The old boat

[ignatzcatz]

TFIF yep thank er heavens its Friday. I'm creeping ever nearer to the point when I can start to bolt stuff back on instead of tearing crap off and cleaning it and painting it and then putting in a little plastic bag with it's name on it. Yes it's nearly that time. I got all the woody wood stripped and I'm pleased to say that on the whole it ain't too bad, the only replacement needed has been the bar that goes under the back doors. And all the underside is now well protected under a couple of coats of glossy chassis black. The wood will be just lightly stained, a light oak should be enough color then It's loads of danish oil rubbed in and no laquer or sealer to leave a nice natural finish. I have yet to prep the side panels of the old dog but that won't take me more than a morning and then it's spray time but what color. I am still undecided over a darkish beige or light yellow or my original choice of mid gunmetal. I think I will end up with the latter mainly because my 356 Porsche is going to be beige, it's the late model VW bug color, and I really don't want two cars the same even though I do not intend to keep the old boat for any time longer than absolutely necessary. The other problem with the gunmetal is that it would fairly certainly be base and clear and I would much rather just throw on a couple of coats and you're done, but whatever. . . I've rebuilt the brake calipers and even steam cleaned the seats and headrests so I'm getting there and hopefully can start twirling some spanners in it's direction fairly soon.[frame][/frame]Gadzooks, these doors are completely nude.[frame][/frame]40 grit then 80 then 240 then O wire wool, wooden cars? never again.[frame][/frame]It's the underneath and it's black but I suppose you figured that.[frame][/frame]And this is the back axle all reddy and waiting to go in, reddy? get it? oh never mind.

[ignatzcatz]

Greetings one, another week and another few days further to my goal to get this old dog finished. I sit here with a glass of 10 yr old single malt Glenmorangie, although it really should be JD being it's jooly 4 and all that but whatever, small celebration because I have officially commenced the downhill path. Yes today instead of taking stuff off. I'm putting stuff on. Check out back axle photo. It is surely coming together and there will be no stopping me now. I was hoping I could cut out a section of steel for the bottom of the nearside door but the rot had gotten up to where the rubber buffer strip goes so I had to use a replacement ie pattern section which fitted up quite well. I tacked it along the ridge where the door panel goes so after a bit of cursory grinding it will not be visible unless you get down on yer hands and knees. I managed to peel open the outer skin and tacked it on then folded it back with my demon Frost door skinning pincers. These do a magic job of folding the panel return but don't mark the outer panel. I have used it on my Porsche when fitting wings to great effect. Thank you Mr. Frost. Similar to the offside door, there was a cut in the top part of the inner door up by the window. I really don't know whether this is a stress fracture or something the previous Mr. Knob did. Somehow I'm leaning toward the latter. Oh and this door had the usuall three pieces of cut up floormat undersealed in and the star prize, a complete longsleeved shirt. Words fail me. It was a bit like Christmas delving into the cardboard boxes and pulling out all the little plastic bags with their little labels on like 'offside rear door top hinge' and 'nearside front door bolts' and ooo there's one with 'trunnions' on it. Gosh isn't this exiting but where's the bloody brakes. Oh there we are but I've forgotten how they all go so thank someone for free manual downloads on the web and all was revealed. And just yesterday I managed to outbid everybody to score a rather nice, well I hope it turns out to be rather nice, knowing my luck it'll be a piece of sh , no I'm convinced it will be alright and it's a sweet little leather rim steering wheel. I hacksawed up the original item and filed it in the dustbin/wheelybin/whatever. When I don't like something I do have to kill it, completely. Thankyou.[frame][/frame]Fitted new bearings and seals to the half shafts, thank you Mr. Rimmer[frame][/frame]This is where the split in the door was, now welded up.[frame][/frame]Another door saved from the crusher, arn't you glad, maybe not.[frame][/frame]Oh yes, Goodridge hoses.[frame][/frame]Just hanging in there, i'll bolt it up tomorrow, i've gotta feed the cats now.

[chrisryder]

good work. loving the bright orange bits. i think they'll be a nice contrast to a dark grey body.

the split in the door, that you said could have been sawed, is a very common occurence, especially on the longer doors on the travellers, 2 doors, and convertibles. it's a stress point that fractures over time. you may well find that in a few years of slamming, another crack appears next to your weld.

keep up the good work, and entertaining commentary!

[chrisd87]

I was once told that splits in the door like that are due to it being closed (from the inside) by the bit of frame the quarterlight closes against, rather than the door pull. That might be complete nonsense, however.

Great to see this car being restored, I too like the orange axle casing!

