Luv2Wrench

The Van Normal No 12 is finished! I can't believe I have such a nice machine. The head rotate from vertical to horizontal and anywhere in between. Very cool. It also has a second head that attaches to the main head which allows for even more angles including milling parallel and in line with the table. It doesn't have a quill but I believe it makes up for that with rigidity. The only con I've found so far is it only as about 17" workspace from table to head in vertical configuration. Some surprising new on the car... Kennedy American actually had the correct pilot bushing. I didn't have a lot of faith in their order process and it took a fairly long time to get it (which is why I started down the route of making one) but it arrived in perfect shape and fit perfectly. With the pilot bushing in place I'm ready to put the engine back in. One thing I wanted to do first was separate the transmission and torque tube to have a look at the trunnion. It was a bit of a process but went fairly smoothly and the trunnion turned out to be in good condition. Some time next year when I remove the drive train I will end up replacing it but it is good for now. The plan is to put the engine back in tomorrow and start getting it hooked up. I'll have some time off around and after Christmas so hopefully I'll be able to try and fire it up. In addition all the LED lights can in so I'll work on getting those installed and the flashers working. Since a post needs pictures... here's one of the mill.

Nice job on the floors, looks like a fun car!

Thanks for the advice, I'll switch to a more pointed HSS tool for the final thousands or so. I plan to use drills up to 25/32 and from there I can use the reamer.

I also cycle between those feelings.

It has been a rather slow week on the car. I've done a little here and there but mostly waiting on parts and materials. I now have the new clutch disc and the Oillite bronze rod to make the pilot bushing with. I still need an adjustable (25/32"->27/32") reamer to get the ID correct for the main shaft. I've practiced taking a rod down to the OD needed for a press fit. I feel fairly confident I'll be able to get the dimension I need though I also order 6" of the bronze rod so I'll some extra. I don't expect the reamer until next week and while I'm tempted to try and get the ID with a boring bar I think the best plan is just to wait on the right tools. In the mean time I've been going over the Van Norman 12 universal milling machine and hope to start making some chips with it this weekend.

You're not painting the best picture of retirement! Lie to us and say it is all time in the shop!!!

I haven't seen any Lucas products yet, generator/voltage regulator is Delco-Remy and other various bits appear to be US made. The horns do look like the Lucas horns that are on the MG TD. Most of the connectors are the bullet style that are on the MG. All of the wiring is there and I have a schematic so creating the harness will not be that much of a problem, though it will take a few days. The PVC insulated and cloth wrapped wire is not that expensive (less that $1/foot) so, again, a new harness is mostly just a time issue. As an electrical engineer... it is something that I kinda look forward to. I write code now so pulling out the soldering iron is fun. I've wrapped all the exposed and cracked insulation with cloth electrical tape and fixed a few broken connectors. This afternoon I connected my lab power supply (allows full short conditions, variable voltage and amperage, etc) and didn't find any shorts. I then connected a battery and still no fire. I tested a few of the circuits and found that the headlights, side lights and tail lights all work. Brake lights and flasher do not but I did see voltage so I suspect bulbs issues. I've order LED replacements for everything but the headlights along with an LED compatible flasher. I have a new brake light switch so I'll give that a try next week. Given the lack of smoke and flame I am feeling a bit more comfortable with the wiring. We'll see how it looks after I have all systems working.

