Glad to see it home! Sucks that the trip wasn't faultless, but hey, that's part of the experience of owning one!

Wow, she hated the car that much??

 

Parts ordered for a clutchless fan conversion.
We'll see how long shipping takes. Hopefully I can tackle that next weekend, or possibly over a couple evenings next week. Not sure if I'll need to pull the radiator to get to everything. Good chance for a coolant flush, since that's something I didn't get to before bringing it home.

 

Took her out for a brief spin yesterday. Ran up to the pool supply store, only to find they were out of stock on what I needed
Glad to report she fired right up after sitting for a week.
Chose a route that had no stops other than 2 stop signs in my neighborhood.
Still running well & was holding 180-190 on the temp gauge.
In the time it took to stop & back into the driveway, temp was up over 200.
Shut it down before it got too hot & popped the hood. No resistance on the fan, at all.

Took my 8 yr old with me & she loved it, even with the 96* temps outside.

New water pump is out for delivery, hopefully the fan ships soon & I can give her a shakedown this weekend.

 

2 steps forward, 1 step back.
New water pump & clutchless fan installed, fresh coolant.
Also got the rubber bumpers [shockingly heavy] and grille removed.

Temps were holding in the 175-180 range in stop/go driving, big improvement.





My wife took her first drive in it & after a stop [engine off] the starter didn't disengage [dash interference with the key held it in the start position but it wasn't engaging the flywheel after the engine started].
Maybe a half mile like that & it wouldn't restart, nothing from the starter. Had to bump start it to get it home. Was running fine, but now the starter does nothing from the key.

Going to let it fully cool & see if it is maybe just overheated.

 

Sounds like normal British car life.

 

Yup, luckily, the starter is a cheap part, but a bit tough to get to

 

Well, spent some time with Midge over the weekend.
New [reman] starter, and new ignition solenoid. Still no crank.
Replaced the starter first, not easy, just tedious. Had to remove bolts about 1/8 turn at a time due to space limitations. Air/electric ratchet would've made short work of it.
Nada after replacing the starter, so I picked up a new solenoid, get a solid click from it when turning the key over to start, but seems no signal being sent to the starter to engage.

Remounted the grille & cobbled together a solution for remounting the OE blinkers in the large holes left behind by removing the front bumper.
Small victories. Still need to chop off the ends of the framerails where the bumper attaches & get an earlier Midget grille to fill the space, instead of the very cheap seeming RB [rubber bumper] grille.

 

These look SOOOOO much better without those rubber bumpers.

 

Glad I was able to repurpose the OE lights for now.
There's a company that sells a 3D printed plug that's predrilled/tapped for vintage Mini bullet lights, might go that route down the road.

 

From watching a lot of youtube resto vids...
I know that some era relays/solenoids get a certain voltage at key on and then a different full voltage at crank...
you might need to look at wiring or rerun new wire if you are just getting a click from the lower voltage signal.

Nice work though...and brother...milwaukee 1/4" ratchet is a must have...probably the tool I use most.

 

Yeah, I need to invest in something like that, would've made the starter a lot less work.

 

Well, a bit more troubleshooting on the starting situation.

Borrowed a set of multimeter alligator clips from work so I could connect & work the key, instead of recruiting a 2nd set of hands. Good voltage through the system.
Getting constant 12v at the starter when cycling the key, but still no crank.
Last thing to try is to jump start it & rule out a bad battery not pushing enough amperage to the starter. If that does nothing, it'll be on to pulling the starter & getting a new replacement. Risk of a reman, looking like I got a bad one.

 

Guess I'm pulling the starter, again.
Have exhausted everything I know to try.

 

have you tried bypassing the coil? directly feeding it crank voltage?
I don't know how to do it but I've seen it done on old shit a bunch.
Usually with a screwdriver in the engine bay.

 

Not bypassing the coil, but tried to bypass the solenoid, still nada.
Starter is out, went a lot faster this time, having the right size tools on hand & knowing what I'm doing.
Took it in so they could process the warranty exchange. Showing out of stock, so hoping they can still get it.

 

Well, O'Reilly's supplier has no stock on the starter, and no expected date to have any.
So, I'll be taking the reman back for a refund & will have to order a new one from one of the other suppliers, which is probably what I should've done in the first place.

 

Returned the reman starter & found a new one locally, cost a bit more but it works.

Pulling the starter the first time was a pain, went a bit quicker installing/pulling the bad reman, and only took me about 30 min to install the 3rd one.

Decided to do something potentially foolish & removed the rear box muffler, leaving just the resonator/pre-muffler. It's definitely louder, but not obnoxious. It'll do until I can get the exhaust redone to match the header [currently it's about 1/4" smaller dia].