[ignatzcatz]

It's not orange it's red. I think the camera flash caused the color change. I blasted all the suspension red because it was a cancelled contract we had (some airline) and it is a 'transport' type paint, the stuff that usually goes on trucks and such like. I just happen to have gallons of the stuff. The axle is in and I'm just re-wiring a section of the rear loom I happened to set alight when I was welding the floor. I wondered what the funny smell was. I can't do too much in the afternoons now cos I too busy watching the Tour de France on Eurosport, those guys are FIT.

[ignatzcatz]

I started this little update yesterday and got all the way to the end of the stuff I've done then uploaded a few pics and when I went to finalise the last pic my server pulled the plug. No connection. Oh great, how pleased was I ? not very. So I finished my wine and cluttered off to the sack. I was awoken at about half past very early by one of the siameses making rather distressful noises. Stumbling downstairs and into the dining room I discovered aforementioned cat had hurled last night's Whiskas and a few other unmentionables all over my laptop. Mmmm, good cat, what a great aim. So the keyboards a bit sticky but I must press on. So where did July go? It's August too soon. I must admit I did spend a lot of the July afternoons sitting on my bum watching the Tour de France. What a great race this year, Cadel really earned that one and chapeau to Cav, at last in green although he nearly missed out after being over the time on that alpine stage. Oops, I doubt whether you have a clue what I'm on about, never mind you just missed the greatest sporting spectacle of the year. Anyway onward and upward and much Minoring is happening now. I have all the suspension on now although I had to pull off the front offside because I had completely forgotten to sort out the master cylinder which as you all know has the retaining bolts situated right behind the offside torsion bar. What total knob designed that one. However it's now all stripped, cleaned, honed, rebuilt, painted and slotted back into the chassis leg which also got the gleam clean treatment. Actually it was originally only held in by a bit of studding but on this car I'm used to it now. I am really keen to get the old dog back on it's wheels so I can start throwing some paint at it. I did have thoughts of outsourcing the sprayjob but everybody wants stupid money now, and as I am quite capable of doing it myself that's what I'm going to do. My main problem is overspray getting everywhere in the garage but I'm going to throw out as much as I can and tack up poly sheeting to cover everything else. It won't be a problem.
I got a neato steering wheel off ebay a while back. It's a 15" leather rim, just what I wanted. I chopped down the boss off the horrid old stock wheel and did a bit of drilling and made up a centre plate and after bolting it all together I got a nice wheel for the old dog. So at the moment I'm flatting and pugging and flatting some more and stopping and block sanding and although my arms looking lumpy the old bods looking pretty smooth. Enough blah here's some pics . . .[frame][/frame]No it's red and it does look the biz, honest[frame][/frame]If I had a lathe I could do this stuff properly[frame][/frame]The demon hacksaw strikes again[frame][/frame]A tasty tiller, cheap too[frame][/frame]New guts and new bush for the pedal

[ignatzcatz]

Yes its boat time again and as I work from back to front I have finally reached the bows and come across the big greasy bit. The engine. Having yet to get my engine crane back from my buddy, just a weekend job to pull the motor out of his Sierra, a month and a half later and I'm still waiting, but still can't let it come between a good friendship so I shall remain patient. I could'nt wait any longer so I pulled the trans out the back and lifted the engine out the front using the old favorite method of a big rope around your shoulders and feet on the front axle stubbs. Health and safety? forget it, drive fast, take risks. Well what a dirty pair I have helped in no small way by the steering rack having a faulty lube nipple. The trans cleaned up pretty good and the clutch looks OK and so I started on stripping the motor of it's ancilliares. It's easy to get a bit carried away and before you know it you have a pile of greasy nuts and bolts and in a disturbingly short space of time you have no idea where they all went. So I religously jizered them in their individual little piles then wire wheeled them all clean then gave them a good coat of bondaprimer red oxide and eventually poly bagged and labelled them up. Just doing the nuts and bolts from the removal of the engine and trans and stripping of ancills took a whole day but I think this part is so vital come rebuild time. Because I did'nt have my engine crane I was lumping the motor around the garage on the cradle of a trolly jack. I put it on the floor in order to clean it with it sitting on old newspaper to soak up the jizer. Having got it clean I went to hoik it it back onto the jack but I did'nt get the block high enough and the whole thing fell on its face. Oh God, instant Torrey Canyon as I had previously pulled off the timing chain cover and a sump full of old goop ejected itself all over the garage floor. An hour and a few litres of jizer later thankfully I had the oil tsunami sorted. I am going to pull the head off and drop the sump just to check the condition of valves, seats and bearings which I hope will be all OK. The heater motor, or rather the metalwork and a few other bits and pieces like inlet manifold and water pump are currently at the shot blasters although on the ally bits he will be bead blasting or rather I hope he will. Oh and I have just got all the bearings for the front hubs so it's front wheels on very soon and speaking of wheels I now am the proud owner of a nice set of MGF 15 x 6 alloys with 205's on the back and 185's for the front. These will look really nice and I can't wait to see the old boat on all fours.[frame][/frame]One V. yukky trans[frame][/frame]Pls paint me[frame][/frame]Mmm, nice clean trans

[MarkyB]

You'll have to think of a new name for it soon, people will wonder what you are talking about

Really nice job on the steering wheel too.

As a favour could you use a paragraph or two to break up what you write?
I find it quite hard to read such a big block of text.

[ignatzcatz]

I don't know what I'm talking about half the time anyway, and we're going to have a whip round to get you some glasses so you can read it all a bit easier. I think they're about 5.99 in Tescos. Ta 'bout the wheel, d'ya know I used to come from S.E. London, Mottingham nr. Eltham, no not Nottingham - Mottingham.
Next post v. soon. Hey that was a paragraph.

[ignatzcatz]

As Shirley Ellis said I'm gettin right down to the real nitty gritty. A bit a northern soul there boy, tonic suits, bowling shoes, oh lets not go there, way too many memories. So the motors all cleaned up and checked out and it's checked out good. Bearings are as new, pistons spot on the only thing is the timing gear looks a bit worn, all the teeth are fine but the chain looks a bit stretched and here is a bit of a query. In my Ital manual, the motor is a 1275 Ital lump by the way, it does show a chain tensioner but I ain't got one of these and it looks like there is no provision for one either. I'm going to get a new chain and chuck it on because I think with the play on the old one it may well be a bit noisy. As soon as I bolt the head back on I'll get some paint on the motor, a fine shade of massey ferguson red which is quite a good way of getting some heat proof paint at a very economical price. So with all this lot sitting on the deck I can crack on with getting the engine compartment super clean and ready for paint.
I attended a couple of classic car/steam rally meets over the weekend taking my old Harley out for a spin. The first was at Burpham where there was a couple of really tidy Minor saloons both running Minilites, nice, then to Rudgwick where there was'nt an autojumble so to speak but a few traders had turned up so of course you gotta have a good poke around. And I was lucky to find a mint Tudor washer bottle cos I did'nt have anything, again mint water outlet, the one that fits on the head and a heater valve plus I managed to buy a complete set of the correct wheel nuts with shouldered washers to fit my MGF wheels onto my 3.75" PCD 3/8th studs. Absolute result. I might need a 4 or 5 mm spacer on the back just to clear the tele shocks but I can get these from Demon Tweeks or I might even find them at Beaulieu swap meet in September. I'm going for the whole weekend with a friend who sells restored Dinkies and Corgi cars plus many other diecasts. I hate going round to his place because I always end up buying about half a dozen cars from him. I know, just a big kid. Here's some boring pics . . .[frame][/frame]Engine type A series starboard side[frame][/frame]Blah blah port side[frame][/frame]Look pistons, God this is boring[frame][/frame]Quel surprise, a cyclinder head; no more please

[chrisryder]

it's possible the ital front cover plate was removed and swapped for a minor front plate (to put the mounting tabs in the right place) so the tensioner setup could have been lost, or deliberately omitted in the change.

[Jefftav]

I fitted MGF wheels to my minor with marina pcd but was recommended to change the wheel studs to 12x 1.5mm to get the correct wheels nuts to fit the wheels. The studs were a straight swap and quite easy to do, just thought I would mention it just in case you need to make this change as well. I used spacers (5mm I think) on the front to clear the upright the back wheels cleared no problem and are fine.

[ignatzcatz]

Hi Jeff
New wheel studs was an option that I had in mind cos the MGF stud holes are pretty large but the 3/8ths lug nuts I bought last week had a washer which is part sleeve part taper, it's a bit like a wine glass in shape, and these are just perfect for fitting the wheels. I have telescopic shocks and although the front wheels fit without any interference although the hub dustcap is a really tight fit the only interference is on the rear where the upper shock plastic/rubber sleeve hits the rim. I havn't as yet pulled this off but the wheel may also hit the bottom part of the shock so I might just need a 5mil spacer for clearance. Happy days.