Lots of steps forward but, as always, a few backwards. I finished rebuilding the carbs and generally getting the engine ready to go back in the car. On the first attempt I tried doing the opposite of what I did to get it out, ie; with the bellhousing attached. After an hour or so of struggling it became obvious that it just wasn't going to work. While it might seem obvious to have the bellhousing already installed, there is very, very little room between the top two bolts and the firewall so I felt like it was impossible. Attempt number two was with the bellhousing installed and that went smoother though was still a bit of a struggle. I have a nice engine hoist (2 tons with a 90" reach) but it doesn't have enough reach thus you're fighting to get the engine all the way in. I eventually did get it installed and while I was trying to figure out how to get the bolts in, I thought I might just double check that the clutch worked. Of course it did not and out came the engine again. I took the clutch disc out and verified it was installed correctly. I tested the pressure plate and it seemed fine. The pilot bushing measured in spec but upon close inspection it seems it might be out of round. I had the usual trouble in getting it out (the grease trick didn't work) so I tapped it with a 7/8"-14 tap and ran a bolt in and it came right out. The clutch disc also had some corrosion/damage that might cause it to hang on the splines so I'll replace it. I have found a source for that and expect it next week. I can't find a pilot bushing so I'll likely have to order to oil impregnated bronze rod and make one. The OD of the first motion shaft is 0.784" so with 4 thousandths clearance it would be 20mm. I can get a reamer for that if I don't already have one. The OD of the bushing that came out was 1.098 so I should be able to turn something in the 1-1/8" range down to that after boring and reaming. I have contacted two AMC vintage parts sellers to see if they might have one so maybe that will pan out. Adding to the frustrations of the engine in/out/in/out fiasco is the condition of the wire harness. The insulation on the wires is so hard/brittle that just moving/bending a wire results in the insulation cracking and leaving part of the wire exposed. I've patched up all the issues I could find but I have very little confidence in the harness overall. At this point I'm thinking there is absolutely no way to drive the car around without replacing the harness. I think I'll isolate the main harness from what is required to power the coil/starter. That will mean no brake lights, turn signals, etc and for all practical purposes no driving out of the neighborhood. Obviously there are no wire harnesses available for a Nash Healey and while I'll have no issue making one it is not something I wish to do at this point. The goal was to get the car running and driving to be able to better evaluate the condition and to have it mobile around my property... not start a restoration. Not much in the way of pictures since it is hard to capture frustration with camera . I do have on picture with a nice reproduction "Dual Jetfire" sticker.

Looks like you've got a great space to work in, so that's a big positive. I think your plan is the right one. Get the car as together as possible and see what's needed next. While somewhat less efficient, it is generally a good idea to get the vehicle as complete as possible and then work one section at a time. Once the wood framing is upright and attached you might replace wheels/tires, get the brakes working and then engine running. Stop, turn, run. From that point you can "restore" a section at a time at your leisure. Looks like a great project, thanks for taking the time to post and share here!

My streak of awesome productivity ground to a halt this weekend. I effectively spent 80% of Saturday getting the fuel tank installed. The straps that came with the car were either missing a key part or were not the correct straps. I mocked up some brackets and they appeared to work well. Unfortunately after fabricating the brackets and trying to get the tank in place I found that it wouldn't quite work. The center-to-center distance of the bolt holes in the trunk is, at most, 1/4" wider than the tank itself and thus leaves no room for brackets. The next option was to take 5/8" rod and drill/tap a 5/16" hole in it. I ran a bolt down into that with Loctite red and then cut the head of the bolt off. This turned out to be very effective and I finally got the tank installed. I spent most of Sunday repairing the damaged cross member that the transmission/bellhousing mounts on. I was going to replace the trunnion by pulling the transmission forward and leaving the torque tube in place. This would save taking the rear end out. As I read through the directions it wasn't clear to me that this would work and I felt like I might be making things worse. Since all of the drive train will be coming out during the full restoration I decided to leave the trunnion alone and change it out when everything is removed. I welded up the front engine mounts and that went very smoothly. I find it pretty funny that Oxy/Acetylene welding is now something I enjoy and look forward to doing because it is something I can control yet a few years ago I avoided it like the plague. I spent a good bit of the afternoon getting the final "detail" bits of the engine complete. I still need to rebuild the carbs but I think everything else is ready. I took all the wheels off and will be taking them for new tires tomorrow. The biggest failure of the weekend was trying to put the engine back in. I had heard that the engine is to be removed/installed with the bellhousing still attached to the transmission. When I took the engine out I didn't know this and looking back I think it would have certainly made it much easier to remove. As such when attempting to put the engine back in I installed the bellhousing first. Once installed I realized that there was likely no way to access the bolts that would attach the bellhousing to the engine once installed. After a good deal of time trying to determine if it would be possible I finally concluded it would not and removed the bellhousing. To make matters worse, when I was installing the bellhousing I found it nearly impossible to get the throwout bearing and lever arm assembly to slide onto the first motion shaft and this is with me sitting in the engine bay with full access from the front!! I can't imagine how it would work from the other side. As such... I'm at a loss as to how the dang engine goes back in!!! I finally gave up on that and mounted the carbs on the intake manifold to see how they looked. I still have to do a full rebuild on them of course but it was neat to see them on the engine.

