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Monday, February 11, 2013
Automotif VIII...
Whitworth Spanners Required, No Doubt.
Saw this forlorn B while out running errands the other day. It was spitting snow; a tough time for selling a convertible, but maybe a good time for starting a garage project?
Since we're on an auto topic what do you know about TPMS sensors? Wife's 2006 Pilot is the first car we've owned with them.
Trying to do new tires on the cheap I ordered a set from Discount Tire on the internets and planned to get them mounted at a small, independent shop I trust not to cross thread my lug nuts or upsell me a bunch of crap.
I decided new tires must go on tonight based on the amount of running around she needs to do in the next few days combined with the amount of rain we're forecast to get.
I go to my favorite shop only to find them too slammed to get to me tonight so now I find myself sitting at NTB where they talked me into service kits for the little sensors at $7 per. $115.09 to mount and balance 4 tires with the kits has me feeling a little ripped off.
Makes me wonder if I couldn't find room in the garage for that changer and balancer I saw on Craigslist a couple months ago.
You only feel ripped off because you were Scott. Discount is kind of interesting because they don't do anything but tires, not even alignments, at least up here in the frozen north. As far as MGB's I'm with Carteach yuck. Keep the Zed mobile or buy a Miata.
@Scott The TPMS kits are to replace the o-rings and gaskets that mount them to the rim. I just put new tires on my Jeep and decided it was worth the $& per rim they charged.
Where, where where????? Tsk, Tam, you know I want one that runs.
Very little Whitworth in any Bs. Mostly SAE (!) on the engine and BA threads on the small stuff. Early Bs had small Whitworth in funny places, like the terminals on the (electric) fuel pump. The funny thing is that a lot of the BA is 2BA, which is so close to SAE (UNF) 10-32 that you can use one for the other.
(Also, I don't have a big problem with Lucas electrics. It's really not as bad as people like to claim. Knee shocks....um, at one point you could get them rebuilt.)
You still can get the lever shocks rebuilt. They work well, last a long time. World Wide Auto Parts rebuilds them better than new these days, with real bearings and seals.
You pretty much need to go back to the MG T series to find much whitworth hardware on MGs, even my MGA is put together almost exclusively with SAE fine thread fasteners. The exception is some of the systems that MG purchased from outside vendors, such as oil and fuel system bits, and some electrical stuff. There's quite a few british standard pipe fittings, and the aforementioned BA screws (which are actually a metric screw). There's no reason to use 10-32 in a 2BA application, because the 2BA hardware is still readily available from specialty suppliers.
The Lucas Electrics bad reputation is somewhat overblown, and has a lot to do with poor maintenance and age. These days you can get modern replacement components for many things, that are disguised to look like the original parts.
As I keep telling people, once the car has been driven for 30 years all the bugs have been worked out. Or, perhaps, the ones with bugs haven't lasted the 30 years.
My first "B" developed a need for the front right shock to be rebuilt, but it was really very simple to crank the steering wheel to the right lock, reach in with an adjustable or 9/16" spanner to remove the refill plug, and then top up with 20-weight oil from a little trigger-pump oil can.
I ended up doing this every 20 (then 16/12/10/8/3) weeks until the engine needed new valves on the head and I discovered I could buy an already restored "B-GT" for $5500. That one has been my ride to work for about 10 years now. My young colleagues think its "cool", and I can't stop for fuel without someone walking up to tell me about how they or someone close to them used to own one years ago.
My dad's B was his mid life crisis, Drove it for 14 months before he finally admitted that being a construction superintendent required a truck. I loved that car and all its quirks, of course I was 13 and didnt realize how much it cost to keep it going.
There is a place on US 41 in Land O' Lakes Florida that typically has a refurbed B or three or some other thing automotive and British for sale out front whenever I drive by. My teenaged sons always ask why I slow down and drool.
The line for the oil pressure guage is hardly high pressure (not from my POV as an aircraft mechanic, anyway). The oil pressure indicating system in my MGA was entirely trouble free for the five decade that the car was being driven, before I tore it down for restoration (which I will get back to any day now). It would probably still work fine if I were to take it out of whatever box it is in, and hook it up to a car.
The 1968 Corvettes used a poor quality line to the mechanical oil pressure gauge. It had a reputation for failing, and soaking the carpet with engine oil. It happened to a friend of mine, and while they fixed the broken line under warranty, they would NOT replace the carpet until his lawyer got involved!
