So, I haven't done a lot on the car the last few weeks, been mega-busy with work, working away and just not been in the mood! My fiancée has also recently changed her job so everything has been a bit up in the air.
Friday afternoon, I jacked the car up a bit, for good reason, the MGF has a
huge bloody great restrictor in its induction system. It's called the resonator box, and it'll strike fear in to the hearts of any MGF owner... It's burried deep in the engine, and it appears it was the first part of the engine bay to be fitted, before the engine; literally the car is built around it.
Normally the recommended method is to cut the box to pieces, then literally rip it out piece by piece though the NS rear wheel arch, a few hours of tugging, sawing and swearing sets it free. The manual suggesting removing all of the rear suspension, exhuast system, then remove the bolts securing the back of the car to the body, then lifting the body over the rear of the car just enough to get access to the box and rip it out in one.
Benham has skills, guess what Benham did! It's damn rare to see one of these whole! Well, I had got 90% of those parts removed anyway, so it was less messing about than cutting the bloody thing to bits.
Then there was an issue, the car was pivoted on a trolley jack, the castors started to roll, wedging the car up against my garage wall with only a few inches to spare! A crunch was felt as a block of wood I had on the garage floor wacked the sill.
nuts.
One thing for it, get the car out the garage and repark it, trouble is, all I had fitted to the rear of the car was the driveshafts, I needed an urgent reassembly of the rear of the car.
NS was easy enough, I found the hub in the back or the garage, and went to refit:
Then remembered I'd cut the balljoint down, quickly I found the new balljoint in my box of bits and fitted it:
Rinse and repeat on the other side, litterally throwing the car back together, missing bolts along the way, this was only to move the car 10' after
As the weather is getting better, I've left the car outside now, and jacked it up on blocks outside the garage!
PROTIP
Don't run an mid-engined car with the engine cover off, and no exhaust fitted....... This just discharges the smoke straight in to the cabin..... As I found out... The noise of the engine with no exhaust was deafening!
Oil was leaking everywhere, oh, that's because I'd forgotten to refit the sump plug! However more worryingly:
Was bound to happen sometime, turns out these bloody things can blow whilst they're sitting in a garage!
What a few days I've had with the car! Oh, the sill:
That's gonna need some fixing, doubt even Stevie Wonder would pass that come its MOT!
Oh, and to top it all off, in those ten feet, the accessory belt snapped too:
Welcome to old Rover ownership!
Regards,
Andy