Looks similar but the one on my car is welded to the frame rails and is much shorter.

I did list it in our For Sale forum section. Haven't had any takers yet. I'll give people here another week or so and then list it on Hemmings

Really good progress so far. Engine is basically complete though I still need to rebuild carbs. I'm jacking the car up tomorrow and replacing the fuel line, master cylinder, wheels cylinders and welding cracks in the cross member under the transmission as well as both front engine mounts. While I having tranny out I'll replace the trunnion. I'm taking the wheels to a local tire place to get some new tires that I may or may not keep on the car. The car had wide whitewalls and I'm just not sure how I feel about that. Given that they are $360 a piece.. I need to be *really* sure about it before I go that route. I have some time to thing about that, lol. If things go really well I might get the engine in this weekend.

I agree, with all the great tools we have, processes like lapping have fallen by the wayside. It is very "correct" for industry to evolve great tools to improve efficiency but to some extent that means the old school techniques, that are generally within reach of the average person, have all but disappeared.

Hate to bump an old thread... but yeah... that and the radiator, poor masking job on the data plates (that remove) etc. Does make you wonder. It is apparently still for sale. I would imagine there's other issues when you see it up close.

Long day but successful. Installed crankshaft and main bearings... all 7 of them! Measured the clearance and it was pretty much spot on at 0.002. Took extra care when installing the rear main seal as I don't want a repeat of the MG TD. Figured out the ring craziness and got the pistons installed though I don't have a lot of confidence that the rings will get the job done. The person at Egge was very helpful and looked everywhere for rings and I really appreciate that. Unfortunately what I ended up with was a bunch of different rings. I was able to get the correct top compression ring in all 6 pistons. 4 of the pistons also have the correct second compression ring (the two compression rings are identical) but 2 of the pistons have compression rings without the slight relief on top. Hopefully these work ok. I reused the bottom oil ring on all pistons and was able to get it to fit correctly. For the upper oil ring 2 pistons have the correct oil rings, 2 have a modern version of the oil ring and 2 are reusing the old rings. I ran into an issue with piston number 4. It was the one that had the rings seized. I had to put the piston in the lathe and clean up the top edge of the top compression groove to be able to get the proper clearance. It seemed like a really big issue at the time but I was able to get the piston in the chuck and indicated in. I ground a cutoff tool down and was able to start in the groove and cut on the forward edge. It didn't take much and I believe I didn't take off too much either. I also had new rod bearing for all pistons but I haven't checked the clearance nor torque them down as I need to invert the engine to do that. Before I can do that I have to get the distributor rebuilt and installed. The gear on the distributor keeps the gear on the oil pump from sliding off when the engine is inverted. The two gears share the same space on the camshaft. I also installed the timing gears and chain.

Sorry, that is confusing. From the eBay seller I purchased 2 ring "sets" with each set containing 2 oil rings for a total of 4 oil rings. I was able to find 2 other oil rings earlier so I needed those 4 to have enough. I was able to buy all the compression rings, 1st and 2nd, as well. The Nash piston has 2 compression rings and 2 oil rings. The first oil ring is like a standard oil ring. The second oil ring is a "U-Flex" oil ring. I was not able to find those so I'll be reusing the ones that came on the piston.

