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Spence - Guess that would be me, progress has slowed due to cold weather (hard to heat the garage with a small space heater) and the holidays and all, the frame strengthening is almost finished and I'm gathering parts to begin construction on the headers & steering. I've finally removed a complete motor from a donor car, up until now I've been using a junk block and heads to fab the mounts, I hope to finish the frame rails in the next couple of weeks and get the motor & trans back in the car, I'll take a few... MORE
Hi Spence, It is the worst part. The engine is sweet and the interior has been well looked after. The front wings are new ones. It came with a van load of spares inc 6 wire wheels hub and 3.91 diff. New door and bonnet. I paid =A3300 for the lot so i am very happy with it. I am keeping the rostyles on it and selling the wire wheels and bits that go with it. I think that everything is there for a complete wire wheel convertion. My first job is to get it up on ramps and... MORE
Does anyone know if there is anything i SHOULD or SHOULD NOT do. When cutting out the old rear arches and replacing them. What I want to do is remove the old arch but i dont know where is the best place to cut for welding a better one on. The secondhand one has been cut off from the hood section so there is a lot to play with. The other thing that concerns me is the weakening of the body when removing such a large piece. Any advice much appreciated. The car is a 1978 MG Midget (... MORE
The wheels were originally painted with silver (aluminum pigment) enamel. Some of them were a very bright silver, and others were a duller color, similar to MGA. I don't know whether this relates to the sequence, or the manufacturer, as there are two manufacturing methods also. Some BE wheels had the center spot welded to the rim, and some are riveted. In any case, shot blasting might be a bit coarse, and I'd use glass bead blasting. Modern auto paint (acylic enamel with urethane additive, or a base/clear system) would be nice, and powder coating would be even nicer.... MORE
I just found a 58 Bug-eye project in Concord (SF East Bay-area) CA. that I thought I'd pass along. I haven't seen the car and I'm real tempted to but if I do go there'd be a big chance that I'd also bring it home=85 so I'm not going. Besides, my wife would kill me if I brought another project home. Fell free to contact Charlie via email at WELLSC@... Good luck to whoever gets this car. I have no financial interest in this deal. -Drew Drew, I got the car through a neighbor about 3-4 years ago. I... MORE
Question. What is the best method of restoring a set of steel frogeye wheels. I.e Shot blast or bead blast? Two pack painting or Powder coat? or any other ideas. Many Thanks "manfrog42" 35641... MORE
It depends if you replace the whole panel or just the boot floor part - the complete original panel arches forwards and up over the axle and forms the 'dog shelf' behind the seats. The part panel ends at the edge where boot meets axle arch. Even the part one needs some care, because the rear springs mount to this panel, so you have to make sure you get things lined up correctly before it's all welded up; however, if you leave the reinforcing pieces in place where the spring hangers mount, this should give you a reference point... MORE
I knew I was gonna get crap for that. Hey, at least I called them wings and not fenders :) ........and why is called a fender anyway? this and "Richard Rivenbark" 35625... MORE
I need to replace the floor of the trunk in my 74 RWA. How difficult is this and what is the process for fitment? I know the gas tank must be dropped and I need to replace the floor and the 2 filler pieces on the sides that go between the floor and the wings. "Richard Rivenbark" 35624... MORE
I bought and fitted a pair of inertia reel seat belts sold by the MGOC that bolt to the wheel arch. They adjust in orientation so they are in the correct plane to work. No problems, snap tight every time. I now feel a lot safer driving the car, that wheel is pretty close. Terry "Terry Isherwood" 35595... MORE
They are only on cars originally fitted with inertia real seat belts. When I came to repairing the inner rear arches on mine I changed the mountings for of the inertia reel belts. as my car originally had static belts. Had I known what a pain they were going to be to find I would not have bothered, but its too late now. The bracket bolt onto the side of the inner wheel arch, then go to the top of the arch and have a bend so the top part lays flat on the top of the arch, and... MORE
Has any one got the brakets for the inertia reel seatbelts, even better the seat belts themselves. I bought a new set for my car, but they are an adjustable type. The instructons for them tell you to bolt them directly to he side of the wheel arch, and they just look wrong to me, would be better on the proper bracket that goes up and over the inner arch should anyone have a pair flaoting about!. Stewart "zaphod19692000" 35575... MORE
Hi jim, I will try to drive by his shop this week and see if I can get his number. The hardtop I have was from the high desert at the base of the San jacinto mountains in San Bernardino County CA. The one he has was from a sports car shop in LA County. I don't think he has any clue what most of this is, as he is not a Brit car guy. He just owned the building the shop was in. -Spence "spencer_baker" 35574... MORE
Hi Guys, I decided that I do not plan on using my Hardtop for my 73 midget. It need to be cleaned since it sat in a desert for 17 years, the rear plastic window is pretty shot, and the rubber is ugly, but there are no cracks, etc. I have it in storage now, and I would love to have it go for a good cause. If anyone is interested, i can walk to my neighbors house where I have it stored and take photos. I also know of some guy like 5 blocks from my house that... MORE
