Monday 14 January 2013

Suspension Removal Update

Tonight I have finished removing the front suspension. I will start on the rear hopefully later in the week.



Thursday 3 January 2013

Underseal removed

Unfortunately I didn't manage to get as much time in the workshop as I had previously planned over the holiday period, apart from a few hours on New Years Eve.

MG Midget 1965 Restoration - Underseal
Now that I am getting closer to start replacing the damaged sections of chassis, I wanted to find out the true condition of the floor from the underside of the car. This meant I needed to remove all the underseal, which was fairly thick in places, as you can see from this photo. I had asked a few people about best methods which ranged from hair dryers and heat gun paint strippers to go old fashioned elbow grease.

So I tried the hair dry first, but there just wasn't enough heat to help shift it and to be honest where it did have an effect the underseal just turned to thick toffee which was making a mess.

MG Midget 1965 Restoration
I then had a idea. When I bought the car there was an old wooden handled chisel in the footwell. You can see it here in the photo next to the door. At the time I asked Kim Dear if he wanted to keep it. He said it wasn't his and I was welcome to it. As the underseal was quite hard I wondered if the chisel would be a better tool.

I couldn't believe my luck as within two hours I had cleared all the underseal from the underside of the floor and engine bay sections.

                             Click on images to enlarge


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

This now gave me the ability to make a decision on what repairs I needed to make. Although the vast majority of the metal was in very good condition, the areas where rust is commonly found is quite bad. Particularly in the key areas where the strength of the chassis is crucial.

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

Looking at these photos makes me think that the best approach is to completely replace the floor section as a whole. Even though there are repair sections that will replace the rusted areas, the amount of cutting and welding could easily exceed the amount required for the entire floor, especially with that bloody big hole a previous owner decided to make in the middle of the drive shaft housing. It will also expose areas that are currently inaccessible to check for further problems. 

I think it is time to start ordering new parts!!

Saturday 15 December 2012

Engine Removed

After draining the oils from the sump and gearbox it only took me 30 mins to carefully remove the engine. I was quite surprised how easy it was to be honest, with the right preparation and tools of course.


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

So after just over five weeks the chassis now has my total attention to tackle the rust. I have been doing a fair bit of research and I have found one or two suitable rust converters that will stabilise the rust and provide a good platform for priming. 

The first job is to remove all the dirt, weather protection, grease and loose rust. Once all the rust has been taken care of the next job will be to replace the irreparable metal work.

MG Midget 1965 Restoration MG Midget 1965 Restoration

Thursday 13 December 2012

Carb Clean Up

As it is always the case that when I can't make it to the workshop I feel like I am wasting time if I didn't do something towards completing this project.

As I had recently removed the carburettors in preparation for removing the engine from the chassis, I thought that I would set myself a good challenge to learn all about the carburettor and give it a good clean up at the same time.



I started by removing the pancake air filters which as you can see are heavily rusted. The foam inside was so gone they turned to dust with the slightest touch. I had a go at removing the rust but there are too many areas where the rust had badly pitted into the metal. I had a look online and you can pick up a brand new pair for about £25 which seems a good price to add a bit of bling to the engine bay.


Once I had removed the air filters I then wanted to remove the return spring support. I have notice that this carb did not have a large heat shield but there was this smaller one which looks like it should do the job.


I then removed the piston suction chambers, which were fairly dirty both inside and out. But as I was cleaning them I did appreciate the engineering that went into manufacturing these items.


Looking into the carburettor body there was certainly a large amount of black tar like deposits that will need to be carefully cleaned.


But for now I finished cleaning one of the suction chambers and was happy with the result. I am not sure how to get it shining like a mirror yet but that can be a job for another day.


More information about tuning up SU carbs can be found here:

Monday 10 December 2012

Engine Ready for Removal - Update

I continued to prepare for the removal of the engine and gearbox. Tonight I removed the drive shaft, the gear stick and the four gearbox mounting bolts.



In addition I also removed the fuel pump.



Thought I should have a tidy up. Over the past few weeks I have been collecting empty A4 printer paper boxes from my work as they have lids and are quite sturdy. Each group of components has been placed in a box (where possible) and labelled up.

So this evening, with nearly everything off the car I stacked them all up on a pallet waiting for the time to be restored.



The larger brown boxes contain the carpet and trim, wiring loom, heater blower, repair panels and other bits and bobs waiting their turn.

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.