Fun story on the oil rings I purchased from an eBay seller. Never got a "thanks for buying email". Never got a "your item has shipped email". Sent 2 messages asking about when item would ship and never got a reply. However... the rings arrived yesterday but in two big boxes. One big box contained, of course, the small box for the rings for one piston. The other big box contained the small box for the rings for the other piston. I'm not kidding. To make this even more fun... today I got a message saying the items had shipped and would be here tomorrow. The rubber seals I ordered for refurbishing the valve guide seal turned out to be a little too thick and the ID was a bit too big. On Friday ordered 4 more types from McMaster Carr and spent two hours driving over the and back to get them. Fortunately 1 of the 4 fit perfectly. Yesterday I applied some rust converter to various areas on the car. It worked very well. It is nice to see the black instead of rust and gives a bit of peace of mind that the rust is not going to get worse. This morning I rolled the car out of the shop to get some room. I took the time to clean things up a bit and get a bit better organized. I managed to paint the bellhousing, fans blades and front pulley assembly. With the valve guides refurbished it was time to install the valves. I got that done in a reasonable amount of time and then switched to getting the pistons cleaned up. The ring grooves had serious carbon build up and it took forever to get them all cleaned. It was worth the effort as they cleaned up well and are ready to go. I installed all the tappets and slid the camshaft in place. Tomorrow I'll put the rings on the pistons, install the main bearings, timing chain and pistons. If things go well I might be able to get the head on. I still have to finish rebuilding the alternator and fuel pump as well as paint the starter. There's still a lot left to do but at least we're moving in the right direction!

Finally got the block cleaned up and ready for paint. I took out the ridge at the top of the cylinders and gave them a light hone. I measured the cylinders with a bore gauge and found 2.5 to 5 thousandths wear side to side and less than a thou front to back. I was a little surprised the wear was not more significant and I'm hopeful that a hone and new rings will give the engine a new life. I dropped the radiator off at the radiator place and the news was not good. The brass is "rotten" and the radiator is basically junk. They were able to get it sealed such that it would hold water but will not warranty it nor work on it again. I was advised to find another radiator. I had a suspicion this was the case because it looked like the radiator, head and water pump were full of Stop Leak. It took me forever to get that stuff cleared out. Hopefully the radiator will last long enough for me to find another solution. In the AMC 327 conversion "book" Carl talked about how the Nash Healey radiator was fine but yet talked about how it overheated at idle on a hot day. I noted that he reference 85 degrees F as hot... my how things have changed. I think I'll be replacing the radiator with something modern when/if I swap the 327 in and I'll do my best to make it look period correct. Absolute worst case scenario is I can get a modern core and build a brass tank to go on top that looks like the original radiator. The valve guide seals are no longer available (like a lot of stuff on this engine) so I took one apart to see how it was made. The Nash Technical Reference Manual described it and it was indeed just like that. A felt seal at the top holds oil for initial lubrication while a neoprene seal below controls oil on the valve. These two pieces are stuck inside a thimble of sorts and that goes over the top of the guide. I soaked the felt in oil and it appears to be usable again. I was able to find the neoprene seal at McMaster Carr. I'll finish putting those together tomorrow and will put the valves back in. I took the alternator apart to see what condition it is in. It squealed pretty bad when I tried rotating it by hand. It was a bugger to get apart but I managed. Once apart everything looked pretty good. I found a bearing in the front and ordered a new one. It should arrive this weekend or early next week. I'll go ahead and clean up the wiring, stator, rotator, brushes and get it painted. Once I get the bearing I should be able to put it together and I expect it will work fine. The compression rings and main bearings came today. I haven't heard a word from the eBay seller I bought the oil rings from and I'm getting a little nervous about that. Rod bearings should be here by end of the week. If the oil rings show up I should have what I need to start putting the engine back together. I went through the list of things I still need to do for a "driver" and it is rather long. Gas tank, brakes, wiring, torque tube trunnion, chassis lube, etc. I'l admit the "get it running" has turned into something closer to a mechanical restoration. I don't think that's a problem but it is going to take some time.

I definitely understand that feeling. I would note that the father and son are also a great source of knowledge and one of the few if not only source of reproduction parts. He's making parts that fail out of stainless which is a huge lifesaver so maybe that cancels out the hoard factor a bit. I will certainly make sure I spread the knowledge I acquire as far as possible.

I believe you're talking about Leonard McGrady. He and his son also reproduce some parts for them and I'll certainly be buying a few.

