaft, valves, guides and springs were suitable for reuse. Took the radiator and heater core to The Inlet Connection in Olympia, WA. The radiator need to be rebuilt, but the heater core was fine. Assembly was done in my brother Sean's garage over the course of two weekends. He's amazing, works incredibly fast, yet with great care and a great sense of humor. One of the head studs broke at about 35 ft lb, so I had to upgrade to ARP head studs and nuts. I have an oil cooler that we'll fit on a bit later... read more
Author: Stephen Doyle
Posted on: MX-5 Miata World
Post Date: Monday August 30, 2010 9:08 PM
found out the headgasket is leaking. i guess i should do it.
Author: brian broughten
Posted on: The MG Experience
Post Date: Friday August 27, 2010 9:40 PM
Purchased 8-1-2010 believed to be a 70 (GAN5) with RWA. 8-22-2010 added VTO Minilites and new Kumho tires 155/80/R13 8-24-2010 Replaced fuel filter and failsafe thermostat (160 F) *Fuel delivery problems suspect due to aftermarket fuel pump from Ann Arbor 8-25-2010 Still sputtering, either fuel delivery or carb issue 8-26-2010 Purchase 1275 long block/head/A frames/FREE gas tank 8-26-2010 STill sputtering 8-27-2010 No sputtering on demo drive with Mike P (nothing changed) *Decide a fuel regulator a good idea to guarantee 2-3 PSI all the time but car runs for now.
