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

[tooSavvy]

... ah yes, all fuel tanks have an *expensive hole in them

 

TS

[Minimad5]

Some O-rings are made of poor rubber.
I'd opt for a Viton rubber, good fuel and oil resistance

[Rusty_Rocket]

I'd probably use copper washers there.  If it's fuel tight, leave it! I know you're spending a lot, but the costs really do settle down after a while.. (just tell her that?!) 

[Guest Hooli]

Some O-rings are made of poor rubber.

I'd opt for a Viton rubber, good fuel and oil resistance

 

That. Provided it's a fuel proof O-ring it'll be fine.

 

 

ETA. Fibre washers because that's what the factory used to keep the rivet counters happy.

[SiC]

It was from my box of general o-rings. So probably not fuel safe!

[Guest Hooli]

I think most O-rings are now days. The ones I've seen in fuel systems feel like exactly the same material as the box of el-cheapo ones I've got.

[SiC]

Plucked up the courage today to do some suspension work. High energy device like springs and fuel systems scare me. It doesn't help that a family friend on my wife's side is an experienced, careful professional mechanic who had a spring let go into his face at work. Ended up in hospital for a number of weeks with a very bashed up and cracked face.

 

The problem is the offside suspension damper, not really damping.

 

[Video]

 

This one actually looks pretty decent from the outside and possibly been replaced previously.

 

I jacked up the car, put a stand underneath and then put the jack under the spring pan. Using the jack I pushed up the pan to take some of the tension off the top of the lever arm. Once up, I put a zip tie around the back of the kingpin/trunnion/something bit and a bit of wire. Then undid the bolt at the top and released the jack.

 

The two came apart pretty easily and used needed a few taps of the mallet to completely split the two apart. Once the jack was released, the spring mostly had the tension removed. Releasing the jack was the most nerving part for me. Apart from the corner of the spring pan, it was safe.

 

4 bolts removed that were holding the damper on and it was free.

 

 

The damper gave pretty much no resistance when the arm was moved. I didnt film the recon one, but it requires significantly more effort to move the arm.

[Video]

 

Popped it up on the bench and it became clear why it wasn't working.

 

It was completely empty!

 

Now I had previously tried to fill it up through the fill port at the top. It overflowed everytime I tried. I can only guess that the fill hole to the chamber doesn't allow the air to escape quick enough.

 

I took the front valve bolt out and drained the remains of the fluid inside, which was really rather yucky.

 

Yum.

 

I flushed the insides out with some cheapy Wilko engine oil to try and remove as much of the detritus as possible.

 

I then set about filling it back up again with shock oil. Old bits of stud work off cuts came in very handy to prop the unit up. This is why I hoard!

 

I cleaned up the cork gasket and used this sealant to seal the gap between the flanges and gasket material. I had previously bought it to reseal the Saab 9-5 (that Hooli now has) gearbox valve body cover but never got around to. It's special stuff that only seals in areas of no air and also stays suspended in oil - which prevents it clogging up stuff if you use too much.

 

I now apologise to whoever has to open this up again next! The screws were made of the cheapest, softest metal I've known. Also this head was rounded off before I got to it anyway. I didn't have any replacements, so this had to do.

 

Then I had to reassemble it all. I had bought replacement bush and bolt kit for the top bolts, but in hindsight the bushes didn't look too bad. I can only guess they may have been changed when the kingpins were done recently.

 

I replaced them anyway as I had the bits. Longer term I want to replace all the bushes with Polybushes anyway. The bushes on the bottom of the arm at the pivot point look a bit more worn and they flex about when putting pressure on the bottom arms.

 

Getting the lever arm down over the bush was a bit of a fight. I undid the bolt in the middle to give me a bit of movement so I could pry it apart. Still required a flat head screwdriver to persuade into place an plenty of percussion maintance with a rubber mallet to get the arm into place. The new bolt went through without too much trouble, I torqued it up and put a new split pin through the castellated nut.

 

At this point I had spent most of the afternoon doing this, so it was now dark, dinner was nearly ready and it started raining! I gave quick push on the suspension again and ... it still bounced. Damn it.

 

I guess this is why people hate these lever arms? Hopefully it's just some air in it that needs to work its way to the top. I did try my best to get as much out as possible though. I just hope it didn't puke all its fluid out of the back again. I did try to make sure the back was done up as tight as I could possibly do - even using my impact driver to make sure of it. The RTV does take 24hrs or so to set, so hopefully it wasn't because of that either.

 

I might have to do it again tomorrow and take a video, as maybe it's better but as there is still some bounce it's hard to judge.

[PhilA]

Should bounce 1.5 times if you push down on the wing (down, up, settle), any other little wobbles are acceptable and usually in the rest of the suspension and tires.

 

If it keeps going like a horny dog then you've got a problem

 

There was a good place in Bedminster that did all kinds of seals and rubber stuff, I'll have to ask my old man if he remembers where it's at.

