1971 MGB GT - Sentimental old fool - see page 5

[Rustybullethole]

Also. @Matty talks a lot of sense here. 

Happy hols. 

[SiC]

Get a welder setup first and start practicing outside in the garden by running beads on old metal. The run beads between two pieces of old metal to join them up. A solid weekend of faffing around will get you enough practice. 

Remember on car bodywork it's mostly about laying tacks. This is easy than beads and often you can't get a bead in as it'll blow holes or warp the metal to fuck. 

Once you've got the knack, you'll wonder what all the fuss everyone makes about welding is. MIG welding is easy. It's ARC and TIG processes that really requires skills. 

[Mally]

Yes leave as is rather than pop rivet,  and do not poke.

Any future buyer will run a mile if spotting a pop rivet, but may not mind a hole or two.

[dozeydustman]

Have a nice time in France, the ‘B looks pretty good for the price.

Reading what you had earlier said about number plates, if you do decide to keep white & yellows I’d go for period correct and not pressed metal nor acrylic.

https://www.pressednumberplates.co.uk/products/raised-riveted-white-yellow-number-plates
 

I had a set made for my second Scimitar aged ago when they were around £80/set. Pricey but they really would look the part. 

[chadders]

I've always considered the MGB to be partly monocoque and partially chassis, a sort of half way house from the MGA.

Maybe that's bollocks but having survived a number of accidents in mine, a roadster so lacking the strength a roof would add, that's my opinion.

[captain_70s]

3 hours ago, Peter C said:

My mind works in mysterious ways and all this talk about welding the B has really stressed me out, which is particularly unfortunate as I am away on what is supposed to be a R&R holiday.

I wouldn't stress about it.

Even if you do decided to go the whole hog with learning to weld there is no time limit, you'd still have a usable car in the interim. Frankly, a few holes here and there isn't going to meaningfully change the strength of the the shell. By the time my Acclaim failed it's MOT and we started hacking away it basically had no rear strut towers, sills or chassis rails and yet it'd failed to launch a suspension component into low Earth orbit or bend in half during the many thousands of miles of hard use I'd put it through.

@blackboilersuit and I were talking about this the other day, in that anybody who's had an old banger to drive around a field will know just how much structure you can remove from a car before it actually fails...

[artdjones]

If you pop rivet patches they may always be there, eating away at you. 

Bodges are only satisfying on end of life bangers.

[Peter C]

Back from my hols, was hoping to wake the B series from its short slumber. Nothing, battery completely dead. It's on charge as I write.

I left the tailgate open whilst I was away. There is a switch on the tailgate but I can't see any internal lights that the switch could have triggered.

Before I went away, with the engine running, the ignition light was on. I suspect there may be an electrical issue somewhere, which I shall add to my list of fixes.

 

[Westbay]

13 minutes ago, Peter C said:

Back from my hols, was hoping to wake the B series from its short slumber. Nothing, battery completely dead. It's on charge as I write.

I left the tailgate open whilst I was away. There is a switch on the tailgate but I can't see any internal lights that the switch could have triggered.

Before I went away, with the engine running, the ignition light was on. I suspect there may be an electrical issue somewhere, which I shall add to my list of fixes.

 

Alarm ?

[SiC]

18 minutes ago, Peter C said:

There is a switch on the tailgate but I can't see any internal lights that the switch could have triggered.

The light iirc in the middle on the ceiling right at the back.

[Peter C]

12 minutes ago, Westbay said:

Alarm ?

Definitely not as it doesn’t have one.

[Peter C]

9 minutes ago, SiC said:

The light iirc in the middle on the ceiling right at the back.

Nope.

[SiC]

Well it would have been when it left the factory 🤣

The stained marked bit in the middle is where it should be.

[plasticvandan]

Pretty sure purple and black was interior light colours,it maybe that it is connected to the main courtesy light?

[SiC]

You can see it alight in the middle at the top in this picture. Presumably yours fell off when that piece of trim fell apart/off.

 

[Peter C]

58 minutes ago, SiC said:

Well it would have been when it left the factory 🤣

The stained marked bit in the middle is where it should be.

Stained? How dare you. That's a shadow. 

[Peter C]

58 minutes ago, plasticvandan said:

Pretty sure purple and black was interior light colours,it maybe that it is connected to the main courtesy light?

I checked the dashboard mounted lights (x2) and both stayed off when I left the tailgate open. 

[chadders]

First of all I'd tape the switch shut and see if the problem recurs.

If it does the main fuse box is easily accessible and there's also very few in line fuses as standard. I virtually rewired mine as I'd added so many accessories over the decades; it was a pain but necessary. The cigarette lighter socket still doesn't work when the engine is running which is a bit annoying but I'm not going to try and fix it again and possibly screw something else up.

[Peter C]

With a bit of help from my battery charger, the engine started ok.

A quick look at the engine bay revealed a distributor that is free to move around - the locking nut is missing. I suspect the high idle and popping back via the carbs is due to very incorrect ignition timing. I don't have time to fiddle now, some of us work for living. Hopefully more on Saturday.