Here’s the inside of the shop, as you can see I haven’t done a whole lot with the organization of the space. (You can click for a larger image.)

I hope to build in some cabinets and what-not this winter, mainly on the wall where I have a couple of ancient Ferrari posters tacked up (I found a stash from ages ago…anyone for a 1980′s Testarossa poster? I managed to put that one back in the tube). I did get casters onto the metal work tables, they’re now handy for moving close to the action or allowing access to all sides of an unwieldy project.

On the table closest on the left is a pile of junk awaiting sorting and placing into the other side of the building. Right below the posters are the camshafts from the XJ6–I’m doing a valve adjustment, and am awaiting new cam bearings and shims. In the corner beyond that is an ancient file cabinet with my shop computer on top and my elderly stereo above it. I finally have a sink for the bathroom, and hope to work on that a bit tomorrow (keep calm and all that).

Beyond my trusty Delta drill press (I think it’s circa 1956) is my toolbox; I hope to move to a couple under-bench units when I build a new bench along that wall, in about the same place and scale as this one, but secured to the wall, and wrapping around the corner towards the press. The white MGB is serving as a shelf for the dash top and a few other components of the XJ6–one of the windshield wiper wheel boxes stripped out, and I’m awaiting some new used ones. I figure after almost 40 years in Washington, that’s fair enough.

I also have the rear mufflers off the XJ6; I bought new tips, the proper curvy variety as opposed to the straight ones which this car has now. Imagine my (lack of) surprise when I pulled off a couple of standard American mufflers which had been creatively made to fit, and which will definitely not take the new tips. So I’m trying to figure what to do about that, too.

The bikes are pretty much in for the winter. I need to do a fluids change on the Triumph–oil, coolant, and bleed the brakes. Bike will be ten years old this coming year and while it hasn’t had many miles put on (just a little over 3,000 now), the oil has only been changed a couple of times and the other fluids have never been touched.

To the right is the parts washer, the blasting cabinet is beyond that, and the shelves holding the miscellaneous small bits of the E-Type. ETA on that machine returning is still a bit murky.

Looking forward to getting the cabinetry underway. Along the back wall will be largish upper cabinets, with a nuts-and-bolts organization under a 18″ deep bench. This bench will mainly be used for staging parts and stashing those small projects awaiting time, money or bits–thus allowing the main bench (by the tools) to be kept clear for actual work. The tables can be wheeled out if more space is needed (they will live on the storage side when not in use). I was originally going to build a paint booth along this back wall, in the corner you can’t see, to the left. It would be about five feet wide with an open front, but a closed ceiling and a exhaust fan utilizing the old stove chimney. This would be for spraying small parts, and I still think it’s a good idea. I need to investigate fans and theory before committing to it, though.

The short wall right by the red toolbox, is, I think, destined to be the “sit down bench”, connected with the main bench along the gable. I will have upper cabinets only on this short wall, I’m not going to put cabinets on the gable wall. This sit-down station will be the place for manuals, computer, and other reference pieces, and I’ll probably come up with a “fluids” rack for the current can of brake cleaner, penetrating oil, etc, as well as gloves and shop towels. This “short wall” bench will only be about three feet wide; the wall is five, but the bench along the gable wall will be 24″ deep. 5′ of upper cabinets, though, is just about the perfect size to hold all the stuff I mentioned, and 3′ is fine for stashing a couple of low bar stools underneath a short bench.

Anyway, given my glacial progress, I’ll probably have the valve job done by the spring, and the rest will still be in the planning stage.

I took “Reg” the 1963 MGB across the pond to a business meeting on Saturday, and the car ran great, as usual. The only real issue recently has been the carburetor dashpot plungers unscrewing themselves every 20 miles or so…once they’ve come undone, the car doesn’t accelerate very well at all. The front carb is worse than the back, but they both do it. Very odd. I’m used some blue locktite to see if that helps, so far it seems to have done the trick, but it’s only been about 60 miles.

Here’s the car in the shop, where I’m using the largely-original engine bay as a guide as I put the GT’s cleaned bits back. The small details are subtly different, but close enough to serve as a guide.

The hoses have been replaced, the clutch master was changed at some point, but it’s still largely how it left the factory and I’m not sure the engine has been out. (The car now has 90,000 miles on it, which would be really good innings for a clutch if it’s the original item.) If the mill has been out, they did a nice job putting it back together properly, unlike the GT, which was missing half the bolts in some places!

The work on the shop is coming to a close, though it’s nowhere near “done”. However, I have too many other projects backed up, such as getting Reg the 1963 MGB back on the road after the fuel pump packed in last fall. Here I have the MGB on stands, ready to dive underneath and remove the offending component.

Here’s the old pump still in the car. On the MGB the pump is located just inboard of the right rear wheel, under the car. Not the best environment for a piece of electrical gear, but they generally last surprisingly well, all things considered. The fasteners came right off without a struggle–this car impresses me every time I work on it. I removed the battery to facilitate removing the power wire, but it’s not really necessary.

The old pump is on the left, the replacement on the right. Early MGBs use the same pump as the MGA–but only through 1964. Looking at the old pump, the “BMC factory” (there were quite a few, actually) hasn’t existed since 1969–BMC disappeared into British Leyland at that time. I suspect this pump has been in the car for awhile.

