Mini Bonnie

My girlfriend and I had to spend Christmas last Friday since we wouldn't be around for the actual date. One of the presents she gave me was a model MGB! Same year, and even colour! These replicas are almost as rare as the car itself (and the price encroaches on it too...).

Greetings from the snowy Tatra mountains in Slovakia.

Cold morning

This morning was rather cold, but I went out to start Bonnie regardless. After all, having spent a whole week in the cold, it was time for a little warm up. Apparently I primed the fuel pump a bit too much, letting too much gas in the carburettor prematurely. Nothing terrible, it all burned off quite quickly:

I've always known that flames and smoke came out of the carburettor when the engine is cold. This generally happens if I accelerate too hard on a cold engine. However I had never seen it in person before, so when my girlfriend jumped back the other day while I was starting the engine, and she then filmed what happened, I must say I was quite surprised. Regardless, I'm getting a new (more regular) fuel-pump as soon as possible.

Here's a freeze-frame of the large flame:

Update:
Apparently I had no idea what I was doing. The problem is mis-firing, where a not enough fuel is being ignited, and it all goes off in one go (hence the stalling). The fix: new spark plugs (actually, just changing the spark plug wires does a lot already) and adjusting the timing.

Update

Why haven't I posted anything lately? Well, the temperature has been too cold for me to be out, not to mention it's raining a lot, I've been out most weekends, and I desperately need new brakes. I still start the car from time to time to keep the engine from dying entirely, but until I get new brakes I don't trust driving it for long distances anymore.

I'll keep you posted as soon as I do something.

Air Filter and general photography

• Buffed up air filter cover

One of the things I planned on buying, but never really felt was worth $64, was a new chrome air filter cover and filter. So instead I buffed up my old cover using a sander (first coarse paper, then fine), and I must say the results are pretty good. I didn't get the complete reflection I was hoping for -well, I got tired and gave up- but it is quite shiny. Below you'll see pictures demonstrating the difference, as well as the final result. Amazingly, this is the first thing I've done on this car that has actually gone according to plan.


Naturally I had to go for a test drive afterwards, and I took along my camera. Below you'll see the resulting images, as well as a short video on part of the route we drove.

(That tapping noise you hear is the connection of the top to the front windshield)

Update: The pictures and video you see above were taken by Luz, who had just started dating me at the time. She is now my fiancée!

Fuel filter

• Replaced fuel filter

I ordered a new fuel filter a while ago which arrived, also a while ago. It's just that I've been rather lazy lately and didn't really feel like replacing the filter. Yesterday it finally came to the point where I had to replace it (for safety and general 'not looking like shit' reasons).

The new filter was ordered from VB because none of the car-parts stores in the area carried the particular filter I needed (!!). What I received from VB was a Lucas (oh no!) fuel filter made almost entirely out of plastic (oh my god no!). While it is kind of cool that I can actually see fuel flowing through the filter, because it's made of plastic I'll have to change it again, sooner than later. We'll see how this works out.

To replace a fuel filter one generally relieves pressure in the lines by killing the fuel pump while it's running; this is most easily done on modern cars by pulling the fuel pump fuse on a running engine and waiting for it to stall (takes about 2-3 seconds). My '77 MG only has 4 fuses, all of which are a mystery to me, so pulling one fuse will probably not just kill the pump, but also some other things meaning that the engine could have died for a number of reasons with the lines still under pressure. Instead another solution is to directly pull off the connecting wires on the fuel pump itself, which is ridiculous on an MG because the fuel pump is directly attached to the fuel tank, and so tucked away in the back of the car far out of reach. There's something in the trunk that I thought was the fuel pump, but when I pulled the plugs off it the engine didn't stall (so I don't know what that is).

I called my friend Mike up, the previous owner of the car, and asked him for advice. He suggested to just pull the lines as the pressure isn't very significant anyway. And so I did, which is how despite using a towel and opening the line leading to the carb first, my hand was soaked in fuel (a smell that didn't leave me till much later). Then I replaced the filter and reinstalled the pipes. Took about 30 minutes of research, and 5 minutes to do the job. Done.

