quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
LOL it's like a SF version of Roadkill.....


Car looks good without the DOT bumpers, electrical problems can be daunting, I start at the end and work backwards until I can find power and thus the culprit.

Yeah, it was late when I got the new solenoid wired up. Getting power there, but not passing power to the starter. Need to have someone bump the key while I'm under the hood with a multimeter.

Looks like I got a bad starter [reman].
Not looking forward to pulling it, again.
It's getting voltage from the solenoid on demand from the key being turned to start, but nada.

Called the store & they'll warranty replace it, but I have to bring it in to get that process going.

Returned the reman starter, and went down near my office, IAH area, to get a new starter. Biggest Autozone store I've ever seen.

Mounted the new starter & it fired right up. Took her for a shot 10 mile loop to a Trader Joe's for some pizza dough.

Broke the wire for the oil pressure sensor light while mounting the new starter. Old, brittle wires. Hoping I can just put a new [female] blade connector on the wire.

Small family photo

Looks like it's grinning!

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:
Looks like it's grinning!

I know I sure was.
Still driving with a keen eye on the gauges, but it's running well. May drive it to work this week & give it a freeway workout.

Still need to chop the ends of the framerails out & get an earlier grille.

Also thinking about a muffler delete, both to get a better sound & take off the shin killer sticking out the back since removing the rear bumper.

Guy on the MG forum weighed his rubber bumpers when he removed them. 88lbs combined, I think it was 53lbs on the front.

Decided to do something potentially foolish & removed the rear box muffler, leaving just the resonator/pre-muffler. It's definitely louder, but not obnoxious. It'll do until I can get the exhaust redone to match the header [currently it's about 1/4" smaller dia].

Before:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/rDMrv4ZtmZEPwY6f6

After:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/tDpVdzTJMydSAikNA

Brief test drive [phone mount blocks the camera:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/8ujRQfdhooLiSwdAA

Drove her to work this morning, no problems other than it being a bit warm in the 80s, supposed to be quite hot this afternoon.

Got busy and forgot about this, it did sound like you might have a bad starter since you had power to it... Glad you worked it out, couple of mechanics I know of said they have gone through up to 5 reman parts to get a working one at times LOL

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
Got busy and forgot about this, it did sound like you might have a bad starter since you had power to it... Glad you worked it out, couple of mechanics I know of said they have gone through up to 5 reman parts to get a working one at times LOL

Skipped the reman & bought a 'new' from AutoZone.
It was their store brand, but the starter says Lucas on it & has the similar clamp/band that the O'Reilly reman had.

In any case, it's running again & made it down to the office without incident.

Small chance I may try to add a B to the stable.
Neighbor has what I think is a 67 B that's been parked in his garage under a lot of boxes with the hood up at least since we've been in this house [about 1.5 yrs]

Saw him sitting in the driveway one day with another neighbor & walked over to chat a bit. This was a bit before we bought the Midget.
From what I recall, it ran when it was parked, needs some bodywork [unknown amount] but that he has the body panels needed.
Also has AC [probably R12 & not charged].

Leaving for work this morning & it was parked in his driveway with a cover partially over it.
If it's still outside after work, I may see if he's looking to sell it & if it's priced right, try to get it up to my dad's shop.

Love the Midget for what it is, but something with a bit more space/power and better highway manners would be nice for longer trips.
Keep the Midget for local jaunts & the B for longer trips; sounds foolproof, right?

No updates yet

Got her out for the first drive of the year. Needed dog food, and the weather is fantastic [rain forecast for tomorrow], so I ran her up to Tractor Supply. Got a couple compliments from the cashiers as I walked in, along with a "what is that?".

Plans this month are to do the conversion to an electric fuel pump & route a crankcase vent off the blockoff plate for the mech pump.
We'll see if the extra CV helps with the small oil leak I have [which seems common with Weber equipped 1500s].

If not, will plan for a engine/trans pull & reseal/gasket refresh.

Have a guy a couple hours away that has a Mk3 grille & 1500 4spd, need to find some time to get up there & get them. I've got a 2nd gear grind, so having a spare trans to refresh & swap in would be nice.

Also got around to fitting the deck cover yesterday [covers the top when it's down & looks much better].
Drove it to work last month on a Saturday morning & had the top try to suck out of the cabin at 70mph.
The deck cover needs some work. The tenax snaps on the driver's side are great & the interior snaps are all good.
The passenger side is missing a tenant & another is in the wrong spot. None of the rear snaps will seat.
Fitted it prior to taking it out this morning, no catastrophe at 60mph with the rear snaps loose, so that's promising that it'll at least keep the top secured as is.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: P250UA5,

Also, the prior post about the B was a no go. He had it out due to a fuel leak & "plans to get it going again"
But, I think it'll sit idle until he can't do anything with it. Just need to stay the good neighbor & get first dibs on it.

1967 was a transitional year for the MGB. If you think more about it (if your neighbor decides to sell), early '67 B's had 3-main bearing engines and non-synchro 1st gears, later in 1967 they switched to 5-mains and full-synchro. There was probably some overlap of engines and transmissions, I'd bet.

