Project 1974 MGB GT - The Mustard (Mit) Mobility Scooter - After nearly 7yrs, The End (for me)

[alf892]

Just fit it as yours is

[SiC]

Just fit it as yours is

That does like a more sensible position with it connected on the back. However it does make me wonder if there is a valid reason to not connect it on the back. I mean surely the manufacturers would have done it that way as it looks right and looks easier to connect? Looking at mine I'm pretty sure it should be connected on the side by looking at the large flat area.

[Mally]

Fit it like the one on the car. Bleed nipple should always be at the highest point.

Think they screw the nipple in the end on the new one so it will fit in the box.

Can be difficult to bleed, but not as difficult as getting the old pipe off.

[Guest Hooli]

^^^ What Mally said.

[Sigmund Fraud]

Others say original parts are usually better quality than replacements.

 

In my experience, the quality of many reproduction parts for BMC/BL cars is shockingly poor.

 

I'd start by bleeding the clutch properly - if that doesn't do the trick, consider buying a new old stock seal set for the slave cylinder (I bet there's a few on ebay) and rebuilding it yourself.

[captain_70s]

I'd avoid any repo parts for a BL car if you can refurb an original bit. So far I've had duff starters, alternators, fuel pumps, starter solenoids and I've heard horrors about clutch and brake cylinders that have put me off buying them...

[somewhatfoolish]

I often find that fettling the old(and perhaps jen-you-wine BL/ARG) bit I've taken off my 1989 110 is a better long term bet than buying a new pattern part, especially if that bit has the words Brit anywhere on the packaging. If OEM is available I will take that. Apropos nothing, spotting errant BL bathplugs secreted on random parts attached to my previous 1986 110 was a diverting pastime.

[vulgalour]

OEM is best, usually, so definitely refurbish if you can.  Sometimes you can't.  I'd also recommend getting that chassis rail hole welded, it shouldn't be expensive for someone else to do it for you in all honesty and it's not going to creep into a bigger job.  Only pull the wing off to deal with the other rust you know about when you're happy to take the car off the road for a bit, you'll only know the full extent once the wing is off and it will either be a simple patch or a big rebuild, you won't know until you get in on that one.

 

Overall, from the photos, it does look pretty solid.  It's not caked in 3" of underseal which is a really good sign and what rust is visible, is really minor cosmetic type stuff rather than galloping rot.  You've not done that bad on this one, from what's visible.  Good spot on the vacuum pipe too, that would certainly mess things up!

[Mally]

inexpensive? maybe

 

Could actually be a good bit to learn on, SiC fancies learning mig and its an easy bit to learn on.

[SiC]

Funnily enough I was just looking at welding evening courses this morning and learn how to stick bits of metal together.

 

Locally to me there is: 

http://www.cityofbristol.ac.uk/courses/motor-vehicle-transport/welding/welding-level-1/ - City and Guilds foundation level.

Or

http://www.cityofbristol.ac.uk/courses/motor-vehicle-transport/body-repair-refinishing/vehicle-restoration-body-paint/ - A college driven course which, I guess, has less welding involved but has also other bodywork repair techniques. 

 

Siding towards more the pure welding course and then maybe doing the other afterwards. Both start next month and of a decent length (~20 hours over 2.5 months).

[vulgalour]

A course is useful but if you can, have a go with someone else's welder and some bits of metal.  You might find you pick it up quickly with a little direction, some people do, and a course might not then be so useful for you.  It's a weird skill, welding, it seems more of an art than a craft.

[danthecapriman]

Personally I wouldn't bother with a course. Buy or borrow a mig welder then get loads of scraps and off cuts of steel and just keep practicing. Try laying down welds on their own onto some steel then when your happy you've got that about right/machine set up ok try joining bits together. Lap joints and 90 degree joins then try butt welds.

 

I found it's a skill that takes practice, keep at it and eventually it 'clicks' and your sorted!

I did welding as part of another college course but it didn't really work for me. Afterwards I bought a mig welder of my own and a mate showed me the basics. After that I just got stuck in on scrap metal and quickly picked it up then. It's a great skill to have though.

