On the Road

Well after 20,000km and lot of smiles, I think I've got the bugs outta the old girl.
It's been a challenge to keep up with all the little nasties that have cropped up.

Some of the major adjustments have included:
-Replaced the 1600 with a 5 main 1800. The crankshaft broke on the 1600, but surprisingly it still    got  us home ...an hour away.
       This included an MGB clutch and Flywheel had an MGA rear plate machined
       to except the 5main rear seal, Flywheel is off of a 67 MGB which works on the 18v
       crankshaft and and still uses the "early fly wheel" - MGA (2 clutch locating pins)
       or early MGB  (3 clutch locating pins)
       I will keep the 1600 around as a back up but for now the 1800 does the job.

-Replaced 2 core plugs (frost plugs)
-Replaced the exhaust manifold,  old one broke in two
-Fine tuned the steering rack to allow for  better self centering.
-Added Speedi Sleeves to both rear axles to correct small drips.
-Replaced the alternator....hmmm, really! new part quality is very questionable.
-Added front anti sway bar, a definite difference.
-Replaced original SU fuel pump after being repaired and sent back and failed again!
-Added pressure regulator to after market fuel pump, to maintain fuel pressure at 1.5psi (very     important)  This improvement made a big difference in the tuning of the SUs.
-Replaced the windscreen, ...don't ask.
-Added mirrors to the windscreen pillars
-Added home made ram air horns to the SUs (helps at highway speeds)
-Replaced the oil pan gasket (old one very cheap and leaked)
-Added cooling fan to SUs (manual switch)
-Replaced leaky "new" clutch  slave. .....another quality new part.
-Replaced the brake light switch, (does any one make a decent one of these?)
-Replaced the windshield wiper motor (lots of patience needed here)
-Made a tonneau cover, not perfect but does the job.

Don't look at the stitching too close

 My Uncle looking pretty Cool!

Drive through the mountains

Putting an NSX to shame.

Original Grill Repair

I have almost 10,000km on the car an in that time I've noticed the Moss grill I purchased, although decent fitting, is very easily scratched and after all the scrubbing I've been doing to remove bugs and debris I am some what disappointed in the chrome. The grill was hit by a rock at some point so it also has a small dent (better the grill than the paint I suppose). 

I received 2 grills when I purchased the MG, one is an aftermarket version that has a very noticeable dent on upper shell and the other is what I believe to be an (although beat up) original grill. I discarded both these choices and bought the Moss Grill.

I recently pulled the original grill down from the rafters of the garage to see if re-chroming would be an option.

It looked quite beat up, but after removing the inner slats and straightening out the center of the shell it didn't look so mistreated.

I wasn't certain that it was an original grill.
Original grills were made from chrome covered solid brass, and stainless steel slats held together with aluminum "rails" making up the grill it's self.
My understanding is that only the later reproduction grills have been made from brass and earlier ones were made from mild steel or even plastic. 
After the magnet test and scratching the back, I determined that this beat up grill is indeed solid brass.  The false nose and MG badge should also tell the story. The false nose, although twisted is also brass and the MG badge appears (according to the MGA GURU) to have all the markings of an original badge. J FRAY    LTD    BHAM  

I used a small rotary sander with a fairly aggressive grit to remove the chrome. And after a few hours gentle bodywork and a great many different types of dollies (including sockets and the ends of  larger wrenches). the soft brass began to take on it's original shape.

The next job was to remove any sanding scratches using 600 wet dry paper.

 Sanding scratches:

Sanding scratches removed:

Completed Interior

The interior was an exercise in patience.
I was surprised at the work needed to complete all the trim work, and the carpet was a whole other adventure. Everything needed "tweaking", even the trim panels need to be shortened in a couple of spots. For all the work I did to custom fit all the "pre-cut" panels , I believe I would have been farther ahead if I just bought raw materials and cut everything myself....hmmm. Any way it's done and I'm happy with it. I particularly like the carpet, it's wool and very plush. The  brown colour with the tan trim is quite inviting and this colour should hide dirt reasonably well.

I was also surprised at the small amount of room for the seats, you really strap this car on.

I gave up on the trim rail that I purchased for the dash (seen in previous post), it was to wide and did not have the correct angles where the door trim meets it. I cut one from 3/4" oak, the fit is more accurate.

Interior continues

In a effort to control road noise a soundproofing material was added. This is a light weight flexible layer which has a peel and stick backing. It should help maintain moderate temperatures in the cab as well..

The speedometer cable has been rerouted along the edge of the firewall

The carpet underlay goes down next .

The shifter housing will be accessible without removing the whole tunnel carpet / underlay .

Dashboard

There were two different styles of metal dashboards (apart from coupe, roaster & left and right hand drive differences) used on MGAs. The standard used on much of the production run and the Twin Cam & MKII version. The later version moved the signal light indicator inward and higher on the dash, and no longer sat in a depression in the dash.  These dashes were covered in a "leather cloth" material and chrome trim was also added along the bottom of the dash as well as a chrome piece surrounding the speaker grill in the center of the dash. The radio blanking plate also used a chrome trim  and was cover in the same "leather cloth" for MKII or painted body for standard dashes. The crinkle black versions were found on MGB cars.

I received 2 dashboards with my car. The original dash had an extra hole for an amp gauge cut into it and a MKII dash complete with chrome bits. The hole in the original dash was repairable but the dash was twisted and bent and would have need a lot of work to get it presentable. The MKII dash was in great shape other than the signal light indicator in the wrong position.

