K - Final Post

This is the last post on the MGTD.  First I wanted to document the really cool "hood prop".  My friend Mike makes these on his 3D printer.  They do a nice job of holding the half of a hood open without causing any scratches.  Here's a picture viewing the part in place (lighter red piece between the tool box top and the hood), as viewed from inside the car:

So the car was sold to Barry in Phoenix.  Barry made arrangements for Select1 to pickup the car, which occurred today 1/21.  Here's some neat pictures of the car being lifted up so I can drive it onto the upper deck of the enclosed trailer:

So another project car has moved on to a new owner.  This car sure was fun, and turned out even better than I expected.  It sure turned a lot of heads, very unique looking.  I am now looking for a classic mini for the next project, which probably means starting another blog!

J - Car is Finished - Best of Show Award!

Been a while since my last post, been having fun actually driving the car.  On June 12 the granddaughter of the prior owner had her senior high school pictures taken in the car.  Two days before the oil/water gauge finally showed up.  I was able to take her for a short drive to a local church, where the photographer from Vincennes took the pictures.  Here's a shot of the car that day:

The car was of course entered in our local British Car Show on September 20, here's a picture of the car at the show:

I was very proud at the end of the show to get the "best of show" award for the car (picked by the other car owners, about 93 cars in total).  First time any of my cars has ever gotten this award.  Here's a picture of my granddaughter with the trophy I got:

Then in October my friend Bob Krug wanted to have me join he and his son for a drive out in the country and lunch.  Bob has a '53 MGTD.  Here's a picture of both cars in front of the Nisbet Station Inn.  Was a beautiful day, good lunch, great company, and nice picture opportunity:

I have now decided that I'd like to move on to another car, looking for a classic mini.  So I'm putting the car up for sale.  Still have not put a top or tonneau cover on it, may wait and see what the future owner wants.

I - Cute Granddaughter

Charging system is fixed, new voltage regulator did the trick.  Removed center portion of dash and repainted it, installing the turn signal light in the middle had disturbed the prior owner's paint job, looks much better now.  Put in new plugs and distributor cap, the intermittent starting issue now seems solved.  Got the old rim chemically cleaned and powder coated, then had new "gangster whitewall" from Coker installed on it, see picture of new spare plus my granddaughter:

I also got a neat picture of me driving the car with my first passenger, Sophie:

The one remaining item is the long overdue temp/oil pressure gauge.  Is about one month overdue from Nisonger Instruments, where it's being rebuilt.  Nisonger claims to be just way behind.  Hope it comes soon, I've got the granddaughter of the prior owner coming one week from today, June 12th, to get her Senior High pictures taken in the car, rather not have a hole in the dash for that!

I also have current license plates and full insurance on the car, so I'm legal to drive it.  Once I get the gauge installed then I need to just drive it and discover what else needs attention, ie work out the bugs.

Last item is weather gear.  I have a 1973 vintage AMCO top still in the box, white with tan underside.  It's missing the two straps required to space the top bows.  I called EZ Tops, who bought AMCO years ago, and found a former AMCO employee there who knew just what I needed and actually made the straps for me and shipped them at no cost!  The remaining challenge is the four side curtains.  I have the frames, rear two were cleaned up and painted by prior owner.  Front two were nasty and one was badly misshaped.  I've straightened the front two and had them chemically dipped. Got a friend re-welding one of the corners.  I need white side curtain material with tan underside to finish them and match my top.  This is no longer available.  I have three options - switch colors for top and side curtains (black vinyl or tan stayfast, expensive option), or I find white side curtain material on EBay, or I have white side curtain material made locally.  Or I just live without side curtains I suppose.  No big rush on this decision, probably get this done by cold weather this fall.

H - Major progress in last four weeks

Carbs were fixed with O-rings.  Drove the car around the subdivision, put 0.5 miles on it, ran great.  Temp gauge does not work, had to send it out to Nisinger's to be rebuilt, won't be back until early to mid May.  Also ignition coil failed, causing the engine not to start.  Installed an old Jaguar coil and it worked for a while until it apparently failed.  Went ahead and ordered correct coil.  Installed it and runs great.  Also connected some ground wires between distributor, generator, and body to ensure good grounds.

Meantime I have installed front fenders and hood plus front turn signals and headlights.  This part went pretty well, usual poor fit and wrestling of sheet metal but not too bad for a 50's vintage British car.  Today I also touched up some of the scratches I have put in the paint as I assemble parts.  Here's the latest pictures:

Rear view, you can see the hole in the dash where the temp/pressure gauge will go:

Thought I'd throw in one showing that the lights do indeed work.  This 1952 TD did not come from the factory with turn signals, but later TD's did have turn signals.  The prior owner had bought a wiring harness for turn signals so I've been able to get the correct front running lights and purchase the complex relay assembly to make the signals work.  Also required putting another hole in the dash for the light telling you your turn signals are on.

I like the wind wing accessories.  

Looking good!

