My MGB

Bye for now

2011-06-28T04:30:00.008-04:00

As many in the US must have noticed by now, the economy is pretty bad. The job market is also rather dismal, which has had an impact on me. It probably wasn't a very good idea to graduate last December, as I have been unemployed since then.

Fortunately my luck turned at the beginning of May when, despite a rather terrible interview (on my part), I was picked along with three others to do a very exclusive internship in London. A month later my bags were packed and I was on my way to Europe. My first day on the job is next Monday, and I'm rather looking forward to it.

This also meant having to leave my life in the US behind: my girlfriend (now fiancee), my dogs, my apartment, and my cars. The latter, for the purpose of this blog, was the most painful one to leave behind. So until I figure out if I'm staying in London, moving back to the US, or moving to another part of the world altogether (I hear Singapore is nice, and the job market is good), I'm putting the cars in storage. I've already received shipping quotes for the cars to most of the world (~$1000 a piece), so I guess we'll have to see what happens.

In the meanwhile for obvious reasons I won't be working on either of my cars. Just know this: I will be back to work on them, and will do so properly next time (with money and a garage).

Here's a video (in HD) of how I saved money by putting them both in one storage container. Press full screen if the banner on the right cuts over the video, or click the video a few times till Youtube opens.

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Till next time! If anyone in London is looking for someone to help out with their British classic on the weekends, drop me a line!

Like this video? Check out my other video with more details on the MGB and XJS you just saw.

Radiator painting

2010-11-22T10:01:00.009-05:00

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!!!

2010-08-17T15:09:00.001-04:00

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

2010-03-21T16:33:00.004-04:00

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!!!

2010-03-09T11:10:00.001-05:00

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

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-25T15:36:00.002-05:00

Fudge values and bearings

2009-11-18T10:20:00.010-05:00

Correct bearing tightening instructions

Brakes work again, even when turning
No wheel wobble at high speeds
Greatly reduced chances of dying

I strongly believe in the value of fudging values from time to time. 5 ft/lbs? Finger tight! 0.05mm tolerance? Finger tight! 32 PSI? Yup, finger tight!! Please note that I am not an accountant, and do not work in the finance industry (where a lot of 'value fudging' goes on as well, I imagine...).

Unfortunately this does not always work. Bearings, for example, are an example of one of these situations. I learned that this week when the brakes on my XJS stopped working every time I made a hard left or right.

I recently changed the bearings on the XJS, but followed my usual method of tightening the end nut: finger tight plus a turn of the wrench. Generally that's good enough (as it seems to be for the MG). Tightening too much leads to premature wear of the bearings, and that lovely grinding noise you sometimes hear on old cars. Too loose has never been much of a problem, so I didn't think too much of it.

Well, I was wrong. Turns out the XJS needs a full 25 ft/lbs on the end nut (as pictured above, on the MGB, before pin removal), backed off one flat (and more if necessary to fit the pin back in). After adjusting this the brakes returned to normal, and high-speed driving stabilised a bit. Turns out the nut was loose enough to let the rotors move around enough to push back the brake pads, but only when the wheels were turning. So really the brakes were working fine, it's just that they had to be reset each time I made a turn.

So:
Here are my general bearings instructions (for the MGB and most cars that aren't Jaguars):

Tighten the end nut to 5 ft/lbs while turning the wheel. If you hear grinding or anything like that your bearings may be bad, or some dirt may have entered the hub. Clean the hub and make sure you pack it with (clean) grease.
Loosen if necessary to enter holding pin
Reassemble the wheel (keep it jacked up).
Check for wobble by holding the wheel on the top and bottom and try to make it wobble. Then hold the wheel on the left and right, and do the same. If you feel any wobble or anything that seems too loose, tighten the end nut a bit, and recheck.
If everything seems right, take your MG out for a ride. If you do not notice the same or better performance, something is wrong (duh, this counts for anything I guess...). The best speed, in my opinion, to find problems is around 70 mph. Good luck.

Mind you, despite the bad braking and wheel wobble I still did a 400 mile road trip at 80+ mph speeds....

My new toy

2009-10-28T12:19:00.005-04:00

Regular readers will have noticed that I haven't been posting much lately. I can now reveal why, which I will do with the following video:

Initially I tried to make something that looked as exciting as a Top Gear segment, unfortunately it turned out as drab and dreary as a MotorWeek episode. Probably mostly due to my anything but engaging tone of voice, and due to my budget for this being on par with a typical MotorWeek episode. I hope you did notice that, unlike Motorweek, I actually had cool cars, and dared to make negative comments (that didn't refer to daily driving issues).

So that's what's been keeping me busy for the past month.

Carburettor Madness Part III (bright orange exhaust)

2009-10-18T11:21:00.009-04:00

Further fine-tuning of the Weber DGV carburettor
Adjusted timing at the same time
Removed air-intake heating

Exhaust manifold does not glow orange anymore
No more vapour-lock

There are many sceptics on the performance of the Weber DGV (in fact, only hours after posting this I already got a nasty comment, see the comments section for this entry). It's often called inefficient, not performance-driven, needlessly complicated. Many 'other' MG owners swear by their SU's. I think I've even heard of someone liking their Zenith!

Well, they're all wrong. Completely wrong, in fact. The Weber DGV is a fantastic carburettor. It was not specifically designed for this car, so odds of it working right out of the box are often tiny (versus an SU that would probably work right away). However, online retailers are selling kits specifically tuned for your MG (Moss, Brittek, etc., see links on right) that make tuning much easier. You may even be able to take your MG for a spin the same day you install it!

For others, such as myself, who bought an MG with a Weber already fitted, you may find yourself in a bit of a bind, trying to figure out how to undo what others did. My Weber was set to over-rich, compensating for bad plugs and a clogged exhaust. My horrible rebuild attempt did nothing to improve the situation; throw in the new Peco exhaust and you've got a recipe for disaster I only overcame yesterday, about 4 months later (on and off, mind you).

That's where the internet comes in handy: through fora and blogs such as this one, we try to make owning an MG pleasant for other people so they don't have to deal with the same non-sense we had to. (Unlike Jaguar owners, I might add, who for whatever reason are part of some tightly knit club. How do I know this? Stay tuned...) So when in trouble, my recommendation is to search the internet.

