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Post by Penguin45 on Aug 12, 2019 20:05:50 GMT
Week away in Cornwall, nose now firmly re-applied to grindstone. 830 miles covered without incedent. Just under a pint of oil used, MPG around 36. Not bad.
Chris.
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Post by Penguin45 on Aug 7, 2019 23:18:06 GMT
Hello there, welcome aboard. Sorry to read that you will be a transitory owner. Nebulous things, prices. I bought my first one in 2003 for £400 with an MoT. It shouldn't have had one, but that's another story. Those days are gone and most cars have some value now. Projects, breakers, scrappers - £500 - £1000.
Running, rough, MoT'd - £800 - £1500 seems to be the order of the day. Presentable, usable, improvable - £1500 - £3500. Nice - £3000 - £5000. Mint/concours - £7000 and upwards. "S" models have a slight premium. Rally cars often have a large premium, with genuine ones topping £30,000 now. Take this as an opinion, not a professional guide, as it is based on years of watching the cars sell and the prices gradually easing upwards. I would suggest that black is an emotive colour. It's only in recent years that black has become popular again after the colourful '60's and '70's. At that time it was often associated with the funeral trade, so not a natural first choice and a rare one for the 'Crab. We would appreciate a few pictures of the car if you can. It helps us build up a record of the surviving cars, their condition, value, etc. Good luck with it, Chris.
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Post by Penguin45 on Jul 31, 2019 17:23:24 GMT
It’s tomorrow and we are waiting Anything to oblige. State of garage - reasonable. C.
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Post by Penguin45 on Jul 31, 2019 17:21:51 GMT
Ron has been. Ron has wrought his magic. I have been gopher, cleaner, painter, teaboy and apprentice. First order of business, drum off. Dial gauge and check for roundness - acceptable. Hub off next. Well, hub off after a good solid 5 minute battle, before Ron took the breaker bar and cracked off the nut by appearing to tighten it. Left hand thread.... Mo the Morris by Penguin 45, on Flickr Mo the Morris by Penguin 45, on Flickr Hub and bearings full of what looked like runny tar. This had once been grease, so yup, it got pretty hot. Carrying on into it, the cylinder was seized to the backplate (it should slide), the adjuster mechanism was seized, the nut into the cylinder was seized to the cylinder and the pipe, the clevis pin was seized in the handbrake rod, and the spilt pin seized in the clevis. It all came apart eventually. I stripped, cleaned and painted the backplate, whilst Ron freed up the adjuster mechanism and made up a new brake line. Mo the Morris by Penguin 45, on Flickr Everything got slathered with grease as appropriate, new cylinder and bearings mounted and back on the car it all went. Mo the Morris by Penguin 45, on Flickr The other side was stripped and cleaned and a new cylinder fitted. Again, plenty of grease to keep everything moving as it should. Bled off the system and found the n/s/r binding and slow to release..... We was not happy bunnies. Flexi pipe collapsed, so doing the one way valve thing. Titanic struggle ensued getting the old one off and the new one on. Bled the bralkes again and all was good with the world. Mo the Morris by Penguin 45, on Flickr The culprit. I hope she'll give Dave some decent service for a while! Big thanks to Ron. Chris.
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Post by Penguin45 on Jul 30, 2019 17:32:55 GMT
She's back again. She's up in the air. She's got a wheel off. All we need now is......
Dun dun durr
UNCLE RON.
Full report tomorrow.
Chris.
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Post by Penguin45 on Jul 30, 2019 17:29:41 GMT
Think P5/P6. Lots to choose from..... Although the 'Crab on SD1 pepperpots a few years back looked completely ridiculous. Chris.