Hi All, Today was a rainy day in SoCal, and I really did not want to sit on a cold concrete floor in the garage, so i decided to take some of my phots, and create a web based version of my build diary. I only have a bit done, as i am organizing my photos, but if you are interested it is at www.southbaysupply.com/project.htm I will be adding to it, but this gives a general idea of what I have been doing the last 2 years. -Spence "spencer_baker" 35550... MORE
Thanks Paul and Robert for your kind words. Robert, I guess, coming from Texas, you would hardly know what real rust looks like!! Actually, the saga behind this is that I was looking for a car that definately needed lots of work doing. I wanted something that I could rebuild with my son, who was then in his mid teens. We needed the father / son bonding thing and both needed something to keep us off the streets! So we learnt together, how to weld, rebuild an engine and respray. Well, mechanical stuff I was used to, but paint... MORE
Ian, (AKA Mandy!) If you have looked at my photos you will see that the rear wheel arches were in a pretty poor state. They had been repaired with Polyfilla and newspaper! I cut out old rusted metal one section at a time, and replaced with steel panels that I cut, bent shaped and welded into position piece by piece. This included most of the inner wheel arch, the heel board, cills, spring mounts, floors etc. Most of these panels I fabricated as I was on a "we tight" strategy. I did buy a repair panel for the lower... MORE
G'day Guy Many cars in the BMC range had a common bolt pattern for the front brake backing plates. Not too surprising when you think they could have been drawn up by the same designer or draftsman. Larger cars had (wait for it) larger brakes. Disc brakes were quite rare and, in the 1950's and early 1960's, only used on expensive up-market cars, such as Jaguar. The Austin A40 Farina had 8" drum brakes, deemed necessary to slow down it's heavier sedan body shell. The Morris Major (also badge engineered as Austin Lancer, Wolseley 1500, Riley 1500) had 1500cc... MORE
Please forgive a Newbie's ignorance... I just joined this group as I just purchased a 1968 MG Midget. I'm now fumbling around trying to locate a few items I will be needing for the car. Here are two questions for you. 1) Where in the devil can I find 145SR13 tires and tubes?! Special Order, some place like Coker Tire. Check the classic tire dealers a t swap meets 2) Where can I find a decent hood and tonneau at a reasonable price? eBay!! I found a 67 tonneau and a white top for our 68 on eBay. 3)... MORE
Spridget people, Please forgive a Newbie's ignorance... I just joined this group as I just purchased a 1968 MG Midget. I'm now fumbling around trying to locate a few items I will be needing for the car. Here are two questions for you. 1) Where in the devil can I find 145SR13 tires and tubes?! 2) Where can I find a decent hood and tonneau at a reasonable price? 3) Where can I find a complete parts listing for the Midget? 4) Which shop manual is best and where do I buy one? Many thanks in advance.... Cheers!! Jim... MORE
Holy cow!, you had me going there RH - my mouth dropped to floor reading this. Ended it with hardy laugh though. Lance is my BOY! "brokenladder99" 33558... MORE
Folks - Its' time bring the ol' boy home (from El Paso to Dallas). I could any helpful info on how to or who to use. Some of you have already provided comments; thanks: To Brad and Robert: I could tell Uhaul that I'm hauling something other than the Sprite - something that would fit on the transport - but actually they're right; my car won't fit on the hauler. I've only got 39" clearance inside tire to tire (has new 165/80s) and the most safely narrow part of the hauler is about 41 or 42" wide. My car's... MORE
OK, Doug... You indeed have the higher compression 8.9-1 motor. Thought so. And you've done a bit of good work on it already, obviously. Here again, assuming the motor has done 77k "untouched" up to this point in time, then yes....personally I would pull the pan and REPLACE all the bearings (and oil pump) as part of preventive ("downline") maintenance as seeing as the motor is already out of the car. I mean, what better opportunity? :) Your assessment of the oil pump location, etc. is correct, Doug. Easy job at this point and sure, I'd renew the front... MORE
Hi, Colin.... The early Rivergate kits required the body mod you speak of. Today's Rivergate kit does not. No modification was required to my current BE to drop in the Rivergate engine/Datsun 5 speed "combo" which took the place of the stock 1098/ribcase gearbox the car came with. As I understand it..... the Rivergate clutch disc is a Datsun unit modified to match the stock (or upgraded?) Spridget Borg & Beck pressure plates. As I understand it.... the gearboxes used and rebuilt/sold commercially by Rivergate are those sourced from Datsun 210 TRUCKS. Not sure of their torque or HP... MORE
For all you furiners (not Texicans), this should make you wish you were here.... A TEXAS BLESSING Bless this house, oh Lord, we cry. Please keep it cool in mid-July. Bless the walls where termites dine, while ants and roaches march in time. Bless our yard where spiders pass fire ant castles in the grass. Bless the garage, a home to please carpenter beetles, ticks and fleas. Bless the love bugs, two by two, the gnats and mosquitoes that feed on you. Millions of creatures that fly or crawl, in Texas, Lord, you've put them all!! But this is... MORE
