NCMGCC 20th Anniversary Meeting

I joined the North Carolina MG Car Club a couple of weeks ago, just in time to attend their 20th anniversary meeting. The meeting was held less than a mile from our new home. On the way into the parking lot I could already tell there was a great deal of talent here....
Nice cars and even nicer people. I can't wait to get my cars back on the road after seeing so many great cars in such an active and inviting club.

2 MG's, One Truck: the move to Raleigh, NC.

I've missed updating the blog for several months because I changed jobs and moved 250 miles south from Charlottesville, Virginia to Raleigh, North Carolina. Prior to the move I welded in the dogleg and front wing replacement panels. I may get back to documenting that later. But first, how to move 2 MG's the 250 miles? Why simply back up the MG X Power Transport and load 'em up!
Reality was more complicated. I looked at several options. The GT has no brakes and may not be considered a "runner," in which case it would cost the value of the car to move it. The cost of hiring a transport for two cars was substantial and I needed delivery flexibility because we had not yet closed on our new house.

The MG Shocker: One in the truck, one on the trailer.
I decided to rent a truck and place one in the box of the truck and one on a trailer behind. I had hoped to take several pictures but did not for two reasons: 1) I was too busy the day of the move 2) I don't want you kids trying this at home, then suing me when something goes horribly wrong.

I rented a 17' truck (van) from a local moving company. Its the southern USA, so I'll just call it "Y'all Haul" because I don't want to name names. I took a "don't ask, don't tell" policy with the rental and purchased full insurance on the truck. The plan was to put the LE in the box since the 17 footer has a box just over 14' in length - plenty of room for the LE with space to walk beside the car. With the car pulled up all the way to the front you have almost a foot to spare at the back. But how to get it in there?

My original plan was to back up the truck to the slope in our lawn and load the car in using ramps constructed from doubled-up 2"x12" plank, braced with concrete block (a bit dangerous, obviously). I purchased some ramp tops from Lowes and had them ready with my 2"x12"s.Now don't get any silly ideas - I'm not suggesting anything like this:
The movers noticed what I was doing and offered the use of their loading ramps which turned out to be ideal for the job. One ramp was placed on either side and I drove the LE up and into the box of the truck from street level. The LE is lowered but there was just enough clearance. This is the part where I really wish I had some photos. Driving the MG up and into the box was like taking a ride at an amusement park. Once the car was in I blocked the wheels, secured the car in place and disconnected the battery.

The GT turned out to the be most difficult. Since I rescued it from the impound lot it has always started without a problem. Not the day of the move! Fortunately I was prepared and had purchased a "come along" hand winch from Harbor Freight. This allowed me to pull the GT up onto the trailer all by myself. Later I used it to slowly back the GT off the trailer. Very useful and only $17 at the local store.

Here is the moving truck leaving our place in Virginia. Note the LE in the moving van and the GT loaded on the trailer. All that was left was to hook up and trailer and we were off. We left around 10:30pm and pulled into Raleigh around 2:30am with no troubles.

A couple of days later I offloaded both cars. I was able to back the GT off the trailer using the hand winch, then unhook the trailer and back up the truck into the ditch in our yard. This brought the deck of the truck almost level with the lawn. I constructed two six foot ramps using my 2"x12"s, braced them well with concrete blocks, and backed the LE off the truck with ease. Home at last.

Back to the LE - Sill Work

It's been a while since I've done much work on the MG's. One of our Great Danes took ill in mid November and our other one passed away at age 10 and a half only 5 days before Christmas. We still don't have a diagnosis for our boy, who turned 6 years old in February. So my heart has not been into the cars as of late.

I have been doing a little work as time and finances allow. I decided to turn my attention back to the sill work on the LE in the hopes of having it back on the road this summer. I will finish the drivers side and leave the passenger side for later.

It was a year ago when I had attached the castle rail and work stalled at that point. The outer rocker is shown on the floor. The inner membrane is first welded into the castle rail, then the rocker.
A pneumatic hole puncher was a great help in prepping the inner membrane for the welds to the castle rail. Holes for welding were punched approximately every inch, then the section was welded to the castle rail (not shown)
Adjusting the rocker took a long time. This is where you start to see how well (or badly) you have lined things up. Getting the gaps correct around the door is critical. If you mess this up you might as well quit right there. So I took my time and found that things are a little off at the front but overall are ok. For a first timer I am happy with the fit. The front wing is on temporarily to assist with fitment only. It was then removed and the rocker plug welded into place.

Next up - the dog leg repair behind the door.

Removing the Flinstonian Locomotion Option

As part of stabilizing the car from further deteriorating I thought it a good idea to inspect the floor pans for rust. I'd seem some corrsion...what would lie beneath the rubber mats under the seats?
The extent of the rust was not fully evident until I removed the sound-deadener material . The easiest way to do this is to use dry ice to cool it, then break it with a hammer. It was cool out so the material was somewhat hard, plus the nearest dry ice was 20 minutes away and I wanted to get busy now! Most of it came off easily to reveal - more rust. Here is the driver side pan with one patch section already welded in place (upper part of picture) and the second, larger, and more tricky bit below. The replacement piece is shown already for spot welding into place. After welding it in I refit the seat to mark the location of the captured nut (saved intact) for the seat bolt , then drilled a hole and spot welded the nut from the bottom.
That's the actual seat bolt holding the electrode in the pic below. Here we are all cleaned up and two coats of POR-15 rust paint on the driver side. I tried Eastwood Rust Encapsulator on the passenger side. Silver was on sale and I'd never tried it before. Prep work was much less than POR-15. I did not neutralize the rust first with something like Ospho, so I'm not sure how that will turn out.
Next was two coats of truck bed liner to provide a scratch resistant surface. I used 1 Qt. of Duplicolor bed liner brushed on with a disposable brush. 1 Qt was more than enough for two coats on the pans and inner sills. The bed liner went on quite smooth with a brush.