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Post by Penguin45 on Jul 28, 2019 14:58:24 GMT
Seeing as Snoopy spent a day helping me with Mo a couple of weeks back, it was now time for me to return the compliment and go and help him out with GLE. Two principal objectives for the day, firstly clutch hydraulics and secondly the ignition switch/steering lock assembly. Clutch set-up was losing fluid and it was becoming harder and harder to select gears. I dug out some seal kits and Snoopy bought one of Tony's über stainless braided clutch hoses. Bling. He does like a bit of bling. The steering lock was exceedingly worn and there was only one key - a suitable blank to get a spare couldn't be traced either. Digging in the parts listing revealed that the last iteration of the lock assembly was 18G8979 and is still available, as it fits the Midget and MGB. Result, bought. Snoopy's GLE by Penguin 45, on Flickr Shrouds off, sheer bolts drilled out, wiring snipped off the back of the lock. Snoopy's GLE by Penguin 45, on Flickr Snoopy's GLE by Penguin 45, on Flickr Old and new. New has spade terminals, so wiring duly tweaked with terminals and insulating sleeves. Snoopy's GLE by Penguin 45, on Flickr Snoopy's GLE by Penguin 45, on Flickr Bolted home with new clamp and sheer bolts, which duly sheered. This was to prove a mistake.... Whilst the lock dropped into place perfectly, the key how failed to release the bolt for the steering lock and so prevented the lock barrel being turned to start the car. So, we had to drill out the sheer bolts. A deft application of graphite powder to the lock and oil to the bolt and it worked again, so back on it went with some low profile headed bolts. Then we couldn't make the shroud fit back on, as the rubber housing won't fit. By changing the wiring from crimped to spades and with the addition of the connectors, the lock was ¾" longer and won't fit inside. By this time, I'm starting to get annoyed..... Took it all off again, chopped off the new connectors and soldered the wires to the base of the connectors on the lock. Then chopped off the excess blades with a hacksaw. I think we invalidated the warranty at that point. Anyway, the shrouds now fit, but won't stay in place as the bridge piece inside is broken. Left Snoopy playing with the glue to try and get it back into one piece. A bit of a salutory experience. Pricipally, we have a part sold as a matching replacement, as it has the same part number - BUT - it isn't the same thing. Secondly, it required some fettling to actually make the mechanism work. Disappointing. The clutch was quite straightforward by comparison. Even the clevis pin under the dash came out without a fight. Not too many pics as I got quite distracted by the lock business. Snoopy's GLE by Penguin 45, on Flickr Actuating rod and clevis pin. Very worn ovalled hole in the rod and badly worn pin. Snoopy's GLE by Penguin 45, on Flickr 22B65 is the push rod and again is an MG part. It's also the only one listed for the 'Crabs, so why is the one removed nearly ½" shorter? Otherwise it was all pretty standard stuff. Bores both cleaned up nicely, outsides got a wire brushing and new seals fitted. Snoopy's GLE by Penguin 45, on Flickr Snoopy's GLE by Penguin 45, on Flickr Snoopy's GLE by Penguin 45, on Flickr Everything went back on and the system bled up easily. Pedal seems a bit low, but it's smooth and gears can be selected. Chris.
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Post by Penguin45 on Jul 25, 2019 19:16:51 GMT
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Post by Penguin45 on Jul 24, 2019 18:39:15 GMT
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Post by Penguin45 on Jul 24, 2019 18:32:01 GMT
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Post by Penguin45 on Jul 24, 2019 11:11:26 GMT
Sounds like great fun, and a terrifically English thing to do - reducing Paris to chaos! Got both vents fully open and the rear quarter lights open on mine. Very effective, providing you're moving. Chris.
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Post by Penguin45 on Jul 23, 2019 17:10:06 GMT
Hi Dave,
Still unsure as to what your intentions are. Will be away for a week from August 2nd.
Chris.
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Post by Penguin45 on Jul 22, 2019 22:59:01 GMT
I have a list you can start on. List received. Date arranged. C.
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Post by Penguin45 on Jul 20, 2019 18:58:10 GMT
Bonnet trim back on. Favourite welding helmet repaired.
Going to run out of jobs.....
Chris.
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Post by Penguin45 on Jul 20, 2019 16:27:01 GMT
The "Great Blitz" of the garage has made it a nice place to hide from The Wife work in again, so big thanks to Snoopy for bullying me into it and his Project Management skills - "Get on with it!"; "In the bin" and "It migh have come in handy five years ago, but it's still here!". To that end, I have undertaken a series of mini projects, starting with my indicator stalk. I broke it on the way to the Tatton Park Show. A hunt through the autojumble yielded a Ford Escort MkI stalk, which was tweaked to fit. Tuesday saw a dirty 'orrible 'Crab stalk being refurbished. Contacts cleaned, plastic endy bit painted black and even went mad and painted the button on the end with some chrome paint. Not 100% convincing, but smart enough. Came to fit it and the usual battle with the column shroud commenced. Inspiration struck and I removed the steering wheel. Shroud back on in approximately 3 minutes. Which left me with a faded, rough and sticky steering wheel. Seeing as it was off.... The sticky deposits came off eventually with a vigorous rub down with white spirits, followed by a comprehensive light sanding. Degreased it and applied three coats of gloss black and it looks lovely. And it isn't sticky, which is nice. VOF707J by Penguin 45, on Flickr. Today I have hopefully dealt with the wind noise issue. Front passenger door has been particularly bad. Despite various re-positionings and even an attempt to bend the top of the frame in slightly. I got nowhere with it. So, on with a new door seal. Looks lovely, but what a mind-numbingly tedious task easing the edge of the seal into the channel on the door is. VOF707J by Penguin 45, on Flickr We had also discovered the rest of the door aperture trim I bought at Tatton Park some years ago. The faded red Furflex had a certain charm, but wasn't really doing much. This stuff has a squidgy tube seal on it, so it's bound to help make an airtight seal. VOF707J by Penguin 45, on Flickr Nice shot of my thumb but you get the idea. VOF707J by Penguin 45, on Flickr There we go - all four done. Note Grandad rug over driver's seat. Covers a split in the seat back. VOF707J by Penguin 45, on Flickr Remains of Furflex. VOF707J by Penguin 45, on Flickr Remains of door seal. It really was in very poor condition. Tomorrow - windscreen filler strip. And no doubt plenty of bad language. Chris.
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