Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[3xpendable]

Well I've been going a bit stir crazy over the winter. Progress has been slow but steady. The crank is off getting balanced now and needed a 10 thou grind on the mains, and I'm currently awaiting a new flywheel for it to be balanced as the old one was no good. Same was said of the front timing cover (a bolt snapped off in it) so the £180 i spent on an MG B spec V8 in 2007 yielded me only the front short nosed crank pulley. I weighed in the block and heads for scrap so I recuperated some of my cost, I still have the other bits but if they are no good I'll weigh them in after the rebuild too.

The bottom end of the engine will be rebuilt over Easter. The plan is then to mate it to the gearbox and install it in the car just to check everything lines up. If it does great, if not we will make the changes required. Then the motor will be pulled out to enable to body to be painted, and final assembly can begin.

In the meantime I restored the dials. It was very interesting and the fellows on an MG forum were very helpful with tips on thinks like how to get the gauges apart and to reset the odometer. I haven't carried out the work to convert the Tacho to V8 yet, as that needs to be done with a potentiometer while connected to the car. I've yet to do the combined oil temperature/pressure gauge, more on that later. I cleaned all the hardened and degraded seals off the glass and bezels, and fitted new seals.






Fuel gauge being re-assembled. Needle painted while enamel, the ring painted matt black and the case internals painted in while gloss to help illumination


I got the odometer stripped and reset,


Installed in the odometer into the painted casing, I fitted the trip reset tube afterwards, it was a bit fiddly but easier than trying to fit it in attached to the rest of it.


Got the needle fitted using the calibration line (The white line below the 0), I knocked the spring of the speedometer so hope it hasnt upset the calibration







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2013 Dodge Durango R/T Hemi
1965 Ford Anglia 106e Estate (LHD)
1964 Ford Anglia 105E 1500 GT (Dad)
1980 Porsche 911 SC Targa (Uncle)
1971 MGB GT (V8 project) -SOLD 2016
2005 MINI Cooper S JCW - SOLD 2016

[ukdave2002]

Looking good

I'm doing something similar with my mga gauges; basically the same as yours but marked Jaeger, and the tacho is mechanical. Did you know that the fuel gauge is calibrated by sliding the 2 internal magnets ; simply slacken from the back of the gauge case and move them in the slots, no need to dismantle the gauge, but care needed not to twist them too much as the coil connection will snap and will need re soldering (fiddly job!) .

Cheers

Dave

[3xpendable]

I didnt Dave no!! Thanks for that useful snippet.
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2013 Dodge Durango R/T Hemi
1965 Ford Anglia 106e Estate (LHD)
1964 Ford Anglia 105E 1500 GT (Dad)
1980 Porsche 911 SC Targa (Uncle)
1971 MGB GT (V8 project) -SOLD 2016
2005 MINI Cooper S JCW - SOLD 2016

[3xpendable]

Got the combined gauge done today

All cleaned and sanded ready for paint




Primered then top coated the inside white



I painted the outside in primer (I ran out of zinc rich) and then laquered it. Ok it will be a different colour to the rest, but I didnt want to shell out £12 just to make this look the same. Started fitting the innards up.



Gauge face on and glass, with the flat seal no-one seems to have seen before. I think its to stop glare against the inside of the glass or something



Had a hell of a job getting the bezel on using the 4mm foam seal! So I instead bent the tabs back enough to fit it over, then bent them back. I marked a bit of one of the bezels which I was annoyed about but its not really noticeable



Then I tried the gauge, first in hot tap water (approx 40ºC) then kettle water, not boiling but nearish




Seems to still work ok! I will clean the tube up and just spray a coat of black on it to make it look nice.
_________________
2013 Dodge Durango R/T Hemi
1965 Ford Anglia 106e Estate (LHD)
1964 Ford Anglia 105E 1500 GT (Dad)
1980 Porsche 911 SC Targa (Uncle)
1971 MGB GT (V8 project) -SOLD 2016
2005 MINI Cooper S JCW - SOLD 2016

[3xpendable]

Been spending a fair bit of money the last few weeks ordering all the bottom end engine parts, which are at home awaiting fitting. I finally got a flywheel that was decent and will be picking up the balanced and reground crank on Thursday. I also was lucky twice with a gearbox...I got a bargain picture less auction on eBay and it even included the release bearing, fork and gear lever, all for less than you usually pay for just the box!

