Topic

Nothing so far, but tomorrow its fitting the rear vent mesh, trying to polish up the rear window with a new trick ive learnt, will keep you updated on that, ultra-proofing the hood and trying to restore the door cards with some new leatherette i got today, a big list but worth the trouble

mgtfbluestreak wrote: wrote:

I got the rad from paul depper mgs................Norton caynes near Cannock....along with a second hand fan I saw cheaper ones on ebay but I thought id rather collect face to face and get a rad that will fit first time...........has you may have heard some rads have been supplied on ebay with support legs in the wrong position..... ........................pardon the ignorance,but what do you mean by the 75th model

The 75th Anniversary model form 1999:-

This was offered at a good price on the Register forum and here is what she looked like in the storage unit:-

Thanks for the rad info but managed to get one locally from a tradiator specialist in Boston .............................. Boston Motorcool.

As you can see hers is pretty well shot.

Run down to Weymouth planned with Mrs TJ tomorrow after her bad day at work today so washed n polished my 'other woman' as she says......also fed up of her bits n pieces sliding off the dash so......




cut to measure non slip silicon matting.....that should sort her......

You would have been better off converting the air bag blank to a cubby hole for her use. I believer there are how to's on this using a Rover 25 cubby box.

Today is was exploration day .......................................... in search of what is needed on the 75th that has recently landed. The list is bigger than I thought it would be ................................... of course .

The good news is she runs and there seems to be no signs of HGF:-

My first video attempt with the new Coolpix camera show her running and sounding quite good considering how long she has been stood not running.

The oil is clear:-

but we do seem to have a coolant circulation issue to find and fix.

Clutch is inoperable and the slave seems to have popped the seals. Pedal was on the floor and resavoir is almost empty:-

so need to disconect the push rod and see if the clutch arm is sezied or not. The front suspension and steering need a fair bit of work due to knackered joints and TRE's and the front sub frame is very scabby although she has had new shocks fitted on the front:-

What i thought looked like decent usable Goodyear Eagle tyres:-

turned out to be a pair of scrappers .

This has changed my plans a little. We knew the radiator was well past it's best and had already got a new one to fit but now seeing these knackered joints and all that rust and scab it seems to make sense to drop the front sub frame and fit the one that was refurbished last years meant for the VVC. It just needs finishing off by fitting the final joints and swapping the steering rack over. Add to that list new head lights and a HL mounting bolt that is busted off:-

Note the bodge so need to drill out then retap the hole before the head lights can be fitted. Find and sort the coolant circulation problem................ am thinking new thermostat, along with new Water Pump and flush the system should sort it along with a new engine temp sensor.

Fit an unbroken drivers door handle and then get the drivers window adjusted correctly ........................................ that should take most of a morning :shutup: you think???

Seems I have my work cut out if we wish this to be ready for The Drive it day at Burleigh House in April .

I dunno. A good hour's work and you'll only have a couple of weeks worth left. Good luck!

David Aiketgate wrote: wrote:

I dunno. A good hour's work and you'll only have a couple of weeks worth left. Good luck!

Ahhh but that was only yesterdays discoveries ............................................................. today we discovered that the rear suspension needs an overhaul as well and new shocks. Despites it looking good from a distance this 75th is actually in worse condition than either of the others were mechanically. Found that the bottom of the sump at the rear is wet with coolant but not traced where it's coming from as yet. Still suspect the inlet manifold but right now am building the "needed list" nver mind the would like or want list. We are concentrating on the "Need". Luckily the TV5 was sitting on my tool box as we got that the other month before we even knew about this 75th MGF .

I did waste a bit of time doing the first mod .................................................. painted the TV5 52mm TB:-

swapped the TPS and loosely fitted it so the paint and lacquer can fully harden. It really lifts and brightens the engine bay already. There is some serious cleaning required in here and some oil leakage to trace and cure. Then Started undoing rusted up bolts on the suspension joints so we can get ready for replacing them. Looks like she will end up with 4 new top ball joints, new TRE's, front lower ball joints, rear lower hub bushes and new compliance bushes, washers and nuts, new rear shocks. Still have th check the ARB's and their mounts but from the state of the others I doubt these will be any good. For instance this TRE nut will have to be cut off:-

As soon as I stated to undo it the ball is turning with the nut. I have the ffeling that someone started on this and discovered what they were in for and hence offered it for sale. There is more to this story that we have been told. Neither TRE's were done up tight as they should have been. The rear wheel nuts were only really nipped up not tightened then there is that spray on the under floor pipes ......................... the drivers door ridden over the stop ..................... something is just not right. Might not get time tomorrow to do any more as have to take the mutt tot eh vest about his eye again. He has an uncler in it then have to go to the dentist as lost a filling yesterday ................................... what fun.