 

Phil

[SiC]

I'll give it another bounce test later. It might not be as bad as I'm remembering it. Well if it is, then I've got either air in it or its leaking back out again! The other side seals look pretty tired and split but it seems to be ok, as seen on the video. It definitely isn't as hard nor give a single bounce like the other side's do though.

 

Longer term I'm tempted to buy a pair of brand new ones if they keep giving trouble. The conversion kits look tempting, even if pricey but I'd rather give the original lever arms a chance as I don't want to spoil the magic* of what the car is.

[SiC]

Looking at the two videos, I think it's much better. How it is now:

 

For comparison, how it was:

[Video]

 

Passenger side is definitely better. Not sure whether to just put this reconditioned dampener on the drivers side instead and be done with it. Of course that may not be much better...

[richardmorris]

Seems a lot better. I counted four bounces to a dead stop before and only two after.

[tooSavvy]

SiCs 'dead cat car bounce' on YouTube 

 

Keep it up...

 

 

TS

[SiC]

A bit of a quick update from the weekend.

 

Fitted new fuel pump.

 

Required a bit of bodging to fit as the pump is not as fat as a standard SU.

 

The fibre washers from Midland Sports Classics are a much better fit in the unions than what Moss supplies.

 

I also cut off and crimped new spade connectors on, as the originals were horrible looking. Electricity won't like flowing through this.

 

Powered up the car, poked my head under the pump to check for fuel leaks and found this...

 

Luckily I envisaged this potentially happening (pipes were rusty) and bought new pipes at Beaulieu Autojumble.

 

I fitted these, but as it was getting dark I made the mistake of rushing. This lead me to fitting it in the wrong route and I had to take it out again. So unfortunately it has a whole bunch of kinks are bends that aren't supposed to be at places and I can't bend them too much more without work hardening and cracking the pipes.

 

I'm not happy with the job and I'll probably buy a new pipe and redo it. No doubt it's fine, but it's messy.

 

Old crusty pipe.

 

While underneath the front I fitted new anti-rollbar bushes.

 

The bar itself wasn't too bad around the bush but I still gave it clean up with a wire brush.

 

Bushes weren't perished but the holes were elongated. Enough to be able to wobble the bar up and down when jacked up.

 

Also the fuel tank have arrived now, ready to fit. The first wasn't packaged with any protection and so the tabs ended up being bent. It was sent back to Midland Sports Classics and they sent a replacement with no quibbles.

[SiC]

Next question for the resident MGB experts...

 

I've bought V8 bushes to redo the inner wishbone as Polybushes are a fair bit more expensive. However I'm wondering if I should return the V8 ones and just fork out to get a set of polys? Is it worth the additional cost (like 10x more) and the much less hassle (V8 need pushing in, poly just assembled)?

 

Not sure which ones to get if I do, but probably buy the expensive/overpriced superpro ones from Moss as they're local and I can do it this weekend.

[tooSavvy]

.... You seen my 'crusty fuel pipes' m8 :/

 

TS

[Sir Snipes]

Use the bushes you have. Pressing them isn’t usually a massive war, though I’ve never done MGBspecifically.

Polybushes can get squeaky noisy and we saw a few that had failed very quickly. Don’t know if they hadn’t been greased or whatever but I not so convinced they’re as fit and forget as people hope.

[mercrocker]

Polybush quality seems to vary a fair bit.   Because people who drive Morris Minors seem to want to pay 7/6 for everything there are some bushes at that end of the market that seem to be reconstituted jelly babies.   Get the Supaflex ones.   As for rubber -  I haven't seen anything for BMC cars that I would personally waste my time fitting for quite a while.

 

I also wonder whether people just fit new bushes without checking the state of the actual components as well.....

[richardthestag]

If going for it buy proper polybush or powerflex. Cheap patterns are also available, try not to be tempted

 

from my experience with both staaag and range rover oem rubber bushing is nice and compliant and comfy. BUT and certainly on the range rover rubber bushes became an almost annual replacement. Poor quality of rubber was the root cause. 

 

I bought a set of Red polybushes for the main suspension components of the RR and shook my fillings out over the next 2 years. I thought about going back to rubber BUT then I found Polybush Blue. These have been on for nearly 100k miles now and still good and rattlefree

 

Have a mix of rubber and poly on the Staaag. When trailing arm bushes wear on the staaag the rear wheels dont sit central in the rear arches. arb rattles and front bottom link klonks and bonks and the whole experience is well just a bit pants.

 

Most of the stag was done 15-20 years ago and again is still rattle free and good. I have qualitay rubber fitted to dampers, subframe ends (these had to be NOS, bastard to find) and strut tops. else the whole thing is powerflex'd up. rear trailing arms, diff mounts, front bottom links and arb

 

Removing suspension arms to press bushes in is a faff that I could do without in all honesty. And with the difference comfort levels offered I see no reason for my "keepers" to not go down the poly route

 

HtH

[SiC]

This is the bush set I would consider buying:

http://www.moss-europe.co.uk/superpro-polyurethane-suspension-bush-kits-mgb-c-v8.html

 

Not cheap, but it appears SuperPro is a rather large company that has been making bushes for sometime and so hopefully the quality is reasonable. But I'd mostly consider it because I can go down to Moss tomorrow and pick them up - rather than waiting till next week when an order arrives.