As always, there's a few more items left to resolve beyond the gauge that's being rebuilt.  The rest of the hood latches need to be installed to "snap" the two sides of the hood down.  The charging system does not work, the generator has been checked out so I've got a new regulator to install.  If that does not fix it then I'll need to bring the generator and regulators (old and new) to a local shop for Willie to see what the issue is.  Then we'll be ready to give it a thorough washing and detailing plus start driving it to find all the other things I can fix!

G = Big Day - The Engine Runs!

After the carb and fuel pump rebuild I tried to start the engine without success.  Did notice some backfire through the carbs if throttle held open.  Checked timing again and it was alright.  Symptoms made me think that maybe the timing was off 180 degrees of distributor turn.  Checked and indeed the #1 cylinder was firing when #1 cylinder at TDC, but the valves were rocking at the point - it was firing on exhaust stroke instead of compression!  Thought I'd have to remove the distributor to resolve, but then realized I could just move the wires around the 180 degrees.  After moving the wires it fired right up!

Ran it long enough to burn a lot of the oil and stuff off the exhaust manifold.  Tried clutch and tranny, was able to move the car forward and backward so these systems look good.  Oil pressure remained great.  Tach worked.  However, temp gauge never increased despite radiator being pretty warm.  Will have to have temp/oil pressure combo gauge rebuilt. 

Front carb has a consistent drip from jet seals.  I have taken it apart three times and can't get it to stop.  The cork seals they give you with a rebuild kit must not be getting the job done.  Internet research shows teflon O-rings work better, will order some today.  I need to get this resolved before I drive the carb, leak goes right onto exhaust manifold, not good.

F - Weather Warming Up - Progress Being Made

The fuel tank and radiator repairs went very well, also reasonably priced.  About a week after installing fuel tank and putting six gallons of gas in it I found it leaking at the bottom.  Thought it was the fuel line fitting so I tightened it up.  Bad idea.  Ended up stripping fuel line fitting.  Also found real source of leak was gasket around sending unit on back side of tank, was not compatible with ethanol.  That's why it took a week to start leaking.  Duh.  Now have to replace fitting plus fuel line since the nut is captured in the fuel line.  Could have cobbled it together, but not that much more $$$ to do it as original with new parts.  Waiting on new gasket and fuel line.

Meantime, I finished the interior.  Check it out, I think it looks pretty darn good.  I was told prior owner was not happy with his home made wood floor panels, but I was able to make them work.  He did a nice job of putting the leather to the seats.  I even have the doors closing and latching correctly.  These cars are indeed all snowflakes, the exact dimensions are a little different for each one!

Next project was to rebuild the carbs, which had not been done when the engine was rebuilt.  Process went pretty well, but one interesting item.  For those familiar with SU carbs, the spring that exerts pressure on the two gland seals around the jet body was deformed.  It was swollen in the middle, not allowing the upper jet bearing to mate against the lower jet bearing - one of the spring coils pushed out and interfered.  This results in the jet being too low and running rich.  Some prior owner had tried so hard to get the jet to move up that he jammed the nut against the lower jet bearing.  I was told that back in 1970 the car was not running right, could it be that this issue dates back over 40 years?  At any rate, this thing was running VERY rich on the front carb due to this problem.  I replaced both gland springs with some standard springs I had laying around, and the jet can now reach it's correct upward position in both carbs.

Did some prework for starting the engine.  Checked compression - 160 one three cylinders, 170 on one, excellent!  Set timing.  Turned over engine on starter to see 60 psi oil pressure.  Also confirmed spark with my spark detector. During this process the slow speed of the starter and it's "box of rocks" sound got me concerned.  Decided to take starter and generator to local auto electric shop to have them checked out and rebuilt as needed.

Fuel line and new gasket show up tomorrow, starter and generator done early next week.  Should have the engine running next week - first time in decades!

E - Cold Weather Slows Me Down

The cold weather plus 10 days in beautiful Key West have slowed down progress on the MGTD for early 2014.  Been getting back to it the last two weeks. 

I have the dash wiring done, which was a big job.  I added a third dash light for the turn signal indicator.  Apparently the prior owner intended to add turn signals, which were not added to production TD's until about 3000 cars after this one.  The new wiring harness he had purchased has provisions for turn signals.  I had to make sure my front fender lights were setup for two filaments, plus had to purchase a turn signal relay and blinker unit.  Also had to drill a hole and install the third dash light, it's the red one right in the middle of the dash.  Hope it all works!

I did have to use a wire nut in one place.  The original design apparently had four red wires all being trapped under one screw on the back side of the ignition switch.  I did not feel this would be reliable, so instead I put three of them together with a wire nut with one pigtail then connecting to the switch and the fourth wire.

I made a trip to Jonesboro Arkansas on January 10th to visit Don Bridger of MG Bits and Spares and brought back a whole bunch of either new parts or good used parts.  Here's a picture of one of the used hubcaps that I cleaned up and painted the medallion, looks pretty good:

And here's a picture of the license plate light I got from Don (this is a NOS Lucas part, not a reproduction):

The gas tank and radiator are repaired locally, will be picked up tomorrow.  I installed 8 new brake shoes, the prior owners friend Howard expressed concern over this work in riveting the brake lining to the shoes.  I got all new shoes with bonded linings on sale from Little British Car Company.