Update 3/11/2010: OK, so I was being a bit harsh on the Jag people. Though I still think they are a very different breed to MG people, most are very willing to help newcomers. Being a Jag/MG person myself I am always ready to help a fellow Brit-car enthusiast.

My main point today is that it is crucial to set the timing right (about 14 BTDC for a Weber DGV) to make everything come together. Bad timing could be one cause of misfiring or backfiring (where the explosion happens too late, and ends up in the exhaust manifold). The mixture on my DGV was set properly, but the exhaust manifold glowed orange. Checking the timing, I noticed it was set to 5 BTDC. Resetting it to 14 fixed the exhaust problem.

Another problem I've been having lately is that after running for a while and stopping, the car would not start up again. All signs pointed to not enough fuel reaching the carb. The pump was working and the filter was full (one of those stupid clear Lucas filters actually came in handy for once), but the fuel kept evaporating when it hit the bowl. Without manifold vacuum that vapour was going nowhere. My solution was to get rid of the hoses used for intake heating (plugged them up with a bolt), which dramatically reduced the temperature in the bowl so fuel would stay liquid. The intake heater is a fuel-economy thing that I do not think really necessary. I may attach it again in the heart of winter.

So:

Bright red exhaust manifold?

Mixture too rich
Timing too retarded (advance to 10-14 BTDC)

Misfiring?

Mixture too lean
Timing too advanced (retard to 10-14 BTDC)

It's that simple. Please see my other posts (click 'carburettor' on the right) on fine-tuning the Weber DGV.

Also I passed my qualifier exam!

Wait, what's this??? :
More very soon...

Cracked radiator

2009-08-21T16:09:00.004-04:00

I'm right in the middle of my qualifier exams at the moment -the exams every PhD student has to take in order to keep receiving funding, and to stay in the programme. It's a two week gruelling event ended by an hour-long presentation on a topic you've only known for two weeks, during which professors get to grill the hell out of you asking everything from 'what does that electron do' to 'why are my pants blue?' It's murder.

Anyway, car stuff doesn't stop for anything. So I thought I'd share some recently acquired experience with you so you don't have to pay $60 to be towed 15 miles:

When your radiator starts leaking, PATCH THE LEAK OR REPLACE THE RADIATOR!!

Here's what the radiator (in my Altima) was doing one day:

In the video you'll notice a small bubbling leak coming from the top plastic part of the radiator, right where the Nissan logo is. I didn't think too much of it and just patched it up with some tape. I figured I'd replace it eventually.

I drove up to Jersey and back (4 hours each way), but on the return trip noticed that my AC wasn't working too well. Looking down at the gauges I saw a needle way past H, and eventually saw smoke coming out of the hood. So I turned off the engine, pulled over (without power steering - quite difficult in this car), and waited for AAA. Here's what the radiator looked like afterwards:
Note that this crack spans from the centre till way into the left side of the radiator (sorry, cell-phone pic). Thinking about this for a second, you can understand why: a radiator at high temperatures does generate some steam inside. Steam builds up, leading to pressure which was trying to vent through the pinhole. At one point it just got so hot and the pressure was so high the radiator gave way and cracked. Not bad, actually, for a 16 year old radiator.

The radiator was very easy to take out (collect your coolant properly! I let it run and later found squirrels drinking from it. If you don't want to chase squirrels all day collect it properly.) All-in all it would have taken me about an hour to replace.

Not a huge deal, RockAuto was willing to ship a new radiator to me for $95 (everything included). But time was of the essence, so I decided to go to Advance instead. Their website said a new radiator was $127, but the in-store price was $137 ("Yup, that's the store price" the sales associate told me when I asked why the bill was so high). I guess I was willing to pay $30 more, but $40 was starting to push it, especially if you consider the $60 towing charge. Also the principle of the matter didn't sit well with me. I contacted Advance about this (to bring it to their attention, not to demand a refund) and they got back to me on this, apologising for the incident and offering a gift card. Oh, and make sure you get the right radiator for your car (manual vs automatic, not the same!!), which set me back another day (plug any extra holes with silicone).

You should know this is unlikely to happen in an MG radiator, mainly because it's entirely metal. Though pin-hole leaks can happen, pressure will not build up the same way it did in my Altima. A good radiator cap should prevent any explosions, which should also be minor seeing as metal is much stronger than plastic (and a pin-hole will remain as such for much longer).

They really don't make things the way they used to.

A Sad Day for MG Enthusiasts

2009-08-05T08:58:00.004-04:00

I was very shocked to find out yesterday that University Motors, known for its excellent MG self-help videos, is shutting down. To quote the website:

University Motors will cease fulltime business on Wednesday, July 1 st , 2009 , after 34+ years of service to the MG community. When our Governess promised in her 2006 State of the State Address that "In five years, you're going to be blown away by the strength and diversity of Michigan 's transformed economy," little did we imagine that it would be our own business that would be demolished in the ensuing economic storm.

John Twist's videos proved invaluable during those shaky first months when I really had no idea what I was doing. (This MGB is the first car I've ever really worked on.) It's a sad day and a real shame that we have to see something so wonderful go away. It's odd, because I always figured it'd be there. At some point I even planned on going to Ada, Michigan, to get something done, just to say I went there.

Luckily the videos will always be there, thanks to Youtube. Mr Twist always uploaded his videos to Youtube, that will keep a permanent record of it. I'm not too sure about how long the website will stay in existence, so I've copied the technical videos portion and put it on my server as the video organisation goes lost on Youtube: The original is here, mine is here.

Though there are many MG help guides online, very few are as clear as the University Motors videos. Most give general instructions but don't actually stop to give a good explanation of how things work. And, much to my annoyance at first, many are written in technical jargon or with details left out (such as, where's spark plug 1?) which rendered them useless for me. Haynes manuals and such are convoluted with too much information, unless you know exactly where to look. University Motors was a great place for a beginner like me to start.

