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- May 2006
- May 2006 - an Update
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As you may have read in the background to my purchase the car has undergone an engine rebuild with modifications to 1860cc, Stage 2 head, balanced and mild cam. It went back on the road in 2004 during the Summer, was SWORN over the Winter and brought back out during April 2005, since when it has remained fully taxed and used fairly regularly.
To say that it has been reliable is an understatement, it has basically been on the button every time.
Apart from my major bodywork modifications which have been the biggest downside owing to a poor paint job on my part, I have had great fun, and the rust repairs appear to be holding up well. Prior to each MOT it has gone up on a 4-post lift and been treated to a good clean and repairs to any under-sealing.
It has been a case of fettling over the last 2yrs of use, primarily in the last 18mths. I managed to restore properly a full set of RO-style rims, and had Goodyear NCT5 185/70 14 tyres fitted which have proven to be adequate for my needs. A reset of the tracking (it was way out - thanks KwikFit!) along with correct balancing of the wheels on the 4-stud adaptor resulted in a fantastically smooth and light steering. This coincided with new king-pins and bearings for the 2005 MOT, so a job well worth doing. I have also played with various springs and I'm currently running 550lb units, but I have a set of 600lb units which I am trying primarily to improve the turn in and lower the front even further. I was disappointed to note that Stephen's car has dropped more than mine at the front, but if the 600lb prove too harsh, I shall try and get a lower set of 550lb as these have been quite comfortable for longer runs.
There was an ongoing issue of misfiring from the beginning which appeared to be intermittent, and I knew the distributor would probably need attention as would the carbs. I managed to strike a bargain on Ebay (one of my few!) and bought some scruffy looking HIF carbs complete with manifold. A good clean (Optimax is superb at this and cheaper than carb cleaner) resulted in a well presented pair, complete with modified throttle plates. A pair of AAA needles were fitted and she certainly ran much better.
However, the last hurdle remained the ignition side. This is where I became a guinea pig for the EDIS. With Matthew Kimmin's assistance the car was set-up, and what a difference! Since then I seem to be demonstrating the car's ability to fully utilise the engine mods by revving to 6500rpm! As someone put it after a ride, it was like sitting with baited breath waiting for the engine to blow, but that said, it runs surprisingly smoothly (the balancing) and is eager to rev and please! Even hard thrashes on long runs still results in 33mpg on average!
Well, there are a list of things to do this Summer:
- fit halogen headlamps complete with relays
- a good service and MOT
- decide what to do about the seats - I keep watching Ebay for some MG ZR seats in the red/green matrix pattern
- decide what custom modifications for the dash
- keep on enjoying it!
I am in two minds whether to continue chasing more power from the old boat anchor under the bonnet - but having invested in the rebuild, the engineer in me wants to keep investigating. I was swung by the possibility of going to a vernier cam, along with roller rockers, but that is a £600 upgrade. I have also toyed with the option of a cross-flow head, and utilising the EDIS trigger wheel to run fuel injection with this, but that would be a £1500 upgrade with the porting necessary on the head, never mind finding the right FI kit. I think another year or two's use from the engine would be good without spending further money, but then I think ultimately, I have an ambition I need to fulfil - to do at least one engine conversion in my life, and no, it won't be a V8!
Despite the best laid plans last weekend, it all went a bit pear-shaped on our new feature car, so mine remained unattended but not unloved. It hasn't helped doing a radiator change and repairing the tailgate loom on my wife's over 214 either, in terms of time!
In fact, the GT has done remarkably well despite only regular checks of the coolant and oil, which I am pleased to report are fine. Since April it has clocked in excess of 1300 miles which may not seem much to the daily drivers out there, but that did include a business trip to the North East, as well as numerous runs into North Wales - and not at any gentle sort of pace - the exhaust note is too addictive to merely potter! In fact, the Mobil1 synthetic 0W40 appears to have settled, although it had been taking about a 250mL every 500 miles. Plans are afoot to use the car as a test bed for some research and will be equipped with a small ferrous sensor inline, and data logged under varying driving conditions and under varying service conditions such as before and after oil changes and on differing oils.
