MGB New Project

[dave.g.in.gansevoort]

Seems to be. Moss said it should all be metric though I've found plenty of Imperial (as the Brits call them) fasteners, mostly fine thread for reasons unknown.

Yeah the Mini was full of fine thread stuff. And nuts just like you had for the top. I still have to replace some that hold the rear subframe in. It appears that they had a system to essentially spot weld the nuts to sheetmetal. When you get it apart enough to somehow get a look at the places where the nuts were, look for small burn marks, also on one side of the nuts. It will surprise you.

So you put a nut in an inaccessible spot, barely welded to British water soluble steel, yeaadd fine thread stuff and corrosion and 10, 20, 30 years down the road you have an interesting day or two getting it apart.

The one still not replaced on the Mini is conveniently inside of the rocker panels. One of the myriads of reasons why I put it aside for a lot of years...

Well that and wanting to build a hot rod from scratch

[DanStokes]

First, catch up photos:

How the tach and speedo come out on the later model MGBs. You just reach up under the dash and turn the gauge about 1/3 of a turn until you can't turn it any more and they push right out. Note the bumps on the gauge and the small notches in the dash - line 'em up and they come out. Good thing it's fairly easy as the gauges have to come out to provide access to the dash to do pretty much anything back there.




On to the windscreen. Here you can see the brackets that go into the A-pillar area (or "scuttle" in British) as well as the plate the pulls the center of the 'screen down to the dash.

[dave.g.in.gansevoort]

Finest industrial revolution steampunk engineering. At least it doesn't require stone axes... yet

[DanStokes]

And on to today's progress. It was a bit more stubborn than anticipated but I did get the dash and center stack out of there. Interesting that once I got back in this far it looks pretty much exactly like my '64. Evidently things at Morris Garages didn't change much.

Proof that the wiring was a rat's nest - both literally and figuratively. This was behind the poorly-installed aftermarket radio.



And......




Overview of the dash out:




And I started shoveling out the crap. More to go but much better. I'm hoping the right side floor is as good as it looks here but I think it'll at least need a patch. Sadly, there's some kind of sealer on there which may be hiding many sins......





Tomorrow, on to wing removal. Any sources for large quantities of Buffalo sauce?

[DanStokes]

OK, so the wings are still on there for now. But I DID get something done today.

The transmission spacer plate came back from the waterjet folks and I installed it. Not bad for $80! I think that's a bargain.




And in place:

[cstmwgn]

That's a deal for them to digitize it and cut it out. It also looks very good - glad you decided to go that route over the washers.

[DanStokes]

That's a deal for them to digitize it and cut it out. It also looks very good - glad you decided to go that route over the washers.

Me too. I just couldn't live with the washers even though it might have worked OK.

[DanStokes]

So as I await Stanger's intake gaskets I got back on the B.

Right wing has taken flight. A bit of a PITA but after grinding the heads off some Phillips screws it's gone. I hope I can find a decent replacement as this has a s#!tload of rust. Not a surprise. I was, however, surprised that the parts the wing bolts to aren't TOO bad - not perfect but salvageable. Thinking of going into the iron oxide business.......




So I figured I'd pull that door. For some reason those are attached with outsized Phillips screws, I'm guessing a number 4. Here's a pic of the one I was able to get out with a number 2 installed to give some idea of scale. So I'll be off tool shopping tomorrow to see if I can track down a huge Phillips bit.

[Russell]

I am pretty sure I have a #3, have to look for a # 4 While you are out shopping I might would consider one of those hammer impact screwdrivers. Just in case that way if you spend the money they will all come out easy 🙂

[DanStokes]

I am pretty sure I have a #3, have to look for a # 4 While you are out shopping I might would consider one of those hammer impact screwdrivers. Just in case that way if you spend the money they will all come out easy 🙂

I've had the same Blue Point impact screwdriver since 1964 or so - and it still works! Turns out HF has a set of bits including a Groups so I'll run over there tomorrow. It works where nothing else will.

[DanStokes]

And on to dismantling this old thing......

Turns out those screws aren't actually Phillips, they're Posidriv. Nobody in town had a number 4 Posidriv so I called the English car guy here in town and he suggested that I grind the tip off a number 4 Phillips which, while not perfect, will work. So I gave it a try and sure enough it did the deed. However, my trusty old impact driver didn't move them. In frustration I put the bit on my impact gun, leaned into it with all my weight, and hit the trigger. Worked perfectly and quickly, too! I took all 16 screws out in a couple of minutes.

Here's the rig:




Pulled the door:





And the wing and door (I wonder why the Brits don't have some weird name for a door) on the left:






Then I started bracing the body so it'll be stable as I take the structure out of it. This side got the leftover bits of roll cage tubing I had lying around but I might have to buy some stock for the left side. There will be one more tube but this is where I left it tonight. Note that I made it bolt into existing boltholes rather than weld the braces in. Maybe this will rove to be a mistake?

[dave.g.in.gansevoort]

And on to dismantling this old thing......

Turns out those screws aren't actually Phillips, they're Posidriv. Nobody in town had a number 4 Posidriv so I called the English car guy here in town and he suggested that I grind the tip off a number 4 Phillips which, while not perfect, will work. So I gave it a try and sure enough it did the deed. However, my trusty old impact driver didn't move them. In frustration I put the bit on my impact gun, leaned into it with all my weight, and hit the trigger. Worked perfectly and quickly, too! I took all 16 screws out in a couple of minutes.

Here's the rig:




Pulled the door:





And the wing and door (I wonder why the Brits don't have some weird name for a door) on the left:






Then I started bracing the body so it'll be stable as I take the structure out of it. This side got the leftover bits of roll cage tubing I had lying around but I might have to buy some stock for the left side. There will be one more tube but this is where I left it tonight. Note that I made it bolt into existing boltholes rather than weld the braces in. Maybe this will rove to be a mistake?

Don't you just love how the manufacturers use every imaginable type fasteners in existence, just to make life a little more interesting!

As to the bracing that looks more than adequate. As you may remember, I didn't brace the mini adequately and when we were refitting the doors, we had to use your porta-power to stretch the openings a teeny tiny little bit...

Oh and keep the aluminum powder away from the iron oxide. It could reach 4000 degrees in a hurry... look up thermite.

[DanStokes]

Oh and keep the aluminum powder away from the iron oxide. It could reach 4000 degrees in a hurry... look up thermite.

It's an all-steel building so I don't worry about thermites.

[dave.g.in.gansevoort]

It's an all-steel building so I don't worry about thermites.

No, no, no! Not wood termites! British water soluble steel termites, in this case called thermite, and extremely HOT! You could end up with no MGB...

Kind of like when VWs had engine fires. Magnesium transmission case and fire, not a good combination!

[DanStokes]

Guerreri's First Law of Automotive Fabrication:

"Any job worth doing is worth overdoing"





Disclaimer: I didn't actually design this. It's what happens when you have leftover pieces of roll cage, some with bends. And then I figured "I COULD......"