The goal of this blog was to help other people in my situation get started by speaking in a very non-technical manner, which I hope I've somewhat accomplished. John Twist has accomplished this with his excellent series of MG technical videos.

Oil warning

2009-08-03T11:15:00.007-04:00

I just found this article online about automotive oils. If you own an old car, you should care a lot about this:

http://www.mgtoronto.com/pdf/Tech/Oil.pdf

Apparently not just our fuel has become more environmentally friendly, but also our lubrication oils. Unfortunately, as with the added ethanol (that's not exactly environmentally friendly either...), the new oils also do significant damage to your car, more specifically to your camshaft and lifters. The oils lack certain 'pollutants', and the new materials replacing them seem to eat away at our cam shafts. This affects pretty much all oils, except certain brands. Redline Oil still makes racing oil (non-EPA approved, which is why it's still good) that you can find in the 10W20 etc. varieties. Castrol 20W50 is still OK as well, but not their other oils, which I have been using.

Here's a list from the article linked above:

Castrol: GTX 20W-50, GTX Diesel 15W-40, GTX High Mileage 20W-50, HD 30, HD 40,
Syntec Blent TRUCK 1 5W-40 (Semi-synthetic), Tection Extra 1 5W-40, Hypuron S 1
5W-40, TWS Motor sport 10W-60 (Synthetic).
Redline: 10W-40, 10W-40 (Synthetic oils)
Valvoline: Racing 20W-50

People should also know that the addition of ethanol in fuel results in gaskets and rubber being eaten away prematurely, as well as a higher running temperature (which results in poor mpg's and early engine wear). If anyone knows a place that sells ethanol-free gas please let me know.

Once again I'm pissed at treehuggers that won't let me drive my car, when the real demons are:

The energy industry (coal, gas for power? seriously? are we still in the 19th century??)
The commercial transportation industry (diesel trucks with NO emissions regulations driving hundreds of miles daily,diesel trains, a giant presidential limo that gets less mpg than a 70s Buick)
Agriculture (cows farting is more polluting than beltway traffic. I dunno, stick a cat conv. on their backs or something...)
Real clunkers that are still on the road (but hell, I'll defend their right to drive till I die)

Anyway, enough politics. I'll be getting back to MG stuff soon. In the meanwhile I'm trying to get some body work done.

And feel free to check out my twitter account for more ramblings such as the one above: mgFreak

How to care for your car...

2009-07-27T15:13:00.005-04:00

I just found this PM article on Google Books detailing how to care for your car ... in 1980. Most things apply to my '77 MGB, so I thought I'd share with people. They list 50 things people should do to keep your car running, such as (detailed instructions on) testing engine vacuum, cleaning the exhaust system, checking and maintaining the emissions system (which is actually quite interesting since most of those things have changed now)...

http://books.google.com/books?id=D9oDAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PA139

Why don't they publish articles like this anymore?? Is it me, or have we as a general public become so dumb we can't find detailed technical articles in popular magazines anymore?

Carburettor Madness Part II (pictures this time)

2009-07-12T17:20:00.012-04:00

Carburettor (Weber DGV) fine-tuning
How to adjust the idle speed screw, the long way (when all else fails)

Actually got to drive around the neighbourhood for once, reliably.
Managed 60 mph, easily (couldn't go over 30 before...)
Fixed rough idle

Last time I discussed some general things concerning Weber DGV's and MGB's. I did some more fine-tuning today and learned that the 1.5 turns out on the idle mixture, as suggested by the webpage I discussed last time (by the way, still the best Weber DGV tuning page I've found) was not enough. I'm at about 2.25 turns out now which seems to be necessary to keep things running well (possibly due to the Peco header). The idle mixture screw is the one on the bottom of the carb, closest to the intake manifold (in an image further below I show where the idle mixture screw leads to). It's not the easiest screw to get to, but with some persistence you can get to it.

Much more frustrating is the idle speed screw, which is conveniently located in a completely inaccessible position while the carb is mounted (this may have been fixed on newer Webers). I found another screw next to the choke that links some stuff to that screw, and so in essence you can directly adjust the idle speed screw from there. I haven't tested the long-term effects of this, and I could be completely wrong, so if you try this be careful. The screw I'm talking about is shown in the picture below. Note that it is not directly attached to the choke, and as far as I can tell only affects how far the choke opens, but has a larger impact on the throttle plate.

My carb was so far out of wack I had to visually inspect the idle speed screw and the location of the throttle. When you turn the carb upside-down and look in the shafts you should be able to see three holes (open the throttle; see image below). These holes are outlets of various fuel circuits, and are activated based on how open the throttle is (interestingly, note that the secondary shaft only has two holes which are only activated when you're really flooring the accelerator; not shown).

I adjusted the idle speed screw directly linked to the throttle (so, not the screw near the choke as described above) so that the right hole, the 'highest' of the three holes, is just covered. The image below shows the right hole just peeking out, and thus how you should not have things. Make sure you cover that hole entirely. Put the whole thing back together, and make fine adjustments from the screw near the choke.

In a previous post I called the Peco exhaust noisy and unpleasant, leaving me with a ringing in my ear afterwards. Having properly adjusted the carb the sound, though still rather rough, was pleasant in the sort of roar one expects from a performance vehicle. Idle was very quiet, full throttle ear-deafening, in between pleasantly throaty. I bought this exhaust for it's performance aspects (which I have already noted - it works), but if you're looking for a comfortable drive I wouldn't recommend this.

Carburettor Madness

2009-06-28T11:00:00.022-04:00

Rebuilt the carburettor (Weber DGV)

Fixed fast idle
Got normal gas mileage (~23 mpg instead of 7)
Misfiring and backfiring resolved

Diligent readers will have noticed that it's been a while since I've last posted. There are various reasons for this -work, travel, family, etc, I'm writing this in Poland- but the most pressing one would have to be that when I replaced the B's exhaust, as described in the previous post, I killed the car.
It just so happens that the various systems of this B were working together in perfect harmony. I was always aware that the engine was running rich (7mpg is not very good, not even for an old MG), and that the exhaust had a massive gap under the hood and was sending exhaust fumes into the cabin. But I didn't know that the exhaust gap was indicative of a clog further down the line, and the exhaust fumes not being vented were choking the engine, which was compensated for by having a richer fuel mixture. When I replaced the exhaust system the engine was free to breath again, and the excess fuel was burning off as it should. However, this resulted in an engine refusing to go lower than 3000 rpm (and would stay high if you tapped the accelerator), an exhaust manifold turning bright orange, and flames shooting out the carburettor and the muffler (worse than before). My car was shitting itself while throwing up, but still devouring gas. It was bad.

