The MGA With An Attitude
MGA Guru Is GOING MOBILE - (March 1 - March 15, 2021)
Monday March 1, 2021:
Learn something new every day. Someone informed me that you can remove the reverse gear shaft from the MG gearbox by pushing it forward into the box, not having to pull it out the back. Bit of trivia, but a good note to add to my web page on rebuilding the gearbox.
 Someone else is now feeding me information on length of the casing tubes for the windscreen wiper drive, so needing to add another web page soon. Nice that this web site is a worldwide community effort.
Tuesday March 2, 2021:
Report of another shop to work on an MG in Palm Desert, California. Bit of a road trip from Florida, but I should get there eventually.
The CMGC March newsletter came in this afternoon. Got a small start on transcribing it for the club web site, but that will suck up most of tomorrow.
Wednesday March 3, 2021:
Tried this morning to return the junky Verizon Jet Pack to Best Buy, not knowing they shortened their hours, now
open 11-am to 7-pm. May reschedule that for Friday afternoon.
Much of the day spent on the CMGC newsletter for the club web site, but at least it's done.
Took some time off late afternoon to watch SpaceX Starship SN10 launch and rise and drop with the belly-flop, and land (a little crooked). And then blow up eight minutes later being launched into another quick flight with "Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly". That was fun.
Thursday March 4, 2021:
Some minor questions about removing the crank dog, generator to alternator conversion, machining the mounting for mechanical tach drive, and using an MGB electric tach in the MGA.
Friday March 5, 2021:
If it's Friday we must be at Tech Central. On arrival a TR4A engine was being loaded onto a trailer to head off to a machine shop. The green MGB door was about to become all green again. The TVR was just being backed out of the shop to allow the lift to be used for one of the VW race cars. The late model MGB overdrive gearbox was getting final dressing with switches and harness including the slider switch on top of the shift knob. The Nissan 300ZX turbo V6 engine was still waiting for a few more parts before installation.
Almost amazing what some degreaser and a pressure wash can do for an old VW gearbox. The two year restoration MG Midget was getting a new throttle cable, accompanied by some skinned knuckles.
For final tune-up the distributor had to come out again to flip the hold-down clamp plate right side up. Then after a little timing tweak and mixture adjustment it was off for another run around the block.
The VW racer that had the gearbox out last week for a new clutch was getting the gearbox reinstalled today.
Evening questions on leaking brake fluid and installing rain gutters on the MGA Coupe (with stainless steel rivets and Dumdum).
Saturday March 6, 2021:
Some discussion on heater blower switch wiring, and making a breadboard circuit for testing and calibration of the magnet fuel gauge. A new tech page added to show the internal bits of the MGA heater blower switch, how to fix it, and reassemble it.
Sunday March 7, 2021:
Someone encountered a slightly damaged rear main bearing, asking how to appraise the damage, measure the journal diameter, and figure out who made the main bearings with odd markings.
Monday March 8, 2021:
Added a history page in the CKD section (Completely Knocked Down) for "Building MGs In Australia", including post WW-II through 1972 (when import restrictions and taxes increased).
Another confusing email email with title "Noise on left suspension" asking about oil for the gearbox. Huh? I may have to stop responding to messages with questions having questions not related to the subject line.
In the evening we had the UML twice a month Zoom meeting to kick around various MG technical questions. Something like 170 participants this time.
Tuesday March 9, 2021:
Dang, another "Noise on left suspension" message asking about gearbox oil. I give up?
Got word of another useful service shop to add to my Shops list. Rim Doctor in Syracuse, NY offers wheel straightening and repair service. The MGA Twin Cam guys are all over this one, since their wheels are rare and expensive.
Someone asking how to make a Dynamator work (alternator in a housing that looks like a generator). Duh? You need to ask the party selling the non-standard accessory, and if they can't tell you how to make it work, send it back.