On the road again - at speed

• Installed new tyres (P185/70 14)
  

Finally! I can drive at speed again! More than 40 mph, here I come!

I finally got the new tyres I've desperately needed for ages (with many thanks to my grandfather who gave me the money to buy them). To keep with the spirit of the 70s I bought white-wall tyres. Some may say that this is an American tradition, not appropriate on a British car. Well they can go to hell. It looks damn good. And furthermore this is an American-spec MGB, not British (otherwise I'd have about 20 more horse-power).

Note that the 'white walls' are blue in these images. The blue is a protection layer that will wear off over time and reveal to be white. I'd wash it but I have a major exam tomorrow that I should be studying for. Also note that the guy at Sears was nice enough to use the chrome valve stems (without me asking), rather than the generic black ones most cars have. I feel like I should have tipped him.

Emergency radiator flush

• Flushed coolant with 50/50 solution
  

Remember when I flushed the radiator a while back? Well at the time I filled it up with pretty much all water and a minimum of anti-freeze - fine in the summer, murder in the winter. Once the water in the radiator freezes it expands and the radiator cracks. This could possibly even happen in the engine (resulting in one nice paper weight). Last night temperatures were freezing.

Though I'm looking for an excuse to swap out the engine (with a V8; I'm thinking HEMI), the timing is not right and a dead engine would be the end of this project for a long time.

Luckily Bonnie started up as normal. To flush the radiator fluid I removed the bottom hose again (no drain plug on 77s and up), reconnected it and refilled it using the top hose. Running the engine for a while the reserve bucket burped and I filled up till it stopped burping. All in all I used about a gallon of 50/50 coolant.

The engine now runs hotter than normal at idle, slightly to the right of centre, but actually cools down to left of centre while driving, which I assume is due to the crisp October air. Anyway, luckily my engine is safe, and Bonnie still runs like a dream.

Taking Bonnie out for a spin

• Refitted passenger seat
  

If there's anything research has taught me, it's that even the simplest task will on average take 5-8 times as long as it should, generally due to technical difficulties and unforeseen complications. And this is despite extensive background research on the theory behind a novel procedure, working out the maths, the physics, and preparing for every possible complication that could arise, in the hope that the operation could be performed in a reasonable amount of time, and then move on to the next one. Working on an old car is just like that. Reading various manuals, studying diagrams, scouring MG websites and reading millions of posts, can take hours. Of course, that's nothing compared to performing the actual operation.

I still need to change the fuel filter, replace the coolant, fix the hole on the passenger side, replace the air filter, ..., and that's even before I start working on making the car look good again. But I felt lazy this weekend and thought I'd do something simple like reattach the passenger seat so I could start taking people for rides (rather than make them sit on the battery). Replacing the seat seemed to be more complicated than I anticipated. If you can avoid it never remove the seats.

DON'T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I DID! Do not attach the rails before installing the seat. There is not enough room to slide the seats in place. Instead place the wooden absorbers in place with the metal spacers, and attach the rail that fits onto the side that has the mechanism that blocks the seat from sliding. Place the seat on the wooden absorbers and push the seat all the way back so the front hole becomes visible on the rail. Screw in a bolt but don't tighten all the way. Next push the seat all the way forward and do the same with the back screw. Push the remaining slide into position by sliding it under the seat, push the seat back, and screw in the front bolt. Repeat the same for the back. While doing this you may have to lift the seat up from one side occasionally, push it around a bit, force things into place. Then tighten all bolts, and you're done. This took me about an hour. If your MG is in better shape you'll get it done sooner. Make sure the bolts are in good shape so the seat can't come loose.

Anyway, so it all worked out in the end, and I was able to go for a ride with Jeremy. Below you'll see the first ever (cell-phone) video of Bonnie-Delilah in motion.

Gas cap and roofing

• Patched roof
• Drilled out gas-cap lock
  

A car is a lot like a woman. Pay daily attention to her, treat her to the finest accessories, jewellery, food and drink, tell her she means the world to you, and you'll have many happy years together. I haven't done any of that for a while, so it was no surprise when ole' Bonnie wouldn't start up Saturday morning. At this point I also realise I've probably alienated my entire female audience - all two of you.