There were several problems with the carburettor after I rebuilt it, mostly linked to the previous owner not having the right settings and overcompensating for the asphyxiated engine. Rebuilding a Weber is quite straight forward (I bought a manual but have yet to read it); essentially just grab a screw driver and pull stuff out. In a next post I will post pictures with descriptions (once again, I'm in Poland right now). Here's what I've learned, and some tips on what to do when rebuilding your carburettor (specifically, the Weber DGV):

Unless you really need to change everything, don't bother with a rebuild kit. Buy the gaskets separately, and get all the rest from a local hardware store. Rebuild kits are about $35 for stuff you can get for less than $15. Also, in my case the parts were of inferior quality (previously metal parts are now plastic or even paper!). This brings me to ...
Buy a new power valve. I guarantee you, if it wasn't already broken you've broken it now. A broken power valve is what caused my engine to race and not idle below 3000 rpm (the power valve activates circuits supplying fuel for conditions requiring more fuel than at idle). It's an easy replacement I highly recommend, but is not included in most rebuild kits. It costs about $20.
If your car comes with a vacuum advance vacuum port on the distributor, keep in mind that ported vacuum from a Weber acts differently than manifold vacuum, the system the distributor was designed for. The engine goes crazy when I connect the vacuum port from the Weber to my stock distributor (the original one with an amplifier in my '77). The engine runs fine without it, so I'm leaving it disconnected for now. UPDATE: This does not happen anymore. In fact, connecting the vacuum port to the distributor actually reduced misfiring. I think there were too many other problems at the time I wrote this article. Alternatively, you could buy a different intake manifold (a non-Weber manifold) which has more vacuum manifold ports (you'll see what I mean if you care about vacuum). As I'm replacing most things, I'm replacing the distributor entirely at some point.
Do all fine-tuning before putting the carb back on. On my B the fine-tuning screws face the wrong way, towards the engine, making fine-tuning a pain in the butt. Also, with the carb out you can see what the fast idle screw is doing to the throttle, and how it's placed with respect to the fuel lines of the various circuits. I'll go into more details on this later.
The float was another source of frustration. Too high, and fuel will spill over the holding tank and go everywhere, which could result in a mini aurora-borealis under the hood. Too low, and the car will never run on it's own. Weber manuals describe correct heights of floats, and I strongly recommend you stick to them. Unfortunately my float did not appear in any manual, and as it was a brass one (not plastic like the new ones) I wanted to keep it. So I just fiddled with it a few times till fuel wasn't overflowing or starving the engine. This took a while, and was very frustrating.
British fuel pumps are garbage. One minute they're too weak, the next they're so powerful the intake needle won't close and fuel shoots out everywhere. I recommend buying a fuel pressure regulator and setting it for 3.5 psi.
WEAR SAFETY GOGGLES!!!! Flames shooting out the intake almost cost me all my facial hair. I guess I'd recommend at the very least keeping the air filter and cover on while doing any work with an engine running... Also, I had to often remove the fuel line while it still had some pressure, resulting in fuel shooting out. Fuel in your eye can result in blindness! Wear goggles! (Well, atleast while doing stuff with fuel and oils.)

The trouble with carburettors is that they are very fine-tuned pieces of equipment. Screws slightly off can result in complete chaos. For example, if your mixture is too lean the engine won't start or stay on at all. Too rich, and you could blow off more than just your eye-brows. In either case, long term usage of bad tuning can result in severe engine damage (slightly off is OK).

General Weber tuning instructions can be found here. These are very good instructions that helped me get things started again. Remember to adjust the timing after this.

Some documents of interest:
Quick trouble shooting guide (did not help me)
Complete Weber installation guide

Note (from below): These files and links are posted for informational purposes only. No profit what so ever is generated from these files. These files can be found everywhere on the internet and are simply collected here for reference purposes.

UPDATE: I have done many more things to the carburettor. Click on the 'weber' label on the right for all updates.

New exhaust, new woes

2009-05-18T13:00:00.018-04:00

Installed new complete Peco exhaust system

No more exhaust fumes inside the cabin
Engine can breath freely

I plan on eventually turning this car into a real performance car, so the first step is always to put in a decent exhaust. The previous exhaust had bulged open at the end of the exhaust header and was letting exhaust fumes into the cabin, which led me to believe that it may be clogged somewhere (which is not surprising if you consider how much time this car has spent under a tarp over the past few years). So I decided to pull it and replace the whole thing.The exhaust header, though rusted, was still in great shape. I thought of just sanding it down and repainting it, but had a hard time finding head pipes to connect it to a new exhaust. The rest of the exhaust was in good shape (barely any rust), but seemed clogged. In the end I bought a new Peco header (see image above) with the rest of the exhaust system, a 2-inch straight through system (and a big FU to the EPA). Note that in Maryland classic cars are exempt from state emissions testing, and so removal of the catalytic converter (if there is one, mine did not have one) is legal. This is not the case in California, where pretty much any exhaust or emissions modification is illegal. So check your state regulations to make sure it is as cool as Maryland :-) (if you're in a southern state or Michigan, you're good to go).

Update: It has been brought to my attention that removing the catalytic converter is illegal by federal law. Though Maryland is not going to check (assuming you have historic tags), you would apparently still be breaking the law if you remove the converter. A car must always retain its originally installed emissions regulation equipment, even if it fails (!). So draw your own conclusions...

There are several considerations when purchasing an exhaust system, but it generally boils down to whether you want a comfortable or a sporty ride. My Peco system is incredibly loud, and after a short drive my ears were ringing (this will probably improve when I put in sound insulation). It only has the one straight-through muffler, so not really ideal for comfortable riding. If you're looking for a comfortable ride you'll need a decent muffler or a 2-muffler setup (more common on the MGB). If you're a tree-hugger you'll also want to throw in a cat convertor.