So what's still to do? A service for one thing, plus I bought a reconditioned prop-shaft. I have also been tidying up the garage and finishing wiring jobs that I left from several years ago when the BGT arrived and took over my spare time! Oh, and tonight I won an auction on Ebay - some seats! Watch this space, they are not the normal B seats, I just hope they fit.
As mentioned above in the last update, I had bought a reconditioned propshaft, and had won some seats on Ebay. With the garage now sorted into a more habitable environment I started to put some effort back into my own car after working on JC's, Phil's and Stephen's and neglecting my own. It started with greasing the kingpins as usual, and a check over, but with the EDIS system and the synthetic oil still looking like new, there seemed little else to do! However, the seats were yet to be done, so on collection, I set to with removing the passenger seat and trial fitted the new seat! Well, you can read all about fitting it here on the Interiors page, but suffice to say they look excellent, in my humble opinion, of course, and are very comfortable. All for the price, in fact less than, a new set of vinyl covers and foams. The propshaft went on without a hitch, and thus, this weekend, the car was used to go to Silverstone, and returned excellent economy (about 38L to cover almost 280miles, ~34mpg, at motorway speeds! ) which must be a combination of Shell Optimax, Mobil1's 0W40 and the EDIS system.
In the next month, I am toying with rectifying my poor paint work, fitting the relays for the headlights, trying the 600lbs springs, and adding some new functionality to the EDIS as a result of Matthew Kimmins latest add-on.
Where to start? I took a weekend ride with my son into North Wales at the beginning of the month and was disappointed to note a misfire at idle, although the car ran well enough. Just prior to this Matt had been round to look at some updates for the EDIS, but we'd not completed these. I thought it might have been a loose plug following a compression test I'd done at Iain Cameron's house (200-190-190-200), but this was to no avail. I switched back to dizzy and it still had a misfire. I thought the battery may be dying, but it's only been in the car a little over 2 years, and it subsequently hasn't been that, either. However, I think it might be something to do with the terminals being a little suspect. The reason I haven't found out why is that I am in the throws of a respray!
Why a respray? Well, I rushed to complete the car in 2004 after the 12 month rebuild! Incompatibilities of primer and paint, but mainly poor workmanship on my part, meant that cracks appeared in the paint, and it was starting to flake off in places. In addition, the black highlights any poor preparation and my skills at plastering and body-filling are abysmal! The crux came when I noted the front valence had chipped heavily and surface rust was beginning. I went down to Brown Bros here in Chester and suffice to say that after a moment's madness I came away with aerosols, sufficient to do the entire car! I should rationalise my logic here! I do not have a professional set-up, so I figured that aerosols would ensure a clean supply and not contaminated with water or oil from my compressor, or solids from the gun. There would be less overspray, too. In addition, I chose what I was sure was a Rover metallic black which I had hoped would match my MG ZT's anthracite paint, but being limited to cellulose, of course. I have a tendency to go in Rambo-style with a spray gun, so I also thought with the aerosols, I'd apply less paint! The downside is I cannot change the ratio of paint to thinners for the final coats. But me being me, I am now trying to prove two things; that a car can be resprayed with aerosols, and that I can actually do a half decent job!
So far the front valence looks superb with a good mirror finish after flatting and polishing. However, disappointingly it is an insipid black, almost a very dark blue, and no sign of a metallic lustre! The driver's door was a constant source of irritation, having been a good second hand door to replace the rotten original. It never fitted right, and in fact the rear lower corner was almost touching, if not overlapping the wing. So, with the loan of a MIG unit from Matt Kimmins, I have cut the door to fit perfectly and have stitched the edges where I had cut through the fold. It now fits superbly, with even the front wing matching the profile of the door so I shall be pleased about that when done.
Of course with this colour change, it means spraying everything and currently the tail gate is stripped with glass out and new paint being applied. The car was originally black, and had had a respray at some previous time, a good one judging by the finish on the bonnet and tailgate which I did not do last time. I was amazed at how little rust was in the tailgate, a small amount of surface rust, not even bubbling yet on the lower edge next to the skin fold. The bonnet is the same, as is much of the car. In fact when the car was rebuilt, the only weak points were the sills, lower rear wings behind the arches, inner rear arches, splash panels, front wings mainly around the headlights and a little surface rust around the windscreen on the A-posts. It had been Ziebarted from new but I think the quality of the later cars was excellent.
