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

[Eddie Honda]

4 hours ago, plasticvandan said:

I never had any trouble with the original points su points in my minors,and liked the reassuring ticking on turning the ignition on

Never had any bother with my MK1 Austin 1100 and Wolseley 16/60 which had them.

[SiC]

With so much BL and BMC chod going on here at the moment, I thought it would be rude to not pay the old gal a visit.


Did a quick check over. Only thing of much note is that it looks like we've got a bit of seepage going on here.


Took a bit to get going. But once she's firing, she's very happily running.

6 minute drive later and she's back. Very handy now living around the corner from storage.

[SiC]

5 minutes ago, Claire84 said:

PS could you not take the back wall out of your garage to gain access to the garden for more cars?

Yes possibly:

https://autoshite.com/topic/30553-the-new-news-24-thread/?do=findComment&comment=2043555

[Anglevan]

that is one of my favorite cars on AS -  good to see it back out again..

[mrbenn]

2 hours ago, SiC said:

That is crying out for a large car port/covered area to be added to the front of the garage.

[SiC]

Eco-friendly*!


That was only moving it from cold. Admittedly that will always be the worst time for slack tolerances.

[SiC]

Went for a little jaunt this evening. Remembered why I bought this car and why we moved. Unlike Bristol City, I can buzz around back roads around here at my owns speed. If I did happen to break down, I can simply pull over and wave to the occasional motorist passing.

Anyway here are some scenic pictures out and about.

Toys!

 

As I'm sat here writing this, I can smell something.

Poo. At least petrol is cheap at the moment. Hopefully just needs nipping up.

[LightBulbFun]

1 minute ago, SiC said:

ahh so Majestic what a lovely view!

just like a 1980s CGA program!

[purplebargeken]

The Ind Estate sign needs photoshopping out and the photo redoing in B&W. It would look ace then. 

[1970mgb]

I'm often amazed at just how tight those banjo bolts need to be in order to be truly leak free...

[SiC]

1 hour ago, LightBulbFun said:

ahh so Majestic what a lovely view!

just like a 1980s CGA program!

Ha yes I don't know how Tapatalk managed to corrupt it. Fixed. 

25 minutes ago, purplebargeken said:

The Ind Estate sign needs photoshopping out and the photo redoing in B&W. It would look ace then. 

 

What about some olde generic filter thing on my phone? ?

To be fair, the sign could be valid in the late 70s! It's the security camera that ages it. ?

23 minutes ago, 1970mgb said:

I'm often amazed at just how tight those banjo bolts need to be in order to be truly leak free...

Yeah I had to gorilla tighten them on the old pump. This was the replacement pump put on by the local classic friendly garage. To be fair it did it when pulling it out of storage last year, and I'd personally put the last pump on. I suspect because of those fibre washers, they need re-tightening after settling a bit. Just hoping they didn't reuse the fibre washers. 

[SiC]

Pretty impressive run in my opinion

 

[purplebargeken]

Didn't see that CCTV thing. Just photoshop that out too

Would love to see it in B & W.

[mrbenn]

Here we go. I was actually going to do a joke edit where I scribbled across the camera in a contrasting colour but doing it properly was actually quicker and easier

[purplebargeken]

Just needs black and white stuffs now. We shall just ignore the modern shite in the background

[mrbenn]

[mrbenn]

Hope you don't mind me tinkering with the pic @SiC

[purplebargeken]

Oh wow, that looks right proper that does!

Thanks for that

[busmansholiday]

10 minutes ago, mrbenn said:

Takes me back to my yoouf when the world really was in B&W.

Like!

[SiC]

Spent a good amount of time last night cleaning this and giving it a good polish - including the glass! Just as I finished, a pair of swallows flew over and shat on it. Argh.

Anyway it's supposed to rain tomorrow and I didn't get it to storage in time before it closed. So I thought I'd might as well take it for a blast and make use of it being shiny.

Went a bit further today and had a little run up and down Cheddar Gorge. Unfortunately it's turned into a bit of a boyracer rat run, so there is a 30mph limit on most of it. You now need to be a bit careful of both police cameras and idiots over cooking it and going onto your side of the road.