When picking a header one should pick one with the least amount of curves, thus improving the flow of gasses. More angles mean a slower flow, though this is generally a very modest decrease. On the MGB there are only 3 exhaust ports for a 4 cylinder car, which seems wrong. This was a conscious choice by the engineers to save manufacturing costs, but was designed in such a way that with it shouldn't impede exhaust fumes too much, however, efficient expulsion of those fumes is very important. The centre two exhaust valves are connected (the so-called 'siamese' system) and go out through one pipe, so naturally that pipe should be larger than the other two (which each serve one valve respectively). The Peco header has a larger centre port which merges with the other two towards the end of the pipe, thus enabling a better flow of exhaust fumes. There are MGB engine upgrades available that allow for four intakes on one side and four exhausts on the other side of the engine (but be prepared for some machining).
A major issue when picking exhaust systems for the MGB is picking the right setup. Over the years the exhaust and intake system changed many times, so a 1980 MGB will have a completely different setup to a 1965 MGB (and I mean radically different). Later models have catalytic converters (under the hood, not in the back) and different intakes. I would strongly recommend retrofitting your car to the old-fashioned exhaust system as I did, but you will also most likely need to change your carburettor and intake manifold for this. This allows for a better freer flow, and will bring your engine closer to the original 98 hp it once had. Consider the Weber DGV (downdraft) if you do this conversion.

The exhaust arrived and I set out to install it, which is a very simple procedure in principle. As it differs on most cars I'm not going to give detailed instructions. Rather, just take a look at your old exhaust and figure out a way of putting the new one in. Don't know what to do? Just start taking it out, and make sure the new exhaust system fits snugly and doesn't move. If it is designed for the MGB it will fit, you just have to keep trying. Here are some tools you will need:

An electric saw (to saw through pipes and bolts that won't give way)
A wrench set
Ramps !!! (I used jack stands and a floor jack, which I do not recommend)
WD-40
Muffler clamps (to hold together the pieces of the exhaust system; typically not included)
A friend to hold stuff
Patience. Lots and lots of patience. This took me 2 days and was incredibly frustrating.

Note that on some exhaust systems, as was the case on mine, the intake header has to be in place before you put in the exhaust header. Use a mallet (or a hammer if you get fed up like I did) to get everything in place. The Peco seemed to touch the rear suspension, but that was because I had the pipes in the wrong order, so be mindful of that.
Now, I was planning on posting a video showing the before and after sounds. Unfortunately my carburettor is acting up, and the damn car won't rev lower than 3000rpm. As I had the intake out anyway I thought I'd rebuild the carburettor. Apparently I did something wrong. As soon as I figure out what I did wrong I'll post it and my solution. In the meanwhile, if anyone has any suggestions....

Keys

2009-05-07T12:23:00.005-04:00

New keys!!

If you live in the mid-Atlantic region like I do, you'll have noticed that the only spot of sun we've had in the past week and a half was for a few hours yesterday morning. Naturally, for the gradstudent who doesn't have a garage, this is disastrous. As such I have now piled up parts I plan to install over the next few weeks, such as a brand new 2-inch straight-through exhaust (with accompanying manifold) and a carb rebuild kit. More on this as soon as the weather picks up.

One new part that arrived that I was able to test out was a set of keys I ordered. You see, when I got the car I didn't have any keys at all, so the car was left unlocked pretty much all the time, and I used a screw-driver to start the car (the key had broken off in theignition). In an earlier post I described how I had to drill out the lock on the gas cap. I really needed new keys but didn't know what to do.

Taking the trunk lock off and bringing it to a (Sears and Strosniders) lock smith, they told me they couldn't make keys for it. Of course, they were just being lazy as it's pretty easy to do. I gave up and started looking up new locks to install, but much to my dismay it seemed like I'd be putting down close to $100 for a new set of locks! Which is outrageous when you consider that I already have good locks, I just need keys. I left it at that and hoped nobody would do anything to my car.

Much later I finally realised that there's such a thing as a lock code, a number that defines what key combination you need. Further, depending on the model of your car you can look up what type of key you need, attach your lock number to it, and the locksmith can make you a brand new key. For the 1977 MGBs you're looking at an FS type key, with three numbers following it describing the combination. Ignition keys are of type AA. More info here.

Great, I found the key combination (it was printed on the door locks and on the trunk lock, see this), and now all I had to do was order the keys, which I did from here. I chose Keys4Classics.com because they have a more personal service, so despite being on the other side of the world your order will be correct. You can even send them a photo of your key (or part of your key) and they'll reproduce it. Keep in mind, though, that they are located in Australia (but shipping doesn't take much longer, about a week total for me).

When you finally have your new keys and are ready to test them out, keep the following in mind:

Make sure the lock is sound, not completely rusted, and not loose. I didn't check my trunk lock, which was loose from the last time I had opened it, and ended up almost permanently locking the trunk. I was able to jimmy it open without drilling the lock, but I was freaking out.
Use a lubricant on the locks and the general locking mechanism. If your locks haven't been used in ages, like mine, they will need some lubrication or you stand a chance of breaking the whole thing.

Good Timing

2009-04-26T11:04:00.019-04:00

Adjusted the timing

Partially fixed misfiring problem
Gained more engine power (timing was way off)
Figured out how to set timing

Adjusting the timing is another one of those simple miracle cures that can really improve things. Just to name a few, the engine won't sound like a tractor anymore, emissions will improve, fuel economy will improve, no more misfiring, etc. It's also one of the easiest things you can do ... that is if you know what to do.

For a long time I didn't know what to do, and so kept postponing this. I finally took the plunge this weekend and figured out how to check and adjust timing. Sure enough, the timing was off (as if the misfiring hadn't told me that already).

First off, you'll need some equipment. You'll need a timing gun (see image below), a 12 V automotive source for the timing gun (car battery; from another car if you have an MGB), a 12 mm wrench, and some white-out (with a brush works best).