The battery was fine and I had reattached the ignition switch properly, so the problem was elsewhere. I remember the previous owner forcing fuel into the carburettor by pushing a lever that manually injects fuel. Doing that for a while, then pushing the accelerator while turning the key, and with a lot of patience, the car finally started. I was relieved, and rubbed my sore head (from banging it against the wheel every time it didn't start). Photos will follow as soon as I remember to take along my camera.

One of the parts I received was a new gas cap. The old gas cap needed a key to be opened, which I didn't get with the car. So up till recently I was refilling the car by opening the hose leading right into the gas tank and pumping fuel there, manually estimating when I had to stop (very safe, of course). To remove the old gas cap I first needed to drill out the old lock. The theory is to drill through all the pins and springs, thus letting the tumbler move freely in the housing (using a screwdriver or something flat). Use a small drill bit to do this. I didn't, and used the largest one I had, which didn't do more than jam the mechanism. I ended up using a screwdriver and more drill bits to just break the whole thing and force it out using pliers. Not very elegant, but it worked. The new gas cap doesn't have a lock, so anyone could destroy my car very easily now. Lets hope none of my enemies are reading this.



The other thing I did was repair the holes in the roof. It seems that over time the vinyl/plastic/mysterious material roof has shrunk on one side. Because of this several stitchings have come loose and there are some tears around the back window. Amazingly the top is still very black, and hasn't discoloured.

Nobody on the internet seems to have any real solutions to fixing torn tops, other than to buy a new one. I currently don't have $500 for a new top, and the few convertible top patch kits aren't meant for the large surface areas I needed to cover. So instead I bought a water-proof dark green tarp cover (they didn't have black) from the local hardware store (~$10) and some Goop glue (~$8), supposedly the strongest automotive glue on earth. I cut rectangular pieces out of the tarp approximately the size of the tear and placed a spread a rather thick layer of glue over it. The Goop 'manual' recommended letting it cure for 2-10 minutes, but I found that it stopped sticking when I did that, so instead I immediately applied it to the tear. I stuck the patches on the inside of the roof and pushed the edges of the tear together, with the patch as support. Later I cut out the excess tarp. (Again, photos will follow.)

At this point the glue smell had given me a terrible headache, which along with the millions of mosquito bites I had acquired pushed me to leave the site and go home.


Lock image: http://www.amazing-planet.net/slike/pick-lock/lock_schematic.jpg

Update and ignition

It's been a while since I had a chance to do anything to Bonnie-Delilah, thank Ike and mechanical set-backs for that one. This weekend I'm out of town. Next weekend I plan on having a whole day's worth of work on the car, especially considering I've just received a bunch of parts for it.

One thing I haven't been able to do for a while is replace the ignition tumbler, the part of the ignition switch that the key goes in. The original key broke off in the lock and so I've been starting the car with a screw driver. I simply could not figure out a way of replacing the tumbler without removing the steering column, something I don't want to do because I have to shave off some bolts to do that.

So instead I'm hotwiring the car and adding a push-button start mechanism to the car; see diagram below.

Schematics and parts list will follow soon.

Overheating - fixed

• Change temperature sending unit (thermocouple)
  

Once again, the hurricanes got the best of me and I wasn't able to do anything to Bonnie Delilah (as she's known now; screw Shelly). I had an interesting car-related Saturday (detailed on the main page: www.arunluykx.com), though.

But now, the moment of truth. The new temperature sending unit (can we please just call it a thermocouple?) arrived, and lo and behold the gauge works again! It even displays the correct idle temperature - just left of centre. Taking it out for a spin the temperature did indeed go up when I applied the gas-pedal more, and cooled off at idle. Folks, the engine is running well again. The issue was -I'm ashamed to say- a lose wire, from the thermocouple, that was grounded by touching the frame.

One should note when replacing the termocouple that it is submersed with coolant, meaning that when you pull out the old thermocouple your car will start leaking coolant. I didn't feel like flushing the system again, so I just quickly removed one and replaced it with the new one (Beck/Arnley). The new one had a different bolt size and did not seem to fit particularly snug. However the temperature was fine and -once sufficiently tightened- it didn't leak coolant.