Just got back two hours ago from a trip across south Florida and back, a total of 348 miles for my mothers 95th birthday celebration. I drove it in the '54 120 Jaguar she bought in 1960 for her hubby. I've had it for 23 years now and it still runs fine. 16 mpg and no problems. Good care and good maintenance will eliminate 98% of the so called British car problems. Of course I have rebuilt almost every part of the car, but it has been on the road for most of its 59 year of existence. A survivor it is.
"This all assumes that your wiring is good ( shudder )."
Aye, there's the rub. Use Lucas electrical or risk oil fountaining from under the instrument panel? Hard choice. I've done field service for years on commercial equipment made in Britain, Germany, and the good ole' U.S. of A. The Brits used funny english and the Germans just plain made up words that our German-speaking dispatcher refused to tackle. The good ole days. I don't miss 'em. Hand me a spanner, would ya? I wanna use it to pound on this sending unit.
Knee shocks.
ReplyDeleteLucas electrics.
Ugh
Loved my MGB,until it syphoned up oil from the pan though the pressure gauge connection and spit it into the cockpit on my wife's wedding dress.
ReplyDeletehow much?
ReplyDeleteWait, I've got enough projects.
ReplyDeleteI'll trade them a basket case 1987 Alfa Spider if they'll haul it down here to Central AL
ReplyDeleteSince we're on an auto topic what do you know about TPMS sensors? Wife's 2006 Pilot is the first car we've owned with them.
ReplyDeleteTrying to do new tires on the cheap I ordered a set from Discount Tire on the internets and planned to get them mounted at a small, independent shop I trust not to cross thread my lug nuts or upsell me a bunch of crap.
I decided new tires must go on tonight based on the amount of running around she needs to do in the next few days combined with the amount of rain we're forecast to get.
I go to my favorite shop only to find them too slammed to get to me tonight so now I find myself sitting at NTB where they talked me into service kits for the little sensors at $7 per. $115.09 to mount and balance 4 tires with the kits has me feeling a little ripped off.
Makes me wonder if I couldn't find room in the garage for that changer and balancer I saw on Craigslist a couple months ago.
You only feel ripped off because you were Scott. Discount is kind of interesting because they don't do anything but tires, not even alignments, at least up here in the frozen north.
ReplyDeleteAs far as MGB's I'm with Carteach yuck. Keep the Zed mobile or buy a Miata.
What about Roberta X's project "B?"
ReplyDeleteKeep the B's. A HS friend's '59 A otoh, was about the best sideways fun I ever had.
ReplyDeleteDon't see those sitting forlornly about for cheap, though.
Lucas... Nuff said... Ain't doing that again!
ReplyDeleteMy grandfather bought me a 78? MG Midget as my first car. I was 14, and my mother put a for-sale sign on it before it got unloaded off the trailer.
ReplyDelete@Scott
ReplyDeleteThe TPMS kits are to replace the o-rings and gaskets that mount them to the rim. I just put new tires on my Jeep and decided it was worth the $& per rim they charged.
Buying that car would then be justification for buying a set of British Standard Whitworth spanners.
ReplyDeleteWhere, where where????? Tsk, Tam, you know I want one that runs.
ReplyDeleteVery little Whitworth in any Bs. Mostly SAE (!) on the engine and BA threads on the small stuff. Early Bs had small Whitworth in funny places, like the terminals on the (electric) fuel pump. The funny thing is that a lot of the BA is 2BA, which is so close to SAE (UNF) 10-32 that you can use one for the other.
(Also, I don't have a big problem with Lucas electrics. It's really not as bad as people like to claim. Knee shocks....um, at one point you could get them rebuilt.)
ReplyDeleteYou still can get the lever shocks rebuilt. They work well, last a long time. World Wide Auto Parts rebuilds them better than new these days, with real bearings and seals.
ReplyDeleteYou pretty much need to go back to the MG T series to find much whitworth hardware on MGs, even my MGA is put together almost exclusively with SAE fine thread fasteners. The exception is some of the systems that MG purchased from outside vendors, such as oil and fuel system bits, and some electrical stuff. There's quite a few british standard pipe fittings, and the aforementioned BA screws (which are actually a metric screw). There's no reason to use 10-32 in a 2BA application, because the 2BA hardware is still readily available from specialty suppliers.
The Lucas Electrics bad reputation is somewhat overblown, and has a lot to do with poor maintenance and age. These days you can get modern replacement components for many things, that are disguised to look like the original parts.