[Mally]

Can be good to learn the correct way, but most just pick it up as they go.

Don't do the bodywork one, too many things at once, you will hardly grasp any of it.

[Sigmund Fraud]

Personally I wouldn't bother with a course. Buy or borrow a mig welder then get loads of scraps and off cuts of steel and just keep practicing.

 

^WHS.

 

I did a welding course a few years back, and we spent 90% of the time in our little booths trying to weld stuff together. Very occasionally, our tutor would sneak up behind us, take a look at our masterpieces, tell us we needed to turn the wire speed up or down a couple of notches, and disappear, mumbling obscenities about how impossible it was to make competent welders out of us.

 

Another issue with many courses (including the one I did) is that the skills you build are not necessarily transferrable to car work. We worked on fairly thick, clean steel, in proper booths with welding tables and extractor fans, using all-singing, all-dancing industrial welders and posh argomix. I then had to re-learn everything, as I had to weld crappy, paper-thin steel surrounded by flammable underseal/insulation/trim, inches from a tankful of petrol, while lying on my back on cold concrete, using a £50 ebay welder running pub gas.

[SiC]

First order of parts has arrived. Replacement brake pipes and distributor vac advanced.

 

Ready for some fun* for the weekend.

[Exiled_Tat_Gatherer]

Fella - looks a great purchase..... I watched the 'lusting' and thought you'd cave at some point. My old GT was my first car - I just jumped right in at 17 and loved every minute of it (almost - and rose tinted eye wear may be applicable here).

 

If you can get something to seal up the top of the inner wing or prevent splashback from getting up there for now - until it can be welded - please do it. They tend to rot from mud etc.... sitting there, then everything drains down and in. You'll end up with nasty surprises down the a-post, inner and outer floor seams and most horribly - the castle points (long term memory may have that named incorrectly). All of the damage will of course be out of sight until too late and major hassle/expense is incurred..... just to give you a heads up.

 

It looks a great car and well looked after, a good deal and a lovely colur. Mine was the eautiful 'citrus' lime green/yellow version and I dream of another at some point soon in my immediate future.

 

Good luck with it and I'll be among the throng watching.........

 

John

[SiC]

Got a few more things arrive that need fitting this weekend. I decided to buy a replacement set and then a rebuild kit for the old one incase this is crap quality. Also didn't want to start rebuilding the old to find the chamber damaged and having to get one anyway.

 

I made the mistake of taking the seal off the end and blowing into it when sitting at my desk at work. Had to do the thing of scrabbling over the floor to recover the spring and seals. Oops. At least I know how to rebuild them now!

Really not a lot to these slave cylinders. No wonder they're pretty cheap. So cheap, I wonder if it's just as easy to buy another and use the parts off that to replace the bad parts. Especially as the rebuild kit seems to just contain the rubber seals and none of the retaining parts or springs.

[Mally]

Less worrying about the slave cyl.

More worrying about removing the flexy clutch hose from the chassis brk.

Have you soaked the big nut yet?

[SiC]

Less worrying about the slave cyl.

More worrying about removing the flexy clutch hose from the chassis brk.

Have you soaked the big nut yet?

I gave it a squirt a few days ago, but its rained heavily and multiple times since. Which reminds me, I need to go down and get some imperial sized crows feet. I suspect it won't be a metric size to fit the ones I have already.

[Mally]

I used a deep socket, but can't remember the size. I think it's bigger than on the new one.

I almost gave up and cut the bracket off, then it undid....................but I have a pit.

Yours may be a piece of cake.

[SiC]

I used a deep socket, but can't remember the size. I think it's bigger than on the new one.

I almost gave up and cut the bracket off, then it undid....................but I have a pit.

Yours may be a piece of cake.

I've just ordered on click and collect some imperial deep sockets, so I have that as a back up. I assume you chopped the pipe right down before using it?

 

I've also got my impact driver (not wrench) that might help rattle it enough to break any rust bonds. Iirc it's about 120NM, so not strong enough to break things up. Strong enough to round things off though...

 

I need to invest in a proper impact wrench some time.

[Mally]

Yes chop the hose off.