I also replaced the left window-winder (up till now I was using a little nub and my hand to pull up the window), and fixed the headlight switch (so I don't have to keep winding two wires together with my hands, almost burning myself each time). I tried replacing the key ignition but have had no success with that yet, so that'll be for next time.

Anyway, Bonnie Delilah runs safely and confidently again!

Overheating - revisited (Or how I found the temperature sending unit)

• Located temperature sending unit
  

One must understand that a car that has undergone as many upgrades as my MG has will have several loose wires, hoses, and other things leading nowhere. Because of all the upgrades its not entirely obvious what each fuse belongs too, that is after you figure out the confusion that is the stock 5 fuses that make no sense whatsoever. I can't believe the British managed to evolve to this century with this kind of horrible electrical engineering.

As such, I discovered today why the temperature gauge hasn't been doing anything. Apparently one of the loose wires under the hood is the temperature gauge wire.This explains why the engine was running ice cold all of a sudden, and the 'off the gauge' heat is probably due to the fact it was grounded somewhere, touching the alternator or some part of the body. Duhhhh. All that work for nothing!

Well, not really. The coolant was almost entirely anti-freeze, and the thermostat would have had to be replaced at some point anyway. Also I confirmed that the waterpump was OK - this is something I would have been worrying about all the time.

I reconnected the wire to the temperature sending unit, which by the way is under the thermostat housing sticking out above the alternator (no thanks to the internet here, where nobody could give me a straight answer). It's got a little contact point sticking out that should have a wire connector attached to it. See the image below for the location of the temperature sending unit (without wire connector- it broke off). This is the only picture of the thing's location on the internet.

Unless I'm completely wrong, which I highly doubt.
Correction: I just found a better image of this. Note that this picture was taken after the time of writing, and so what I said was actually correct... ;-

Refitting the cable (testing it first by touching ground to see if the temperature gauge went back to hot) I ran the engine for a while, but couldn't see any difference in temperature. I'm ordering a new temperature sending unit (about $20 on Rockauto), which I'll refit next weekend. I'm also having keys made for the locks this week. A new window winder and ignition key is in the mail already. So hopefully next weekend I'll be able to take Bonnie (it's Bonnie, screw 'Shelly') home, when she'll be fitted with some nice new tyres. That is, unless another hurricane sets me back a day.

Overheating (changing the thermostat)

• Replaced thermostat and gasket
• Flush coolant
  

Labour day. This generally means barbecues, getting quite drunk, and relaxing in the shade during a pleasant late-summer afternoon. For me, however, it meant hanging over a smoking engine inhaling various gasses while trying to figure out why the engine was overheating. And I loved it.

The manual suggests several causes for the overheating I leave to the enthusiast to check out. I had narrowed down my options to these possibilites:

• Failed thermostat
• Failed pump (either the propeller came loose or the bearing broke)
• Clogged radiator
• Too much anti-freeze in the coolant
  

As the engine oil levels were fine and clean I did not bother doing another oil-change. Another quick check would be the accessory belt tension (slipping causes bad water-flow), which was fine and the belt was new.

I started by testing out the bearings on the water pump. To do this I removed the accessory belt and turned the pump manually. I heard a squeaking sound when I turned it, but it did not shake and so I assumed the bearings were fine. There was also no leakage from the unit itself.

To look at the thermostat and do further testing on the water pump I needed to flush the coolant. Easy, in general, except for some reason my radiator doesn't have a drain plug! I couldn't find any help on the internet on the topic so I ended up removing the bottom hose and draining it like that. The coolant was filthy, and very green indicating a large amount of anti-freeze. This could be the problem. I flushed the engine with clean water for a few minutes before proceeding.

While it was without coolant I decided to take a look at the other parts at the same time. My reasoning was that the water-flow was somehow restricted, which was causing the overheating.Turning the water-pump sent water out the bottom hose, so it wasn't that (although the propeller has been known to come loose at high temperatures, and the engine was cold when I was testing it, but this is very rare). In the end I decided the thermostat needed to be replaced.

