Luv2Wrench

Yes, no. 19 is a "check strap" and no. 20 is a "bump stop". I need to find some rubber to go in the bottom of 19 and attach it with rivets. Should be fairly simple but I haven't gotten to it yet. The top bolts straight into the frame rail. I also need to fabricate no. 14 which keeps the u-bolt from chaffing the axle.

The trend of getting (seemingly) more done on the weekdays than weekends continues. Plus... it is all so simple with the "restore by numbers" diagrams.

Assembled the rear backing plates, they are ready to be bolted to the rear axel. Assembled the rear shocks. These had been reamed and also need a "dish style" core plug to replace the ones I removed to press out the arm. I could only find the dish style core plugs in England and fortunately the company there (Core Plugs International) were just fine sending 4 little plugs all the way across the pond. I think the total including shipping was less than $15. The Internet is a great tool no doubt... but you still need a company that is willing to take 4 little 1.125" core plugs, put them in a little pouch, fill out the customs paper work and send it to the US for less than $15. Used the tools and bolts I created yesterday to assemble the links and attached them to the shocks. Hung the shocks from the frame. I really wanted to get the leaf springs hung and the axle attached but time slipped away from me. While putting the backing plates together I made several trips out to the parts car either to see how something was attached or to steal a part or two. While it seems obvious, I don't think I realized just how important a good parts car is. I've gotten a LOT of stuff off that car to restore a car that was "all there". Probably more true for a basket case project, but one shouldn't underestimate the value of a good parts car.

More lathe work today. I finished off the third piece of the bushing tool set by making the guide pin. The guide pin fits around the end of the link and is tapered to ease pushing the link into the bushing. The other end of the shock link connects to a plate that is under the leaf spring. The link attaches via a special bolt. You can see a similar bolt in the third picture from an MGA link. The bolts are $30+ each so, again, I decided it would be worthwhile to make them. I started with an old chisel as I was able to determine this was made of high quality tool steel. I couldn't figure out how to turn the taper so I ended up grinding a tool with the desired angle. This worked really well and I think it was probably the right way to do it. My threading skills are still a little weak and since I can't turn the BSF pitch anyway... I used a 7/16"-18 die that I ordered back when I started the project. After I finished both parts and verified the fit I cleaned them up and plated them. They ended up a little too shiny since they had a smooth finish from the lathe and not the media blasted finish. I don't think it is a problem as it shouldn't be too noticeable.

Are the carbs SU2 or SU4? I'm fairly certain I have an extra set of both so if you needs some parts, let me know. An hour a day is a great idea. I think it is a great way to keep things moving along. I've found that I actually tend to get more done during the week than on the weekends. There are 5 of those "weekdays" so a couple hours on each of them adds up pretty quick. On the weekends I've got yard work, house work, family stuff, etc so they zip by pretty quick.

I had to make some tools to get the rubber shock bushing pressed home. The OD of the bushing is 1.020" and the ID of the shock is 0.745" Moss Motors sells a tool kit (3 pieces) for $75 or so but I though this would be a great time to get some work in on the lathe. I bought 1.25" aluminum bar stock (2011) as I figured it would be very easy to machine and plenty sturdy enough to press in the 4 bushings. I bored a 0.700" hole and then modified an inside thread tool to get the taper as I didn't have a boring bar. Since it was aluminum it wasn't a problem and was easy to do. The "funnel" has an ID of 1.100" at the big end and .700" and the small end. There is a step at the small end so that it will plug into the shock link. I made another piece that holds the shock link in place and also limits the depth the bushing gets pressed in. I still have to make a "guide pin" to get the other end of the shock link into the hole but that'll be another day. It took way too long to do this and would have been much more time effective to buy the tool set from Moss but it was a great chance to improve my skills on the lathe.

Thanks Joe, this has certainly turned into a bit of an art project as well. There's something fascinating about the old bolts with all their unique stampings after they've been cleaned and plated. We're both hooked on it and all sorts of things around the shop are liable to get plated pretty soon!!

Got the front backing plates put together, brakes and hubs assembled and on the car. Put the wheels on for a bit just so I could see it on the ground. Things are starting to come together. I think I have everything for the rear and to finish the brakes. Would be great to roll it out of the shop (and stop it).

Shocks are back together and assembly can now begin. Starting to make some progress and I *think* I have all the parts I need to get a rolling chassis. I have, however, thought that many times.

Nice truck!!