Then TNT delivered it, and the driver was moaning about it spilling some oil in his van and had no-one been home, he would have sent it back as damaged goods. Luckily my dad had just popped home to feed the chickens when he arrived!

So, hopefully over Easter the bottom end will be built up and trial fitted to the car as the gearbox mount needs re-working. Pictures to follow.
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2013 Dodge Durango R/T Hemi
1965 Ford Anglia 106e Estate (LHD)
1964 Ford Anglia 105E 1500 GT (Dad)
1980 Porsche 911 SC Targa (Uncle)
1971 MGB GT (V8 project) -SOLD 2016
2005 MINI Cooper S JCW - SOLD 2016

[3xpendable]

Thanks Dave.

Well, had 6 days at home to play on the B this weekend. Of course there were other distractions so it wasn’t all spent on the car but I got a bit done. I got home to boxes of bits 



And an LT77 gearbox, complete with the release bearing, arm and gear lever, all for the price you usually just pay for the box! I also lined it up to the engine to check the bellhousing, fits perfectly.



Engine first, here it is with the crank in



This engine came with a crank driven oil pump, and therefore had a thicker timing cover so when my dad and I measured the SD1 cover & pulley with the new crank we expected there to be a gap between the pulley and timing gear. So we fitted everything up and it all marries perfectly, which is a relief 



Metal Cloyes adjustable timing gear fitted. There are 3 slots on the crank gear allowing you to use standard or advance/retarded timing. Seeing as the standard 3.9 cam is being used I stuck with standard.



And here it is, the short motor almost fully built up 



I have 2 distributors. One from my old 3.5 from a P6, the other from this circa 1993 3.9 and has electronic ignition. Can I use this system on my non fuel injected B or shall I just fit electronic ignition to the older distributor?



The sump and oil pickup are being cleaned and will be fitted next, once the gearbox is cleaned up I will fit them together and to a trial fit in the car. Dad thinks it might be easier to install the engine with no heads but I have one question: Can you install the cylinder heads with block hugger exhausts attached to the engine in situ?

The donor car has good wheels, and nearly new tyres when I parked it up, so I fitted them to the shell. Its amazing how good a set of wheels cam make a project look isn’t it?!



Fitted the brake drums which I’d painted some time ago



Got the car out for some grinding, as the welds had failed on this part under the rear light



Ground it down and covered it in weld-thru primer ready for dad to weld it




I’ve not done much bodywork before, as my brother and dad are the experts at it. BUT in a bid to get confident with it I had a go on a simple part of the car first, so here is the rear quarter after some spot welding



I painted it to protect it a few months ago



Then I grinded it down.



Onto the shaping! First layer



I then sanded this with 80 grit to get the basic level and shaping, flattened it back again then added a bit more filler to take out any dips



Measuring it with a straight edge after the 3rd levelling off showed two tiny indents which I have put a slim of filler over. Dad tells me filler sinks sometimes so I ran out of time yesterday to finish it off but left this final layer on to harden before I go back in a few weeks to put the skim coat on and flatten it back with wet and dry, for my first attempt I’m very pleased so far:



I also got the floor painted with underseal in the corner that had to be left bare for the above welding, so now I’m just awaiting some padding material then I can paint and fit the fuel tank.



That’s all for now folks, I’ll be off for the summer soon, so should make more progress!
_________________
2013 Dodge Durango R/T Hemi
1965 Ford Anglia 106e Estate (LHD)
1964 Ford Anglia 105E 1500 GT (Dad)
1980 Porsche 911 SC Targa (Uncle)
1971 MGB GT (V8 project) -SOLD 2016
2005 MINI Cooper S JCW - SOLD 2016

[ukdave2002]

Lot of work going on there

One concern I would have is moisture in the primer and filler; both absorb moisture (only takes a few days) , it can't be detected when you apply the top coats, but some weeks/ months later you will find the paint will begin to bubble/blister ....... are you planning on stripping back to bare steel before painting?

Dave

[3xpendable]

Hi Dave,

Yes I thought this too, which is why I coat any filler with a skim of top coat before I leave it more than a few days. Its not ideal but the best I can do right now, the shed its in is very warm and dry though.