Anyway, that is about it for my BGT for this month, and with a ten day visit to India last week, even the ZT has sat forlornly on the drive!
Well, the quick blow over with a fresh coat of paint never emerged! Why did I think it would? India came and went, and even a visit to Australia to Newman to do some work for a week in August! Add to which the family break to Legoland etc and a sudden mad change of plan on colour. I had thought that maybe Halfords was too expensive, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Firstly, as many will know, Halfords stock racks of various colours in Acrylic including a huge range of Rover colours. Keeping it in the family theme, I settled on a Rover Charcoal metallic. I had heard good reports about the consistency of their colour matches, so I figured that if the cellulose is to be banned, then I should future proof and using a standard Halfords/Rover colour I could fix panels at a later date if necessary. Well, the first test on the rear wing looked good. The paint goes on easily but those tiny cans don't go far. One to do the front valence, alone. And then I noticed that there were some streaks of silver in certain lights so I read the can - it needs flatting after 24hrs! So I tried this approach on the roof and then clearcoated. It looked even better! But there were one or two small patches that appeared darker! In the meantime, I also discovered that Halfords will make up cans while you wait, but unlike the off-the-shelf cans at £5.29, they want £10 to brew it while you wait. So by raiding the various stores around Cheshire it has been painstakingly slow gathering sufficient paint. Especially as it seems that one has to get quite a thick coat on to do a satisfactory flatting prior to the clearcoat.
And on top of which, I am off again to Malaysia, with less than two weeks on my return to get the clearcoat on before disappearing to Australia and Singapore for 5 weeks - a period that should allow the clearcoat to harden nicely. Needless to say the car is now sworn until next Summer. The trouble is, watching too many Overhaulin' programmes, I keep dreaming up ways to improve the car - I don't have the skills or the tools! Never mind, at least I have managed to improve on the fit of the door, the rear valence and a tweak to the front wings.
And then Phil's car played up!
Not much to report, I got the colour coats on and the clearcoat, now it is a case of leaving it till I return in mid-November from Down-under when re-assembly can start! I have a new sunroof due delivery soon! A spruce up of the interior with some new ideas will also be on the cards, too.
Apart from that, not much to report, mainly because work JC's Rover got in the way, along with a HGF on Stephen's car!
Er...precisely nothing to report! Ok, the sunroof arrived, looks great. The paint on the bonnet needs re-doing, the joys of metallic and getting the right finish on large surface areas! The trouble is I want a finish like Ed Braclik has, but at a DIY price! Suffice to say with travel to Singapore, Dubai, and next month the US, Pakistan and a Christmas break in South Africa, I think the project is on hold until the weather warms up, although I may yet find the enthusiasm to go in the garage and start that long dreamt about interior refit! That, and of course looking at Phil's car.
It was with much embarrassment that I sat down to do an update only to realise it was February when I last added anything to the Upgrades4MGs site! Excuses first...none, apologies then...profusely!
As with all these things, I guess time becomes limited and those with whom I correspond regularly via Skype/BBS etc will know I have been travelling a lot, plus, I think, as everyone experiences at some point, I had a combination of writer's block and MG boredom! What started out as a respray last year fast became a disaster as more and more bits were stripped from the car and then to top it all, I proved that along with plastering, my top ten list of things I can't do included bodywork preparation and spraying! So the car stood for months on end until finally, I have been finding the time to slowly piece things back together again. However, I have been in no rush as I have not been in the country much, nor, have I had much enthusiasm. Life takes over, cutting hedges, lawns, household DIY. And then there was helping JC with his V8 conversion - well, not helping so much as offering garage space. My car took a back seat, as did everything else and I probably let a few people down such as Stephen by not helping with his as much as I promised, or leaving JC to struggle on is own.
However, since June some slow progress has been made with some new ideas in place on the car. The sunroof is pretty much back in, and the new one I bought, I haven't used so it's up for sale. Bryn has been very helpful in assisting with refitting the tailgate and the two windscreens plus getting the chrome trim refitted.
So, maybe at some point it will hit the road again.
