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The packing is to ensure that the rack and the column meet at an accurate 90 degrees. So the packing piece could go on either side to ensure this, depending on where it is needed.. I don't think it relates to the year of manufacturer, but is just to adjust for "manufacturing tollerances" in the assembly of the front chassis rails and cross member. Assemble the shaft to the rack pinion, with the rack bolted loosly in position to the frame. Fix the steering shaft upper clamp bolts; spin the wheel left and right to get it "comrfortably aligned"... MORE
George, Are the rocker shaft and rocker bushings in good condition? If it looses too much oil from the shaft, then it will flood the valve guides and draw oild through to into the ports Guy "Guy Weller" 24292... MORE
David, Apologies if this is stating what is already obvious to you but... The pinch bolt aligns with a "neck" in the steering pinion. So the bolt needs to be fully removed before the steering shaft will fit over the splines of the rack pinion. It then needs to slide far enough on for the pinch bolt to align with the waist part of the pinion. I assume you got this, but if perchance you are simply slackening the pinch bolt but not fully removing it, then this could be your problem. Guy "Guy Weller" 24290... MORE
How about a sixties Midget or Sprite. I run a mk2 Sprite ('63) as more or less an everyday car (I do have access to my girlfriends car and sometimes I'll buy a banger to get me through the worst of winter). It still looks like a sixties car, has the superior (zips up flame suit) qu arter elliptical rear suspension of the frog and with its aluminium cheese grater grille has as much of a grin as a frog. Plus if you are going to us e it as practical transport you'll appreciate the opening boot and (if... MORE
Hi, I'm currently speccing out a new car, and trying to decide what's affordable and what's not so I can keep an eye on prices for a while and hopefully pick up a good deal when I spot one. It will have to be a daily driver but I'm also fairly serious about making a start on sprints and hillclimbs (maybe a few track days too). As ever, I'm trying to keep the cost down, the budget will be roughly =A33k. #1 choice, even above cars well out of that price range, or more modern cars that might perform... MORE
Cap'n You're not kidding! I had I known then, how much work this car was going to be, I'd never have =3D=0D done it. I'd have sold it, and gone out and bought one in the condition I wanted already done, and simply enjoyed it for what it is. Unfortunately for me, the longer I had the car, the more 'attached' to it I =3D=0D got, to the point that I couldn't let it go. I knew it was going to need work, =3D=0D although I never knew exactly how much work. I naively, took it in to an... MORE
Stewart I really don't see what the problem is here and what it is that you don't understand. Unfortunately I do not have the book you refer to, I do however have parts manuals for all series of Spridgets and I can tell you with utmost certainty that the floor pan for a 1/4 elliptic Mk1 sprite is NOT The same as the floor pan for the semi elliptic later cars. OK but you must have the moss parts catalouge then where it states that the later floorpan can be used on early cars with little modification.. well I... MORE
Stewart I really don't see what the problem is here and what it is that you don't understand. Unfortunately I do not have the book you refer to, I do however have parts manuals for all series of Spridgets and I can tell you with utmost certainty that the floor pan for a 1/4 elliptic Mk1 sprite is NOT The same as the floor pan for the semi elliptic later cars. The floor pan pressing DID change from 58 - 79 you are incorrect here and I do not understand where you're getting this information from, the Sprite Mk1... MORE
Whooooooooooo This is going to be an interesting thread. As far as BMIHT Trace certificates are concerned heres the details from mine, I've blanked out the numbers with X's for security reasons. Production Trace Certificate Number 92/6157 MG Midget Mark III Car/Chassis No. G-AN5/8660X-G Engine No. 12CE-DA-H/XXXXX Body No. 67XXX Specification: RHD, Home market Colour Exterior: Blue Royale Colour Trim: Black Colour Hood: Black Date built: 18 May - 2 June 1970 Date despatched: 8 June 1970 Destination Dealer: University Motors Limited, London Other Numbers Gearbox, 56XXX, Rear axle 14XXX Key numbers: FS.XXX, FS.XXX Details of Equipment: Wire Wheels,... MORE
OK assuming you also have the super profile by Lindsay Porter take a look on Page 41, this shows the interior of the area in question quiet well! Now the floor panel pressing never changed from 1958 - 1979, the captive nuts that hold quarter or semi elliptic spring hangers to the floor are in the same place. This means that the bolts that hold one to the floor can be used to hold Mk1 spring hangers in the correct place on a later shell. Ok the part that runs up the vertical face that holds the upper link... MORE
Stewart Well, the spring hanger structures on the Mk1 Sprite are quite different to the spring hanger structures on the 1500. Take it from me, the Sprite Mk1 spring hangers are a lot more complex to repair than the relatively simple 1500 one. And the triangulated structure on the 1500 IS needed, as it's a strengthening area for the rear of the car and as such a very important part the monococque structure. Why don't you buy the excellent restoration book 'Guide to Purchase and DIY Restoration, MG Midget and Austin-Healey Sprite by Lindsay Porter, this book deals with... MORE
OK, the area around the spring boxes on the MK1 while physically solid has had patches of steel welded over other patches over the years, and the whole area including the rear inner arch and the reinforcement running round the boot floor like a chassis rail is quiet simply a mess, the whole lot needs cutting out and replacing. Now many years ago my dad and myself cut up a frogeye, and I have had to repair this area on my 1500 shell, and I can tell you one thing for certain, the 1500 shell has within the triangulated... MORE
Hi all I,m after a bit of advice regards my steering wheel cowl. just fitted an original steering wheel back on my 72 rwa midget but the steering wheel cowl that fits over the indicator stalk doesnt fit around the indicator stalk !! the stalk body is too long Do the indicator stalks vary in size I suspect mine is wrong. It has the flash/main beam plus horn push on it. The end of the stalk has a silver tip. Is this from a 1500 or am i blowing up the wrong tree ?? Cheers Dave "daveyd425" 24220... MORE