Will put a mamoth task thread in the showroom but will probably have to link to the album as there will be hundreds of photos.

The yellow colour will give you a 'liberal' power increase of at least 25bhp!
Have you tried jacking the car under the balljoint? That's what I do in similar circumstances.

No not yet David. We are just loosening stuff looking for the problems and issues then we can plan the attack for them. The hubs lower ball joint pins up into the hub look like they might be a problem to get hub off due to the crusty rust on them. So the lan for those is to soak them every day for a while before attacking them. Looks like I will need a gallon at least of rust killer/treatment not to mentione penetrating fluid .............................. have to try soaking the clutch release arm in the gear box too and get the clevis pin out but that is stuck at the moment. Sprayed it and will see if can move it hoepfully tomorow then can look for a suitable bit of tubing to squash a bit and use as a lever to free the release arm. The burst slave is not such a problem as have the one off the donor that could be used.

Hmmm wonder if it's possible to drop the sub frame and leave engine and box in place. Just swap the sub frame??

Although it's not cleaned and treated there is the rear sub frame out of the Donor VVC on the drive .

Hope to have the arch liners loose enough to get the front bumper off and the rad out by the end of the weekend. Although as yet have not touched the front sub frame mounts with a spot of luck and depending upon weather it might even be possible to get the refurbed front sub frame in although am possibly short of a TRE at the moment I think. The hubs on the refurbed sub frame are ABS ones and the 75th does not have ABS so will need to clean these and paint them then ft new ball joints. Have a pair of new top ball joints beside me now so that's not such a problem..

Yesterday, changed the mirrors for the new electric ones in contrasting silver, bled the coolant system then took it out for a short run, nothing untoward happened, temp went to 1 below halfway and stayed there

So far, fitted new bargain hood with glass screen, fitted new media player only to find out the speakers are goosed, fitted new speaker bar, remeshed the free windstop and fitted it but missus doesn't like it so off it came!, shortened the gear stick and fitted new knob, fitted LEDs into 3rd brake light.

Got Russell booked to do the Hgf next month then got to fit aircon system, modified TB and vvc alloy intake.

Took a few photos of its first outing.







Added a bit of bling this morning.
Before...



After......

Today saw a day of further investigating and now removing stuff. Radiator is out and was in a shocking condition. Undid all 6 rear sub frame mounting bolts then nipped 4 back up for now then it was onto brake removal and hub removal. It was quickly found that the neglect and abuse goes much further than suspected. The inner brake pads needed a ball pein hammer to remove they were that jammed in the carriers and the pads had so over heated that the friction material has delaminated and is breaking up . The calipers them selves are in a very poor condition although the discs look fairly new but are now scrap. Someone had had an attempt to remove the discs shearing off one retaining screw on the O/S and leaving the second only partially out. The N/S had one removed the ther others head partially chewed up. The Impact driver and 1lb ball pein hammer soon removed bot offending screws .Have to drill out the sheared off screw and retap the hole though if we reuse this hub. My refurbished hubs are ABS ones and the 75th does not have ABS and it's impossible to remove the sensors without destroying them and pondering what to do here.

However the O/S disc was well and truely rusted in place. In fact it required brutal blows from a larger ball pein hammer to shift it which of course brutalised the disc so that is now on the scrap pile. The carried bolts are in poor condition as are the carrier to hub blts which have not been removed on the N/S the O/S brake is totally removed and the hub half off. The lower ball joint pin does not wish to part company with the hub will see what tomorrow brings on this score as once the hubs are off and wish bone bolts cracked off we can undo the rest that is needed to drop the sub frame. Then we can fit the refurbished one and start building up again.

The issue is the front brakes ...................................................... as new or refurbished calipers will be needed so bearing in mind the cost do we upgrade and fit AP's?

Looks like you've got your work cut out there mate!!