Then you have to change it

[Pete-M]

In my experience, the quality of original parts for BMC/BL cars is shockingly poor.

 

FTFY

[SiC]

Wanted to go out and fiddle tonight, but guess what? It started raining.

 

So I went for a drive instead!

 

Now time for some random musings...

 

Gear changes definitely getting better. Not sure if it's just things freeing up or me just getting better at changing. Only went into reverse, instead of 2nd once! The grating you get from it really does tell you off. Whines a bit in 1st and 2nd and is especially noticeable when you clutch down then select. I guess that's normal and just an old car, not modern car thing.

 

Revs drop a fair bit with the clutch down. First few times it takes quite a while before it drops. If you sit too long with it down, then bring it up and then do it again, it drops quicker. I believe this is just a quirk of carbon release bearings from Googling and that as long as it doesn't drop too much then it's not to worry about.

 

Filled up the tank with some Sainsbury's super unleaded. Gauge now reads just under full, but not quite full! I don't have a lot of faith in that gauge. Might fill a can of petrol up and leave it in the boot when the car starts getting low, just in case...

Reminds me of a mates 60s Beetle. Full was over the full mark, completely empty was just to the left of a price sticker stuck on the gauge face!

 

Brakes aren't brilliant. Front discs look pretty glazed/not shiny. They do work though, so not in a massive rush to change them. Heavy at first, then you can feel the brake assistance slowly kick in. Didn't want to press too hard and burst those old looking brake pipes. They'll hopefully be changed this weekend if the weather is cooperative.

 

Most of the dash bulbs need changing as all pretty dim - suspect just from age related wear dimming on them. Mph counter shakes a tad under 20mph. Not as bad as I've seen others do it. I remember distinctly my MK1 MX5 having a shaking needle when cruising.

 

It needs a new steering wheel. Horn centre rattles as you go over bumps. More irritatingly is that, the back of my legs have a habit of hitting the back of the steering wheel boat tiller when releasing my foot off the pedals. Also looks tired. Not sure what size to go for. 15" looks large but supposed to be easier to manuouver. 13" looks the best, but apparently hard work. 14" still hardish, but a lot seem to like. Quite expensive things though, so don't really want to buy and find it's too hard work.

 

Finally the front right wheel seems to have a slow puncture. It was at around 5psi before I pumped it up today. I suspect it's not sealing around the rim properly. Will take it in and have the tyre swapped around onto one of the original rims, or the 5th rim I bought in this set.

[SiC]

Oh another thing. The seat belt moves in and out fine. However if you tug it, it doesn't lock like modern cars do. Is this normal?

 

I know in the handbook it mentions braking hard at 5mph to test. I wondered if there was something in there that locked the belt when the car de-accelerated quickly?

 

If not and the locking mechanism is fubar, new seat belts will be an extra thing to the list! Luckily not terribly expensive at around 50quid each side for Securions.

[Guest Hooli]

It should lock when you tug it. I seem to recall something about some belts not working if the reel isn't installed at the correct angle, worth a look if it's not lined up with the belt I guess.

 

I put a 14" wheel in my Midget, it's only heavy when parking.

[SiC]

It should lock when you tug it. I seem to recall something about some belts not working if the reel isn't installed at the correct angle, worth a look if it's not lined up with the belt I guess.

 

I put a 14" wheel in my Midget, it's only heavy when parking.

Definitely doesn't lock when tugged. I did read about them being at the right angle. However it looks like it's installed pretty flat. Going by the age they look possibly original. I guess seatbelts on this age are likely to have been installed out of the factory?

[Guest Hooli]

I'd think so. Mine was '78 & had fixed belts from the factory, but the B being more expensive might well have had posh retracting belts from new.

[SiC]

I used a deep socket, but can't remember the size. I think it's bigger than on the new one.

I almost gave up and cut the bracket off, then it undid....................but I have a pit.

Yours may be a piece of cake.

Do you remember if it was a metric or imperial? On the new pipes, the imperial sockets I've just bought don't appear to fit on any of the fixings!

[Guest Hooli]

Did you buy AF, Whitworth or the other one I can't remember?