Radiator painting

You would be right to assume that I have somewhat neglected the 'B' this year. Unfortunately, my XJS has been keeping me (and my wallet) rather busy. And as I have to drive it to work every day, I have to keep it running. The XJS was at a tipping point when I got it, but I'm pleased to announce that I think I've pushed it away from the brink of inoperability. A strong engine and accomodating transmission allowed me replace pretty much every service part: hoses, electrical components, all 6 (!!) shocks (of which 4 McPhearson...), ball joints, fluids, brakes, lenses, etc etc etc. It's been a real pain in the ass.

Things are finally clearing up a bit for me, in that I am graduating (just 3 weeks left) and about to enter the world of unemployment! This means that I'll have plenty of time to work on the B. I don't actually want to be unemployed, so if you're reading this and need a management consultant or electrical engineer (I'm two in one!) please visit my website and take a look at my resume: www.arunluykx.com.

Anyway, back to the B. Obviously, between my thesis and that blasted Jag, I haven't had any time to do anything recently. So here are some pictures of me refurbishing the radiator last summer:

Above: Sanding down the top of the radiator revealed a painted over brass top. Using brass polish I was able to really clean things up and make it shine.
I covered up the rest of the radiator with masking tape and painted the non-brass surfaces with black POR-15 paint. I should note that POR-15 is truly amazing paint. I've also used it on the front grille of the B.Above: The final result. Unfortunately this terrible cell-phone picture does not do the details justice, so I'll post more pictures during my unemployment. I also replaced the hoses during this, and ran a coolant flush through the radiator to remove some junk.

Finally got the wheel off!!!

• Replaced steering wheel with Nardi wheel

• Resolved another Leyland mistake: that hideous rubber covered steering wheel
• Gained access to turn signal/ light control
• Much easier removal of dashboard (to fix lights and such)

Finally, after MONTHS of trying, I was able to get that horrible Leyland style rubber steering wheel off! Well, it wasn't me as much as it was a colleague of mine who also happens to have an interest in classic cars.

I tried various tools: hub pullers, hammers, tons of penetrating oil, a puller I made like the one from Moss (which sells for $50), etc, but all to no avail! In fact, conventional wheel pullers will not work with this car. Rather, the remedy was simply persistent pushing and pulling the wheel from side to side. Just keep working the wheel gently. Don't use a hammer (I managed to damage the threads doing this). It took about half an hour, but in the end the damned thing came off! Despite drenching the thing in Deep Creek, hardly any of the oil had actually gone down far enough to actually loosen up the splines.

I can't take credit for the work, I'm not patient enough to do anything like that. All credit should be directed to my colleague and future car collector, Matthias (see picture).

So basically: trying to take the steering wheel off? Forget about buying anything! Nothing works. Trust me, I've tried it all. I even bent the old wheel in the process.

And We're Back

The 100 feet of snow we had this winter wasn't enough to collapse the old bird. However, when I went to take a look at it today I realised my first task was going to be a spot of gardening. Here are the before and after photos:


There was A LOT of bamboo all over the place. Amazingly the roof was still intact, despite numerous branches having fallen on it. The roof was not intact after I accidentally poked through it while removing a branch.

Next week I hope to do some real work...

University Motors is Back!!!

John Twist recently posted that University Motors is back in business:

As I pondered my future, I could not escape the undeniable fact: MG is my destiny. We are now re-awakening University Motors.

Read the full post here: http://www.mgexperience.net/phorum/read.php?1,1377891