[pic to be added later]

Now its decision time. I expect I will moth-ball the GT until spring and get back to the LE because the weather is turning colder.

Ancillary Bonnet Release

Here's a great addition you can make to your MG for under $7 - an extra bonnet release cable. This idea has been discussed on the MGB Experience BBS. Daniel showed me the setup on his 72 GT when he dropped by and I then simply had to install this on both cars. It only takes a few minutes and it is a real convenience - especially if the existing bonnet release were to fail.

I made a trip to Lowes to pick up some 1/16" ferrules for under $1 a package. You get two ferrules and stops per package. Pick up an extra package in case you ruin one like I did. The next stop was Performance Bike shop where I splurged: $5 each for teflon-coated mountain bike brake cables. Sure, the regular cables are a lot less expensive, but you'll see why I spent the big bucks in a minute.

The new cable must attach to the release arm similar to the standard cable. The options include drilling a new hole in the existing arm or feeding the cable through the same hole as the return spring. I chose the latter and looped the cable up through the hole and back over toward the driver side, fastening the ferrule as close as possible to the arm (red arrow).

A new hole was drilled in the support under the bonnet latch and the cable fed through on its journey toward the driver side wing (green arrow).

I ran the cable through the rubber grommet where the headlamp and signal lamp wires run, avoiding the need to drill another hole in the body. This is why I used the teflon-coated cable. I do not want the cable to wear through any insulation and cause a short! I looped the cable back on itself and secured with a stop and ferrule. Its a good idea to strip the teflon off the cable where the ferrule is attached to avoid slippage. The picture shows the LE which has the wing removed as part of the sill repair project. To release the bonnet, reach under the wheel well, slip your finger into the loop and a quick tug.

The later model cars provide a lot less room to work. I had the front bumper off on the LE and this made it much easier, but its a tight space between the hood latch and the twin fans - make sure you get that cable tight or else your plastic fan will meet an untimely end.

That is all there is too it! In a few minutes you can have an extra bonnet release that provides convenience and a backup in case the original cable breaks or seizes.

New Wing

Its time to catch up on the driver side wing removed in June. Here you see the trumpet section and attachment points for the wing painted with POR-15 rust paint. The splash panel was replaced behind the wheel. The front valence was quite a mess indeed. Here it is stripped down and in the process of bumping the metal back into shape. I learned some important body work lessens here. Patience is key! If you think it is smooth - its not. Keep going until you are absolutely positive you can get it no better. Extra work here saves time ten-fold during the later application of filler,which should be no more than a skim if you did it right.
I made this improvised "slap hammer" for final smoothing. Its a large spike welded to some thick flat stock and works nicely during the final smoothing stages. I would have preferred a more comfortable handle, but its what I had on hand at the time. A great book on the subject of metal body work is "The Key to Metal Bumping" available from Eastwood. The book is a classic from the 1950's and details the almost lost art of car body metal work.
Its a wing in a box!
Good things come by freight in large packages, like the heritage panel from Moss Motors made with the original tooling. In the packing materials I found a new electrical bullet connector. Spend several hundred dollars on a new wing, get a free bullet connector? The savings count well into the tenths of dollars.
Installation was a bolt-on operation with some minor adjustments for fit around the door and bonnet. Seam sealer at the joint by the window and some primer sealer completed the job. I also painted around the base of the window by the wipers due to considerable chipping and rust. Before and after pics:
No electrics in the wing yet. There are other priorities, including stabilizing the rust damage in the floor pans and other winter preparations.

The Minga Lives!

I'm back, after taking more than a couple of months off from working on B's! I found some inspiration to get back into my projects after attending the SVBCC show last weekend.There was a really strong showing of MGB's in Waynesboro, VA. So, it was time to get back to mine.
I hooked up the Weber carb, put some petrol in the tank and turned the key, hoping for the best. She took right off at high idle. A little adjustment to the throttle and the engine idled down nicely around 900 rpm. The mixture needs some adjustment, but I couldn't be happier. Oil pressure was over 50 lbs the whole time. The carb rebuild and new fuel tank are a success.

The brakes were locked up on the rear passenger side so after I broke that free it was off for my first run in the car. With no rear brakes (the fluid reservoir for the rear was dry!) it was a short trip. Down to the end of the driveway, turn around and backed in the other way, so I can finish work on the wing. I also fixed a bad ground in the headlight circuit that was preventing the one and only headlight from lighting.

Next up: work on the front wing, running through the brake system and deciding what to do for winter. Fix it up enough to register the car and drive some during the winter, or prep her for winter and spend time on the roadster?