31 years can take a toll on some parts, so after removing the upper hose and the three bolts holding it in place (see right picture, circled in red) I needed to use large amounts of a solving fluid (like WD-40) and a small crow-bar to get the thermostat housing off (see left picture, thermostat indicated with arrow). It was difficult, but I got it off. The thermostat looked fine, but I replaced it anyway with a part I bought at Advance. I also bought a new gasket.

Removing the housing I scraped away whatever was left of the old gasket and put the old thermostat aside to test it out later. The new gasket was installed (though it looks symmetrical, orientation matters! By the way this goes on top of the thermostat) and the thermocouple replaced. I also filled up the coolant again with 75% water by pouring it directly into the engine while the thermostat was out. The remaining coolant/anti-freeze was entered after the radiator burped and the engine was running.

They say in old cars that when you fix one problem another ten arise. This car does not defer tradition. I don't know if the engine is overheating anymore because the gauge doesn't move!!! I stays below C all the time, even after driving it around for a while. All the other gauges work normally, and no amount of tapping gets this to even jump. The old thermocouple was submerged in boiling water later on to see if it was defective, which it wasn't (it opened up just before the water started boiling, around 195F/91C ). It is however possible that that the opening was not sufficiently large to let enough water through. I'll be testing the gauge and the sender unit out next.

Let's get started

• Replaced valve cover gasket
• Oil change
• Replaced accessory belt
  

Driving the MGB, Shelly (tbd), down from Frederick, Maryland, took about 45 minutes and wasn't too much of a problem. It gave me time to get used to the clutch and the general workings of the car. I took it easy the first day (as far as working on the car went), and only fixed up a mirror and showed it off to the neighbours.

Today was a different story. Excited, so excited in fact I once again didn't sleep, I got up at 7 and ran down to get busy. I started out by properly fixing the license plate (it was being held up by a paper-clip and a twisty-tie) and emptying out the junk in the trunk I wasn't going to need. I inserted the screwdriver into the ignition (the key is broken), turned, and waited for the engine to flare up.

It didn't. After panicking for a few minutes I calmed down and took out my multimeter. Indeed, the battery had plummeted to 2.5 V, something I should have seen coming. First thing on the shopping list: a new battery.

Jump-starting was anything but easy. The battery in an MGB is 'conveniently' located behind the passenger's seat, meaning that for a jump start the top must be down and the other car has to be pretty close by. Luckily I had extra-long jumper cables, and after moving my Altima several times and a few minutes of charging I was on my way.

I arrived at my friend's house where I was going to be doing the work. Today I was going to replace the valve cover gasket (followed by an oil change), and change the drive belt. I also had to replace the battery.

Replacing the valve cover gasket is one of the easiest car-related things I've ever done. It's generally done when the car starts leaking oil. I didn't observe any leaking oil, but the previous owner recommended I do the work. The new gasket was bought from Rockauto (see links on left). By the way, buy the more expensive one. It's a combination of cork and rubber, just like the original gaskets used to be like. These will last longer and work better. Below you'll see images of the nuts you need to remove to install the new valve cover gasket (red, left), as well as an image of the valve cover removed so you can see the new gasket in place (right).

Before any of this is done the oil needs to be drained. Never having actually done an oil change myself I was a bit puzzled as to where the oil drain plug was, but after googling the topic and going through several manuals I was reasonably sure the hexagonal nut under the right side of the vehicle was what I was looking for. Twisting it for a while a large amount of (hot) oil started gushing down on my hand. Bingo. Also I learned that in England they call the oil pan the 'sump'. 10W-30 was used as replacement oil.


At this point I was pretty tired, but went ahead with replacing the drive belt. I bought the belt at Advance, but they sold me the wrong part, so I'll be buying the replacement part on Rockauto again. Replacing the belt was quite easy, I simply loosened the nut holding the alternator taught, pushed it towards the engine to relieve pressure on the belt, removed and replaced the belt, and undid what I had previously done.

Going out for a test-drive the brake lights miraculously started working again. Shelly even felt so good after some fresh oil and a new belt, she started telling me a bit more about herself through her gauges. The speedometer, oil gauge, and clock were always working (apparently she's a cautious one, trying me out before she commits), but now I also knew I still had 3/4 tank of gas left, my rpm (after tapping several times), and the fact the engine was running ridiculously hot. In fact the gauge was off the scale.