Voltage is potential, current is realization of that potential. If you have the potential but don't have the "flow" then you have an open circuit. We would create this situation using a dielectric in lab. I'm not sure how that happened in the Toyota but I am curious. - maybe the headlight switch is acting like a dielectric.. I'd try replacing the switch.

Not stupid but a great test and would be great to rule out the ECM. My first thought was vacuum leak. Given the 75+ air temp requirement for the problem, it might be a vacuum leak that is only present when something turns on/off because of the ambient temp rise. bet guys here in the forum will be more helpful trying to pinpoint where the vacuum leak might be. I don't know much about the systems on that engine.

Excellent project!!! Can't wait to watch you work through this, thanks for sharing!

Looks perfect, like brand new or better.

The 30mm reamer came today and I was able to get the dampers (shocks) reamed out so I could fit a standard oil seal. The Girling dampers have two issues, first the openings on each side are not a precise size and second, that opening isn't always concentric with the inner bore which makes the oil seal less effective. I was able to solve both problems with the reamer. I made a guide bar that was stepped with ODs of 17mm and 19mm as well as 1/2" at the end. The guide bar fits snugly in the damper and lets me lock it down aligned with the inner bore. I then removed the bar (and chuck) and inserted the MT3 30mm reamer. All that was left then was to ream it out as the damper was locked in position. I imagine the company that rebuilds these probably has a reamer with a 17mm and 19mm pilot simplify the process.

Depressingly little progress this weekend. It is hard to find the time and when we do it seems we're missing things. Went to a British car show Sunday and that was pretty neat as we really haven't seen an MG TD that is complete and drivable. I think we'll make better progress this week and next weekend. A lot of things needed to get "set up" and we got a few of those done. Still waiting on parts and tools as well. The shocks need to be reamed a bit to fit the oil seals so I'm waiting on a 30mm reamer. Need some 1.125" dish style core plugs and, apparently, those only come from England so we're waiting on those as well. I feel like we should be zipping this thing together and it is just barely moving. We've been having a good time so that's nice.

Plating the nuts/washers/bolts has proved more difficult than imagined... it is hard to get consistent results. I think we've got a workable process right now but it has certainly eaten up a lot of time. We're hoping to get some assembly work done this weekend.

Awesome car, can't wait to see the restoration.

I can't think of any company more suited to going back to its roots and leading the new "mail order" (as you say) revolution than Sears. They literally had it all, purchasing, distribution, reputation, service, everything. It would have meant re-thinking their brick and mortar stores but they could have done that even if it meant a 50% reduction... certainly would be better than where they are now. Think about this... Sears, the "Amazon" of its time, let Amazon grow from a bookseller to king of the world.

So only two wheels on the base... that's genius! Your work is looking great as always, thanks for sharing the update.

Painting is finally done though, of course, a couple of pieces hid from me and didn't get painted. I'm sure another part or two will show up as we start assembly so I'm going to hold off for a bit and hope to paint the remaining items at once. My daughter is back from college and that's been a big help. We've been setting up a plating system and doing some test plating to get things the way we want them. Most nuts/bolts/etc on the MG TD were cadmium plated. That's not really an option for us in the shop but Caswell has a nice "copy cad" system that we've been able to get some good results with. The magnitude of the work is a little overwhelming as every nut, bolt and washer is to be cleaned, blasted, prepped and plated. (on edit...) Actually, some of nuts/bolts are fine and if we can get the plating to match then we don't need to plate everything. I don't want a mismatch so we'll just have to see how they come out. Caswell has a black, blue and yellow chromate solutions that you can use after the copy cad plating (zinc plating) and that give a nice black, "blue metal" and yellow cad look. I'll post some picture of the bolts we've plated next.

Engine storage in the frame is a great idea. I reordered my restoration process for very same reason... need more room and the frame is the perfect place for the engine!! Looks like you're making great progress, can't wait to see the rest.

Pieces ready to paint and new spray gun finally arrived. Finishline 4 FLG-670 with 1.3, 1.5 and 1.8 tips. Really great gun, atomization is fantastic and controls are easy to work. I added an in-line desiccant water filter (blue when its good and gets pink when saturated) and used the air regulator that came with it. I built a hanger system to hang the parts from and while I thought it was big enough it barely held half of the parts. I should be able to do the remainder today.

Very nice report. Your awareness and grasp of concepts is way beyond your age. Thanks for dropping by the forum and reminding us older folk that the younger generation will actually be OK. Feel free to hang around.

Looks fantastic! Where did you get your wire harness? What kind of plywood is that for the floorboards? Looks really nice.