Luv2Wrench

Seats are done and the hood is complete. I've got a few more things I'd like to finish and then I'll call it complete and do some testing. I'll make a list of what is still needed, what needs to be fixed and then carefully take the car back apart and begin the final phase.

BSF nuts came in the mail today, thanks Joe!!

Thanks! The big piece of foam came from Moss Motors https://mossmotors.com/foam-cushion-set-seat-bottom?assoc=28436 The foam on the side is typical upholstery foam and I wrapped both with Dacron https://www.amazon.com/Bonded-Dacron-Upholstery-Polyester-Batting/dp/B00ZOLAAYQ/ref=asc_df_B00ZOLAAYQ/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=216743372835&hvpos=1o3&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6150276546832326830&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9010814&hvtargid=pla-359707271405&psc=1 I'll also use that on the back over the horsehair and/or instead of the horsehair.

Out of town over the weekend again so not that much to report. Got a chance this afternoon to start installing the seat covers on the seat bottoms. First step was to add some foam to the sides of the 'ramp'. Second step was to add the big layer of foam and stretch the cover around, glue and staple. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. Hopefully the back will go smoothly as well but I've heard it can be a lot more difficult. I'm stating the obvious... but working with the leather part of the seat cover was so much easier than the vinyl side around the back. Apparently this is how the original seats were made but I think I'd prefer all leather. I did attached the seat to the rails as well as the seat back for a test fit and it worked quite well. The car is a comfortable "fit" and is a bit more like wearing a jacket than it is sitting in a car.

Looks great! Hard to tell from the picture but it certainly looks like you could polish and be done.

Good plan with the wheels, wait a bit and see what your options are. Would be very difficult to get a good safe ride without good wheels.

I think I'm seeing double, or triple, or quadruple or...

I think I can feel your satisfaction all the way down here in the South!! That's a great accomplishment and a real validation of your problem solving and practical skills.

Looks fantastic! Glad the weather gave you a break. I think we got your cold and wind... was 38 when I went to lunch today and windy as heck. Fortunately I had my AACA sweatshirt to keep me warm.

Added some chrome pieces. Pleased to find out that the PO bought some new pieces so I'm in decent shape with the small stuff. The headlights turned out to be NOS Lucas that appear to have never been plugged in much less installed. I was pretty thrilled to find that. I didn't pay that close attention when packing the pieces after purchase but I had thought they looked decent but that the chrome wasn't in great shape. It turns out they were just dusty. It took awhile to find all the various bits to get the shiny pieces on the car but they are on now and I think they look pretty nice. I know I'll be spending some big bucks on chrome so all the pieces that I don't have to replace or rechrome will help.

I wish you could live stream the first run!

Can you rent time in a paint booth?

Looks great! Thanks for posting the extra detail on the rivets, that's not something I've done a lot of and it is something that keeps coming up. I've tossed some parts instead of messing with the rivets.

Many thanks Joe! That's half the battle right there!

So after seeing the prices I might be paying to acquire the BSF nuts and bolts required, I took a much closer look at the boxes of junk that came with the car. I got very close to finding everything I need and for those exceptions (1/4" at 3" long qty 6) I substituted normal nuts and bolts from that orange place up the street. If I don't find the original BSF versions then I'll order those or perhaps Joe will have some. The picture below shows nearly 8 hours of work though one would be hard pressed to see where. Yeah, the running boards were added and there's that chrome strip on top of the bonnet but hard to see anything else as most of the time went *finding* the nuts and bolts that are holding on the panels I stuck on yesterday. In the process of trying to find what I needed I did bump into quite a few things I'll be needing soon. It is so much more fun to hunt for things when you have a much better idea of the pieces that are needed both now and in the future. Didn't get to the seat so that will be a goal for next week. Thanks to everyone for the hardware advice!!

With the drivetrain squared away I started throwing on body panels. The idea was to find out what I was missing. Unfortunately I found out I was missing a lot of nuts and bolts. Like a lot. The parts car will not be any help here because most of the bolts on the body panels broke when taking them apart. I do seem to have all the body panels and they are in very good shape considering they've been passed from shop to shop over the last 35 years. I guess I could get a couple hex bars and start making them but I think I'll look into buying some from across the pond. Update: as luck would have it... it appears that I might be able to get some from Moss. I'm hoping to get a seat of sorts in tomorrow as well as find enough nuts and bolts to hold the panels on well enough that I can drive around some. So close yet so far...