[ignatzcatz]

One month on and I have been progressing well with the old dog. The last thing I did was make an adapter to fit a big old aircleaner I bought originally for my F150 pickup truck but never fitted onto the 2" SU carb on my motor. It looks like this . .[frame][/frame] Its just a couple of old bits of exhaust pipe and a flange all snotted together. I also wanted to check to see if I could upload pics cos I just got a new laptop as the old Toshiba only had about half a gig and the new Acer has a few more, I think. So I was rooting around the upper regions of my garage to find some old crap to take to Beaulieu autojumble to flog when I unearthed an anti-roll bar off my old 205 GTI Pug. I had a 1600 then bought a written off Turbo Technics 1900 which I re-shelled and the bar was off the shell I bought which was most probably nicked anyway. But it certainly looked adaptable to the old dog so after a bit of manipulation with the hot spanner and a friendly scaffold pole it was spot on. I already had some down links in the old parts dustbin so all I had to do was weld up some mounts and bolt her on. Pics tell the tale . . .[frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame] There is bit of the chassis right up front which slants up and this was just perfect to put the mounts for the bar that I am amazed they did'nt do this at the factory. Economies I suppose.
I finished off the last bit of chassis painting then sprayed the engine compartment in the grey I have chosen as a final colour. With this done I really got cracking with bolting everything back in including all the brake lines and servo, electrical junk, steering rack, fuel line, wiper motor and don't forget the horn. Yes it's grey . . .[frame][/frame] And today I've bolted on my MGF 15" x 6" alloys with 185.55 tyres and ooo it do look good. Tomorrow it's off the axle stands for the first time in 12 months or so and I can push it out of the garage and start to think about final painting.
It's funny as you get to nearing the completion of work there seems to be a million things that suddenly stack up to do. I must say that I have experienced this before when building my previous street rods especially when you have put a schedule completion date in your path, so from now on I shall be working to a written tasks order; I write down the jobs to be done on a previous evening then either complete them or divide them down to more individual tasks for the following day. This is obviously a very orderly way of proceeding but also keeps the job very much alive.

PS Andy can I pleeez have my engine crane back.[frame][/frame]Jus lurv wacky cap screws

[ignatzcatz]

Ain't it the truth, just when everything is going jolly swimmingly something pops up and kicks you in the balls. I was just about to launch the old boat down onto the concrete after it being up on axle stands for the past 12 months or so. I knew he rear wheels were going to a bit tight against the rear upright shocks so I did a bit of cursory measuring and reckoned 10mil spacers would be right on the money. I had a punt on Ebay and turned up a pair for not much dough, got them mailed to me, fitted them on and drat and blow the wheels still just ground on the shock body. It as only a couple of fag papers but they still rubbed. The teleshocks puts the top mounting in the outer wheelarch so there is just nowhere else to position them apart from back onto the old mount on the inner chassis section. Of course I had to find somewhere to locate the lower part of the shock and the only logical position was to fabricate a fitting off of the lower spring plate. So a quick rummage into the steel box and I found some 25 x 15mil steel stock and some big old 5/8ths bolts which I could cut up and weld into some sort of mounts. Again pics tell the tale and as it puts the shocks at an angle this may give a slightly softer ride than bolt upright shocks.[frame][/frame]Bits 'O crap for welding[frame][/frame] All welded up and we're ready to rock.

[ignatzcatz]

It was quite an interesting start for me this month. Firstly I had a bit of a win or rather a nice bonus popped up so I went out and bought the old lady some new wheels. Well not new, very low mileage one owner, as new. We have had a variety of German cars in the past but never a Merc so that's what we got. Also going to Mercedes World at Brooklands had a distinct bearing on our choice. Even if you don't have any particular affiliation to MB it is definitely a good day out for any petrolhead and of course, there is the Brooklands auto and aircraft and not forgetting the buses museum to get lost in. And there are great cafes in both establishments too. So we got the Merc with all the toys, power and automatic everything. Tiptronic trans, cruise, power memory, heated seats. The wheels are 18 x 8.5" and it's supercharged and it's got a power sunroof and aircon of course.
In comparison with the little Morry, well there is no comparison really apart from if both cars broke down on a stormy night in the middle of nowhere, I think you would have a better chance of getting the Morry going again than you would the Merc cos when you open the bonnet you can't even see where the spark plugs might be, it's just a maze of plastic and pipes.
And good fortune followed as we were invited to Devon to stay at a friends country lodge for the week. What a lovely part of the world, well off season anyway, apart from damn muddy roads. Being a proud new parent I ended up washing the car three times in six days. But, saw some sights, had some good food and I even got to surf a few waves at Bude. That was excellent. However we did not see one Moggy all the time we were down there. Although we did see one in the Haynes motor museum at Sparkford which was a really nice little place although they were working at the time of our visit to greatly extend the museum. Again big recommendations for a visit should you be in the area. And the coffee cake in the cafe is to die for.
So it's back home and back in the garage and now where was I? Just about to refit the engine and trans, but I am being held up for lack of seals and gaskets for my Toyota 5 speed trans. The main Toyota dealer was as helpful as a chocolate teapot and was unable to even check anything without a vin number. So as I was up in Wisbech last week I managed to get the seals identified and ordered from CBT bearings who are just the best guys around for anything like this. The gasket which goes between the trans and my Aussie Dellow bellhousing is still waiting to be found but if all other searches fail, I'm going to order it from Dellow in Ozland and bugger the expense.
Unfortunately the good fortunes stop abruptly now as in two days time I am off to Hospital for a minor op which will put me out of action for maybe a couple of months. It's not life threatening but still not very pleasant, which brings me to mention what terrible news we learnt of the death of poor Marco Simoncelli at the Moto GP round at Selangor. What a talent, what a loss, RIP Marco.[frame][/frame]All the junk bolted back in[frame][/frame]Wheels on and no rubbing.[frame][/frame]Shocks on the inside, no worries.[frame][/frame]Nice clean motor[frame][/frame]Not orange, it is Massey Ferguson red OK.[frame][/frame]Yeah I'm sorry it's the old girl's new ride.

