RLW 7W
So today is the big day where I consider the underside of the car "done". All the previous underseal is removed, any surface rust dealt with, and primed. I just wish I'd used standard cellulose primer rather than red oxide.
My son, who's been helping me with the build, helped me to spray the underside with Upol Gravitex.
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I was real keen to "assemble" the car. It's been sitting there are a bare shell in my garage for a few months now and I'm itching to just get it put back together. So for me, getting the first part bolted back onto the shell was a milestone to celebrate.
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Now that the fuel tank is back in, I'm keen to start on things like brake pipe and fuel rail. But, before they can be done, I need to get the engine bay sorted. So, I spent some time (with help from my boy) stripping and priming the engine bay. Next step is to paint it silver.
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I decided to do a few other jobs whilst I'm waiting for parts to arrive. I noticed the base of the nearside rear quarter window looked a little "odd". There was also the tiniest spec of bubbling paint. So I thought I'd pick at it. Before I knew it, this happened 🙁
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I continued work on that nasty hole today. I spent some time tidying it up a bit more, then making up 2 patches. The worst part of the job is getting in there with the dremel to grind down the welds. As you can see, I've got a bit further to go before it's perfect.
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Spent ages this evening trying to get my doors to align and shut properly but I couldn't get the lock to align properly on the striker plate. I got properly frustrated with it until I found out that I'm missing a spacer shim. I suspect there's plenty more head bang moments to come.
https://mgbhive.co.uk/product/midget/mgb-midget-door-lock-striker-shims-and-screw-kit/
Lots of small updates today.
I made a spacer out of card just to prove a point and now the doors shut perfectly. Not sure I'm 100% happy with my bodge so I'll replace them with some proper parts soon.
I had a delivery today of front suspension components. I've got a new pivot arm to replace a badly worn one and new v8 bushes for the lower arms. Also new bump stop spacers. I spent a few hours in the garage tonight fitting them. It would have been plain sailing if it were not for the fact that I "lost" the hole for the split pin on the old pivot arm. Seems the pin had sheered off at some point in the past and become one with the pivot arm. I eventually found it by virtue of the fact that the metal was a slightly different colour in 2 spots on opposite sides. I worked it for a while with a very small punch without luck and then ended up drilling it out. All's good now.
I also filled my front shocks with oil a few days back after they've been dry for god knows how long. One of them is working perfectly but the other is pissing oil all over my bench. The shaft oil seals have perished. So, I'll look for a good 2nd hand one, and if I can't find one cheaply, I'll get a pair of new ones.
And lastly, I got newly refurbed stub axles supplied with the car. I even have a receipt to prove that they were done professionally and I know for a fact that they've never been used, so these are in the same condition as they were when they arrived. One of them was fine, but one of them was seized solid. Seems somehow the steel + bronze washer combo is too thick and the top nut is pinching them too hard. I needed thinner washers to fix. Of course, I took the opportunity to order roller bearings to replace the bronze bushes. These are slightly thinner so now I have an odd situation where the one that was binding is now 100% perfect like I'd planned it and the other one (which was perfect) now has way too much play. I've got a shim set in the post that should be delivered tomorrow, but it's office Xmas party tomorrow so I doubt very much shims will be fitted.
Got 2 jobs done in the last few days. I stripprd my wiring loom back, repaired broken wires, cleaned contacts and rewrapped it in new tape so now it looks brand new. Can't wait to fit it.
And I finally got my engine bay sprayed. The big question is, should I leave it in base coat like it would been from the factory or should I put a clear coat on top? I'd value your opinions please
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Got the insides of the wings painted with black Gravitex tonight. They'll be ready to go back on the car for real this week.
Also got a pic of the wiring loom
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Onward with the reassembly. This time, I got the bonnet hinges back on, the front wings (probably not for the last time) and started on the wiring loom. I decided to use rivnuts instead of those stupid plastic screw hole things. They're much more secure and look much more professional. I also dismantled the heater box & cleaned out 37 years worth of crap. I'm going to repaint that and get that back on the car shortly.
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