The 3-main engine was considered to have better torque characteristics, but the 5-main was more durable and a bit smoother-running, the obvious choice for a daily driver. The full-synchro gearbox seemed sloppy to me, compared to the Moss box which shifted beautifully, and I never missed that 1st gear synchromesh. However, 2nd gear synchromesh tended to fail early and was a PITA. I already knew how to work a non-synchro box from some early trucks I drove, but still, it is a weakness.

I raced SCCA Showroom Stock in the very early days of the class. I used to joke that when they named the class, they imitated the sound of a Showroom Stock Sedan and had us put the class letters next to the racing numbers: S S S sounded like a muffler-equipped Pinto or Opel 1900 accelerating and shifting. When they decided to open the category to sports cars a well, they drove an MGB around the track and heard S S *Crunch!*

By the way, I drove a couple Pinto's and a Fiat 124 Special TC in SSS, and no MGB ever beat me! Elegant and sporty, yes -- definitely! Slower and worse-handling than a Pinto -- unfortunately!

My first B was a 1965, 3-main and Moss box. My second was a 1968 or 1969, 5-main and full-synchro. I miss taking them out for a back-road drive in the summer, top-down. I hope you get your neighbor to sell!

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
Also, the prior post about the B was a no go. He had it out due to a fuel leak & "plans to get it going again"
But, I think it'll sit idle until he can't do anything with it. Just need to stay the good neighbor & get first dibs on it.

Neighbor came & knocked on my door a couple weeks ago & said he wanted to give me first dibs on the B.
I think it's a 66 not a 67, currently not running.

Need to get by there & really give it a solid look over & try to get an idea what he wanted for it. He initially said "make me an offer", which in my head makes me want to toss $500 out there, since it needs work.

Keep the Midget for date night/around town/wife's car
Add the B for longer trips/my car.

Measured my little parking area where the Midget is & the B will fit with about 2ft of total buffer room in length, would just need to extend the roof to cover the full length.

Older photo, same state of condition, just parked in a different place with the hood up.
Posting from tatortodd's couch while she cools down. Didn't think 80* would be too hot to drive, still got the vaporlock condition & think I overheated the starter cranking on it.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:


Returned the reman starter, and went down near my office, IAH area, to get a new starter. Biggest Autozone store I've ever seen.

Mounted the new starter & it fired right up. Took her for a shot 10 mile loop to a Trader Joe's for some pizza dough.

Broke the wire for the oil pressure sensor light while mounting the new starter. Old, brittle wires. Hoping I can just put a new [female] blade connector on the wire.

She's dead, Jim.

Ever since I put this starter in, it's seemed like it cracks more slowly than before, and gets progressively slower the longer it takes.
Went out to let it run for a bit, since I haven't driven it in over a week. Pretty slow cranking.
Pop the hood & greeted with a smoking starter with electric burn smell.

Pulled the battery as a precaution. Called AutoZone & it's still under full replacement warranty. Just have to go through the trial of pulling it, again.

If the next starter slow cranks like before, may just get my $ back & spend the extra for a high torque model.

Back in business.
Put in the [3rd for me] starter yesterday after work. Have it down to about a 30 min job on the pull/install each.
Good, strong cranking has been restored. Took it for a brief victory la around the neighborhood since I haven't driven it in a little over a week.

Next projects:
-Replace mechanical fuel pump with an electronic. This'll also remove the extended cranking sometimes needed to prime the fuel system after sitting for a while.

-Install blockoff plate where the mechanical pump is located & tap for a vent/filter setup. Should relieve some crankcase pressure & hopefully reduce/stop the small oil leak. Seems a common problem on Weber equipped Midgets, as the Weber doesn't pull a vacuum like the ZS & SU carbs do.

-Fix oil pressure sensor. Wire broke off the female blade connector when installing the starter.
Will also plumb in the disconnected [since purchased] oil pressure gauge. Will have to install a T & source a short bit of tubing to reconnect.

Oil pressure seems...... important!
Good job on getting her back up and going.

quote:

Next projects:
-Replace mechanical fuel pump with an electronic.

I dunno, you think it's wise to add more electrical parts on a british built car

Just saying Sir Lucas can't mess up a mechanical pump...

On the starter, if this one goes up in smoke then something else is probably
going bad, have you replaced the wires going to the starter, ground, power, and checked the ignition wires back to the source, just to be sure...

The Facet pump upgrade is pretty common & the pre-75 Midgets had an electric SU fuel pump.
Guessing the change to the Spitfire engine was the reason, since it probably already had the mech pump.

Give then the 3rd starter had the slow start issue from 'new', I think it was a defect that was just enough to work until it decided to try immolation.
The new one is cranking like it did when we bought it, before the key got stuck on & burned up the first one.

On to a new no start problem.
Car started almost immediately yesterday, happily.
Went to run an errand today & just get a click.

Noticed one of the posts on the ign solenoid was loose, tightened it up, still just a click...
Got it to crank once, in the middle of trying, then nothing.