As I keep telling people, once the car has been driven for 30 years all the bugs have been worked out. Or, perhaps, the ones with bugs haven't lasted the 30 years.
ReplyDeleteMy first "B" developed a need for the front right shock to be rebuilt, but it was really very simple to crank the steering wheel to the right lock, reach in with an adjustable or 9/16" spanner to remove the refill plug, and then top up with 20-weight oil from a little trigger-pump oil can.
I ended up doing this every 20
(then 16/12/10/8/3) weeks until the engine needed new valves on the head and I discovered I could buy an already restored "B-GT" for $5500. That one has been my ride to work for about 10 years now. My young colleagues think its "cool", and I can't stop for fuel without someone walking up to tell me about how they or someone close to them used to own one years ago.
Oh, and since finding this product, the only wiring problem that I've had is a faulty high-beam switch:
ReplyDeletehttp://www3.telus.net/bc_triumph_registry/smoke.htm
(That is the honest truth, and correlation≠causation)
Bobbi,
ReplyDelete"Where, where where????? Tsk, Tam, you know I want one that runs."
Right across the street from Premiere Arms in B'burg.
"...I want one that runs."
ReplyDeleteGood luck with that.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMy dad's B was his mid life crisis, Drove it for 14 months before he finally admitted that being a construction superintendent required a truck. I loved that car and all its quirks, of course I was 13 and didnt realize how much it cost to keep it going.
ReplyDeleteThere is a place on US 41 in Land O' Lakes Florida that typically has a refurbed B or three or some other thing automotive and British for sale out front whenever I drive by. My teenaged sons always ask why I slow down and drool.
ReplyDeletehttp://sparrowbritishauto.com/
What's that line:
ReplyDeleteMG: The most fun you can legally have driving 30 mph, while watching your rear wheel pass you in the field to the left.
Don't blame it on MG. I was doing 70 down Route 93 in Manchester in my '99 F150 and had the left rear wheel pass me on the right.
ReplyDeleteWhitworth spanners. Or what the Canadians call a 'bonnet' when they are oot & aboot in the car.
Anon: I thought Lucas was bad.
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of mad man runs a high pressure oil line into the passenger compartment in order to operate a direct analog pressure gauge?
I suppose someone who had bad luck with Lucas-built senders. Never mind ...
And someone should have warned me that buying an old trapdoor would have resulted in spending twice as much money on old Bannermann parts ...
ReplyDeleteKristophr @ 6:48 Regarding that direct high pressure line: There's another way?
ReplyDeleteSometimes I start to miss my Bug-eyed Sprite. Then I remember what a pain it was...
ReplyDeleteHad a Midget. I learned a lot. It became a hobby to keep it on the road. I loved driving that car. Then we had children.
ReplyDeleteThe line for the oil pressure guage is hardly high pressure (not from my POV as an aircraft mechanic, anyway). The oil pressure indicating system in my MGA was entirely trouble free for the five decade that the car was being driven, before I tore it down for restoration (which I will get back to any day now). It would probably still work fine if I were to take it out of whatever box it is in, and hook it up to a car.
ReplyDeleteThe 1968 Corvettes used a poor quality line to the mechanical oil pressure gauge.
ReplyDeleteIt had a reputation for failing, and soaking the carpet with engine oil.
It happened to a friend of mine, and while they fixed the broken line under warranty, they would NOT replace the carpet until his lawyer got involved!
Just got back two hours ago from a trip across south Florida and back, a total of 348 miles for my mothers 95th birthday celebration. I drove it in the '54 120 Jaguar she bought in 1960 for her hubby. I've had it for 23 years now and it still runs fine. 16 mpg and no problems. Good care and good maintenance will eliminate 98% of the so called British car problems.
ReplyDeleteOf course I have rebuilt almost every part of the car, but it has been on the road for most of its 59 year of existence. A survivor it is.
Robert: Yea ... you use a sender.
ReplyDeleteAn sensor you screw into the engine block. Then run a wire to the gauge.
This all assumes that your wiring is good ( shudder ).
"This all assumes that your wiring is good ( shudder )."
ReplyDeleteAye, there's the rub. Use Lucas electrical or risk oil fountaining from under the instrument panel? Hard choice.
I've done field service for years on commercial equipment made in Britain, Germany, and the good ole' U.S. of A. The Brits used funny english and the Germans just plain made up words that our German-speaking dispatcher refused to tackle. The good ole days. I don't miss 'em. Hand me a spanner, would ya? I wanna use it to pound on this sending unit.