Un-Building Sports Cars at Sports Car Services

Steve strips a TD for a complete restoration

Steve strips a TD for restoration

When Steve started working last October, his first assignment was to take a partially dismantled MG TD (the ‘TD Ondelawn’) completely apart, and that’s what he was doing again today.  It’s a car that ‘back in the day’ would have been a parts donor, or even worse.

Now days we value these cars for what they are: heirloom quality machines oozing charisma from every angle, that are elegant in their mechanical simplicity, built to be rebuilt and then used without restraint for years and years in-between.

Patrick pulls another TD engine

Patrick pulls another TD engine while John heads for the phone

This is “Myron” a well known TD out around Port Jefferson on ‘The Island’.  Myron’s been in hibernation for about 25 years, you saw his profile on the ferry  with Port Jeff’ receding in the background a few weeks ago.  His engine was stuck tight, but using a little patience,  Patrick pulled it down and it will be at River City Machine for a valve job and a rebore before Friday is over.

A major curiosity for us is that although it’s already been bored to a  +.060″ oversize (we’ll go +.100″), the very tidy crankshaft was running a set of standard Vandervell connecting rod bearings in good nick… and a set of V.P. mains, also very tidy, at .002″.  Could this have been a new crank with a very small “Oopsie” on the initial main cut ? Not good enough for a new engine, and tossed into the factory-exchange bin ?

Gus stops by for a minor remediation

Gus stops by to do a minor remediation

Our favorite guest worker Gus Scott blew in here Wednesday afternoon for a minor remediation to the Blue over O.E.W. BJ8 which has occupied Butch’s attention for the past couple of months.  We’re not going to tell you what he’s doing, although the masking tape on the floor is one clue, and you can find another in last week’s post: “Building Sports Cars…”

Our favorite Parts-Person, Jean, at English Imports asked me earlier today if we were going to have another puzzler anytime soon, so it looks like this is it:  If you can tell us what Gus is up to and WHY, the first three people with the right answer will receive a free oil filter for their british car, if we stock it, and chances are, we do.

Butch assembles the fascia trom to the glovebox

Butch assembles the fascia trim to the glovebox

Here’s a visual reminder that we do everything except ‘paint & fender’ work here at Sports Car Services.

Butch ended up rejecting the first chrome outer molding, and he had to work to get the mishapen glovebox to conform to the contour of the new veneered fascia panel, but the end result was worth the effort.

There’s also a little something extra going on here with those wires running out of the top of the ‘box.

Extra music carrying capacity inside the glovebox

Extra music carrying capacity inside the glovebox. Click to Enlarge

Sirius radio and an I-pod in an Austin-Healey, why not ?  Surely the British Motor Corporation would have offered them in 1965 if they were around then.

We’re effecting it with a change to negative earth and some additional wiring to the amplifier in the trunk.  Out of sight and out of mind, maybe, but the system should be at least as effective as a set of diesel air horns out on the highway at 70 mph.

This entry was posted in This week at the shop. Bookmark the permalink.