Day 13,14, 15

 Next, I pulled the distributor so I could send it out for rebuild.  It was completely stuck to it's sleeve inside the engine block.  I can't imagine the last time the timing was adjusted since it was currently impossible to do so.  After a few curses, a couple of soakings with PB Blaster , and some not-so-gentle whacks with a rubber hammer, it moved a tiny bit.  Once it moved a little, it was just about ten minutes of back and forth and it came out. So, I boxed it up and dropped it in the mail, along with the wires, plugs, etc.

The next day Drew and I started to replace the clutch flexible line at the slave cylinder attached to the side of the bell housing.  There is very little room to get to the connection from the hard line to the flexible line.  Since the distributor was already out of the way, we just removed the starter, which made the job MUCH simpler.

Starter connections

Starter with clutch slave and hose behind

Once the clutch hose was installed, we put the starter back in- no problems with two people.

Next, we removed the rusty parking brake cable from under the car and frozen handbrake from the cockpit.
I have a new cable, but haven't installed it yet.  No problems with the removal- just nuts and bolts.  Considering the condition of this car, both Drew and I are surprised how well the fasteners come off (knocking wood).

parking brake adjuster (this the the bottom of the handbrake pull between the seats)

parking brake cable bracket- the rear hard brake lines are above it

pivot arm for parking brake mounted to differential

Next, Drew pulled the inoperable seat belts while I changed the oil and filter.  No big deal with either one, aside from the old oil filter being so stuck that it had to be destroyed.to get it off.  I ended up shoving a big screwdriver through it to get some leverage. I also removed the valve cover in prep for a valve adjust soon.

valve cover attachment bolt

valves cover removed- new black oil filer in bottom left

Valves, and a missing head nut- that's weird

Next up, I started removing the center console and all old carpeting (what there is of it).  I pulled out about a bucket of more acorn shells from behind the radio console.  What a mess!  A large family of chipmunks must not be happy about me buying this car.  Once all of the carpets were gone, I ran a wire brush over the entire floor to clean up the surface for paint/sealing.  I found one (only) rust hole about 3"x1/2" where the floor meets the transmission tunnel.

Acorn shells!

Behind radio console

Consoles are both out

Pedal area- the tube thing is a drain for the aftermarket a/c system

garbage tunnel carpet, sill covers, center colsole

looking better- this photo reminds me that I need a steering wheel cover

All of the parts we removed were brought into the house for some warm work.  First, I rebuilt the original clutch master cylinder with all new seals- seems like it worked but I will find out once i install it. The handbrake handle was completely frozen.  I just took it apart, cleaned up the mechanism, greased it up and put it back together.  But, that did not work.  It turned out that the plastic push-button on the end of the handbrake was somehow too big to fit loosely in the handle.  I had to mount it in my drill so I could sand down the width so it would fit.  After that, it now works fine.  I also cleaned up and lubricated the seatbelt mechanisms and now they work.  I cleaned up both consoles as well.

Clutch master cylinder

Handbrake lever

Radio console cleaned

various parts ready for install

The last job for this entry was replacing one corner of brakes- it's all the time I had.  No problems- just your basic drum brake system.  The old brake parts didn't actually look bad, but I replaced them anyway of course.

Old brake stuff

Cleaned backing plate

All new parts

So, next up I hope to finish the other three corners of brakes, install the pedal box and bleed both hydraulic systems.  I still need to adjust the valves, install the rebuilt distributor, time the engine and get her running again.

Day 11-12

Well- much has hapened in the last week plus.

First off, I fifnished the Miata on Friday night (Feb 10), threw it in Craigslist, and sold it on Saturday!  That worked out well.  The first person to look at the car bought it.



Paint going on to match original stone guard- it's a rubber stonechip spray from NAPA with epoxy black satin over it




Finished!!

 Now with the new black rockers, the British racing green looks pretty cruddy- but that's not my problem anymore.

With that, my old Miata leaves this blog forever- down I95 to New Hampshire......

So- on to the MGB:

I started be finishing up the carb install, hooking up the battaery, connecting my hose to the exhaust pipe, so the garage wouldn't fill with exhaust and starting her up!  I bet this is the first time she has run on her own in at least ten years- pretty cool! At first, she stumbled ,coughed, and missed.  If I tried to turn off the choke, she would die.  So, off came the distributor cap to see if anything looked hinky.  The points were pretty dirty, so I cleaned them up with some emery paper and tried again.  Much better, but still missing.  I pulled the vac advance line off of the intake manifold to see if that made any difference to the idle- it did not. At this point, I had made up my mind to remove the distributor and send it in for rebuild.  Considering how much rust was inside, it makes sense.




