As stated in my previous post, a lot had to be done to the car before it was roadworthy. Below is a list of the work completed on the car between September 2005 and July 2006.
BRAKES
Being the most important part of the car, Dad suggested that we do the brakes first. The car is equipped with rear drum brakes and front disc brakes. We took apart the rear brakes, replaced the shoes, but needed to get the drums cut. I had a heck of a time finding a shop who had a machine that would accommodate such a small size drum. I finally found someone, Steve's Auto Center, down near Montgomeryville, PA, who did both of them for $30. After the rear was complete, we continued on with the front brakes. We installed new anti-squeal (yeah right!) brake pads, new discs, and I got two caliper repair kits to replace the worn parts of the calipers. It was interesting to see how the older-fashioned drum brakes operate versus the now more common disc brakes. This was probably the first time I actually understood how brakes worked. It gives you a different perspective on things. The car doesn't just magically stop when pushing on the brake pedal.
ODDS and ENDS
We replaced many worn hoses and tubes along the way. We also replaced the spark plugs, condensor, distributor cap, ignition wire set, both front brake hoses, handbrake and throttle cables, air filter, heater valve, and windshield wipers. Some of the more major replacements included the fuel pump ($107!), clutch slave cylinder and clutch master cylinder. I'm running these off in a list, but countless hours were involved with putting this stuff in. Midgets are extremely simple cars, but its tight quarters can make getting to things very difficult. My dad cursed the Brits several times along the way for manufacturing things the way they did. Working on parts that were 30+ years old didn't help either.
VROOM!
It was around this time that we started the engine for the first time. It was January 2006, I believe. I had been working on it with my uncle and my dad for a good part of the day, and that evening my band held a practice. It was during the practice that they got it running (after they realized we had screwed up something stupid...something was in backwards or something). Unfortunately, I wasn't present for the first successful firing.
CHANGING GEARS
At this point, obviously, the car hadn't been on the road. So shortly after we got it running, we attempted to take a drive. Unfortunately, the clutch was stuck. After sitting for 18 years, the pressure plate had become stuck to the disc. So with my dad in the driver's seat, we drove it up and down Clover Lane in an extremely jerky effort to break it free. I believe my dad had successfully broke the clutch free in this fashion years ago with his Porsche 914. Now, you might not believe me, but looking back on my life, this may have been one of the happiest (if not the happiest) day of my life. The moment the clutch broke free, my dad and I celebrated like no other time before. I was beyond excited. My car was now mechanically (if not officially) roadworthy. Thanks to my friend, Greg, who helped teach me to drive stick shift, I hopped into the driver's seat and drove it for the first time. Since the car was not yet insured, I only drove it up and down Clover Lane. But I must've done this a hundred times. I took my brother Steve and my mom up and back for rides as well. The neighbors probably thought I was crazy.
LEGALITIES
I got it insured. And now it needed to pass inspection. I made an appointment with Maiden England down in Bally, PA. I asked him to do an overall tune-up as well. He performed the following tasks: drained and refilled the transmission, differential, and engine; bled the brakes and adjusted the rear brakes; greased the chassis; cleaned and adjusted the carbs; changed hose on the heater core; changed the fuel filter; replaced the ignition wire; and adjusted the points and valves. $430 later, I was cruising like there was no tomorrow.
AESTHETICS
To date, I've done very little to make the Midget any more pretty. But at this point I had the wheels powder coated (a gift from my dad), put MG emblems on the wheels, and took off the PO's fog lights. I also polished the chrome and took off the tacky GB stickers. Sometime before all this, I had bought a new set of tires as well (4 tires for only $120!).
GETTING THE KINKS OUT
The first summer I owned the Midget turned out to be somewhat frustrating. It was GREAT when it was driveable, but there were some things that still needed to be taken care of. The first was the fuel tank. A few times, as I was driving it, the car would just stop running. It never left me stranded because it eventually started back up. But my dad figured there was some kind of blockage in the fuel lines. Since fuel had been sitting in the tank for so long, we were probably getting bits of goo mixed in with the fuel. So, we dropped the fuel tank, and had it cleaned and sealed, inside and out. I had this done at Lehigh Services, Inc in Macungie, PA. We got it back, reinstalled it, and also replaced the fuel sending unit, which pushes the fuel to the front of the car.
The next thing that went was the clutch. I was at my aunt's house for Easter. Since this was the first time my family saw the Midget, I took a few of them for rides. During one ride, the clutch gave out. Though it was embarrassing, I was more upset than anything else. My dad drove it home by double-clutching. I made another appointment with Maiden England and my dad was able to get it down there with no issues. I was unaware of this at the time, but one has to remove the engine completely in order to get to the clutch to replace it. So it was a little more expensive than I anticipated. When I picked it up, my friend, whom I was following, noticed my right headlight was out. I noticed that my speedometer wasn't working either. We turned around and the mechanic was unable to fix the speedometer (which he thought was a loose cable) and said I probably just need a new bulb for the light. We ended up buying and installing a new speedo cable (which "kind of" works today). I also bought two new bulbs for the headlight only to find that the right light still didn't work. After scratching our heads for a long time, we finally found a loose cable near the grill. We plugged it in, and the light worked once again. This was probably yanked out when the engine had been pulled.