On a different note, my grandfather has offered to buy me a new set of tyres!! More on that soon.

So that's where I am now. The car is still at my friend's place, patiently waiting and cooling off for me to diagnose the problem so I can drive her home tomorrow. It's going to be another sleepless night.

It's here!!!

I picked up the 'Historic' license plates on Thursday, and was able to drive it down from Frederick today (in the boiling sun). More tomorrow.

Oh, and you voted for 'Shelly'. While I'm not entirely sure the car is a 'Shelly', I'll stick with it for now.

Name

Just about a week left now. I'm getting the (historic) tags next week, and have already dealt with the insurance (a premium that is slowly encroaching on the total value of my two cars).

On that note, did you know insurance for these cars is really not that cheap? It's quite a bit cheaper than regular cars, but still not next to nothing. Furthermore State Farm and Nationwide seem to hate classic cars, charging me $300 extra for the additional car (Geico and Progressive were much cheaper; e-surance doesn't even offer insurance for cars before 1981). There are also some other companies that only insure classic cars, and offer free towing services (for quite a few miles). They're actually quite a bit better than regular insurance companies, and offer a lot more coverage over the bigger guys. Still in the end I stuck with my normal company (soon my insurance will drop significantly I'll have more of a bargaining point). I'll have to keep using AAA till then.

In anticipation for the car I've started preparing for its arrival. Getting the paper-work done was completed the day after I signed the cheque. Now I have to take care of all the little things: buy a new ignition switch (so it won't need a screwdriver to start anymore), buy all the required lamps (so people know when I'm braking, turning, or backing up), and warn my neighbours.

Another thing I need to do is come up with a name. After all, this is my first child (I sort of married my Altima a while ago so it couldn't be my child), and a spoilt first born deserves a good name. The car's gender is Female. What do you think? I've started a poll on the left side of the page I hope people will vote on, and help me make up my mind. If you have any suggestions for names email me or leave them in a comment and I'll try to add it.

UPDATE: Turns out I can't add names anymore, but suggestions are always welcome and certainly considered.

MGs run in the family

Apparently I'm not the first MG owner in our family (no real surprise there - I was just drawn to that car). In fact, my grandfather owned a 1949 MG TC, as is shown in the image below. He's the one on the left who seems a bit frustrated. His car was painted red, as mine will be too.

What is it?

Because I don't have the car yet (no tags, but I do hold the title), I thought I'd start explaining the reasoning behind this undertaking.

In short, I'm bored on the weekends. I like working on my car, but there's really not much to do on my regular car, a reliable '93 Nissan Altima. And so I decided to buy a project car, something that would require constant care and attention. An additional requirement was that the car would also be a fun car, meaning that after fixing it and taking it out for a test spin I'd actually have fun (much unlike going and testing out a fixed Chevy Nova - something I also briefly considered).

Several years ago I was seriously considering the mid-80s Mercedes SL class of cars. At around $5000 (in good condition) they seemed like a decent deal. Plus the seats were generally in-tact, rust as not a huge problem, and most of them were convertibles. However, working on these cars is difficult and annoying, as anyone familiar with German engineering will agree. So when I seriously started considering project cars I looked towards American cars, and came across an '85 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Nascar spec. Being quite naive about these things at the time I forgot to consider that whoever owned the car before probably drove the living hell out of it.

Then one day I'm having lunch with an old friend who's car fiendishness and knowledge easily eclipses mine. We were talking about the usual stuff -alternator and timing belt problems- and I mentioned I was looking for a project car. "You know, I have an old MG lying around I'm trying to get rid off" he said. About three months later I now own that MG.

Welcome to My MGB

PLEASE NOTE (added 2/2/2009): If you just landed on this page, this is not the last or most recent entry! Click on the 'My MGB' logo above to see the latest updates.

Last Friday I bought a 1977 MGB. This blog will discuss the various things I do to it over the course of the next few (probably) years. Stay tuned for pictures and a detailed description of the initial condition, plus how I'm going to get it home and other tales of interest.

In the meanwhile, enjoy this Wikipedia image of what the car used to look like:


I'm going to paint it red.