 I decided to use the MKII dash, Hmmm...... easy enough to convert to the older style. I welded a patch over the old hole, but before the new hole could be drilled at the new location, a depression had to be pressed in the metal. On the older dashboards the  light sits in a depression similar to the ones for the switches. Using the other dash for comparison I selected two sockets to replicate the new depression. I placed the larger socket behind the dash and the smaller one in front and along with heat and a vise and presto. I am very happy with the results.

I did however decided to keep all the chrome bits from the later dash.

 The speedometer will need to be sent out for calibration but all the other instruments are in working order. I used WD40 as a cleaner for the face plates, it seemed to remove any build up crud without removing and paint. All the instruments got new chrome trim and rubber gaskets.

The rev counter only needed a quick cleaning and oiling to be set right. The original dual gauge I received with the car did not register full temperature, I found a used one on Ebay, new or even rebuilding are available options. The fuel gauge was not working and turned out to be quite a task to get working, in the end  I used components of two fuel gauges to manufacture one functioning unit. 

The pneumatic switch for the signal lights needed attention as well. These switches are kinda cool once you find out how the work. When you flip the lever to left or right it moves a plunger inside a cylinder creating a vacuum which holds the lever in place until you either flip it back to center (off) or a few seconds go by.  The time can be adjusted using a set screw at the back of the unit. I set mine for 15 seconds.  A fairly common problem with these switches is the leather gasket on the plunger unit gets dried up and allows air to get by, no vacuum can be created. A little grease applied to mine and it worked fine. This also gave me the chance to check the turn signal relay, which to my relief, performed nicely.
All the other switches, including the light switch, panel rheostat and horn push all worked fine. I added an screen washer pump which was an option for MGAs. The pump is set back in the dash so the knob can be inline with the other knobs. An optional lighter could also be placed in this hole.

You can see I still need a choke cable.

Windshield

The original MGA windshield frames are chrome over solid brass.  Some owners have opted to cut the frame down to gain some aerodynamic efficiency, or perhaps for the cool factor. I do like the look of the half windshield but it really limits the days for driving.
 My frame is showing its age but after a couple of hours of cleaning & polishing, although it still has a patina, its ready to be reassembled. The posts were not in as good of shape. One post had the chrome pealing so I had both of them re-chromed. New sundry pieces and rubber bits for the frame were purchased from Clarke Spares, who specializes in all the hard to find bits and pieces for MGAs. New triplex XXX glass was purchased and the assembly began.

I followed the method laid out by the MGA Guru : Roadster Windshield Installation
The process is a struggle, but doable.

 It is no surprise that the Auster and Triplex names appear together on the windshield. With a little digging I I found that they were part of the same company. Auster / Triplex 

  c

Seats

Remember this pile of rust?

The seat frames, although rusted, bent and broken were actually in decent shape. After a bit of welding to repair the attachment points and straightening the back braces where someone had jumped? on them, they were ready for blasting and paint.

On the MGA roadster the seat backs are "sided", the curve at the top matches the curve of the body., the low side to the outside of the car.

The 3/8" plywood on the old cushion bases were broken and unusable, except as a template for new ones.These are also sided, mirrors of each other.

The small tabs on the bottom of the bases hold them in place against lateral movement, so they need to be hard wood.

I took the opportunity to reuse the risers from the original seats, they are still in great shape.

 The mesh baskets were also reusable. After a bit of wire brushing and painting they were ready for final assembly..

The original MGAs had a choice of interior material  of either the standard Vynide "leather" cloth or optional real leather (leather on wearing parts). Colour was also a choice although limited depending on body colour. The 1500 choices were grey, black, red, or green, The 1600 replaced grey and green with beige and tan. The Black seats also had the choice of different colour piping, red, grey, green, white and blue.


My interior material was purchased from a trimmer in England and is ALL leather including the rail caps. All the panel pieces come assembled using new panel material.
The seat covers are presewn ready to be mounted on the frames and stapled in position, and like the original cars they have the different colour piping.

The new backing material was temperately taped in place for a few weeks to form the proper shape.New wood tacking stripes were also attached.

The backing was then cut to fit and taped permanently into place

Horsehair pad was glued in place

Then more padding is trimmed and glued into place.

OPPS! this padding should go on the back of the seat, after a small struggle I got it straightened out.
...Finally a bit of cotton batting is laid on the top of the seat and the seat cover is pulled on and stapled into position.

The bottom sections were slightly easier, but it's crucial that the seams line up on the seat backs and seat bottoms. The bottoms were assembled last since it's easier to adjust the bottoms to match the backs.
Here the foam is marked before being glued into place

 

Then it's just a matter of test fitting the bottom and comparing with the back for the proper alignment and stapling into place.

Here you can see the profile of the seat back, showing that it's a right hand seat.The seat adjuster lever can also be seen, these should go on the "door" side of each seat.

It's All in the Details

Progress is coming along nicely. The weather has been cooperating and I've been able to spent a few days out in the garage.

The front valence has been added, as well as headlight buckets. 

Although I'm using a new wiring harness the original  headlight leads are in good enough shape to reuse. I removed the old cloth cover and replaced it with heat shrink, they should last another 50 years.

  

The new harness installation is going smoothly, although the bullet connectors are a little tight and require a bit of force to fit together..

I'm maintaining the original wiring with the exception of the 12g yellow wire which will carry any extra amperage from the new alternator directly to the battery.
Mounted on the fire wall from left to right: Voltage Regulator (control box), Fuse Block (2 fuses for the whole car ), Flasher Unit and the silver box is the Turn Signal Relay (unique to the 1500).


The master cylinder and wiper motor (behind)  have been installed.

-The bolt here used to attach the pedal springs is not factory original 

-Throttle pedal stop needs to be installed

Here you can see the splash guards installed using proper rubber seals and "rivets"

Rear bumper was off and on a few times before I figured out the proper assembly order, but in the end all is well.