I finally got rid of the rusty body shell from the “parts MGB” today. I had to surrender the title to do so, which I guess is proper–but also flushes my idea of finding a decent shell to put the saved mechanicals in. (Not that I’m ever going to get around to that, realistically.) So, with that, I’m going to remove 1964 MGB #2 from my current list–a victory for common sense, alas.

Shown in the photo is the trailer I part-own with my neighbor. It’s a neat design, all aluminum, so it’s pretty easy to haul. Need to do something with the sleazy wheels that are on it, though.

My old–and, now that I look at it, fairly brief–website about the restoration of my BSA has been updated, though all that has been changed is the layout. Still, it’s an improvement as the old one was difficult to navigate and used an annoying frameset.

After a few years of being stored in damp sheds due to our moving around, I’m afraid my BSA will probably never be this nice again, unless I re-restore it. This photo was taken shortly after I finished the restoration.

I guess I should get around to updating this blog more frequently at all. Goldie is still going great, a wonderful old truck. I put a new bumper on last summer, which improved the looks from the back about 100%. I’m now in the process of putting in a new brake controller and a receiver-style hitch to haul around the car trailer, which I’ll undoubtedly be using to ferry more of my precious junk hither and yon.

Truck has passed 100,000 miles now. That’s only 2,500 miles a year–mind you, that’s also 10,000 gallons of gas, so that might be part of the reason for the low mileage.

Since most of what I have left to do on the Ferguson is rattle-can painting, and it really should be dry and above 50 degrees to do so–and since we live in a hole with only an open carport on the north side of the building…well, it will be April before I can finish. But you can see above I got a lot done, and the machine looks 100% better. It doesn’t stand up to “concours” level inspection, but then again it will be bouncing around the field acquiring scratches and such. Hopefully I can avoid major incidents and keep up with a touch-up brush until I get tired of that.

All that remains, really, is to assemble and paint the hood.

So far I’ve added the following to the list in the previous entry as I discover things wrong:

• New manifold, my old one is cracked
• The front pivot pin and axle bushing need to be renewed–they are really worn
• The front wheel bearings on both sides and the bushings in the front uprights

I found a lot of the old governor in the sump, broken into nice little pieces–that might explain why it didn’t work!

Quite an expensive little overhaul, but the tractor should be ready for another good number of years afterwards–and without looking like it was pulled from a scrapheap.

My shipments of goodies will be:

• Nearly everything mechanical from Yesterday’s Tractors, out of Port Townsend. I use their forums a lot and their prices are in line with other suppliers
• Most of the remainder of the mechanical items from tm tractors, a seller on eBay. I’ve ordered from him in the past and had good service. He had a few things YT did not.
• All new wiring and electrical stuff (minus the starter and generator, which seem in OK condition) from Agri Services in New York. They use original materials and their harnesses are indistinguishable from what was originally on the tractor. We’ll see, but I have high hopes.
• A new used disk for one of the rear wheels, which is currently incorrect. This came from Helm’s Farm Machinery in South Carolina. They were helpful and if YT wasn’t handy, I would have ordered the bulk of my stuff from them.

The remaining big spendy item is going to be new tires. I’ll be picking those up at the local Les Schwab, who will mount them for free, with a small fee to transfer the fluid in the tubes from old to new.

Add in a visit to Autosport Seattle to do the machining on the axle bushing and swivel pin uprights, plus some welding from Mark at Britsport, and my summer fooling around with cars budget is exhausted. I must say I enjoy working on the old machine, though. Pretty nicely engineered and built to last.

Finally, I’ll be buying a new propshaft for the mower, it no longer has a shield and that’s an unnecessary danger that can be fixed for $100 or so (a shield by itself is as much as the entire shaft with shield). I don’t want myself or anyone else getting caught up in the rotating shaft…there is no escape if you get caught.

I have my trusty Ferguson apart to fix a few “niggling” details and to give it a quick cosmetic restoration.

The mechanical list includes:

• Rear axle seals
• Repack rear bearings
• Adjust brakes
• Front left wheel bearing
• Steering column bushings
• New governor
• Carb rebuild
• New exhaust
• New lift arms
• Adjust valves
• New hoses and belts
• Replumb oil pressure gauge
• New right rear wheel
• New tires
• New wiring, voltage regulator and starter relay

Cosmetic:

• New fenders
• Headlights and work light
• Repair battery box
• Repair grille lower panel
• New grille
• Repair right foot board
• Repair hood
• Paint (a quickie spray bomb job)

That’s probably enough. Not a complete restoration but the tractor should work better and be way more pleasing to the eye when I’m done!

Not a lot going on in the Rusty Heaps world at the moment. After six years (!) I’m finally going to get my chrome back for the E-Type. The best evidence that there may be such a thing as Karma is that whenever I hand over parts or assemblies to be worked on by someone else, my own chronic tardiness is revisited tenfold.

XKE Data and XK Data have been joined by Saloon Data (for classic Jaguar sedans) and XJ-S Data (for fans of the Jaguar coupe). I’m also working on three other flavors of the data sites for non-Jaguar cars. It’s a bit of work, but folks seem to enjoy the sites so that’s worth it in the end.

(The photo shows my car on the day it was delivered.)

Took the ‘63 MGB out today for a spin. Not much more to say other than a good early MGB is a great car to drive, and a great way to get into ye olde British cars if you haven’t already.

This is the only “completely restored” part of my E-Type, the carburetors. I really enjoy this kind of work…sad to think it’s now been three or more years since I completed them! One day I’ll be working on that car again…almost ten years after I purchased it. Pretty pathetic. You can see the rebuild of these carbs in progress over at XKE Data.