Wednesday March 10, 2021:
Someone mixing up email messages, switching from blower switch to length of the tach cable. Hard to keep up with messages when we just click Reply and ask a different unrelated question. Then by the time I can reply, they find the answer for the question from a different source. That's when I have to set the reply email into once a day mode to avoid cross talk.
Killed half the day catching up with photos and notes for almost a week past, and cleaning out my email box for two months past. Hard to believe how busy I get doing very little (so to speak).
Late evening Zoom meeting with a few people on the CMGC committee for web site update (whenever they figure out what that means). After three or four committee meetings and many times asking the question, no one had yet come up with the answer to the very first question, "What is the purpose for existence of the club"? So I had to tell them, so no one had to bother to look it up. It is in the club corporation charter, "For the preservation and enjoyment of MG cars". Then they got all excited and wanted that statement to be posted on the web site, which can easily be done, and that was the end of the meeting (typical).
Thursday March 11, 2021:
Some discussion with a fellow who was 3D printing a starter drive cover, just because he didn't have one and couldn't find one. He didn't seem to be deterred by the idea that you don't need one.
Late night web page updates on for an early prototype MGA, likely needing more updates later.
Friday March 12, 2021:
Another visit to Tech Central. Today's guest of honor was this MG ZB Magnette Varitone. This one already has front disc brakes, and it is about to be the recipient of an MGB 1800 engine and late model overdrive. This is why they have been working so diligently on the overdrive gearbox. And this is how we get the late model MGB parts into the Magnette. Start with the MGB engine back plate and larger flywheel to match the late model gearbox. Might as well install the late model pre-engaged starter motor as well. Also use the MGA or Magnette intake manifold for SU H4 carburetors (driver's choice), and original Magnette draft pipe.
How to fit the Magnette forward sump oil pan onto the late MGB engine, when they have different bolt pattern? Fabricate a thin adapter plate to bolt up to the MGB block (with flat head screws in the odd locations) while accepting the Magnette bolt pattern underneath. Install with one MGB pan gasket and one Magnette pan gasket. By day's end the OD was mated to engine and nearly ready to install. Not that easy though. When the original engine and gearbox come out, they will have to start cutting the floor pan and tunnel to clear the larger gearbox. The plan then is to weld part of all of the MGB tunnel into the Magnette, and for sure that is not going to be a week end job.
The two year restoration Midget was getting some final touches (for teething pains). Throttle cable was fixed, and everything else is working, except the speedometer. That works if you drive the cable from bottom end with a power drill, so the problem is in the gearbox internal speedometer drive, which will be next week's on the hoist project. A little more porting going on with the MGB cylinder head.
Surprised to see the MGB door isn't green yet, but they are just being careful about it (or casually slow as a hobby). One of the VW race cars was into its perpetual maintenance issues/ Hey, this is Tech Central Racing you know. Slowing down just before lunch break, it was good timing to crawl under my MGA to give it a lube job (pretty much on time for a change). This brought to light a loose rear universal joint that has been brewing for a long time, so time to change that piece. But the favorite outside bench and large vice were occupied (making an AC compressor bracket), so we think this will be a job for tomorrow.
Before we could leave, our starter motor was refusing to go. Pull and click repeatedly, but no cranking. This had previously been intermittent, but now definitely dead, so might as well fit it while sitting in the good location.
I always figure this car has a friendly failure mode, commonly offering up its problem in a convenient location, not leaving us stranded on the road. This gear reduction starter is only three years old, and it has had some other problems, so I'm not very happy about this bit of kit. Most of the R&R work is done from the top after removing the distributor, just jack it up long enough to remove the bottom bolt. The first picture is one I missed three years ago during initial installation when I forgot to get the picture of the flat side I had to cut from the mounting flange to fit up near the MGA engine block.
Being a non-standard aftermarket accessory, it has no instructions in the Workshop Manual, so I get to take things apart to tinker, learn on the fly, and hope I can fix it without breaking anything or losing any parts. I am already familiar with the gear reduction end (with a bunch of little bite in a one-way clutch), so I'm not taking that apart this time. I did take the motor apart, not knowing any better yet. I did inspection and cleaning, polished up the commutator a bit, but didn't find anything wrong there. Got it back together without mucking up carbon brushes, shorting wires or losing screws.
