Matt Drayer's Journal

Ugh. It happened to me.

I took a couple days off, and that turned into a couple weeks, and that ALMOST turned into a couple months.

February turned out to be much busier than expected. Family, work, additional commitments -- almost not enough time for the dog, let alone the MG . It also turned out to be much colder than I had hoped, which wasn't good for our project since we are in the paint phase. The air in our little detached garage warms up quickly with a Mr. Heater, but I didn't consider how long it takes a metal car to warm up. I've learned it definitely takes longer than the hour or two you manage to scrounge up on a random night. I've also learned that POR-15 topcoat does not like being applied to cold metal...see the video for more on that.

ANYWAY, with spring here the average temp is starting to increase which means I'll be more inclined now to head out to the icebox to work on our little car. The engine bay, interior, and trunk are all painted, which is fantastic. I still have more to do -- in particular the wheel wells, the transmission tunnel, and a host of missed spots. However, as my friend says, we have reached "supergoodenough" on this part of the project, and we can continue moving forward.

Speaking of moving forward, the really good news is that putting the project on hold for a few weeks allowed the backordered full suspension kit from Moss Motors to arrive, as well as some smaller parts and pieces picked up from Amazon and eBay, so we have all of the parts we've ordered from all suppliers at this point. I'm pretty sure we're also going to need a new distributor, but maybe not, we'll see. I am hopeful we'll be trying our first-fire by the end of April.

It's good to have goals

<br/>Marblehead MG Episode 10: Engine Bay and Interior Paint

With temperatures on the rise I've begun clawing my way out of my frigid funk. It wasn't an enjoyable place to be, project-wise, watching all those frozen hours roll by with little if any progress being made and still wanting the car to be on the road by mid-May.

Part of my anxiety and frustration has been the Moss Motors order. Certainly not on the part of Moss -- they've been fantastic. On the contrary, it was more having that Big Box standing upright in the corner of the workshop like the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Walking in there and seeing it, hearing it quietly whispering "All this needs to be installed..." has been unnerving, to say the least. I decided I'd finally had enough of its sorcery, cut it open (again), and have gotten started.

Thought I'd kick off with something easy-looking like the steering rack boots. The existing boots were pretty much destroyed, and while I didn't overhaul the rack, I did clean and paint it, so it deserved a new pair of boots to match. A bit of grease (elbow and real) got them on without too much consternation or laceration. The tie rods were also toast. I discovered the passenger side threads were stripped when I tried to remove the nylock nut and after a few choice words of ineffective encouragement cut it off with the Dremel.

Coming along next will be reinstalling the pedal box assembly and front brake system lines, which will unlock the installation of the steering and front suspension components. Can't say I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel yet, but at least it feels like I'm back on the track!

<br/>Marblehead MG - Episode 11: New Parts!

I had planned on installing the pedal box this past week. However, I decided that it would be better from an order-of-operations perspective to install the sound deadening kit instead. At this point I'm not entirely sure how or why I came to that conclusion, but I'm happy it's done. Maybe I somehow subconsciously knew that It would be a positive experience, and I really needed one of those to get this project going again.

The material makes a surprising difference with respect to the vibration and resonance of the metal in the footwells, firewall, center console, and floor pans. The reverberating "empty oil drum" sound is now more of a solid "thunk" sound. I know, I know, it's a convertible, but I really want to enjoy the sound of all that fresh air whooshing by

The most ridiculous thing is that all of my agonizing about the POR-15 and applying those additional cans of spray paint to fully coat the interior is now moot. I should have just stopped after applying the primer and saved $75. Not to the mention many hours of effort and those "too cold to paint" lost February weeks. Oh well, now I know better, i guess. I'll have to remember to use this wisdom in my next project!

<br/>Marblehead MG - Episode 12: Sound Dampening

This project has been like a long, drawn-out game of chess. I've been staring at the board, making some early moves to gain position, acquiring material, and planning elaborate combinations in order to hopefully end with a victory.

In chess you often have multiple pieces set up with attacks directed toward a single same piece, such as a pawn. The pedal box was in this predicament! Can't do the brake lines without the brake master cylinder, which needs the pedal box. Can't do the front brakes without the brake switch, which needs the brake lines, which needs the pedal box. Can't install the engine without the transmission, which needs the clutch slave cylinder, which needs the clutch master cylinder, which needs the pedal box.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that yep, the pedal box had to be the first component. If we installed it first, the entire project would unfold from there, and quickly!

<br/>Marblehead MG - Episode 13: Pedal Box Installation

With the keystone component (aka, the pedal box) installed our project is picking up speed. And, one thing we all know is that speed is dangerous. So, it's time to STOP! Just kidding, it's time for the brake hard lines!

That bright green Automec kit has been sitting in the Big Moss Box for weeks -- let's unbox it and take a look! We'll focus on the front braking system for now and worry about the rear later -- something tells me there's a surprise waiting for us back there...

<br/>Marblehead MG - Episode 14: Automec Brake Line Kit Unboxing

This project is really starting to move now. Unboxing the Automec kit rolled right into installation of the front brake system hard lines.

I've only ever installed one hard line in the past, and I did it without a cutting tool, flaring tool, or bending tool -- so you can imagine how that turned out.

The Automec kit is really nice because all of the lines are pre-cut, pre-flared, and pre-fitted. However they are not pre-bent and so this was what I learned all about during this step of the restoration. And, of course, learning means you make mistakes, usually a lot of them.

In particular I had a major mess-up with the #2 brake line -- the one that runs from the brake switch on the drivers side (for 1979 models) across the front crossmember to the passenger side flexible brake line connection. Because the Automec kits are cut so precisely, you need to run the line exactly as the designer intended. Of course, I tried to be clever and run the line in a more pretty, contouring way, which would have required an additional 8-10 inches of line, at least.

I ended up needing to unbend the line and restart, which resulted in a final install with a bit of a wavy-looking first half of the line. Suffice to say I edited this entire frustrating bit out for the YouTube crowd, although my frustration and language probably would have been quite entertaining to watch

Finally, the brake line bending tool is atrocious -- it's big, clunky, and the bend radii it creates are a good size maybe for a Peterbuilt, but not for a little British car. I wish I had purchased the Automec small bender, since the end result would have been very nice, I think. Oh well, the things you learn...

<br/>Marblehead MG - Episode 15: Front Brake Lines