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"...you bloody well made it up! :)" Not at all, Nigel!! :) When Jon referred to this part as a "clip", I had no idea what the hell he was talking about at first. Since my '67 came with a BE steel bonnet on it, the rear fibreglass piece looked like the natural thing to do to me. After removing the external panels, I probably would have gone with adhesives for attachment, along with what was required for "trimming", most especially in consideration of the "longer" cockpit area of the '67, fold-down top, etc. (The car would have looked... MORE
Wise move I think Don May. MGA's are difficult to "get right" after the rust bug has gotten into their "L" frames (sill, rear door frame member), according to the article I read on rebuilding-restoring same in Classic Sports Cars. This guy should have taken better care of it...no doubt about it, Cap'n. Bob '60 :{) PilotRob@... 30295... MORE
Seems to me those who espouse the end of SS and allowing everyone to make their own retirement fund investments tend to forget that the vast majority of Americans, usually those who will depend on SS in their old age the most, are not savvy investors and are from families who have little or no history of financial savvy to inherit knowledge from. Social security is about security not maximum financial gain, investing potential retirement funds in the stock market which is a form of gambling with winners and losers one which even the most savvy investors often lose... MORE
The owner of the MGA after letting it sit under ripped up plastic tarps for twenty years, trapping moisture and rusting what was a good grill and paint on top, become a rat and squirrel condominium, and the grave yard for one raccoon, and had not even lifted up the tarp to look at it for years suddenly became delusional concerning its worth. No deal. Don "Don May" 30266... MORE
N ? didn't Prince do something like that . . . or is it a Napoleonic complex ? :-) Indeed thrifty. Can't stand to see anything thrown away that can be reasonably repaired. In mechanics and restoration there seems to be two schools of thought, those who throw away whole units rather than repair them and those who replace only the worn out parts. Observant that you are you certainly know which category I fit into . . . and most Cubans . . . out of necessity. My washing machine has a large computer board in it, should... MORE
shop and see though. I was wondering about that, but don't know where to get a replacement window. I've never seen them offered for sale. I suppose the top could be unstitched around the window, the old window removed and used as a template for a new window out of some kind of clear plastic. Has anyone tried repairing a cracked window with some kind of clear glue? You're probably right, for the cost involved it is probably the cheapest in the long run to just buy a new top. Evan "eaje91" 30236... MORE
Evan, Go to TAP plastics if you have one near you. They have two thickness of clear vinyl that will work for replacement. The thinner is easer to use for an old top as it is more fixable and costs only a few dollars for enough to do several windows while the thick stuff sold as window replacement is about 22.00 for only enough for one window and if you make a mistake you are out that much. The thin is the same substance only thinner but very just as strong and very cheap. Is your present one sewn... MORE
Hi folks, I just joined this list. I have two Midgets, a '76 and a '70. The '76 is my daily driver. The '70 is not running; I bought it from a guy cheap, he said the engine was frozen. The back plastic window is cracked on my '76 although the rest of the top is in good shape. Is there any way to repair or replace this window without having to replace the entire top? Thanks, Evan "eaje91" 30227... MORE
TJ, On your soft pedel problem, I don't think it is the MC. Try bleeding the brakes one or two times, remember to start at the farthest wheel from th MC and work closer. A soft pedel that will pump up hard usually is air in the lines. Where the air came from is a nother story. If it fixes the problem and is ok for a while, then returnes, you must find the leak, perhaps in the stop light switch (as you noted). Cheers, Bob in San Diego "Robert D. Gardner" 30220... MORE
Well! I guess I could be sarcastic and snippy and say "thanks for the underwhelming response" or something like that but I'll try to bite my tongue and just be grateful for the response I DID get from an email to Barney Gaylord, the webmaster of "MGA With an Attitude." He responded quickly with a detailed message and a link to pictures of the gearbox in question. For those who might run into a similar problem: The reverse light switch caused the reverse selector detent to stick and that allowed reverse to be selected all of the time. The... MORE
No kidding, Josh. I would never have guessed. Glad I have a BE and 5 speed. Don't need no steeenking reverse lights! :) Cap'n. Bob '60 :{) PilotRob@... 30174... MORE
Dear Listers, Just something interesting I have become aware of lately, I wonder if it is a Southern California fad or have you all seen it? It is a sport called Drifting. The object is to take a car around a closed course at high speed (sometimes as much as 100 mph) and throw it into a huge 4 wheel drift for as far as possible. Speed or crossing the finish line first is not the object, it is scored on style points like figure skating. Some times the drift can last 600 feet or so. Big clouds of... MORE
Hoods, bonnets and boots. I'll never get used to the fact that they use funny names for stuff on the other side of the pond. Jim- Your post earlier got me wondering. I called my mom (home ec teacher for years) for some ideas. So, at lunch, I went down to the local JoAnn fabrics, and sure enough, they sold automotive headliner by the yard (in about 6 different colors as well) for about $7 per yard. On the roll above it, they had an insulation ($4 yd) that looked as if it would work well sandwiched between the... MORE