The 1977 MG B specs state that at idle (850 rpm) the timing mark should be at 5 degrees BTDC (before top dead centre), and for 1500 rpm at 10 degrees BTDC. This could be different on your car, so check before doing anything by reading a service manual. On my car I found the instructions on a lable under the hood (where other emissions info such as spark plug gaps etc is found).

Update: If you use a weber (like I do) you'll need to set idle to 14 BTDC. However this differs from car to car. Mine uses a free-flow Peco exhuast, so 14 is correct for me, but if you still have a catalytic converter you will probably need a lower offset.

Finding TDC is not the most obvious thing on my car. One can generally locate it as the 'odd one out' of the teeth that make up the timing alignment. Usually it's slightly bigger, however note that this differs on MGBs (based on the year they were built). The image above shows the situation on my car, the 'teeth' illustrated by #1 and the notch in the front wheel by #2. I used white-out to make them more clear. TDC is - I guessed correctly - the right most tooth. As per the specs of the car, at idle I need to be at 5 degrees BTDC (the 2nd tooth from the right), and at 1500 rpm at 10 degrees (centre tooth). All teeth have a 5 degree separation. On some MGBs these teeth are at the bottom of the engine.

What you do is simply adjust the distributor by turning it left and right till the notch on the wheel lines up with the 5 degree mark on the teeth (at idle). Do this by hooking up the timing gun to spark plug 1, the plug closest to the front of the car (the power cable on mine wasn't long enough to go the the battery, so I had to bring my other car next to it to connect it to a source), and aiming it at the teeth. To turn the distributor loosen the nut holding the sleeve of the distributor to the engine block (#3 in the image below).

And the result is... (idle, 1500 rpm, then idle again)

Note that all this should be done after driving the car around for atleast 5 minutes and everything is at running temperature. The timing marks on my car are on top of the bottom wheel (drive pulley?), but on older models it is often underneath.

Thanks to MG's great battery placement, my timing setup looks like this:
Get a friend to hold the gun.

UPDATE: I'd like to say that the top picture was a joke, but actually I was just being an idiot. A much easier timing gun setup is: connect the ground lead to a bare part of the frame (for example, that thing that sticks out of the engine where the air pump used to be), and the hot lead to the bottom fuse (ONLY TOUCH THE BOTTOM FUSE). The images below (taken with my phone... sorry) should explain.

Great weather

2009-04-21T13:50:00.004-04:00

Resolved frustration at car and life in general.

The weather this weekend was perfect, so rather than spend hours working on the MG I decided to instead sit back and enjoy what I've done so far. So, no post this time, other than letting you know I enjoyed the weather. Also I recommend other enthusiasts to do the same.

Rear (drum) brakes

2009-04-05T10:26:00.015-04:00

Replace wheel (brake) cylinders

Resolved horrible braking power
Stopped losing brake fluid

I think that at this point I don't need to make any more jokes as to how this project is turning out to be one giant Pandora's box. Fix one thing, get ten more problems. Clock starts working, tach dies. Etc. So I'll just cut to the chase: fixed rear brakes, passenger side headlight doesn't work on regular mode (replacing bulb didn't fix it).

Despite changing the front brakes, I still wasn't stopping in a reasonable distance. After removing one of the rear wheels, the grease and liquids all over the place quickly revealed that the wheel cylinder was broken and severely leaking fluids. This is contrary to my original thought, that it had locked up. The other wheel cylinder was fine, though very rusty, so we replaced it anyway.

There are two ways to do this. The first way details the long, tedious (but correct), way. The second is the short-cut I recommend to anyone who knows what they're doing (Takes about 20 minutes instead of an hour and half). Also keep in mind to use something to hold the brake pedal up. I attached it to my steering wheel using a bungie cord.

1. Remove wheels, jack up car (rest floor jack on differential, I rested the jack stands on the reaf suspension leafs).
2. Use a 7mm hex bit to remove the two screws holding the brake cover. I had to tap the cover gently with a hammer to get it off.
3. Remove the two retaining springs (see image below - click to enlarge).
4. Remove the top spring (see image above). The shoes will start coming lose here.
IMPORTANT: Remember which shoe goes where!!! Make a note of all holes and pins in their appropriate place, so when you put everything together later you know what you're doing! You can severely damage your brakes if you do this wrong!!!
5. (You don't really have to do this, we didn't) Remove the bottom springs and take off the shoes.
6. Unscrew the nut holding the brake line to the wheel cylinder. Keep in mind that you'll be losing brake fluid here, so put a pan underneat the wheel.

7. Remove the retaining clip on the back side (where the nut was).
8. Remove the wheel cylinder. Note that there are three holes where the cylinder was attached: one for brake fluid, a bleed valve, and a pin to hold it in place.
9. Take the new wheel cylinder and pour brake fluid in it. Squeeze the outsides together in bursts to let out any air still in the cylinder. You do not want air anywhere in your brake system.
10. Install the new wheel cylinder, keeping the three holes and what goes where in mind. We had to use a hammer to nudge it in properly (the holder pin was a tad larger). Attach the new clip (we weren't able to, so we just reused the old one) and reconnect the brake-line nut.
11. Reverse the installation, bleed the line, and you're done! Keep in mind that the reverse installation takes a while, and depending on how many springs you removed, can be rather tedious.

I also cleaned the brakes before I reassembled everything. One should generally use brake cleaning fluid for this, lacking that I used carb cleaner.

Rather than do all this you can also try to jimmy out the shoes without removing any springs (pull them apart so they go over the wheel cylinder), and wedge the wheel cylinder out. We did this for the second brake, which worked out fine and took less time. (This is the second method)

John Twist at University Motors has a video on how the brakes look and work.

Many thanks to my girlfriend's father, thanks to whom the whole installation could be done in less than 3 hours. And of course my girlfriend for taking the pictures.

NEW PAINT JOB!!!!

2009-04-01T16:07:00.004-04:00

Well, folks, I finally did it. I finally got a new paint job!!!!!! I even had them put in custom racing stripes and aracing number. Later I took it into a field for some shots. Take a look (click to enlarge):

Snazzy.

Happy April Fools day.

