September 30, 2007 Tie Rod Ends

Replaced the two tie rod ends since their condition was a bit of an unknown and the boots were ripped wide open.

Followed the procedure of counting the turns for removal and then installing the new ones the same number of turns.
Removal of the ball joint end was aided greatly by a simple little tool from Princess Auto. Instead of banging a pickle fork type of remover into the space, this little tool wedges the two apart with a bolt. It popped apart with no effort and didn't destroy the boot at all.

The most difficult part of the operation is the refilling of the rack with oil. I used a soccer ball inflater to fill the boots before snugging them up with the zip ties.

September 6, 2007 Maiden Voyage

The first picture of me driving the MGB, pulling out of my Dad's garage under power for the first time.

And a video of me going around the block

September 6, 2007 Clutch Hydraulics

Well after the installation of the spare engine and the re-installation of the carbs, distributor, alternator and exhaust, I finally fired up the engine and got it running. Sweet.
I was hoping to take it out on its maiden voyage at that point. Got a seat installed, put a fire extinguisher in the cabin and hopped in.
Pushed down the clutch pedal and grabbed the gear shift to pull it into reverse...
Nothing...
Pushed harder, grind...
Clutch isn't engaging. Damn.
Opened the Obsolete Auto flyer and ordered up a Clutch Master Cylinder, Slave Cylinder and hose.
The most challanging part of this job is reaching the lower fastener on the front of the master cylinder. It needs to be reached from inside, under the dash through the firewall using long wobble extensions.



Not easy.

Installation of the slave cylinder and hose was pretty straightforward. The only wrinkle is that the slave ships with the bleeder in the wrong hole for some reason. Get this wrong and the system can't be bled in the conventional way.

I used the reverse bleed method anyway, pushing fluid up from the slave rather than trying to pump air out of the bleeder. Worked great.

August 7, 2007 Alternator Upgrade

I intend to put a decent stereo and heated seats in the MGB so I was a bit worried about the stock alternator and its thirty-something amp output.
People say it has trouble keeping the wipers going strong when the headlights are on.
So, after reading about it on many sites I decided to go with one of the most popular MGB upgrades: the Delco alternator. Luckily, the Delco alternator that originally fit a Saturn will bolt into an MGB if the face is rotated one third.
Originally I went to the local wrecker's all-you-can-carry-for-$50 day and pulled 3 good Saturn alternators, but in the end I decided that I would invest in a new one with a warrenty, just so I knew I had a working one.

In order to rotate the alternator face, I needed to loosen 3 torx connectors. One of which is hidden behind a plastic shroud. I used the dremel to cut a hole for a torx socket to get to the fastener

Cut the connectors from the original Lucas Harness and spliced them to the new Delco Harness from the salvage yard

I used a chrome pulley from a GM that I picked up at performance improvements. It's a bit bling for my tastes, but you don't see it much when the rad is installed.

One Step Forward Ten Steps Back (March 26)

Well boys, that stream of obscenities you heard on Friday night was me hitting the biggest hurdle yet on the rebuild. After dropping the jets a bit the richer mixture got the engine idling without the choke finally. Hooray!

But wait. Now that the engine isn't racing at 3 grand, it sounds a bit funny. Shut it down and pulled out the compression gauge. I know what you're thinking. You've been working on this thing for two months and only decided to check compression now?

Um, yes.

Cylinder 1: 168psi. Groovy
Cylinder 2: 155psi. Ok.
Cylinder 3: 50psi. MF! CS! SOB! GD! MF! (You know you're swearing a lot when you start to repeat yourself)

Deep breath and started to pull the head. Rockers adjusted down too much? Nope. Hey, maybe just some crap caught under a valve right? No. Seated clean. Got the head off and ran my finger around the cylinder. Hmm. A bit rough but not too bad. Peered deep down and saw it. Massive gouge running around about half the circumference of the cylinder about 3/4" above the piston top. I'll attach a pic. I'd say this engine sat for a good long time and a piston ring rusted right onto the wall. When the previous owner hooked up a battery to crank it dry, blammo.