Stewart That's interesting, Teal Blue was never an OE colour for 1500 Midgets! It does sound as though you have a bit of a 'hybrid' car, a crossover car between the end of the chrome bumper cars and the start of the Rubber Bumper ones. They were well known for using up 'old-stock' components on the revised range. My own 1971 car is a little like this, having a bonnet prop, yet telescopic stay for the boot! The first RB cars were made in September 1974, first chassis number being GAN6-154101. I'm not really sure what you're trying to... MORE
It is indeed a '74 1500 rubber bumper MG Midget! As I said one of the very first. Before cutting the sills it had on it off, it was interesting to note that it had two jacking points on one side, and only one on the other. However on removal it was revealed that there was little left of the rear end of the inner sills on either side, but more interestingly there was no sign whatsoever of the rear jacking points, as though it never actually had any!. However the rest of the shell is defiantly Normal 1500,... MORE
A '74 1500, Stewart? I did not know this! Was it a rubber bumper car? Or 1500 running gear in a '74 chrome bumper type machine? Wait a minute, here..."ntlworld"? You must be in UK, right? Chrome bumpers! One of the prototype Mk ll Sprites (not production) consisted of a Spridget front end and Frogeye rear end. In the picture I saw, it looked pretty good. Cap'n. Bob '60 :{) PilotRob@... 24212... MORE
Hello.. I have two sprigets.. The first car is a 1974 1500 (yes they do exist as I had to keep telling anyone I orderd parts for it from!)Which I bought in 1988, dorve for 6 months and then stripped, scince then I have replaced the inner and outer sills, repaired the floor and the front chassis sections and inner fornt arches.. restoration has stalled there, and the last time I actulally worked on it was 1991 IIRC! If my research is correct it is the 126th 1500 midget built and it is /was teal blue registerd JMB742N The... MORE
Kevin No need to apologise, it's the old UK/American terminology thing again. Well, from the sounds of it, it's a pretty standard 'body rotten' Spridget! =3D=0D I think you'll also find that the rear spring hangers will need doing as well. You'll need to give this some serious thought, and Robert gave some good advice (if you remove the bit about pop rivetting the floors in!) First off you do need to consider whether you really want to start getting =3D=0D into body repairs yourself. Whilst as I said previously, there really isn't anyt =3D=0D hing bodywork wise on... MORE
Bob.... I say safety first when it comes to "serious" structure. According to Spridget books I've read, a great deal of structural strength emanates from firewall and is tied into the floors to the rear "bulkhead" which houses the forward rear spring attach points. I could be wrong on this and if I am, I apologize for THIS is the basis of my opinion, which is not very "hands on" learned to the extent of guys like Frank, Chuck, and others far more knowledgeable then I. If the floors and sills were basically sound and mostly there, I might... MORE
I had some problems with my Bugeye about a year ago, turned out to be air leak at the fuel tank/line connection, but in checking, my coil was too hot to touch for more that a second or two. Seems to be normal and I was, and do run standard gap on the plugs with the sports coil. Bob, Troutdale, OR USA "Robert Webb" 24181... MORE
Hia P Rob, You got that one alright. I did not meen that we should start shooting any body, but i get sick of some people on this list always wanting to kill or mame cats, if i suggest that we kill some street kids in Brazil it should not shock anyone, as killing things seems to come up all to often. The cats of this world have as much right to be here as the homeless in brazil. I am not crazy..... can any see my point now...... "Beckers" 24128... MORE
In between all the I wish I had not posted that posts I was able to re-install the steering column cowl on the 73 Purple Midget (Black Tulip) Then worked up my resolve to break out the MIG welder and tack one of the fenders back on the Bugeye bonnet. Some of the tack welds look fairy close to the real things. Took the 73 out for a run down the block and back for the first time. Bit of a noise maker in low but ok in the rest of the gears. The engine is very strong, all... MORE
The other day i installed a Lucas sport coil and the Luminition super blue silicon leads to go with it in my 948 frog. However i noticed that this coil gets very hot, too hot to touch for very long. Is this normal and will it help to widen the plug gap a little as adviced by Luminition. Anybody experiance with this! Cheers jens Jens P. Maudal jens.maudal@... Greetings from "BottomsUp Brewery" Drammen - Norway Work: +47 32833566, mobile: +47 90540409 ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Visit my humble RIMS and homebrew page: http://home.c2i.net/bottomsup/index.htm Norbrygg bryggeside: http://www.norbrygg.com ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, "jens maudal" 24122... MORE
Well, Don May... I just had a fibreglass BE bonnet enter my life by coincidence. I just had my steel one overhauled in terms of new metal strips, etc. It's got cooling louvres (they work beautifully, BTW) and pretty soon will have a nice smooth finish between the grille and parking lights... no more "unsightly" horzontal seams!! :) Some guy refused a fibreglass one that just came in to S&C up the road from me so it became available. Might be a good time to convert over to save a little weight...give it a tilt front end treatment, etc.!... MORE
with regards to understeer, this may be of interest, I swapped the front springs on my 1500 for 400lb 8 1/4" springs with poly bushes all round and a 3/4" ARB with nylatron bushes (i have a freeling the old ARB was 9/16ths) its a '75 UK car btw. Now, this tightend the front end up no end and felt great, however, ther rear still had the standards springs and was lowered 1" on blocks. After these mods it had a tendency to snap oversteer mid corner (after initially understeering) , I was going to play with the tyre... MORE