University Motors

2009-03-30T12:30:00.003-04:00

Many people have called me insane for attempting to restore this car, however they often fail to realise that the MG following is quite large: parts are easily available and quite cheap, numerous books and manuals have been written, and there is an extremely large fan base ready and willing to help (generally for free).

One of my references before I do any work is University Motors, that has an online database of videos on how to do things on MGs (B's mostly, but also some rarer models). I've checked out their videos on Youtube on several occasions and used them to find parts on the B. The videos are good for getting a rough idea on what to do - Mr Twist tends to go over things a bit quickly and the video quality isn't always that great - but can be invaluable if you don't know how to find top dead centre, start your car from under the hood, or even put the top down the right way. Occasiaonally they also show videos of strange problems, such as one where one of the shocks froze.

Check it out for some immediate help (that you can even access from your phone while working on the car, if necessary).

New Front Brakes!! Finally!!!

2009-03-23T09:23:00.030-04:00

Changed front brake pads and rotors

Minor improvements in braking (much better results when I replaced the wheel cylinders)
Brake pads worn, reveal uneven calipers.

Several months ago my grandfather gave me the gift of safety in the form of reliable braking. Knowing quite well what happens if you don't hit the brakes on time (and a building is inconveniently in the way ;-) ), he advised me early on in this project that I wear my seatbelt and obey speed limits. When he heard about the B's poor braking he jumped on the occasion and bought me a set of new rotors and pads.

This was before I left on my trip, and after I got back the weather rather dismal for many weeks. Last weekend, about three months later, we finally had two days in a row of pleasant warm weather. Perfect weather for fitting new rotors and brake pads.

The following is a step by step guide on replacing both the rotors and the brake pads. The first time I did this took me about five hours to complete, the second time about an hour and a half. Be ready for some really dirty, greasy work, as well as many frustrations with pins. Also I would recommend keeping a pan under the caliper while working on it (to catch dripping brake fluid), and have a box nearby to rest the caliper on while working (so you don't stretch the brake line). I must also stress people use a floor jack and jack stands while working on any of this (I used to use the jack the car came with ... very very stupid).

1. Loosen the wheel lug nuts, raise the car, remove the wheel entirely.
2. Remove the two pins and two panels on the caliper holding back the pads. You'll have to play around a bit with the end of the pin: straighten it out to pull the pin out (see image on right).
3. Unscrew the bolts holding the outer caliper part, and set it aside. You'll probably lose some brake fluid doing this. Take out the brake pad attached to this part (see image on right).
4. Unscrew the bolts holding the inner caliper part, take it out and rest it on a box or something so the brake line isn't under pressure. Take out the brake pad.
5. Remove the grease cap off the wheel hub (yes, you need to remove the wheel hub to change the rotors). Use a screwdriver to pry it open.
6. Straighten the wheel hub pin and pull it out. This was by far the hardest part of the entire operation.
7. Remove the nut holding back the wheel hub. It's very loose, and you should be able to mostly use your fingers for this.
8. By gently pulling the rotor forward, take out the various components of the wheel hub and place them somewhere, keeping in mind in which order they came out (pin-bolt-washer-bearings). I strongly recommend you not let anything touch dirt, and that you not drop the bearings.
9. You can now (easily) pull off the rotor.
10. Place the rotor in a table clamp, and remove the four bolts and nuts (with washers) holding together the hub and the rotor.
11. Now take off the old rotor, attach the new one, and reassemble everything in reverse order.
UPDATE: Read this on the wheel bearings and how far to tighten the end nut. This is a safety issue! (Skip to the end to read the instructions if you don't feel like reading the story behind this discovery.)
12. When refitting the calipers, make sure the cylinders that press together to apply the brakes have been pushed back into the housing. An easy way to do this is to place your old brake pad on top of the cylinder and squeeze it together with a c-clamp. You'll see brake liquid oozing out. Be sure to install the new pads!
13. Make sure you bleed the brake system before using the brakes or reattaching the wheels! This is to remove all air from the brake lines. With the bleed valve closed, press down the brake pedal four times, holding it down the last time. Open the bleed valve, and close again. If brake fluid did not spout out in a decent stream you still have air in the lines, so repeat till this happens. Make sure you have enough brake fluid to start with or you'll just pump more air into the system.
14. Friction after putting in the new pads is normal. As long as you can still turn the rotor with your hands you're fine. By pressing the brakes you shouldn't be able to turn them anymore.
15. Now do the other side, and you're done!

The old pads were extremely worn, though they still had some life. This is probably why I had to push down so hard on the brakes; now I don't have to push down as hard on them to brake. However, braking is still not as good as it should be. I'm guessing the rear brakes have locked up (which is probably also why my parking brake doesn't work anymore), so I'll be looking into this soon. I'll probably be replacing the cylinders on the drum brakes (locking up is common).

The pads on the driver side were worn down at an angle, suggesting that an uneven amount of pressure was being applied. I'll have to look into this in future, and perhaps recalibrate or even replace the caliper. But that's for another time.

Many thanks to my grandfather for the parts, my friend Gautam for some much needed brute force help, and my girlfriend Luz for taking detailed pictures and assisting throughout the procedure (she's changed brakes many times before, and unlike me actually knew what to do).

Spark plugs: another easy way to fix serious problems

2009-03-08T18:09:00.010-04:00

Changed spark plugs and spark plug wires (Bosch)

Sluggish pick-up, tractor sounds, bad fuel burning, and mis-firing. These are all things possibly caused by bad spark plugs. Not surprisingly, my car featured all these exciting quirks, and as a result had a zero to sixty of about a year, and started with the reliability of an old Dell laptop (think: say nice words and it may start). After changing the spark plugs and wires, I now have slightly better performance! Also, the car starts on the first turn of the key! And best of all, the engine sounds like a car engine again!! I wanted to go on to change the timing, but had cut myself enough just changing the plugs so I left it for another time (and performance was good enough for now).

I'm not going to go into the details of how to change a spark plug here (on this car, any idiot could change them), however you should note that the bolt is not the standard spark plug size bolt. In fact, it's quite a bit larger and I had to use an adjustable wrench to get them out. Also the reader should note that I didn't have to gap the spark plug, as the spark plugs can be bought with the right gap nowadays (I wish I knew that before buying the gapping tool...).