 

I guess I'm a bit suspicious of the V8 bushes that Moss sells as they're pretty darn cheap:

http://www.moss-europe.co.uk/bush-front-wishbone-inner-rubber-bhh1123.html?assoc=112101

 

£1.36 each for a bush - all 4 is under £6. Hence not sure on the quality nor longevity of them. Given that to get to the bushes, I need to remove the wishbone arms, spring pan, spring and kingpin, I only really want to do this job once.

 

However I also don't want a car that is rock solid and after a couple of months the bushes (i.e. if went poly) start squeaking!

[richardthestag]

lube the poly bushes up, make sure that the bolt is coppereased before fitting and mine are pretty silent

[SiC]

Good point. I copper greased the top wishbone bushes, however I'm not sure if that was a good idea? Would the grease attack the rubber?

[busmansholiday]

If you don't want to do the job twice go for the blue polybush. I'm a masachist and Yorkshireman so used rubber bushes when I did the roadster last winter.

 

Start spraying all the bottom pan nuts and bolts with a good penetrating oil, I had to cut all mine off with an anglegrider as they were that seized.

 

You're doing a grand job, if you need more practice I've a pair of GT's that are awaiting my time in the garage.

[danthecapriman]

Another vote for blue poly.

 

I've fitted them to loads of cars now and had no problems. I've got loads to go on the Capri shortly now too. They feel fine when driving and they will outlast modern cheap shit rubber easily, especially if you fit them properly.

 

Great job on this so far btw.

[SiC]

I think I'll get some then. Debating whether to buy some from Moss this weekend in the hope I can do them soon or just pay less online with another brand. I need to take back that lever shock absorber as I probably won't end up using it.

 

Speaking to Moss branch, they apparently take stuff that is resalable upto 12 months with a receipt. Very reasonable and almost worth paying the extra it costs buying there.

[Guest Hooli]

Don't forget to let me know when you're selling this one for £180 too

[SiC]

Don't forget to let me know when you're selling this one for £180 too

It's getting to that at the moment!!

 

Bad 2 days.

 

Started on these bushes yesterday. Unfortunately Moss didn't have any Polybushes in stock, so I decided to go ahead with the V8 bushes.

 

Big fight with rusty parts to this stage. The ARB link required brute force off the car.

 

ARB link bolt at the top split. Need to get a replacement locknut.

 

Old bushes were knackered. At least this justifies me doing this job.

 

Squished the bushes in by abusing a vice.

 

Both were a fight. One went in ok in the end. The other went all wierd at the other end.

 

Got the wishbone arms back on the a-arm ok.

 

Buggered a bolt up on the wishbone pan. This requires pulling the whole thing apart again. At this point I called it a day and started again this morning.

 

Got the bolt out and replaced. Tightened it all up again. Found that the bottom kingpin bolt when tightened up seems to tighten much tighter than before. Past the point for the castellated nut to have a split pin through.

No idea what's going on there.

 

Carried on anyway. Dropped the car onto ramps so I could tighten up the a-arm bolts when the suspension is loaded. Required loads of force to get it even close to the split pin hole for the castellated nut. Got fed up, so used this.

 

Despite being a wimpy tool, it managed to fuck up the a-arm thread.

 

At this point I'm pretty annoyed. Dropped the car to the floor and decided to do something easier like tune the carbs.

 

Started up the engine to get some heat through the engine first. Noticed the alternator light hadn't extinguished.

 

Current clamp meter says all.

 

Now sat in the car typing this.

 

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH x 1000

[SiC]

So after this weekend I now need:

• New a-arm(s). Possibly worth getting 2 and replace the other side while I'm at it.
• New ARB link(s)
• Something to fix that lower kingpin bolt. Maybe pack out with washers?
• Might just go for poly bushes for ease of installation. Especially considering how hard that a-arm bolt needs to go to squidge the bush into place. However I'll need to get the 2 out I've fitted already.
• New alternator. I suspect the squeaking belt I've been having from the engine is from the alternator all along. Possibly maybe even the ticking.

[danthecapriman]

Shit!

 

If it's any consolation, I get days like that too. Sometimes for no obvious reason it's just not your day and everything goes to hell.

Pack up and do something else, try again another day when you've calmed down! It's just old car stuff!

 

For the nuts and bolts, it might be worth investing in a load of new bolts and nyloc nuts instead. No need to worry about the old split pin jobbies then.

[SiC]

Just started it up again in the vain hope the alternator might work ...

 

And it did.

 

High idle puts out notably more power.

 

If I wobble the bulb on the rev counter it flickers in and out of action. Not sure if it's the bulb, alternator a bit dicky or both.

 

I certainly don't know if I can trust that alternator now!

[danthecapriman]

It's the time of year for that sort of shit on old stuff unfortunately. Lack of use, damp and cold. My Capri and Granada both used to do that sort of thing once the weather started to turn.