Thankfully the guy I bought it from threw in another block that's in pretty good shape. (He probably did a compression test) So the weekend I planned to spend doing the passenger door skin and welding in some new seat belt bosses, instead I spent stripping the engine to prep for a swap. I'm going to Princess Auto on Tuesday to buy an engine hoist. I figure if I have to pull it a second time for any reason, I will have spent enough renting hoists that I may as well buy the one they have on sale for $159...

Here's some progress shots of the tear-down in case you're interested...The blow by blow of the compression test is entertaining...

http://www.flickr.com/gp/39389329@N00/Tty7mf

Previous Steps

Some pix from the purchase and early restoration steps:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gregmoors/collections/72157601122724463/



First startup video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HizJLOXiTXY

July 27, 2007 Replacement Engine Installation

I'm guessing that the previous owner knew the installed engine was faulty and that it would need work and that's why he threw the spare engine in the deal.
The engine is an 18V which likely came from a 1975 donor car.



I spent a couple of weeks of cleaning and building out the spare with fresh lifters, push rods and oil pump. I got a can of Moss's engine paint and returned to its original burgundy colour. Fresh head gasket, seals and sump gasket and it was buttoned up and ready for installation.

The last complication was that, being a 1975 engine, it installs to slightly different engine mounts. I called up Obsolete to order a set of the later mounts...
Fortunately they now know me and my car there and questioned what I was doing. I explained that I was swapping later motor, earlier car, so I needed later mounts.
Response: "Sorry, you can't do that"
huh?
It's true. The actual engine mount locations on the frame are different before and after 1974.5. You have to use the 1970 mounts and change the front plate on the engine to the 1970 front plate so you can use the 1970 mounts...
The means opening the front of the engine to get to the front plate. (Which of course introduces a whole extra set of "While you're at it"s
As long as I'm taking off the timing cover, might as well change out the timing gears and chain for the better duplex set, and replace the tensioner... sigh.
So I ordered all that and started tearing into the nice clean engine while waiting another couple of days for the gear to arrive.

Then swapped front plates and installed the new timing gears.

On the back side, I installed a new clutch using a handy little plastic alignment tool that duplicates the engine output shaft.

Then mated the engine and gearbox up to prepare for installation.

Swung it around to the car and tilted it into the engine compartment. I cleaned up the engine bay a bit and sprayed the rattle can of Mineral Blue that I had Napa make up for me. Hope I end up with that colour or this is going to look wierd.

It was relatively straightforward with the major exception of the rear crossmember. I cleaned it up, rebuilt it and installed new mounts.


Despite reading over and over about how to make this job go easier, it was still the very worst thing I've had to do on this car. The physics of trying to locate two fasteners in two holes that are at opposite 45 degree angles is baffling. It is impossible to imagine how this was done at the factory. Unfortunately it is only after the fact that I now fully understand the modifications necessary to do this installation properly. The concept of slotting the hole now makes sense. Oh well. next time.

July 24, 2007 Engine Removal

Bought myself a nice new hoist on sale from Princess Auto than suffered a huge disappointment when the hydraulic cylinder wouldn't pump. Went down to the store for a replacement, but because of the sale there were none in stock for another two weeks. Oh well. Packed it in for a couple of weeks.

The replacement worked fine and I got the engine prepped for removal.
Since a different engine was going in, I removed most of the bits on the engine: Carbs, alt etc. I took off the exhaust manifold at the head instead of at the downpipe. This proved later to be a mistake as the weight of the manifold unsupported folded the downpipe where it had already been bent once and cracked it open at the flanges.

Attached the hoist to a couple of the head stud locations and disconnected the tranny from the rear crossmember. Marked the flanges at the output shaft and removed the shifter from inside.
The tilter on the hoist was essential. A steep angle is necessary to get the engine and tranny out as one unit.

And she's out!