A Mostly British Obsession
The current lineup of mouldering hulks
It only took slightly longer than painting the Forth Bridge, but I have the new headliner installed in the Jaguar. I also rebuilt the headrests and re-glued the fabric on the back of the front seats. I think it all looks fine though, as with most things I do, doesn’t bear too close an inspection.
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Warning: Unless you like mechanical stuff, this will be the most boring post ever.
[flickr id=”6213864834″ thumbnail=”original” overlay=”false” size=”original” group=”” align=”none”]The exhaust on my “new” XJ6 leaked pretty badly where the manifolds joined the downpipes, and for good reason: The studs that were installed (in one of the few bodges on the car) were at least an inch too long. There was no way for the “donut” gaskets to be clamped tightly, and (surprise!) they leaked. In the process of removing the too-long studs, I discovered three of the tapped holes were stripped, one on the front manifold and two on the back. Shown above are the repaired manifolds with new studs (temporary, see end note). Below we’ll take a peek how I repaired the threads.
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I have wanted an early “low bumper” XJ6 for a long time, and this car caught my eye on the local CL. Despite having had two owners in the last six months, both quite young, it was a one-owner car before that. Even in the crappy photos it looked pretty original. I like original!
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[flickr id=”5976930245″ thumbnail=”original” overlay=”false” size=”original” group=”” align=”none”] My friend Brent came over early Saturday morning to drive the GT to the All British Field Meet in Bellevue, and I rode the BSA down in convoy with him. The trip was relatively uneventful–only a couple of easily retrieved pieces fell off the BSA and the MGB seeped some oil from the oil cooler, but that was the extent of it.
The BSA took first place…out of two bikes. Can’t say I’m proud of that one. The GT, which took third last year when entered in the wrong category (MGB roadsters), this year was entered in the right category–and failed to place, out of eight GTs entered. It’s the curse of “shiny primer” and red wheels, by gum.
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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.
The shot above–featuring a slightly disgusted Your Correspondent–was taken by Peter Laurence (check out his photostream for great shots of the Vancouver ABFM) as I waited for my entry packet in the pouring rain…I had only ridden four miles from the hotel to the gardens, but I was as soaked as I’ve ever been. Friday was gorgeous, and I didn’t even think about packing leathers or rain gear. I didn’t dry out from this 9AM ride until I got back home 12 hours later!
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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.
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Did what I could to salvage a cruddy low-light shot of the Beezer, taken this past summer. The Casio Exilim is really awful at low-light–hoping to get a new pocket camera soon.
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 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.)
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