However in the MGB, you can keep to that speed limit while having fun. I did try filming the route down but the phone mount fell off. I turned around and went back up filming again. The second time had large parts ending up as jelly-vision.

I wasn't going to bother uploading it, but as it's not all bad, I decided to. Also got stuck behind an Audi A1 at the top who was completely unable to deal with corners.

I'll have to figure out a better mount or something and do it again. Maybe wedge the phone in the passenger headrest or something.

[paulplom]

Get one of these 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/POPSOCKETS-OFFICIAL-EXPANDING-STAND-GRIP-FOR-SMARTPHONES-TABLETS-35-DESIGNS/362557990727?epid=12034398095&hash=item546a23e747:m:mkKRT-7OgywYCSs3t4bB4MQ

And hold it with your teeth.

[chadders]

Put it behind the grill offsett to the oil cooler?

It should only be a short distance to the fusebox.

I guess that you'd possibly need some sort of screen to protect it though.

[Tomtom]

Just finished reading this thread with much enjoyment.

Any recent FTP or other excitement, SiC?

[SiC]

1 hour ago, Tomtom said:

Any recent FTP or other excitement, SiC?

Thankfully not at the moment! Its been out for local blasts over the last couple of months. Currently temporarily back in storage as I've filled up at home with a broken 1100 in the garage and the Dolomite Sprint waiting outside to go in for further welding + mechanicals. Also the weather has turned crap recently with heavy rain and thunderstorms, so it probably appreciates being undercover in the dry. 

Engine is still tappy and that annoys the hell out of me. Something I want to sort as it detracts from driving it a fair bit. Also oil is still disappearing somewhere and I suspect out the back of the rear main seal. So once the 1100 is sorted and Dolomite back on the road, the MGB will be next in line for a bit of attention.

I'm thinking that maybe pull the engine and have a light rebuild. Bottom end bearing inspection/replacement and oil pump, then head ported. Rear end is getting pretty saggy too, so the rear springs are going to need replacing. Would like to get some cellulose paint matched up closer so I can deal with the rust blebs that are just starting to come up. 

All of which probably won't happen until next year realistically. In the meantime I'll just be buzzing around in it during times of nice weather. 

[Mally]

You can gt the sump off with the engine in, but it's not easy to get the bolts out.

Best to take engine out and do it all properly

[Noel Tidybeard]

here we go again with all the excuses not to drive it! ?

phact the sherpa coupe sounds betterer than your vw beetle so go out and spank it some moar!

[Tomtom]

11 hours ago, SiC said:

Engine is still tappy and that annoys the hell out of me. Something I want to sort as it detracts from driving it a fair bit. 

One (small) thing I noticed is that your bonnet is missing its rear felt. Could make things sound less like a spinning jenny?

 

11 hours ago, SiC said:

 Rear end is getting pretty saggy too, so the rear springs are going to need replacing. 

It's a sodding awkward job with the petrol tank in place. Much better with it out. I fitted Heritage springs earlier this year and after 500 miles they are still riding high and it handles like a randy kangaroo. Makes for sporting* driving as you bounce through corners sideways. (The previous set I had from MSC settled down much quicker. )

Good call getting the car under cover during the June monsoon.

[PhilA]

On 5/19/2020 at 9:37 AM, mrbenn said:

Here we go. I was actually going to do a joke edit where I scribbled across the camera in a contrasting colour but doing it properly was actually quicker and easier

The "Ind. Estate" sign has been there for years, easily 20. The caution-pedestrians and parking limitation sign is newer.

Nice little place, that is. You need a photo of it outside the church (if you can do so without getting run over).

[1970mgb]

13 hours ago, SiC said:

I'm thinking that maybe pull the engine and have a light rebuild. Bottom end bearing inspection/replacement and oil pump, then head ported.

In my own opinion, backed up by several engine builders, head porting alone is sort of wasted.

The biggest single gain comes from upping the C/R. I think UK engines stayed at 8.8:1  through most of production(US went to 8.0 in 72) but you'll get a big bump from going to ~9.5:1. In the US, it's an easy swap with a smog head, but in the UK you'll probably want to mill the head to give you a combustion chamber volume in the range of 38cc(stock should be roughly 42cc).