David By safety I was more refering to driver saftey than car strength, in that a hard top offers more protection from low flying tarmac than a soft top, it always shockes me how many (even top level competitors) press against the roof when they roll a car, this being a thin piece of tin or even canvas between you and 100mph tarmac. There are also several rules about drivers arms/heads not being able to get out of a cockpit in the event of an accident Regards Chris Valentine Dunlop Motorsport maybe in general, but in the specific arena... MORE
or presumably, you could make a fibreglass mould off the existing soft top. (just remember to use plenty of mould release!) David "David Jacobs" 30123... MORE
Rob I've pondered this one myself, I must admit. Mainly because I've always really hated the look of the standard OE hardtop that is fitted to the later Midgets and Sprites. For some reason in my mind - it just doesn't look 'right', it looks ungainly and an 'afterthought'. However the original BMC and Healey Hardtops for the Frogeye and early MKII Sprites and MK I and II Midgets looks 'right' and elegant. I've never actually sat down and analysed the differences between these hardtops, but the earlier one in my mind just looks 'curvier' and more 'sporty' whereas... MORE
Rob I've pondered this one myself, I must admit. Mainly because I've always really hated the look of the standard OE hardtop that is fitted to the later Midgets and Sprites. For some reason in my mind - it just doesn't look 'right', it looks ungainly and an 'afterthought'. However the original BMC and Healey Hardtops for the Frogeye and early MKII Sprites and MK I and II Midgets looks 'right' and elegant. I've never actually sat down and analysed the differences between these hardtops, but the earlier one in my mind just looks 'curvier' and more 'sporty' whereas... MORE
Racing has more to do with class and safety, open top would be different to hardtop/saloon in many cases eg. trackdays open tops have to use helmets when saloons sometimes dont or Lemans where open tops get different rules because of the ease of changing driver compared to a roof with doors. Regards Chris Valentine Dunlop Motorsport I am sold on fitting one in winter now, also the aerodynamics must be better, why else the the racing boys fit them for racing? Any thoughts ? Alan christopher_valentine@... 30102... MORE
Having just driven 70 odd miles on M6 at aprox 90mph most of the way with the soft top up, heater on. The wind noise was most unpleasant, and would be very taxing on a long journey. Besides that, at that speed I was getting an ear-ache from my wife telling me to slow down every 3 minutes. We bought a secondhand hardtop (for just under the same price that I paid for a complete midget) Fitted it and made the return 70 mile jouney at the same speed. Wind noise disappeared. Earache disappeared cos my wife associates noise... MORE
Jens I would think most plating companies would do the 'clear zinc and yellow passivation' as the process is similar for chrome plating apart from the final process and polishing. It's worth checking with whoever you intend to do your chrome playing with. It's best to group the items up and get them done in a batch rather than trying to get individual pieces done - it's cheaper that way. I didn't sand blast any of mine, but cleaned them thoroughly in white spirit/turps/kerosene several times to get rid of any oil or grease that was in there. I... MORE
Nelson Thanks for your input. All of the re-chroming cost more than it would have cost to have bought replacements, although not by much. I had them re-chromed for two reasons really - firstly I wanted to retain my 'original' parts as much as I could. Secondly, I've heard bad stories of the 'quality' of new replacement parts being inferior thickness steel and thinner chrome plating. I'd rather pay more than the cost of buying a replacement, for 'quality' chroming on my original parts. I was lucky - the front bumper blade and over-riders were in good serviceable condition... MORE
Hi guys As I mentioned, when I got a moment I'd do some pics of the re-chroming I hade done and some of the zinc and yellow passivation. I've uploaded some of these pictures to my folder in the photo's section of the yahoo website - Nigel-71-Midget. I've also uploaded a picture of my grille I recently finished. I haven't done any pictures of the front bumper blade, as this is wrapped up for protection, but the chroming is of the same quality as the over-riders I have done pictures of. I'm generally very pleased with the quality of... MORE
Don. I believe the rails were originally bolted down on top of the carpet. On mine, I bolt them direct to the floor, but with a strip of car inner tube between them and the floor. Not sure that this really makes any difference. I then slit the carpets where the runners are, leaving it connected across the front, but extending the slits through to the rear edge at the back. This way, it is easy to slide the carpets out from the front for drying after those inevitable soakings ! Guy "Guy Weller" 30087... MORE
Don. I believe the rails were originally bolted down on top of the carpet. On mine, I bolt them direct to the floor, but with a strip of car inner tube between them and the floor. Not sure that this really makes any difference. I then slit the carpets where the runners are, leaving it connected across the front, but extending the slits through to the rear edge at the back. This way, it is easy to slide the carpets out from the front for drying after those inevitable soakings ! Guy "Guy Weller" 30088... MORE
Don. I believe the rails were originally bolted down on top of the carpet. On mine, I bolt them direct to the floor, but with a strip of car inner tube between them and the floor. Not sure that this really makes any difference. I then slit the carpets where the runners are, leaving it connected across the front, but extending the slits through to the rear edge at the back. This way, it is easy to slide the carpets out from the front for drying after those inevitable soakings ! Guy "Guy Weller" 30089... MORE
