1973 MGB GT- A little rust 30/08

[adam73bgt]

Another disappointingly small update, had planned to get a load of work done on the car yesterday but got ill instead..

But today I managed to get one of the jobs done that will allow me to get an MOT in a couple of months. Ever since I fitted the all red Mk1 B rear lenses I've had red indicators, using green bulbs didn't seem to do much either. So I've now gone for LED indicator bulbs which flash amber through the red, but this has required me to change the flasher unit in order to get them to actually flash

So out with the old



And in with the new



All the indicators now flash as they should, the flashing doesn't change with the voltage being generated and the indicators now actually flash amber Only mild issue is that now the indicators don't make a sound but since the old flasher unit wasn't particularly loud in the first place, I can live with it

[ChasR]

On my Spitfire it came with the relay upgrade for the indicators. It was only a small measure but it did not half make a difference to everyday driving. Instead of the bi-metallic strip within the old type regulator requiring one to pre-empt when they were about to turn the indicators worked straight from the off, unusually like a modern car .

FWIW you could always chuck in a buzzer if you require to know when the indicators are flashing

[Rich]

I thought indicators had to make a noise as an audible warning, although I may have just made that up. Glad you got rid of the old bi-metallic at last though

[adam73bgt]

I never had a huge issue with the old bi metallic flasher, except for the indicator speed being a bit variable haha but I'm glad to get the new one on there

Looking at my photo there, I've just realised that theres still an offending bit of ochre interior trim left in the car shall have to get rid of that haha

[ChasR]

Feb 9, 2014 23:36:03 GMT Rich said:

I thought indicators had to make a noise as an audible warning, although I may have just made that up. Glad you got rid of the old bi-metallic at last though

On modern cars this may be the case. Out of my old 'uns only the Peugeot makes an audible ticking (but when the indicator relay sits beneath the dashboard (made out of a little Tikes Toy!) that is not surprising. My 944 did not and neither did the one before it (relays are in the engine bay).

On both Mondeos there is a ticking from the instrument cluster though despite relay being housed at the very front of the engine bay.

One way you may get a louder audible clicking Adam is to bolt the relay onto the dashboard or firmly attach it. This worked on my Spitfire (upgraded relay with it bolted onto the metal part of the dashboard) and my Dolomite Sprint (a bi-metallic relay fitted correctly into the clip, again on the metal part of the dash).

Of course, this is all academic if your relay does not click in the slightest :lol:. Out of curiousity what relay do you have fitted? .

[adam73bgt]

The relay is now screwed into the dash where the old one was screwed in, but it just doesn't seem to make a noise ah well I'll get used to it

The car felt a bit odd today and when I was checking the rear wheels were tight I noticed that banging the tyres gave a bit of a metallic clunking noise.. So I'll be getting it up on the ramps tomorrow and making sure everything is as it should be, though it could just be stuff clunking around in the brake drums I suppose

[adam73bgt]

So today I gave myself the day off uni.. and did more work on the MG (Its ok, I do Automotive Engineering so its practically homework...)

Anyway, I bought some car ramps a week or so back and they've been rolling about in the boot so today I got them out so I could have a good look under the rear end again

After a couple of tries where it got halfway up, it got up on the ramps fairly easily



Also the valance didn't scrape, though imagine if it was this low at the front all the time... hmmmmm....



So anyway got underneath and most of it looked rather something like this



A bit crusty and mucky, both of the bump stop pedestals are gone, the axle straps are shot and the nuts holding them on look well rusted in place, yay!



Oddly, the passenger side of things looks a bit cleaner than the drivers side.. not sure if this is because someone has changed suspension parts on only one side in the past, or the spring could have got moved as part of the MOT welding last year? Though saying that, the damper on the drivers side looks newer than the passenger side?? should be interesting to see whats what when it comes off haha



Thankfully the nuts and bolts at either end of the springs don't look too bad despite the MG forums claiming how the front one is impossible to get out and I'll have to cut it off, we'll see.. I was almost tempted to start the telescopic damper conversion but I'll leave it for another day just so I can start early and get all the suspension work done in one day (or at least thats the plan..)

Going back to the front of the car, I quickly topped up the brake and clutch reservoirs as they seemed to be a little low, and got the car back off the ramps.

Then, as I've got my new drill, I decided to get on with my overrider removal/numberplate light relocation efforts. To recap, I'd already got one off so I needed to drill three holes in the bumper, one large one for the body of the bulb holder to go through and two for securing the bulb cover down with bolts.

I'd worked out that I'd need around a 20-22mm hole for the bulb holder to go through, the only drill bit I had that was that big was for wood and it didn't work really..