I finally removed the end plate from the smaller housing where we find the solenoid that drives the pinion gear into the flywheel. That pretty much completes my view of how the whole thing works, so at least I will know where to look first next time around (and this is going to make a good tech article for the web site). Just pull out the solenoid plunge, an the problem was immediately obvious. There is a large copper contact washer that lands on a pair of copper flanges to make the high current connection to run the motor. These copper contacts were badly burned and pitted, very much like the original starter pull switch that failed after 55-years and 500,000 miles. But this starter is only three years old with 40,000 miles, so draw your opinions accordingly. At least I should know when it will need maintenance again, which is apparently more often than the original inertia starter.
Navigator and I grabbed some 180-grit emery paper and spent several minutes sanding the copper contacts like crazy. Then just drop the plunger back in and replace the end cover. I recon the fix couldn't be much easier, and no cost as well.
The final pictures show the assembled starter motor right side up (with cable terminal on top), and upside down (with the blue terminal cover). Not long to get it back in the car (with distributor installed(, and happy to find it started right up on the first crank.
Saturday March 13, 2021:
There was a hint in yesterday's notes that today would be the right time to change the rear U-joint in the propshaft, so we wandered back to Tech Central to borrow a patch of cement and the bench vice when there was no one else there for distraction. With the rear jacked up, not long to remove four bolts from the rear flange to extract the propshaft and clean it up some (and didn't even lose any oil from the gearbox). It was that rear flange that needed to be removed to change the slightly loose U-joint.
Not long to remove the grease fitting and four snap rings to knock the assembly apart. Putting it back together with the new spider was also easy enough, kind of fun tinkering. I won't bore you with a dozen pictures and instruction on the procedure, because it is well covered in the tech section. It ended up with two different type of snap rings, because I like the square wire ones for ease of manipulation, and was intending to reinstall those. But a couple of the rings were damaged in process, so it got a couple of the new monkey-ear style rings. We seem to have lost the pin-end snap ring piers that I swear we have been carrying around for several years (being used occasionally), so opted to borrow Jerry's snap ring piers for a few minutes to install two rings. Note to self, buy new snap ring piers for the traveling tool kit.
Two and a half hours including clean-up, packing away tools, and a short chat with a friend who happened to drop by. Not bad for a casual chore with no hurry (and not bothering to put it on the hoist). The friend asked how long the U-joints last (when properly greased). Wild off-hand guess was about 4-years, so we have the propshaft out for service every two years, maybe. So he asked, why not change both at once, so you don't have to do it so often. Because I don't like to throw away perfectly good serviceable parts? And just because I might drive up to 40,000 miles per year doesn't mean other people would. I would of course look up the maintenance records later, and take it under advisement.
And the answer is, the propshaft rear flange was replaced 5-1/2 yeas ago when the bores got loose to let the U-joint wobble, but the same rear U-joint was reinstalled, being still in good condition. Last time the rear U-joint was changed was 8-yr 3-mo 226,923 miles. The front U-joint was just replaced 4 years ago, barely 118,000 miles, so I recon it still has at least another 100,000 miles to go. You just have to love grease.
Sunday March 14, 2021:
Some discussion about a replacement fuel level sender unit that doesn't physically fit in the tank, with the float arm hitting something inside to prevent motion. I have a drawing of the device showing the correct position and path and travel limits for the float arm, so we may be able to reform the arm to make it work.
Monday March 15, 2021:
Evening Zoom meeting with Chicagoland MG Club. There was a guest from the Houston (Texas) MG Car Club invited to chat about their web club and their web site. Nothing out of the ordinary about the web site, except a couple years ago they commissioned a web service site called Wild Apricot to handle some real time data processing, like membership applications, dues payments, and regalia sales. There is a periodic fee for these services, but it could make such services available if the home webmaster doesn't know how or can't allocate the time to do it.
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