Beyond that, look at a cam. APT and Delta are the big suppliers in the US, and VP-12 and D9, respectively, are the preferred performance street grinds. In the UK, I think Kent and Piper are your easier to find brands. The relevant numbers on those are 270 and 285, with the 270 being a bit more like an APT VP-11 and the 285 a bit more aggressive than the D9.

[SiC]

23 hours ago, Mally said:

You can gt the sump off with the engine in, but it's not easy to get the bolts out.

Best to take engine out and do it all properly

Yeah that's what I've heard. Given it a pull will also give me a chance to clean up the engine bay a bit too. Plus I'm pretty sure the RMS is leaking and where copious amounts of oil are disappearing to. 

 

12 hours ago, Tomtom said:

One (small) thing I noticed is that your bonnet is missing its rear felt. Could make things sound less like a spinning jenny?

 

It's a sodding awkward job with the petrol tank in place. Much better with it out. I fitted Heritage springs earlier this year and after 500 miles they are still riding high and it handles like a randy kangaroo. Makes for sporting* driving as you bounce through corners sideways. (The previous set I had from MSC settled down much quicker. )

Good call getting the car under cover during the June monsoon.

If you mean the felt where the bonnet sits at the back, just after the cabin air inlet, I removed the rear felt when I bought it. Looked like something ripe for rubbing against the body and holding a lot of water! Hence probably go rusty quick. It's very tappy with the bonnet up. Way more than any A-series or B-series I've heard running. 

Springs seem to be a mixed bag. Some go flat quick and others do as you say. I was chatting to a guy on the BCC parts stand at the NEC last year and they do a set. Apparently very high quality steel. Which they should be at £375 a set! I know the other places are a lot cheaper but it makes you wonder the price difference. BCC said they couldn't get the raw materials in for what MSC and others charge for their leaf springs. 

 

12 hours ago, PhilA said:

The "Ind. Estate" sign has been there for years, easily 20. The caution-pedestrians and parking limitation sign is newer.

Nice little place, that is. You need a photo of it outside the church (if you can do so without getting run over).

The village was on our list of places to move to if something came up. Very pretty. Bit of a pain with the roads to get in and out of though. 

Don't you ever miss old blighty?

 

11 hours ago, 1970mgb said:

In my own opinion, backed up by several engine builders, head porting alone is sort of wasted.

The biggest single gain comes from upping the C/R. I think UK engines stayed at 8.8:1  through most of production(US went to 8.0 in 72) but you'll get a big bump from going to ~9.5:1. In the US, it's an easy swap with a smog head, but in the UK you'll probably want to mill the head to give you a combustion chamber volume in the range of 38cc(stock should be roughly 42cc).

Beyond that, look at a cam. APT and Delta are the big suppliers in the US, and VP-12 and D9, respectively, are the preferred performance street grinds. In the UK, I think Kent and Piper are your easier to find brands. The relevant numbers on those are 270 and 285, with the 270 being a bit more like an APT VP-11 and the 285 a bit more aggressive than the D9.

As ever, it's the intended use. I'm not particularly bothered too much about engine performance on this as I'm quite happy buzzing around sweeping A-roads and tight B-roads. A bit of extra overtaking performance would be nice but it's possible to use sustained momentum if planned appropriately. Probably a very different use case to the wide, straight roads (in comparison) to most of the US highway system. 

If anything because my car is so original and I'm getting really good compression out of it, I don't really want to modify it too much. Apart from the usual case of chasing performance numbers, it's also where do you draw the line. For me it's a light refresh that would be close to what does done out the factory. A head port could easily have been done if the factory worker making the head was having a bit more jolly day when cleaning up the castings for his personal factory order, etc. 

In terms of actual port, probably this: http://www.peter-burgess.com/page7.html

I could get the standard unleaded treatment but why not spend a little more and let Peter Burgess sprinkle some light magic into it. 

Maybe one day I'll get another MGB and tune that - possibly rubber bumper one. Or rip out the clattery Narrow Boat engine and drop a V8 in.