I intend to soda blast the shell back to metal yes, as the primer oxide on there is going all powdery.
_________________
2013 Dodge Durango R/T Hemi
1965 Ford Anglia 106e Estate (LHD)
1964 Ford Anglia 105E 1500 GT (Dad)
1980 Porsche 911 SC Targa (Uncle)
1971 MGB GT (V8 project) -SOLD 2016
2005 MINI Cooper S JCW - SOLD 2016

[ukdave2002]

[3xpendable]

Spend today cleaning some interior parts today. This is the washer pump casing before



And after, along with a few other parts



I was annoyed with the heater knobs though, I washed them in warm soapy water with a soft spongle and not only has the lettering started to fade, but also the plastic has gone sorted of faded, like its degrading. Is this repairable or shall I just get replacement knobs?



Painted up some engine brackets too



Finally, the new calipers have been painted red, and look nice.
_________________
2013 Dodge Durango R/T Hemi
1965 Ford Anglia 106e Estate (LHD)
1964 Ford Anglia 105E 1500 GT (Dad)
1980 Porsche 911 SC Targa (Uncle)
1971 MGB GT (V8 project) -SOLD 2016
2005 MINI Cooper S JCW - SOLD 2016

[3xpendable]

I'm a fool!!!!

I am looking for a starter motor. Went through forums and eBay then decided to browse through my restoration pictures on my PC last night, and looked at the photos of the original 3.5 V8 that I got from a friend but had to scrap due to rusty bores. It was a P6B early motor and lowe and behold what do you see in the bottom of the picture?



A bloody starter motor!! I don't recall seeing it recently but have a good idea of where I left it, so my brother is going to hunt for it this weekend and fingers crossed that saves me the purchase price of a starter! Though I might get it reconditioned just in case, yay!

On another note, mum mentioned to me on the weekend that my brother thinks I'm "Rushing" the rebuild and will regret it...??!
_________________
2013 Dodge Durango R/T Hemi
1965 Ford Anglia 106e Estate (LHD)
1964 Ford Anglia 105E 1500 GT (Dad)
1980 Porsche 911 SC Targa (Uncle)
1971 MGB GT (V8 project) -SOLD 2016
2005 MINI Cooper S JCW - SOLD 2016

[3xpendable]

Got some work done on the car today, though or some reason I had a distinct lack of motivation and enthusiasm but I hope the photos are enjoyable and re-motivate me.

Fitted the front calipers that I painted red:



My balanced flywheel is now back from the machinist:



Something that caught me unawares was that the engine mounts fouled against one of the strengthening webs. Seeing as these are the best part of £100 I wouldnt have been impressed had I paid that much for mine.




So I had to grind a bit of each plate away to get the correct clearance. Voila:



I hung them up after this and painted them gloss black. I also found the starter I had from my previous engine, I'll send this off for a recondition.



Thats about it for now, I want to clean and paint the gearbox tomorrow and maybe with get more of the bottom end built up, fingers crossed. I keep telling myself that even a little progress is progress.
_________________
2013 Dodge Durango R/T Hemi
1965 Ford Anglia 106e Estate (LHD)
1964 Ford Anglia 105E 1500 GT (Dad)
1980 Porsche 911 SC Targa (Uncle)
1971 MGB GT (V8 project) -SOLD 2016
2005 MINI Cooper S JCW - SOLD 2016

[Rick]

I have to draw up lists, and when I can cross items off them it helps with motivation sometimes. A little done often, is my intended approach although often it's a little done occasionally

RJ
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Rick - Admin
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[3xpendable]

Got the bottom end just about built up today. As has been stated by others before, the SD1 oil pump drive is too short for the distributor drive, can you buy and extension piece for the dizzy drive?



Oil pump fitted



Had to make clearance on the block for it..



Recon starter fitted



As it looks now



Got the gearbox painted and the bellhousing cleaned too


_________________
2013 Dodge Durango R/T Hemi
1965 Ford Anglia 106e Estate (LHD)
1964 Ford Anglia 105E 1500 GT (Dad)
1980 Porsche 911 SC Targa (Uncle)
1971 MGB GT (V8 project) -SOLD 2016
2005 MINI Cooper S JCW - SOLD 2016

[3xpendable]

In other news, I got given this by my wife's uncle at my wedding. After asking for first refusal if he ever sells it, he said "If you come get it fixed up you can have it!"



So when I move to the US hopefully next year, thats another toy for me to get running BUT the MGB completion is still a priority.
_________________
2013 Dodge Durango R/T Hemi
1965 Ford Anglia 106e Estate (LHD)
1964 Ford Anglia 105E 1500 GT (Dad)
1980 Porsche 911 SC Targa (Uncle)
1971 MGB GT (V8 project) -SOLD 2016
2005 MINI Cooper S JCW - SOLD 2016