I dropped the Rover off with the gentleman who will be hauling it back to New Jersey today…sad to see it go, as it is actually a fine car. But I need the space! Hope the new owner enjoys it. In a typical Rusty Heaps turn, though, the title I mailed seems to have gone missing. Ah, well, I only had to make three visits to the Department of Licensing–which, in all fairness, has exemplary staff in their Freeland, WA outpost–last week to (finally!) transfer the title on the E-Type to my name, after twelve years of ownership (best not to rush these things, I find).

What’s another five or so trips there among friends?

After cleaning the engine and undoing a few of the external gubbons, I’m going to abandon the hasty efforts to get to Canada this week, and have the engine rebuilt, instead. The mill is fairly well silted-up, and the flywheel ring gear is pretty bad. I don’t want to put the works back in only to have to pull them out next year, so it’s now a rebuild–with a good running engine, this probably means new bearings, camshaft and oil pump and hope it doesn’t need a grind or new pistons/rings.

This will give me time to rebuild the front end, as well as pull the heater box to restore it properly, clean the speedometer innards, etc. The goal now will be to be done before the E-Type arrives in July. (I’ll take the BSA to Vancouver instead, which means I need to spruce it up a bit.)

My schedule has been so hectic that I have been reduced to trying to swap the transmission and clean up the engine bay with only a week until the Vancouver All British Field Meet. I’m not sure whether I’ll make it, frankly, but I’ll give it a shot. Seen above is the car Thursday night, just before my spanners and ham hands descended on it.

(more…)

Looks like the Rover has attracted a bidder on eBay, so if everything goes according to Hoyle, the car should have a new owner soon. There is still a day or two left in the auction, which can be found here.

For the time being, I’m going to finish the GT as originally planned and put it into “daily” service. However, I do need to lose a car, and the SD1 should probably go. I wanted to drive one for awhile, and can definitely see the appeal, but the GT is more my speed. The Rover has been in daily service all winter and has proven itself to be a very nice machine. (I can never get over the tight turning circle for a relatively large car…I think you could put my Ford truck on full lock and easily drive the Rover around inside the circling Ford without any danger of hitting it.)
(more…)

I have the leaky stuff with wheels on back on the newly-finished side of the shop building (aka “Rusty Keep”). I’m also fixing a minor paint flaw on the roof of the GT. There must have been a bit of contamination on the metal when it was sprayed. In all, a spot about the size of a pencil eraser was affected, right near the back edge of the roof.
(more…)

The problematic alternator on the SD1 finally burned out–but I found a rebuilt Range Rover alternator from the late 1980s on eBay for $80 and figured “what the heck.” It fits just fine, and while there is an extra connector on the back (I think for a tach on the RR) it seems to work fine. Sure beats $300 to have the original Motorola rebuilt. Of course, whenever you do a job like this, you run into the previous owner’s bodges…
(more…)

To start the new year, and with not much else going on, here’s a set of photos of my long-sold 1966 Coupe. I have the hankering to get one of these again but looking at current prices don’t see how that would happen without a lot of good luck. If you want to trade yours for a nicely restored ’67 MGB GT, just let me know. (I think a ‘winky face’ is supposed to follow that!)
(more…)

This shot, taken with my cruddy-in-low-light older Casio camera, was from last July en route to the All British Field Meet. I was last aboard that early ferry and so got to park back a bit from the other cars on the boat.

It’s shiny (tacky!) chrome and ridiculously over-sized…but my new air cleaner actually filters the air going into the engine on the SD1. Found on eBay for not much money, surely it reminds the thoughtful viewer of the triangular Rover badge on the front of the car. (Surely! Well, maybe I’ll try to find a Rover-viking-ship decal to decorate it.)
(more…)