The new pump went in without a struggle, and Reg is back on the road! Well, he would be, other than the weather is horrible at the moment. But we’re now ready for the next clear day.

In case you’re unfamiliar with the SU pump and wonder why they go bad, the photo shows why: the points get burned, accumulate carbon, and eventually fuse shut. It’s very rare for any other component to fail. You could put a new set of points in this pump (which I will be doing) and it will keep going indefinitely. With points that are in better condition than this, you can even file them flat and re-gap them to bring the pump back to life, but these are just too far gone.

It’s fairly surprising that there isn’t a contiguous pool of oil covering the floor entirely on this side of the new shop building, especially from the prodigiously leaking pair comprising the SD1 and Reg the MGB roadster. (The BSA leaks, but that doesn’t count; the GT doesn’t leak at all.)

Poor Reg. I took him out today for the first time in awhile, and he had the ignominy of being towed home on the car trailer–and it’s all my fault. The car has been giving me plenty of warning that something needs to be done about the fuel pump (points are sticking), and I’ve been blithely ignoring it. I had to tap the pump three times to get going today–once in the garage, once in the drive, and once at the gas station…and rather than returning home and ordering a new pump, I kept going. In a shocking development, a few miles later no amount of “tapping” would get the pump going again.

Allie rescued me (in her spiffy 2005 Outback) and I returned with the truck and trailer to get Reg–who started right up after the half hour break. Sigh. I trailered him back anyway. Hope he enjoyed the ride.

I’ll have a new pump sent out tomorrow, along with a new exhaust hanger for the GT.

The SD1 is proving to be an interesting car. It drives pretty nicely and is getting “around town” fuel economy that has a “2″ in front of it, which is at least as good as the MGs. If I could figure out what is keeping the battery warning light on despite the alternator putting out 14 volts, I’d be golden. I also still need to adjust the handbrake and get a rear silencer for it, the previous owner apparently decided the entire rear third of the exhaust was optional.

Sigh…still no shop (or even a garage) and many, many things with wheels (not all pictured). I’m thinking of selling the Ferguson–it seems pretty unlikely at this point that I’ll have a use for it…and it’s overkill for even an acre of lawn. Especially one you don’t want field-tire tracks in.

Time for another meeting, being the first Saturday of the month. Glorious weather brought out a bunch of cars–”European” in the “club” name is a suggestion only!


You know, I’m not much of a rod fan, but I’ll make an exception for something like this. Excellent taste and an interesting spec (buick engined), this puts 99% of other rods to shame and should make all “rat rod” owners take up beer can collecting or something. Old school in the most genuine and most complimentary sense.

Ferraris

From the back, Jaguar XJ-S, Lotus Elise Club Sport, Jensen Healey, Catherham 7, Porsche 912 (I think, might be a 911)

Lotus Elan +2, Volvo 122, Porsche

Porsche, Lotus Esprit, Triumph TR3, Lotus Elan

Lotus Elan

Lancia (Flaminia?)

Two BSAs – A Gold Star and M33 (I think), plus Norton 850 Commando

Healey 100, Lotus Elise, MGB

MG Magnette, BMW 2002, Special

Ferrari

And if you get there really late you park back here…Porsche, MGA, MGB

Seeing as tomorrow is the monthly Whidbey get-together, and it’s going to be a nice day, I went and got the MGB out of storage and stuck the Miata in for a day or so. The fuel pump on the MGB is sticky, so it took awhile to get it going. I’ll put a new pump on later this year. (Famous last words!)

In one of those fortunate coincidences, a gentleman up in Anacortes was offering a set of good wire wheels with nearly new tires to fit an MGB on craigslist for $200, and since I desperately needed tires, I emailed as soon as I saw the ad. Fortunately, I was the first to be able to get to his house–the GT now has new boots.

Now that I don’t have to worry about the tires disintegrating, I’ve been able to really drive it. The car has a nice engine with good oil pressure, and the car drives very well. The GT is much pinker and frayed than the photos from my cruddy digital camera imply, but it’s a very straight and solid car. Here it is posing with my 1963 MGB–both cars were built in April; the white car in 1963, the red car in 1967.

The carburetors on the GT were amusingly "tuned". The car ran, but not very well, and the carbs are the easiest place to start. I’m not convinced that whoever had last been fiddling with them had any idea of what they were doing…the front carb was fully rich and the rear carb was completely lean. (They don’t average out, so this isn’t a great strategy for a good running car.)

Setting SU carbs is not a particularly black art (though getting them perfect can be; but "good enough for road work" is easy). The technique?

1. Check and adjust the throttle linkage so both carbs start to open at the same time;
2. Adjust the carbs so both are sucking the same amount of air at idle, and then adjust the idle speed to something reasonable;
3. Test the mixture by using the piston lift pins, and adjust from there.

That’s it. Keep in mind if your throttle shafts are worn you’re going to have a lumpy idle and a mixture that’s hard to adjust, no matter what else you do. If they’re bad, get them replaced.

For step three, I find it’s good practice to reset the mixture to factory spec and then tune from there. These particular carbs aren’t in all that great a condition; I’ll rebuild the set I just took off the white car (which is sporting a newly rebuilt pair from my spares stash) this coming winter.

Time to put the stuff that corrodes easily away for the winter. A shot of the 1963 MGB last month, before I finally got around to mowing the field!