Ken G's Journal

The Hazards were working but the turn signals were not, I did a bunch of research on this site (Thank you as always) and it seemed most likely to be either a bad Hazard switch or a bad flasher unit. I looked under the passenger dash and there was NO flasher unit.

So I thought hey this might be an easy one to fix. I went to NAPA and bought a new unit and it didn't fix the problem. More research. I tested the switch directly on the battery and it worked, Tested for power on both sides of the switch installed, and that worked. Tested the power at the positive side of the turn signal stalk, good!. Tested the wire from the stalk to the lights and they worked. CRAP I have a bad switch in my stalk.
Further research to find out that to replace the switch you have to remove the steering wheel, and that doesn't look like fun and might take a week or two for parts and what not.

OK, Back to NAPA and buy a SPDT switch, tap into the existing wire harness (That will be replaced when I get the replacement stalk). Success at least for the short term, at least it fixes the rear lights. The front hazard/ turn lights were still attached to the rubber bumper that had been removed by the previous owner. I'm not really interested in sticking that back on right away so I pulled the front lights out of the bumper, fixed the broken and cut wires and there we have front turn and hazard lights again. Zip tied them to the frame, certainly not a long term fix but serviceable for the next few weeks.

Other items the windshield wipers are now fixed, when I pulled on the steering wheel cowl I found a "bug" in my wiring, yup a dead stink big in the switch, and with the help of my youngest we tested and found the brake lights to be working.

Now I just need to put the hood back on and get enough guts to drive it down the street.

Today was the day, my project yellow 1977 MGB was back on the road for the first time since I've owned it.

After I fixed my fan issue I went back and forth in the driveway a few times and then backed into the road for a quick run around the block. Everything seemed good so I did it again getting up a little over 40 in 3rd gear. Seems to be running decent, maybe a bit rich but otherwise ok. It took a couple months longer than I thought but I happy to have gotten here.

The brakes are a little soft so I'll need to bled them again, and I'm going to need to run through the suspension and check the torques but those are all minor things now.

I picked up my Yellow 1977 MGB that I've been working on last December with the understanding that I would eventually need to redo the floorboards, fenders and paint. I spent my time working on the mechanicals, getting the engine running, cleaned up the front and back suspension, replaced the brakes and didn't get to the body work. It was my plan to strip the car down and spend the winter doing body work, well things change.

I found a 1976 MGB for sale, and after looking at it a while it came home with me on last Sunday. The body is in good shape, there is a little bondo on the back trunk but otherwise it looks solid. So now I have two MG's sitting in my 1 1/2 car garage. While they both fit it is a little tight to work on either one. What this means is that one will have to go to get me out of trouble with the boss.

I have enjoyed working on the yellow one for the last 8 months, getting it running and driving has been great and I've learned a lot. However, I think I'm going to sell it and let someone else work on the body work. If I had unlimited time and space I'd keep it but I don't, and in the long run I think I'll be much further ahead.

I'm in the process of making up my plan to move forward, I think I will finish up the outstanding "non-body work issues" -(turn indicator stalk, reinstall the bumpers and passengers seat) and get it listed as running but needs work.

Once that is listed I'll get started on the red one in earnest. Right now it is a rolling chassis, with the engine and dash in disarray. I have to figure out a new game plan to ensure that I have it ready to go in the Spring of 2022.

It has been a bit since I last posted into the journal and there have been a few setbacks. I had the yellow 1977 MGB listed and was working on a few very minor items. While moving the wire bundles under the dash I put a damaged wire plug on top of the metal choke cable. When I turned the key it lit right up, So I've fixed the apparent damage but I'm still tracing down a short in the line some place.

In the mean time I've modified my plan a bit. I'm going to move the mechanical parts that I refreshed from the 77 to the 76. Last weekend I finished moving the rear end and this week I started disassembling the red car's front axle to swap with the yellow car.

I plan on continuing to sort out the short issue in the yellow car and see if I can resolve that and get it running again to sell. If I strike out or find the damage is to extensive to fix, (short of replacing the entire wire harness), I may swap the running engine for the one in the red car which is an unknown at this point..

This week I started swapping the refreshed crossmember from the 77 to the 76 body. On Tuesday I was able to get the wheels, brakes, steering rack and hubs off. Tonight I dropped down the crossmember complete with shocks and pivot shafts. It went pretty well using a jack underneath to lower it down. 3 of the 4 bolts dropped out but the 4th is in there solid. I'm not sure how it is affixed but it isn't coming out. It is in good shape so I'm leaving it in as t will make it much easier to install it back again.
My goal is to have this swap completed by the end of the weekend and then refocus on tracking down the short in the 77 while I figure out my next steps with the 76.

Anyone in need of a decent looking zenith carb? I pulled this one off to access the crossmember bolts.

Friday after work and Saturday morning were really productive. I pulled the front end off the 77 Friday night and Saturday morning I installed both front ends. Lining up the front bolts on the cross member with the springs still installed was a bit tricky but not having to take them both apart was a big time saver.

This week I'm digging back into the wiring issues on the yellow one to see if I can track down my brown wire short.

So many baby steps