Thanks for the suggestion as it was a vey good one and much needed, it certainly made things easier and I don't think I could have gotten the water passages clean without it. I rented a 4000psi pressure washer from Home Depot and spent half of Saturday pressure washing everything I could. I managed to get the water passages very clean... It took multiple attempts to get clear water to come out the various passages. I think the previous owner used "Stop Leak" or something similar and it took a long time to get it all out. Once the engine and all the various part were cleaned I got in the engine bay and tried to get that area cleaned up. It worked pretty well. Both front engine mounts are broken and will need to be welded so getting that area cleaned up was helpful. The next step was to go through the head that was on the engine. I took all the valves out and tried to assess the valves and valve guides to understand if they might be usable and they seemed just ok. The valves themselves seemed a bit worn and the seats, particularly the exhaust seats, were rough. I lapped one of them in and it worked ok so that head was indeed usable. While the head was certainly usable as a "runner" it would need machine work if it was to be used long term. The next step was to go through the dual carb head. It appeared to be in really rough state, in fact my engine guy said it would be a "grand" just to go through it. All but 3 of the valves were seized but after getting the first two out I noticed that the valves and the seats appeared to be in very good condition. With a good bit of work I managed to get all the valves out, cleaned up and lapped all the valves in. I think the reason the valves were seized is because there was very little wear in the guides and a thin bit of dried oil managed to lock them down. When I got them out and cleaned up they moved nicely in the guides when I put them back int. I feel like the valves seat very well, the guides are still within spec and the only weak part is the felt/neoprene seals on the guides. I'll see if I can find some replacements for them but they are certainly usable. With the valves sorted it was all about cleaning the head up and getting it painted and ready to put back together. I managed it get that done and I was happy with how it turned out. The Nash Healey version of the head was cast aluminum and I think the aluminum header paint I used came out pretty good. I also cleaned out and painted the valve cover though I was less than thrilled out how the color turned out. I would have liked it to be a bit more red, not as much orange and a lot more gloss. If I do end up keeping this engine I will repaint the valve covers. In addition to the head and valves covers I managed to get the water pump cleaned up and painted as well. Next week I should have rings, main bearings and rod bearings coming. While waiting on those I'll get the pistons cleaned up along with all the other stuff. There's a lot of work to be done but if things go my way I think I might start putting it together next weekend. I doubt I'll be able to get it back in the car and running but maybe the next week. This certainly has turned out to be more involved than I thought. I definitely underestimated just how dirty the engine was and the amount of effort it would take to get it cleaned up. I spent 2 hours this evening just cleaning my tools and workspace to get some semblance of normality. The other mistake I made was assuming that because a website said that parts were in stock and available that, well, they were in stock and available. I understand why this is the case but after being spoiled by Amazon it is hard to accept.

Congrats on the retirement, that's fantastic!! You'll paint it in the spring and, really, don't worry with which spring it is.

Here's a walk around video. I'll get a driving video posted this weekend.

The restoration process is complete and I'm excited for the MG TD to find a new home! I bought the car as a "basket case" and restored literally every nut and bolt. Throughout the process I followed the "Nitty Details" https://www.mg-cars.org.uk/mgtd/mgtd_nitty.htm to try and get the car as original as possible. I even created a box for the battery to make it look 100% original. The few deviations from original are removable seat belts, an electronic ignition system and a walnut burl dash. The engine was rebuilt including new .100 over pistons, rings, bearings, camshaft and rebuilt SU carburetors. All sheet metal was removed from the wood frame which was then replaced/repaired as needed before being shot with a 2 part epoxy. All sheet metal was also shot with 2 part epoxy on both sides before being painted with base coat followed by clear coat. All chrome was re-plated and the front bumper is a new reproduction chrome bumper from Moss Motors. All rubber is new along with a new leather/vinyl interior. The car includes a new Stayfast convertible top, side curtains and tonneau cover. Over $31,000 was spent on parts and materials alone during the extensive restoration. The car is located in Johns Creek, GA and I am asking $34,500. I have a clear title in my name though I do need to mention the title has the VIN as D9666 and the car number on the ID plate and frame rail is 19666. This is how the South Carolina title had the VIN when I bought the car from the previous owner. Additional photos here: https://imgur.com/gallery/qzNYS5J The restoration process was documented in our forums here: