GT Engine Bay…Reasonably Clean

[flickr id=”5862988420″ thumbnail=”original” overlay=”false” size=”original” group=”” align=”none”]

I think this is an improvement, though it’s best not to look too closely at some of the details. (I have no budget or time for having the fasteners plated, etc, so opted for some copy-cad paint where appropriate and called it a day.) You can see the exterior base/clear grey is slightly different than the single-stage grey I used to touch up the inner fenders and such…but it’s not as apparent in person, and once the engine, carbs and radiator are in it will be pretty hard to tell. Not to mention a summer’s driving will have made it dusty and oily enough to make all subtle differences moot!
[flickr id=”5862988480″ thumbnail=”original” overlay=”false” size=”original” group=”” align=”none”]

The original harness was perfectly fine mechanically, but the cotton cover had dissolved. I re-wrapped it in cloth-based taped and while it’s not original it looks a lot better than it did. I had an original square-bodied brake master cylinder (which I rebuilt) to substitute for the plastic-reservoir version which is all you can buy these days, so that’s a bit more proper.

Removing the heater box to clean it up a bit required disassembling some of the interior. This prompted me to paint the vinyl panel behind the speaker console to match the rest of the interior, and I replaced the control cable to the heater valve. Is there anything more fun than working under a dashboard?

The “optional” engine rebuild turns out to have been a good thing–one of the bearings was spun and there was other wear-related damage inside. The mill got a complete rebuild, including a lightened flywheel, as a cost of roughly twice what I had budgeted, which couldn’t have been timed worse. Le sigh. I’ve also rebuilt the rear brakes, put new flex hoses all the way around, and am almost done rebuilding the front suspension with V8 bushings.

I am not impressed with the work done on the car by the shop the previous owner last took the car to; I hope he wasn’t charged much because a lot of it is pretty feeble. One item I still need to correct is the cable that runs between the two batteries; it should run in a conduit to prevent it from wearing through its insulation as the car rattles down the road, and for reasons unknown the conduit is missing. A short in that cable would be massive and definitely not on a list of “good things.”

Final item in this go-round will be to get a new speedometer. Mine was packed-in and while I peeked inside to see if there was anything I could tackle I think I’m stymied.

In any case, this will, indeed, be a fully restored MGB GT when it’s back on the road yet again. Hopefully before July, but if not, very shortly thereafter. The engine is done and waiting for me at the machine shop.