But it gave me an outline of where the hole needed to be and being the resourceful student I am, I set to with a small drill bit and my tools of metal torture





It looks pretty agricultural (and it is, but hell I'm from Suffolk) but it does eventually get the job done. After much sawing, chiselling and filing I got something like this



Trial fitted the bulb and bulb cover to give me a template for the bolt holes resulted in this



BAM, sorted!





I haven't done any measuring for location on the bumper.. roughly at the end of the second digit in on the numberplate and as far away as I could get without hitting the end of the bumper Just got to replicate it on the other side.. Why didn't I just do one as Rich suggested?...

Anyway, onwards!

The next victim



The quickest way to get these off I've found is to ignore the bolt holding them on as they're rusted solid. So I pull the rubber off then hacksaw through the thin metal bit that the rubber usually mounts too, this gives you access to the end of the 'bolt' which the overrider mounts by. Rather than drilling the smooth head off it, I prefer to drill a ring of small holes around it in the thinner overrider steel (obviously I'm throwing all my overriders away ) which leaves you with something like this



Then I get my chisel and hammer and take out the thin bits of metal left and pull the overrider off, unplug the light and it comes away, the central bolt can then be hacksawed off.

This was the point where my camera died :/ but pleasingly, this sides numberplate light was held in with bolts that only had superficially rusted heads, the nuts came off easy which saves me from drilling it like the other side (which I did catch with the drill slightly, oops) so tonight I shall clean up the light lens and housing and probably have a go at mounting it in the bumper when the drill has a bit more juice in it

So while I did start the day with one numberplate light and end the day with one, its progress Also now I have the drill I shall be aiming to fit a drivers mirror, just a case of getting all these MOT jobs out of the way

[flyingphil]

More progress Adam - well done.

[adam73bgt]

Feb 12, 2014 0:08:07 GMT flyingphil said:

More progress Adam - well done.

Thanks Phil, hope your projects are still going well

Well even more progress today!

Just finished off what I started yesterday really, after getting the second numberplate light out of the car, I gave the glass a good clean and the metal housing a good polish to ensure good light reflection on to the plate.

Then I braved the weather today to get it fitted, took a lot less time that the other side which I'm either putting down to experience or wanting to get out of the wind and rain!

I decided to use my 'drill a hole with lots of holes around it' method for crating the main bulb holder hole this time and it seemed to be quicker, bit of tidying up the edges with the chisel and file and the bulb holder was soon in place



Yeah its only roughly symmetrical...

After that was in place it was a quick job as before, to pop the bulb cover on top to use as a guide for the bolt holes. So soon I was left with this







So now I'm finally rid of those ungainly looking overriders and the numberplate is suitably illuminated for the MOT, good stuff.

I still need to get under the car and change the reverse light switch to try and get them working again (though this isn't crucial for the MOT), I shall also be playing around with dash lights again, the horn contacts do need adjusting though to get that to work for the MOT and I'll need to fit an exterior mirror too. Slowly but surely getting through the list of stuff to do

[adam73bgt]

More MOT work today starting with the fitting of an external mirror. The original one got knocked off in the snow last winter, and my replacement was removed by some unknown persons recently. Way back when I bought the car, a bullet mirror was one of the first things I bought so its a bit shameful that its taken nearly two years to get it fitted haha

So this is what I started with



The nuts were fairly rusted on to the screws inside the door, so a bit of work with my trusty friend the drill got me to this



Then it was a pretty simple task of drilling an extra hole using the new baseplate for the bullet mirror as a template and a fiddly task of getting the bolts started in the mirror resulted in this





Not exactly the best visibility in the world, but better than looking over my shoulder all the time and cruicially its MOTable



Also fitted bolts in the holes in the rear bumper to neaten things up a bit



Also taken the reversing light lenses off to see if I can make them look any better by giving them a good clean





Going to be painting the outer rims to make them look a bit better, they're currently in primer but am trying to decide between black or body colour at the moment, probably gonna lean towards black

[The Jackeria]

I think I'm going to do that flasher swap as well, some days my indicators seem to flash quicker when turning left than right. Perhaps the car's telling me to go somewhere else.

[adam73bgt]

Feb 18, 2014 22:17:21 GMT The Jackeria said:

I think I'm going to do that flasher swap as well, some days my indicators seem to flash quicker when turning left than right. Perhaps the car's telling me to go somewhere else.

I would recommend it, but strangely my inidicators seem to be acting like they're on the old style flasher unit in a way cos there is a definite delay between moving the stalk and the indicators beginning to flash, they're good apart from that though

[niwid]

Top work Adam. The rear end look so much tidier without the overrides, and the number plate lights look smart enough. Your B really shows that a lot of love and some minor mods can make a massive difference. It's a cracking car mate, and really inspiring for my own B project. Unfortunately wing mirrors and reversing lights are at the bottom of my list

[AtomicRooster]

I have much desire for this car. If MGB's werent so pricey i'd have one!

