Project 1974 MGB GT - The Mustard (Mit) Mobility Scooter - 6yrs ownership & the end is potentially nigh!

[busmansholiday]

T.C 'Cuth' Harrison was the Ford dealer in Roth and Sheff back then on London Road. He was a very good rally driver and campaigned Mark 1 Zephyrs and stuff in the Monte. Brook Shaw were on Norfolk Street.

TCH in Rotherham were on Sheffield Road, building still there on right heading into town after the bypass.

Brook Shaws Norfolk St premises was a double deck affair, very much like the model garages you see. I remember the Mk I Cortina being parked on the internal ramp. They moved to Shalesmoor when they redeveloped that part of town.

[dome]

Very kinds and that's very close to my work but I don't fancy putting it through it's paces on the m8 because [insert excuse here]

Come along in the modern then, it'd be good to see you and we can talk crap about old cars.

 

Edit, sorry for the hijack SiC, you're invited too!

[320touring]

Come along in the modern then, it'd be good to see you and we can talk crap about old cars.

Cort, he makes a reasoned arguement

[SiC]

Come along in the modern then, it'd be good to see you and we can talk crap about old cars.

 

Edit, sorry for the hijack SiC, you're invited too!

I'd love to but it's a big far for me to go in an evening!

[cort16]

Come along in the modern then, it'd be good to see you and we can talk crap about old cars.

 

Edit, sorry for the hijack SiC, you're invited too!

Where and when is it again ?

[320touring]

Where and when is it again ?

PM'd

 

Sorry for the OT SiC!

[SiC]

Ha don't worry, I'm not particularly bothered about thread topic drift. Especially as I am an expert on doing such things myself. I'm just writing up a largish ramble anyway.

[DodgeRover]

It needs no welding around the back. All very solid. Does the tank need removing if you're welding up front?

 

Just don't weld the tank itself and you will be fine, assuming you aren't laid in a puddle of petrol when you start welding that is.

[SiC]

As per News 24 thread I've been on holiday over this last weekend on the Isle of Wight. I've held off posting this as I don't like to post that my house is empty on a public forum...

 

Anyway the weather was great and I had a good time. However one thing really bugged me during the trip. I was driving around in the wrong car. Our A4 I was driving is very practical and relatively economical (well 43mpg for a diesel isn't really) but it felt so wrong. The TT would have been much better but still would have felt like something was missing.

 

This sort of trip and short holiday is exactly what I bought the MGB for. Buzzing around on a nice warm spring/summer days, seeing new sights and sounds in an old classic car. No rush and no haste needed.

 

I came to the conclusion that even if I sell this car, I'm likely to regret it as I haven't really experienced it properly. All I'll do then is buy another. Which would be silly when this one should* almost be usable after this current hump.

 

So for now I'm going to preserve with this time of pain and hope it gets better. Still on a very short leash mind. If it decides to blow its drivetrain up, it won't be staying much longer.

 

As a separate point, I spent quite a lot of evenings trying to find a place in the UK where land is cheap and I can have a big barn/storage. I'd love to hoover up a small, private collection of 60s/70s cars to play around in. Unfortunately it seems that anywhere that isn't a million miles away from where I am now, thats a tough call. So next is figuring out a way that I can achieve this.

[purplebargeken]

Good call mate. The bit of land and a barn is a fantasy shared by many on this forum I imagine. Me included. 

[Mally]

No matter how much space you have, unless its a field you will fill it.

You will then have less time to spend on each, and even less progress will result than at present.

Three cars at a time should be ample for you, swop and change as you do now.

You do need a larger Garage though.

[Bobthebeard]

No matter how much space you have, unless its a field you will fill it.

You will then have less time to spend on each, and even less progress will result than at present.

Spot on. Don't ask me how I know.

I have (just about) space for one car in the garage and five on the drive.

I have six cars currently.

See. It's true.

[busmansholiday]

Mally is correct, trust me. I've 7 vehicles at the moment and even being retired I don't have enough time to keep on top of them as I want. Currently the motorhome is top of the list for some attention after last week's trip. Then Mrs BMH's C3 appears to be leaking from the radiator. I actually washed the green film off the Seat yesterday, and cleaned it as the MoT is due in September (!). Need to sell the camper (37 km last year), the roadster is still under its winter cover, the green MG has been awaiting welding for about 5 years and as for the orange one...

 

Then I've a couple of Excelsior motorbikes in bits.

 

Entering the lottery, and winning, is the only way to achieve the dream.

[SiC]

Pipes arrived already. The bender is being shipped by Hermes, so I guess it could come anytime this month...

