Sunday 9 December 2012

Engine Ready for Removal

I haven't had much spare time this week to spend in the workshop, but did manage to grab a couple of hours today. 

So far with this project the only trouble I have had was with half a dozen rusty bolts which has been a massive boost to my motivation and to get the engine out will be another big psychological win. Just to recap the plan is to remove nearly everything off the chassis and start repairs on those areas that need attention. Not surprisingly the rust still seems to be restricted to the common areas. However some of the areas are looking far worse than my initial investigations.

Engine and gearbox are the last few parts to remove (other than the front and rear suspension, as I need to keep her rolling) and today I am just about ready to start the process of lifting out the engine and gearbox in one.


MG Midget 1965 MKII Restoration

MG Midget 1965 MKII Restoration MG Midget 1965 MKII Restoration MG Midget 1965 MKII Restoration MG Midget 1965 MKII Restoration

Monday 3 December 2012

Wiper Motor Restoration

On Saturday night I cleaned up the wiper motor and mechanism. I noticed that the motor did work when tested, albeit very slowly. On opening the casing the grease was quite old and solid, so would probably slow the mechanism down. I have replaced with new grease and will test again soon. Here are some photos showing the clean up.



Sunday 2 December 2012

Heater Matrix Out!!

So after a lot of time (too much for my liking) I finally removed the heater matrix. The four screws that were putting up a strong fight had just about everything thrown at them, but in the end the two on the right hand side gave in to the heat of my wife's crème brulee blow torch. 






The other two bolts on the left hand side were more resistant to the heat so had to be removed by drilling off the heads and then using a star bit in a pre drill hole to unscrew the remaining bolt.




From then on it was more plain sailing and so I continued on with removing the wiring loom.





Until....Yes at last it was out!!!






Thursday 29 November 2012

Socket Heads V's Screw Heads

Just a quick moan about last nights frustrations of not being able to undo a number of phillips head bolts. 

I have now spent about 3 hours trying to remove the four bolts securing the heating matrix without any signs of movement other than cross-heading the screws. 



I have tried some of the usual techniques, covering in oil and leaving for a couple of days, using a flat head screwdriver, hammering in a driver bit and mole grips but the metal is so weak nothing will bite.

I checked the welded in nuts from the floor heater vents and they are not rusty at all. Then in trying to get a better angle to one of the screws I decided it might be easier if I removed the starter solenoid switch, but then I ran into another phillips head bolt that stopped me in my tracks again!!



I think the only solution is to drill them out with a left hand drill bit which I don't own, yet! I will certainly replace them with nice socket bolt heads.

Tuesday 27 November 2012

Progress Update

Having removed the dashboard my attention continued to be focused on removing the wiring loom. This meant that I could now move into the engine bay for the first time and start removing all components that require an electrical wire. 

Wiper motor, screen washer pump, heater matrix blower were first on the list.




MG Midget 1965 MKII Restoration MG Midget 1965 MKII Restoration MG Midget 1965 MKII RestorationMG Midget 1965 MKII Restoration

As I removed each item, it crossed my mind that I could find out if they were working by connecting them up to the battery directly and to my amazement they all worked straight off. The wiper motor will certainly need attention, there is no way you could drive safely in the rain, the speed of the wipers would be far to slow.

During the removal of the heater blower I noticed that there was some corrosion around the base of the brass valve that feeds the heating matrix. On closer inspection, one of the bolts was missing. I unscrewed the remaining one and carefully removed the valve to find that the base was completely corroded, meaning that it could no longer sit flush on the head even with a new gasket. Fortunately the brass valve was ok, but I do need to find a suitable replacement bolt along with a base for the valve.

MG Midget 1965 MKII Restoration

On a positive note, I finished cleaning the speedo and rev counter and they came up brilliantly.


MG Midget 1965 MKII Restoration MG Midget 1965 MKII Restoration


Friday 23 November 2012

An Evenings Work

Just a quick update on work completed tonight.

So I started by cleaning up some more chrome and glass whilst my wife was working, which again came up really nicely.



MG Midget 1965 Restoration MG Midget 1965 Restoration

Later on I gave myself 1 hour in the workshop to finally get the dashboard removed which required me to get the heater cable, speedo, rev counter and indicators off.



MG Midget 1965 Restoration MG Midget 1965 Restoration MG Midget 1965 Restoration
MG Midget 1965 Restoration MG Midget 1965 Restoration

I then found something odd. Earlier in the week I noticed that connected to the dashboard where two switches labeled 'Starter' and 'Choke'. Both were pull switches. I wanted to trace the wires to see what they were connected to, but unfortunately they were only connected to each other and nothing else, any ideas?

MG Midget 1965 Restoration

If I had to guess it was at some point a early immobiliser that required both switches to be pulled before the car could be started.

Wednesday 21 November 2012

Learn from your mistakes

Over the past couple of nights I have been unable to get to the workshop, so I decided to clean up some of the parts that I have removed from the car instead.

I thought that a nice place to start would be the Smiths gauges. So with wire wool in hand I began to clean up the chrome and glass that was covered in black dashboard paint and general grime. I started with the fuel gauge and it was coming up very nicely. However there was a lot of dirt and dust on the inside of the glass and on the face. So I took the chrome surround off and cleaned the glass to almost new.

I then made my first real mistake of this project and decided the best way to clean the face of the gauge was to use a damp cotton bud.

MG Midget 1965 Restoration

I didn't realise that the 'artwork' was printed on with water soluble paint, which as you can see now means the car will never run out of petrol!

I have since found out that it is possible to send the gauge to a specialist to have it restored. Both www.speedoheads.co.uk and www.speedycables.com offer these services as well as complete refurbishment.

So with my new found knowledge of how to carefully clean my gauges I finished off the other two without further incident.


MG Midget 1965 Restoration MG Midget 1965 Restoration
I even tested the water temperature gauge by boiling some water, putting the thermostat in and watching the dial swing round was a brilliant feeling.

I had some time spare so cleaned up the ignition barrel as well.


MG Midget 1965 Restoration MG Midget 1965 Restoration