[ignatzcatz]

There is really no disguising the fact that most hospital visits are basically unpleasant. My stay was only four days and although everything could not have been better regarding facilities ie lovely private room with great shower and loo, multi channel TV, super food, wonderful nurses, when you wake up with pipes feeding into your left side and blood coming out of your right side and you can't move much you do feel pretty miserable. But there are always a whole big bunch of people out there very very much worse than you so you, do sort of buck yourself up pretty quickly. But this is not about Moggys is it and I'm pleased to say after four weeks I am back in the old garage and hooray to that. OK I'm still hobbling around with a stick but I am getting a few things done, albeit just gentle jobs until I am back to full strength. I took the opportunity to list exactly the parts I still was short of to complete the car. So a list was compiled and an order sent off to the good guys at ESM and laurels to them because I got all the stuff back actually in less than 24 hours from placing the order. Not bad eh? And the final item I wanted was the indicator switch cover which was forwarded to me by esteemed MMOC member Dave just for the cost of the postage. Nice one, thanks Dave. One of the little jobs I was able to do which I had been putting off for ages, and this was to make a neat plate to cover the bleedin great round hole in the engine compartment. I found a sheet of 16g aluminium which fitted the bill. Four screws and a squirt of silicone and that's job done. But I do wonder why there was that big hole there in the first place. I'm thinking it must have been something to do with the manufacture of R/H and L/H drive varieties of mog but maybe an archivist can put us right. Another job was to re-connect a piece of wiring. The previous owner, that's Mr. Knob as you may recall, had cut the big wire which goes from the A terminal of the control box to the starter solenoid and fitted the wires to a small plastic switch which obviously must have been his mickey mouse anti theft device. I mean what sort of amperage was going through this little switch. I looked like it had been getting a bit on the hot side.
I am also collecting those nice full face Smiths engine gauges to go in the dash just to make things look a bit more sporting. All I need now is a capiliary water temp gauge and an 80mil rev counter but no autojumbles til the spring but I'll keep hunting.
Cheers for now Moggivistas[frame][/frame]A nice shiny bit.[frame][/frame]New parts, can't wait to fit 'em

[ian.mcdougall]

The hole was to do with when the car was built and placed on a spit for rust proofing/painting ( there is an old film can't remember where it is but someone will come on and point you in the right direction in a short while) There is a large grommet for this hole not sure if they are available or not might be worth asking if anyone has a spare or knows where to get one

[rayofleamington]

Just a question / comment on the front ARB & ARB droplinks...
First question is why are the droplinks so long? They look like they're likely to get snagged on things.
secondly - did you modify standard tie bars? If so I would be nervous about the cross axial loads (bending forces) on the tie bars as they will get regular cyclical loading (every time you turn at speed and then turn back) and that could lead to stress fractures.
I've had a couple of ARB's and they were mounted to the same bracket as the tie bar using a modified bracket, rather than the tie bar itself. That allows them better efficiency (larger differential travel) and therefore better effect with a lower force.

[ignatzcatz]

Hi Ian, I thought as much that it was something for use whilst undergoing manufacture. Not sure if rustproofing is quite the right reason for them to be gyrated though. I have trawled through 10 pages of Morris related stuff on You Toob and hav'nt found any vids of when these little gems were trundling down the production line but as you say there must be something out there on the wibbly wobbly web. Find it and enlighten us all.