David goes over the repairs with John McCracken
Last Saturday was our day to scramble out in front of a sloppy little storm that dumped about two inches of sleet and snow around Westminster. Steve had four inches of snow at his home in Ludlow, which is a little further up in the mountains.
We started promptly at 8:00 am and got done at 10:00… at night. First stop was Shrewsbury where we returned John McCraken’s MGB to him with the overdrive repaired* and a fresh ring & valve job performed. Your scribe can be seen here going over the work order with him. Next up was hike up Interstate 495 to Boxford (near North Andover, Massachusetts) to bring back an MG TD for sorting which was purchased over the summer at the Owl’s Head Auction.
Butch fettles an MG TF 1500
We’re doing a little catch up this week. On Monday Butch gave the Boxford TD the initial look over which we duly reported out to the owner who said “Fix it”. Next up was a thrash with this MG TF that has lain dormant since the mid 1990’s. We got it running over the summer and overhauled the brakes, but it developed an intermittant fuel starvation problem which we futured to a less busy time of year that really hasn’t arrived here yet. However, the owner says “SELL !” and with that in mind, as well as a prospective buyer, ‘now’ seemed like the right time.
John gets started with this full up Morgan +4 restoration
John is behind Butch in the last picture. He is getting started on the reassembly of this frame up Morgan +4 restoration which starts with a new frame. He can be seen here massaging the wiper wheelbox openings in the cowl. As you can see he already has his manifolds hung on the engine, which because it was in good order, has only received a spray can rebuild in basic black.
Once it’s a runner again we’ll be sending it back to East Coast Collision & Restoration for installation of the rest of the body work which has already been fitted and is in paint.
Steve puts the finishing touches on this E-type IRS unit
Earlier this week Steve finished up an E-type IRS which is scheduled to go back in the car later on Thursday.
Right now he’s cleaning and replacing ball joint & tie rod end boots in the front suspension in preparation for replacement of the resurfaced brake discs and hubs. He’s overhauled or replaced all the hydraulic brake & clutch cylinders and will be installing new hydraulic hoses.
The footnote: *The overdrive circuit in John McCracken’s MGB was protected by an in-line fuse installed previously. If you’d seen the wiring harnesses (Butch replaced ’em) you’d have considered it to be a very good idea. Butch left the fuse in, even though it wasn’t wired that way to begin with. John e-mailed Monday to report it had blown and my spider sense says it’s the solenoid power lead. Everything else is new. We’ll see.
Thanks to Mary White for the first & last pictures
Tieing down an MGTD for the trip back to Westminster, Vt