[adam73bgt]

Feb 18, 2014 22:58:54 GMT niwid said:

Top work Adam. The rear end look so much tidier without the overrides, and the number plate lights look smart enough. Your B really shows that a lot of love and some minor mods can make a massive difference. It's a cracking car mate, and really inspiring for my own B project. Unfortunately wing mirrors and reversing lights are at the bottom of my list

Thank you very much Its coming along slowly but surely and the pile of bits to be fitted is getting smaller!

You really should get a thread up for your B, would be good to see some pictures and see what sort of condition its in

[adam73bgt]

Feb 18, 2014 23:11:13 GMT AtomicRooster said:

I have much desire for this car. If MGB's werent so pricey i'd have one!

Are they pricey now?? I got fairly lucky with this one tbh, I had pretty much set myself on getting a plastic bumper one when this happened to come up on ebay near me

[ChasR]

Feb 18, 2014 23:11:13 GMT AtomicRooster said:

I have much desire for this car. If MGB's werent so pricey i'd have one!

Compared to many classics I would say they are cheap. For around £3k you will get a very sorted 'B in comparison to many classics out there. Certainly way better than a Stag, GT6, Dolly Sprint, Beetle (even a late Spitfire) and many other classics for the money, probably less with a bit of searching (and it is not like there is a shortage of cars to choose from) .

The Bullets do look better I have to say, but I did hate them on the Spitfire (they were not great for seeing out of). If they are not pointing the right way (as they weren't on the Spitfire) you can get washers to go under the base which Pete at LD Parts sells (Stags have this issue with stock mirrors, and they came with all sorts from the factory (some were Tex equipped (about the only real choice left for a Stag), others were now defunct manufacturers).

[The Jackeria]

Feb 19, 2014 0:37:03 GMT ChasR said:

Feb 18, 2014 23:11:13 GMT AtomicRooster said:

I have much desire for this car. If MGB's werent so pricey i'd have one!

Compared to many classics I would say they are cheap. For around £3k you will get a very sorted 'B in comparison to many classics out there. Certainly way better than a Stag, GT6, Dolly Sprint, Beetle (even a late Spitfire) and many other classics for the money, probably less with a bit of searching (and it is not like there is a shortage of cars to choose from)

It's all about timing with buying a classic, mine was a steal at £600 with a years MOT and unlimited tax ('72 ftw) £3k will get a heck of a lot of car these days. I've secretly wanted an MGB for years. Must run in the bloodline as my dad wanted one too. Glad you went for chrome bumper too, it's like choosing between two women, that one night stand "because you needed some" or that girl you've fancied and been friends with since school. Both take work but in the end you'll only truely love one.

[Deleted]

The rubber bumper B is a lot of things, but that's the first time I've come across anyone equate it with a one night stand.

[adam73bgt]

Feb 19, 2014 0:37:03 GMT ChasR said:

Feb 18, 2014 23:11:13 GMT AtomicRooster said:

I have much desire for this car. If MGB's werent so pricey i'd have one!

Compared to many classics I would say they are cheap. For around £3k you will get a very sorted 'B in comparison to many classics out there. Certainly way better than a Stag, GT6, Dolly Sprint, Beetle (even a late Spitfire) and many other classics for the money, probably less with a bit of searching (and it is not like there is a shortage of cars to choose from) .

The Bullets do look better I have to say, but I did hate them on the Spitfire (they were not great for seeing out of). If they are not pointing the right way (as they weren't on the Spitfire) you can get washers to go under the base which Pete at LD Parts sells (Stags have this issue with stock mirrors, and they came with all sorts from the factory (some were Tex equipped (about the only real choice left for a Stag), others were now defunct manufacturers).

I've not been for a drive yet but I'm not expecting amazing visibility out of the bullet mirror but it will be better than nothing at all hopefully

Feb 19, 2014 1:11:47 GMT The Jackeria said:

It's all about timing with buying a classic, mine was a steal at £600 with a years MOT and unlimited tax ('72 ftw) £3k will get a heck of a lot of car these days. I've secretly wanted an MGB for years. Must run in the bloodline as my dad wanted one too. Glad you went for chrome bumper too, it's like choosing between two women, that one night stand "because you needed some" or that girl you've fancied and been friends with since school. Both take work but in the end you'll only truely love one.

Very true, thats damn cheap compared to the B! 600 quid would get you a rather ropey MGB indeed haha I like the analogy, hopefully the chrome bumper B is something I can be happy to bring home to the parents, even if it is a bit rough around the edges