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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Now back on the road!

Well folks, after the major service I carried out at Nigel's suggestion, the MG is now fit for the road. I was impressed at how well for the most part the car had been looked after by Chris, the PO.
Mechanically brilliant, the brakes are all as new and work very well indeed. I removed the servo, got my local mechanic to install a new kunifer pipe that I bent up ready, and guess what? The brakes take scarcely any more effort than when servo assisted.
All that space under the bonnet! Even with the original airfilters now in situ!
I took it out to work today, the misfiring when cold has completely stopped. It runs much more smoothly, presumably thanks to the jets being better centred. Taking it on a 500 mile run this coming weekend, Blackpool to Winchester and back via my parents in the Wilds of Wiltshire, so will see how the fuel consumption is now. Probably tweaking will be necessary next week when we get back.
Thanks again folks for your invaluable advice over the last few weeks. I feel much more confident with the car, not that different from the Morris to work on in many respects!
Dominic Excell

Great news, Dominic! Happy motoring.

By the way, my first (and so far only) trip to the UK was to Blackpool in 2000, where I spent a week with a fellow midget enthusiast and his family. What an excellent trip that was. We drove all over England, visiting MG landmarks.

Cheers,

-:G:-
Gryf Ketcherside

well done Dom

of course I'll have to inspect the tick sheet and see evidence of the work done plus you mist show your working out in the margin and reference to the correct relevant pages of the good book - other than that I'll take your word for it :)

you shouldn't have any tweaking to do after 500 miles other than perhaps readjusting those nasty CB points

this isn't a Minor, you can't do a meaningful mpg test when you're driving the Spridget hard, leave your Minor cloth cap at home :)
Nigel Atkins

congrats dom

that will be a fun adventure...I hope the weather works for you

prop
Prop and the Blackhole Midget

Points aren't so bad! If you use old stock ones they are very reliable. Almost a shame it's got one of these new fangled electronic ignition thingies....
I'll be taking it easy for the first few thousand miles as it has in effect 3000 mile old mechanicals, so I want to treat moderately gently...
Photos to follow
Dominic Excell

The re-positioned Bonnet release


Dominic Excell

The interior with horrid seat covers removed. Took lots of elbow grease and paraffin to remove adhesive from the vinyl - padding had been glued in place!!!!! (2 pics)


Dominic Excell

and another showing new seatbelts too


Dominic Excell

Under the bonnet - the original air cleaners re-instated, but waiting for the new heater tap to be installed.


Dominic Excell

another view


Dominic Excell

The new brake pipe following (I hope) the route of the original.


Dominic Excell

and terminating at the 4-way union.


Dominic Excell

take it easier until the engine is fully warmed up and you know everything on the car is working well and building up on the start of your journey yes but 3,000 miles is run-in several times over so no need to be gentle after first part of your journey, no need to keep it in the amber or red but it's a sports car it should be opened regularly

I assumed (always dangerous) that the seat covers were loose

electronic igniter head with better starting, tickover and running no you don't want that get those CB points back in then you can fiddle with them trying to get them somewhere close to the running with the igniter you took out :)

that brake pipe looks too well thought out for factory fit, I did notice, apart from the offending bonnet pull, that you've got an extra bit of paneling behind the interior light (and the hanging wires) and the expansion tank panel appears bent forward
Nigel Atkins

Yes Nigel, the expansion tank was problematic in that it was attached to the side of the inner wing, fouling the front air intake. I therefore fabricated a small bridging plate between the inner wing and the radiator cowling to hold the bracketry that a PO had fitted to the tank. There should be some splashguards and brackets either side of the cowling I believe. These were omitted during the restoration it seems, but on the positive side, wheel arch liners have been quite neatly fitted avoiding a lot of the splashing. The paneling behind the light will be sorted one day when I have the time to work out how it should go, and a bonnet release of the correct type will be fitted also. (I noticed that Moss (I think) are only selling the T shaped type nowadays)
Dominic Excell

Dom,
I'm pulling your leg, don't change the bonnet release it works perfectly well (and please never mention Moss to me if you can help it), the panel and tank fixing are unique to your car it's part of what makes your being your car

but that steering wheel and those seat belts must go


:)
Nigel Atkins

Steering wheel will definitely be going - I'm looking around for the correct type for the year. Belts will be staying, as they are unobtrusive and functional, and safer than the worn out originals! (safe is a word that is rarely uttered by me....)
Dominic Excell

I would suggest that your next priority on your car should be to give it a thorough treatment with Waxoyl, Dinitrol or whatever your favourite rust preventative is. It is clear looking at your photos that the very nice condition paintwork is from a fairly recent respray which didn't involve a full strip down.

Nothing wrong with that, but the fact that accessible underbonnet areas like the slam panel and wing tops haven't been done and the overspray on door striker plates, bonnet stay etc hasn't been cleaned off, all points to a possible lack of attention to any follow up work after the respray.

It may sound like I am lecturing here, but its first hand experience. When I resprayed my car 3 summers ago I didn't follow up with rust preventative treatment straight away, and now I really wish I had! After just 18 months the rust began to do its dastardly deeds on my fresh 2-pack paint. By comparison, when I first resprayed this car 20+ years before - in celly - I was very thorough with the waxoyl and associated details and that finish lasted 18 years, not just 18 months before any noticeable deterioration began to take place!


Guy Weller

Hi Guy
Thanks for your comments. On my "travels" around the car, I've noticed that all the hard to reach areas have copious amounts of waxoyl, including inside the sills. I used a dental mirror and torch to peep through that small oval hole in the inside wall of the sill when I was fitting the seatbelts and needed to take off the sill trim panels. Likewise, between inner and outer wings, it seems well protected too, and also between the stiffening members (sounds rude!) and the outer skin of bonnet and boot lid.
It's booked in for a thorough respray next payday where it'll receive attention to the areas you mentioned, and the underside too.
Kind regards,
Dom
Dominic Excell

Dom,
That's good news. Sorry to be a "prophet of doom". Just thought that maybe it hadn't been treated.

Just to add to this, there is one area that I believe sometimes gets missed. The rear outer wings are prone to rusting between the wheel arch and the B post, and around the lip of the rear wheel arch. I think this is caused by condensation forming on the inside surface of the outer wing as it cools (at night?) and running down into the inside of the seam where the inner and outer wheel arches come together. The solution is to liberally spray warm waxoyl onto the inside of the outer skin, spraying forward from the boot area and allowing it to run downwards into those vulnerable seams.
Guy Weller

Guy,

Slightly off topic (!) - what wheels have you got on your car? I looked long and hard for non-minilite style and never spotted those... Are they 5.5" wide by any chance?
Johnathan

Johnathon,
You would be doing well to match those wheels! They are original 1970's 5.5J Cosmics. The particular pattern was available for minis, but the 13" versions are, I believe, very rare. Unless anyone knows otherwise!


Guy Weller

Guy - thanks. I now have wheel envy!!
Johnathan

No probs Guy! Your concern is appreciated. That B-post area you mention looks ok at the moment, but is on the schedule for my local garage to spray up for me next month. One of the few jobs I farm out - waxoyl and my chest do not go comfortably together....
Dominic Excell

This thread was discussed between 06/03/2013 and 07/03/2013

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

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