I forget why we decided to replace it (maybe it was running hot), but we next replaced the water pump. I remember having to remove several other parts (including the radiator, which was a huge pain) to get at it. But like many of the other parts we replaced, it's now done and it won't have to be replaced for a very long time.
The engine had been occasionally missing, so I wanted to get it professionally tuned up. I refused to go to Maiden England again, so I took down to Ragtops and Roadsters in Perkasie, PA. They adjusted the plugs, ignition gap, timing, carb mixuture, idle speed and tightened the oil filter. They said I should look into getting the carbs rebuilt or replaced since they were old and sticking.
I WANT TO CD
I've been driving the Midget to work (in Bethlehem) once or twice a week and I needed some tunes. The car still had the original radio installed and it actually worked. Though not well. I bought an inexpensive, but nice Kenwood receiver and bought 2 very cheap speakers. They had to fit behind the radio grille so they were quite small (2.5" I think) but they were better than the original stock single speaker. We had to rig up a mounting system to accommodate the two speakers. After a day's worth of work, and lots of help from Dad, Steve, Greg, and the Internet, the stereo was in. I wanted to avoid wiring speakers to different parts of the cockpit, but looking back, I should've at least sprung for some higher quality speakers.
THE END IS THE BEGINNING IS THE END
This concludes the major work done to the car to get her in a pretty respectable state. My records show that I went from July 2006 to February 2007 without doing any mechanical work. So things were going pretty smooth. This seems like a good spot to end this post. From this point forward, I became much more involved with the repairs. Up until now, I mainly held the light so my dad could see and I retrieved tools, held parts in place, and helped out as needed. I wish I would've been more proactive in doing things with my own hands...but at least I was always present and asked a lot of questions along the way. My next post will begin with one of the first projects I tackled by myself.
BRAKES
Being the most important part of the car, Dad suggested that we do the brakes first. The car is equipped with rear drum brakes and front disc brakes. We took apart the rear brakes, replaced the shoes, but needed to get the drums cut. I had a heck of a time finding a shop who had a machine that would accommodate such a small size drum. I finally found someone, Steve's Auto Center, down near Montgomeryville, PA, who did both of them for $30. After the rear was complete, we continued on with the front brakes. We installed new anti-squeal (yeah right!) brake pads, new discs, and I got two caliper repair kits to replace the worn parts of the calipers. It was interesting to see how the older-fashioned drum brakes operate versus the now more common disc brakes. This was probably the first time I actually understood how brakes worked. It gives you a different perspective on things. The car doesn't just magically stop when pushing on the brake pedal.
ODDS and ENDS
We replaced many worn hoses and tubes along the way. We also replaced the spark plugs, condensor, distributor cap, ignition wire set, both front brake hoses, handbrake and throttle cables, air filter, heater valve, and windshield wipers. Some of the more major replacements included the fuel pump ($107!), clutch slave cylinder and clutch master cylinder. I'm running these off in a list, but countless hours were involved with putting this stuff in. Midgets are extremely simple cars, but its tight quarters can make getting to things very difficult. My dad cursed the Brits several times along the way for manufacturing things the way they did. Working on parts that were 30+ years old didn't help either.
VROOM!
It was around this time that we started the engine for the first time. It was January 2006, I believe. I had been working on it with my uncle and my dad for a good part of the day, and that evening my band held a practice. It was during the practice that they got it running (after they realized we had screwed up something stupid...something was in backwards or something). Unfortunately, I wasn't present for the first successful firing.
CHANGING GEARS
At this point, obviously, the car hadn't been on the road. So shortly after we got it running, we attempted to take a drive. Unfortunately, the clutch was stuck. After sitting for 18 years, the pressure plate had become stuck to the disc. So with my dad in the driver's seat, we drove it up and down Clover Lane in an extremely jerky effort to break it free. I believe my dad had successfully broke the clutch free in this fashion years ago with his Porsche 914. Now, you might not believe me, but looking back on my life, this may have been one of the happiest (if not the happiest) day of my life. The moment the clutch broke free, my dad and I celebrated like no other time before. I was beyond excited. My car was now mechanically (if not officially) roadworthy. Thanks to my friend, Greg, who helped teach me to drive stick shift, I hopped into the driver's seat and drove it for the first time. Since the car was not yet insured, I only drove it up and down Clover Lane. But I must've done this a hundred times. I took my brother Steve and my mom up and back for rides as well. The neighbors probably thought I was crazy.