Fabulous work, thanks for taking the time to update the thread!!! That car is going to be amazing, keep the pic coming.

OK, so no alignment needed. The first motion shaft goes into a pilot bushing that is in the crank so the alignment is done there. It is darn near impossible to get the shaft to slide in which is why the trick with the two studs to hold the bell housing is so helpful. The pilot bushing is chamfered a little at the start but it is still tricky to get the gearbox at the right angles to get it to slide in. Thanks for the note Spinneyhill... that sounds like just the kind of thing I would have missed!!

I hope not. The first motion shaft out of the gear box goes pretty far into an hole in the crank and there isn't a much of a difference between the ID in the crank and the OD of the shaft so I'm not sure there's really any wiggle room. The 10 bolts that connect the bell housing to the engine go through holes in the bell housing that are not any bigger than the diameter of the bolt so I don't think you could adjust it. That said... I might be missing something... ?

Good news, the bell housing (fork) and NOS bearing appeared to have done the trick, no noise!! I think it was a combination of a slightly bent fork (or worn bushings) and a not quite stock bearing deflecting at times and either hitting the shaft or the pressure plate. I think it also affected the ability to get into gear cleanly as while I didn't really have much trouble before it seems much smoother now. I'd like to throw a shout-out to the MGT forum as their tip on placing studs in the 10 and 2'clock holes to aid sliding the bell housing back on the engine proved to be a life saver. I also removed the inspection cover as that is a great place to grab the front of the assembly. The gearbox and bell housing assembly is fairly heavy and maneuvering inside is pretty tough. Having the studs sticking out a good 3" was a huge help in sliding the unit in place.

Since it ran when parked, I guess you could just drain the block, flush the fuel and brake lines and off you go!!

Wow, that really looks fantastic! Your back certainly deserves a break after all of that. I guess it is getting pretty close to being a pump now, can't wait to see it finished.

The plan has been to dial everything in and then take the car back apart for bodywork and paint. Unfortunately we've hit a bit of a roadblock as the mysterious noise in the clutch did not go away after adjusting the throw. When depressing and holding the clutch in there was occasionally a fairly bad noise. Obviously something grinding inside that quit the moment the clutch was released. You could immediately press the clutch in again and not get the noise. Try it a couple more times and then get the grind again. I tried several adjustments but everything was spot on and the noise continued. I really had no choice but to pull the gearbox and have a look at the clutch/pressure plate, throw-out bearing etc. Once I got the gearbox out and had a closer look I was pretty disappointed to see nothing obvious wrong. I was expecting to see some serious rub marks, cracked this or that or something obvious wrong. It took a good two hours to get the gearbox out and to see nothing was kinda tough. The throw-out bearing appeared to be an aftermarket product and did have a questionable bump in a place that probably shouldn't have a bump. The wear also looked a little uneven as if possibly the fork was bent. I think maybe the fork was pushing the bearing a bit to the side and contacting the pressure plate.. Since I have the bell housing from the parts car and it was in good shape I decided to clean it and paint it so I could swap it in. I figured it was easier to do that than swap the forks. I got paint on it and it should be ready to go in the morning. I have another bearing that is Borg NOS so I'll put everything together in the morning and hopefully the noise will be gone. I got the Colortune tool so I'll tune the carbs tomorrow as well. Hopefully everything will come together and I can start putting the rest of the body panels on. I did get the seat bases finished but I'm still waiting on the hinges. Apparently the USPS started Thanksgivings holidays around Monday this year.

Modern paint and epoxies are more advance but the cost seems to have exceeded the advancements!!

I have a couple slappers I made from files and they come in very handy. I've never seen a hammer with interchangeable heads... that's a neat idea. The older body hammers are starting to show up in the antique and flea markets now that body shops do more panel replacing than they do panel beating. For a year or so I made a habit of buying any (reasonable) body hammer I came across that was less than $25. I ended up with some very nice quality hammers as well as some very peculiar shapes. As always your work is fantastic and a real joy to watch!