Most notably, the mis-firing you see in an earlier blog (flames coming out of the carburetor) has now stopped entirely. This is due to the fact the old spark plugs were very oily (see image of one of my spark plugs below). Over time the spark kept reducing in size (due to crap build-up) till the spark was so small if didn't ignite the fuel anymore, resulting in excess fuel at times. At that point the slightest spark set of an enormous explosion that partially went out the carburetor. That's what I think happened, if anyone has any other suggestions please let me know as I'm just guessing here.

According to Haynes, this could be due to worn bores/piston rings, or valve guides, and sometimes occurs during the running-in period of the car (though only temporarily). Considering I recently changed the valve cover gasket (though I doubt this has anything to do with it) and don't drive very often, I'm going to be optimistic and say this is a temporary problem that has now been corrected.

So there we have a simple way of improving performance: change your spark plugs and spark plug wires. Baby steps towards getting back to (better than) factory settings.

A little cleaning can go very far

2009-02-10T10:30:00.003-05:00

- Clean fuses, make lights (and other things) work

Uttering the loudest 'duh' of the century, I gazed upon the impressive sight that was all lights working on the B (well, except for the indicators). In the past only the headlights and the lights on the left side of the car worked, meaning that it would be illegal to drive at night and that I had a good chance of being pulled over at any time by a cop.

Where in the past I generally had several goals for the weekend and was only able to complete about half of one, this weekend I set one simple goal: fix the lights. Easy enough, I thought. I assumed that the bulb had either burned out, the contacts were dirty, the wires broken, .... . Worst case scenario I would tie the right lights to the left lights by a direct cable.

I did find it strange that the headlights worked normally, and even the brake lights on both sides worked - ruling out the possibility of dead wires or a bad connection on the right side. I assumed all running lights (not including headlights) were on the same circuit, however taking a look at the fuses showed that they are in fact not on the same circuit. Here are some circuits I've been able to deduce:

- Headlamps
- Brake lights
- Indicators
- Left running lights
- Right running lights

If one of these things don't work, the circuit is dead. I'm still trying to figure out what's wrong with the indicator.

Cleaning out the fuses (shop was too far away for me to go pick new ones up, and these were fine after a clean-up anyway - degreaser and some sand paper) and testing with a multimeter, amazingly the lights turned on! Who knows what else started working...

I've bought a timing light which I plan to use next weekend to adjust timing. My brakes should be arriving soon, so I'll try to get that done too. We'll see how things pan out.

Also I should mention that the tachometer completely randomly started working, but the clock stopped working. I don't know what I prefer. Tach, I guess.

Britain and America

2009-02-09T21:27:00.006-05:00

While British cars have traditionally been compact, fun to drive, and perhaps more style than power, American cars tend to be the complete opposite. The evidence:

I bet I could drive my B in through the DTS's passenger door.

(2008 Cadillac DTS that my girlfriend rented)

A visit from the sponsor

2009-01-30T09:21:00.003-05:00

Welcome back! And a happy new year to all you MG enthusiasts!

Because I've been travelling a lot lately, taking exams, and because it's just too cold in Maryland right now, I haven't been able to do very much on Bonnie. However I have had a lot of time to think about what I plan on doing in the coming year:

- Replace brakes: Several hundred feet is not a good stopping distance, especially when you're only going 35 mph. Thankfully my grandfather, my biggest sponsor (he also bought the tyres), sponsored a new set of brakes. They've been ordered, and hopefully will arrive soon. More on the details of the brakes, and of course how to install them, when they arrive (and the weather warms up a bit).

- Fix fuel pump: The fuel pump works, but it takes quite a bit of time for any pressure to build up in the lines to properly start the car. I'm also starting to wonder that this may also be why performance has been rather dismal lately (a 110hp 2000lbs car should not go from 0 to 60 in 15 seconds). Furthermore the pump acts up from time to time resulting in the flames you saw in an earlier post. I'm assuming it's a bit clogged or perhaps the mechanism is a bit gunked up (which can happen after 32 years). Look forward to me spending (probably) an entire day taking out the thing (it's in the trunk), another day figuring out how to fix it, and then finally putting it back again. Also then I can finally replace the air filter (right now a new one would catch fire).

- Interior work: This year I'm taking the plunge and replacing all the carpeting and even the seats. I was recently quoted $75/seat in labour for the car at a local upholstery store, along with a combination of leather and vinyl, should result in a total charge of about $500 for both seats. Compare this to Victoria British, that charges $2000 for both seats in leather. Also like this I can customise the seat colours. Keep an eye out for this one in the near future.

- Brand new paint job: Waiting for my tax refund to kick in for this one.

Recently, while I was away, my grandparents were visiting and dropped by to visit my MG. Below you'll see a picture of my grandparents (left and right), as well as the kind family friend who lets me keep Bonnie at her house (centre). I should also note that my grandfather (left), the person thanks to who this car is more likely to pass a safety inspection, is probably the only person on earth who doesn't think I'm completely insane for starting this undertaking.

Mini Bonnie

2008-12-23T08:17:00.003-05:00

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

2008-12-13T20:35:00.007-05:00

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

2008-12-01T14:58:00.002-05:00

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

2008-11-10T15:54:00.013-05:00

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

2008-11-03T14:55:00.008-05:00

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

2008-10-26T19:09:00.007-04:00

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

2008-10-20T18:34:00.005-04:00

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

2008-10-19T18:17:00.007-04:00

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

2008-10-13T09:25:00.009-04:00

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

2008-10-05T13:20:00.002-04:00

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

2008-09-14T19:31:00.007-04:00

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)

2008-09-07T14:49:00.009-04:00

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)

2008-09-01T09:39:00.017-04:00

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

2008-08-31T16:35:00.013-04:00

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!!!

2008-08-30T21:24:00.004-04:00

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

2008-08-21T08:54:00.004-04:00

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

2008-08-19T09:06:00.004-04:00

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?

2008-08-18T08:55:00.000-04:00

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

2008-08-17T15:27:00.002-04:00

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.