LEGALITIES
I got it insured. And now it needed to pass inspection. I made an appointment with Maiden England down in Bally, PA. I asked him to do an overall tune-up as well. He performed the following tasks: drained and refilled the transmission, differential, and engine; bled the brakes and adjusted the rear brakes; greased the chassis; cleaned and adjusted the carbs; changed hose on the heater core; changed the fuel filter; replaced the ignition wire; and adjusted the points and valves. $430 later, I was cruising like there was no tomorrow.
AESTHETICS
To date, I've done very little to make the Midget any more pretty. But at this point I had the wheels powder coated (a gift from my dad), put MG emblems on the wheels, and took off the PO's fog lights. I also polished the chrome and took off the tacky GB stickers. Sometime before all this, I had bought a new set of tires as well (4 tires for only $120!).
GETTING THE KINKS OUT
The first summer I owned the Midget turned out to be somewhat frustrating. It was GREAT when it was driveable, but there were some things that still needed to be taken care of. The first was the fuel tank. A few times, as I was driving it, the car would just stop running. It never left me stranded because it eventually started back up. But my dad figured there was some kind of blockage in the fuel lines. Since fuel had been sitting in the tank for so long, we were probably getting bits of goo mixed in with the fuel. So, we dropped the fuel tank, and had it cleaned and sealed, inside and out. I had this done at Lehigh Services, Inc in Macungie, PA. We got it back, reinstalled it, and also replaced the fuel sending unit, which pushes the fuel to the front of the car.
The next thing that went was the clutch. I was at my aunt's house for Easter. Since this was the first time my family saw the Midget, I took a few of them for rides. During one ride, the clutch gave out. Though it was embarrassing, I was more upset than anything else. My dad drove it home by double-clutching. I made another appointment with Maiden England and my dad was able to get it down there with no issues. I was unaware of this at the time, but one has to remove the engine completely in order to get to the clutch to replace it. So it was a little more expensive than I anticipated. When I picked it up, my friend, whom I was following, noticed my right headlight was out. I noticed that my speedometer wasn't working either. We turned around and the mechanic was unable to fix the speedometer (which he thought was a loose cable) and said I probably just need a new bulb for the light. We ended up buying and installing a new speedo cable (which "kind of" works today). I also bought two new bulbs for the headlight only to find that the right light still didn't work. After scratching our heads for a long time, we finally found a loose cable near the grill. We plugged it in, and the light worked once again. This was probably yanked out when the engine had been pulled.
I forget why we decided to replace it (maybe it was running hot), but we next replaced the water pump. I remember having to remove several other parts (including the radiator, which was a huge pain) to get at it. But like many of the other parts we replaced, it's now done and it won't have to be replaced for a very long time.
The engine had been occasionally missing, so I wanted to get it professionally tuned up. I refused to go to Maiden England again, so I took down to Ragtops and Roadsters in Perkasie, PA. They adjusted the plugs, ignition gap, timing, carb mixuture, idle speed and tightened the oil filter. They said I should look into getting the carbs rebuilt or replaced since they were old and sticking.
I WANT TO CD
I've been driving the Midget to work (in Bethlehem) once or twice a week and I needed some tunes. The car still had the original radio installed and it actually worked. Though not well. I bought an inexpensive, but nice Kenwood receiver and bought 2 very cheap speakers. They had to fit behind the radio grille so they were quite small (2.5" I think) but they were better than the original stock single speaker. We had to rig up a mounting system to accommodate the two speakers. After a day's worth of work, and lots of help from Dad, Steve, Greg, and the Internet, the stereo was in. I wanted to avoid wiring speakers to different parts of the cockpit, but looking back, I should've at least sprung for some higher quality speakers.
THE END IS THE BEGINNING IS THE END
This concludes the major work done to the car to get her in a pretty respectable state. My records show that I went from July 2006 to February 2007 without doing any mechanical work. So things were going pretty smooth. This seems like a good spot to end this post. From this point forward, I became much more involved with the repairs. Up until now, I mainly held the light so my dad could see and I retrieved tools, held parts in place, and helped out as needed. I wish I would've been more proactive in doing things with my own hands...but at least I was always present and asked a lot of questions along the way. My next post will begin with one of the first projects I tackled by myself.
My dad helped me (or should I say I helped him) throughout the Christmas season of 2005.
The Midget up on jacks, as it was for the vast majority of the time during the first several months.
Here's the interior. Since this photo was taken, I've replaced the stock radio with a CD player, replaced the shifter boot with a new one (thanks Steve!), replaced the black wipers with stainless steel ones, and reattached the ashtray to the center column (which is a handy coin holder). As the sticker indicates, it hasn't been inspected since 1987!
It's finally on the road! What a slick-looking car.
1 comment:
Excellent write-up! I either forgot or didn't remember all the work that has gone into this baby. I'm glad that all this work has been done so you can enjoy it today (ouch, I'm mean!!).
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