 

The nuts on this seem a lot chunkier than the one I fitted. This olive type fitting on the end is very similar to what is already on the existing one. My suspicion is the one on the car at the moment doesn't have a flat neck section on this bit and so the nut isn't sitting square. Just hoping that the thread on the tank isn't buggered either.

[SiC]

My bender has now arrived. I'm hoping that I'll find time and have decent weather to get on with this on Saturday.

 

Not sure I really can be bothered with this job mind. Got to get some of the fuel out, avoid getting stinky fuel all over me and pray that the thread on the tank fitting hasn't been buggered up.

[Sir Snipes]

Hey SiC it sounds like we were both on the IOW at about the same time! Did you get caught out by that weird road "closure" on the west side of Ventnor like we did?

[richardthestag]

My bender has now arrived. I'm hoping that I'll find time and have decent weather to get on with this on Saturday.

 

Not sure I really can be bothered with this job mind. Got to get some of the fuel out, avoid getting stinky fuel all over me and pray that the thread on the tank fitting hasn't been buggered up.

 

check out my brake pipe flare and shape episode of 72RRR, features this very tool

 

[SiC]

check out my brake pipe flare and shape episode of 72RRR, features this very tool

 

https://youtu.be/4idJ4YVPiqQ

I bought that one in particular based on your glowing recommendation!

 

Did the job alright when I used it. Only used it for the tighter bends. The others were easier to do by hand against my palm.

[SiC]

Soooo another job on this thing. One I really CBA to do but once I got going it was alright.

 

First order of business was draining the tank a bit.

 

I then stuck the old original tube, bent and hammered flat to stop the fuel dribbling out.

 

Took the current pipe off completely. Tried it on the old tank fitting. Makes it a bit clearer in these pictures what was going wrong. Basically the nut wasn't sitting square on. Notice the gap between the pipe and nut at the back is different between these two pictures.

 

Taking it back off and pushing the nut back (hard because of a blob of solder on the olive bit) made it clear what the issue was. The swarf was copper from the back of the olive fixing. Naturally stopping the nut seating flat onto the back of it.

 

I'm not sure if it was dodgy when I bought it or I overtightened it. I'll say it was dodgy when I bought it to make me feel better (probably wasn't...).

 

Bent the new pipe into place using the bending tool above and hands. This time I avoided any kinks. Absolutely ballache trying to bend and fit it to shape. I tried to avoid any points in the run where it could potentially rub against the car body. I'm much happier with how it fits under there now.

 

Wrapped the tank end threads in PTFE (Plumbers Tape Fixes Everything, right??) to try avoid any chance of leaking again. A hard thing to do when fuel keeps dribbling onto the tape.

 

I've run the engine up and kept an eye on the fuel filter. Seems happy as Larry now and no leaks! Yay!

 

Now to give it another clean after the local pterodactyls have left their mark again. On our drive, the neighbours TV antenna overhangs our drive. An unfortunate ideal sitting area for birds. Directly under that c pillar.

[320touring]

Good work on this, looks much happier fit this time:)

[Guest Hooli]

Looks a decent job as already said, hope it finally behaves. It damn well should after all that attention.

[busmansholiday]

Go for it, this is very positive news, hopefully this will prove what a lovely reliable car it is !!!!!

[SiC]

Bugger. I think I had the hosepipe pressure too high. This wing is really the main bit of bodywork that is letting the side down.

 

Also, this now works.

 

Not quite full as when I filled it up, I stopped on the first click. I think it needs a bit slower flowrate when near the top to fill completely.

[timolloyd]

Liked for the working fuel gauge, not the bird shit. Great job with the fuel tank. Time to double that mileage!

[SiC]

It needs (it's last) MOT first! Or wait 3 weeks.

 

I'm hoping to get it booked in this week at the garage around the corner (that sold the MGB I was really interested in). Had a chat with them too about not fully trusting it and asked what could I do. They had a bit of a bemused look, but said make a list of things you want checking and they'll have a look around those bits.

[Six-cylinder]

Trust will only come with using it.

[SiC]

Trust that I haven't missed anything and the wheels won't fall off will come from an experienced mechanic too.

[Mally]

You will hear a clunking noise just before the wheel falls off.

Usually because a 'mechanic' forgot to tighten them up.

[purplebargeken]

Just get them to do a general service, then MOT it. Most bases covered then.

 

Then drive it. Lots.

[Dick Longbridge]

Result. Annoying about the shitehawk crap though. I'm convinced our local ones eye me up when I wash the cars, just to taunt me.

Hope the check over is sooner rather than later so you can start to drive the old grump. Faeces and isolated crispy bit aside, the paint looks gleaming!