Distributor- rusty water valve above, old oil filter on the right




very rich spark plug




inside the rusty distributor- Lucas 25D version

 So, with that decision made, I desided to tackle the seats and pedal box, since it was getting cold and they could both be looed into while in the basement.

No real difficulties with the pedal box.  I want to rebuild the old clutch master instead of using the new one that came mounted to the car- much better quality.  So, off came the clutch and brake masters.  While I had them off, I wanted to tap threads in the mounting holes of each cylinder so when I inevitably need to remove one again, it will be a simple task of removing two bolts and one hydralic line.  At the same time, I cleaned and painted the empty pedal box, box cover, and pedals ?(including new pedal pads)

pedal box

pedal box empty



pedal box refinished with old (yet to be rebuilt) clutch slave (smaller cap)


Next, I tackled the seats to try and get them to work.  Mainly, I wanted them to be able to lean forward as designed.  The handle down at the hinge of the seat that releases the seat to lean forward worked fine with a little use, PB Blaster, and grease.  But, the chrome handle on the sides of the seat that control the seat back angle did not.  It is just too rusty to deal with for now.  So, I cleaned up one of the seats and moisturized the vinyl to see if I can get some months out of them before they just fall apart.

these rubber straps will need replacing, and the frame cleaned up a little and painted with POR-15.

looks o.k. after cleanig, but the photo lies- the vinyl is a little brittle and I assume it will crack once someone sits in them for a few miles= I guess we will see.  A problem I will deal with with cheap seat covers if required

  Next up- clutch hydralic lines installed, carpet removal, and other stuff.

Day 9 and 10 - mostly Miata, and some MGB

I made good progress on both cars this weekend- I'll start with the Miata:

Basically, I had to fit the passenger side panel first.  I bought some panel clamps from Eastwood, and they were invaluable since I could quickly attach the panel to check the fit, remove it, trim, and try again.  Once both panels were cut and bent pretty well into shape, I clamped them in and continued molding the metal with a hammer and chunk of angled steel.

Pre panel fit= the black stuff is POR-15 sealing paint for the structural steel below the thin panel I'm replacing

First fit of the passenger side panel- needs a bit of trimming and bending.  The copper colored pins are the panel clamps.

Looking better- shaping the steel

Ready for gluing- no welding for me!

Drivers side getting started.

Pretty much ready for seal sealer and body filler

Once I was happy with the panel fit, everything got a good cleaning and sanding in prep for the panel adhesive.  I decided to install the panels with rivets instead of using the removable clamps to hold it all together during the panel adhesive drying process.  No problem gluing the panels- I bought the adhesive from Eastwood and it works fine by installing the two-part product with mixing nozzle in a standard caulking gun and just dispensing it out on the panels to be glued . The rivets held it all together (using the 1/8" holes already drilled for the panel clamps). Next, all of the bigger gaps and spaces got a good coating of seam sealer.  It's basically just really thick POR-15.  Once all of the gaps were filled, it was time to let it all dry overnight.

Riveted and seal sealed

The next day was for body filler, sanding, and primer.  Pretty basic work, although I have never really used body filler.  I figured I could always sand out my mistakes! It went fine, although it was tough to try and keep everything warm in an unheated garage in Maine in February- lot's of lamps!

Very sloppy first coat of filler- thanks for sand paper later!

Filler on the passenger side

After final coat of filler and lots of sanding

Driver side after masking and primer

Passenger side after masking and primer- a few drips I'll sand out next weekend.

On to the MG.  Drew came over to help while I was still working on the Miata.  He removed both seats so I had something to work on in the warm basement since I'm sure there will be weekends in the next couple of months that are too cold in the garage.  The seats need a ton of work including getting the seat backs to fold forward (rust), getting them to slide easily (dirt, rust, etc), replacing the foams, painting the seat frames, and replacing the dried brittle vinyl covers.

Rusty and cruddy seat slider.  The leaves came with the car...

Seats out and garbage carpet removed.  Floor pans look pretty good- just filthy.

When I had some time waiting for things to dry on the Miata, I installed the carbs with the new gaskets.  No real trouble here- I just looked at the old photos I took before removing them to make sure I had the linkages and throttle/choke cables installed correctly.

Cleaned up heat shield and new gaskets

Installed heat sink spacers to keep the carbs as cool as possible since they are so close to the exhaust manifold underneath

Carbs bolted on- no fuel and vent lines yet- maybe next weekend we'll try to fire her up again

Also- Drew started to install the new flexible clutch hose from the hard line to the clutch slave cylinder installed on the side of the transmission.  It's a tricky connection with very little room for hands and tools.  He got the old one out by cutting it and using various sockets and wrenches.

No photos taken on this- ooops.

That's it for today- it's time for the Super Bowl.... Go Pats!!