Before:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/rDMrv4ZtmZEPwY6f6

After:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/tDpVdzTJMydSAikNA

Brief test drive [phone mount blocks the camera:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/8ujRQfdhooLiSwdAA

Drove her to work this morning, no problems other than it being a bit warm in the 80s, supposed to be quite hot this afternoon.

 

Got about halfway home from the office & this happened.

Best I can guess:
>100* ambient temp, plus whatever was radiating from the pavement, and crawling rush hour traffic = fuel vaporizing/boiling before reaching the engine.
Sat for about 30 min & it started back on. Engine temps were good & it had been running well up to that point.
An odd layout, where the 2 legs of the intake manifold are straddled by the legs of the exhaust manifold. I'm sure that contributes.

 

As I said before...time for the ecoboost swap.

 

I'll get it sorted. It's a fun drive as it is, even if it's limited to around 70. It gets a bit floaty in the front over 70mph. Had it up to 73 & it was getting light in the steering wheel.
Powerplant size is a big driver in what will fit without extensive modification. A 4AG 20V with ITBs would be a blast.

 

Well, it happened again. Midge is grounded until I can sort this vapor lock situation. Drove it to work on Friday, excellent on the drive in, with temps in the 70s
No issues on the drive home this time, until I was about 2 miles from home & got caught at a couple consecutive lights. Engine temps were fine, but mush have had enough heat in the engine bay to cause the fuel issue to arise again. Had just enough momentum to coast into a parking lot. Could see the fuel boiling in the fuel filter. Took a little over 30 minutes to cool enough to start.

Will be converting to an electric fuel pump, and running a PCV line off a blanking plate where the mech pump is now. Should help with the slight oil leaks which are fairly common on these with a Weber carb. The SU & Zenith carbs pull some vacuum on the crankcase & keep the pressure in check.

 

run the lights

 

FWIW, reflective insulated fuel line sleeve can solve that. Used it on some carbureted cars from the 60's and 70's with good success.

 

Not a bad idea, and something I could look into as a temp solution.
Will definitely be converting to an e-pump, to give me an access for running a PCV off the old mech-pump mount. The 1500 tends to get a bit oil leaky with a Weber carb, due to not being able to pull a vacuum like the ZS or SU carbs do..

 

How are you overheating the fuel lines just by sitting idle? Do they run in a non-factory route or something?

 

The mechanical pump is attached to the block on the driver's side.
Fuel line runs behind the block to the fuel filter & carb on the passenger side. My assumption is that the pump heatsinks off the block & heats the fuel. I'm not sure what the OE routing looks like.

 

I would look into that for starters to make sure the previous owner(s) didn't mess it up somehow. The fuel system shouldn't overheat just by sitting idle unless there's something else wrong.

 

I don't disagree, these probably also aren't really built for that kind of heat.

 

I really doubt that they stopped testing at some temperature. If they did, check the manual and it should tell you to not drive if temps exceed a certain value.

 

At any rate, the E-pump should go a long way to helping with it.
She's grounded for now, may do some cosmetic cleanup until I get the stuff in hand to do the conversion.
Found an earlier grille for cheap, and a spare 4spd trans. Going to scoop those up, as my trans has a 2nd gear grind [synchro, I think]. May go over the spare & plan on a swap down the road & would give me a chance to really clean things up when pulling the drivetrain to swap trans.

 

Midge got a new battery yesterday.
After the last vaporlock excursion, I think I put a hurt on the battery cranking on it so much to re-prime the fuel system.

Took a bit of hunting to find one in stock that wasn't 10% what I spent on the car

Got the new battery in & was still getting the slow crank I had gotten with the old battery, even with the the old one being fresh off the charger.
Gave it a rest to cool the starter/coil/etc down & tried again & she fired right up

Will be getting her out for a little cruise tonight, since it hasn't been driven in a while.
Still need to get around to doing the fuel pump & PCV setup, so will be keeping it local/low mileage trips for a bit. Should be a bit better as temps cool, though.

 

Short local drive complete. Issue free other thana bit of heat soak while parked.

Main issue I need to tackle before doing a night drive again. The dash illumination is nearly non-existent. Gauges are extremely dim.

Have seen a few people mention pulling them out & painting the inside of the 'cans' with a bright white & replacing the bulbs, makes a big difference. Maybe a winter project.

 

I'm glad you're enjoying that thing...amazing!
Keep sending us updates.

 

It's still a blast. Not fast, but a ton of fun.
Still a long way to go with it. Sorting all the mechanicals is taking priority over aesthetics.

If he still has it, I found a spare transmission for dirt cheap, semi-local. Just need to find the time to get up there to get it. It's about a 2hr drive each way.
The 4spd that's in it now has a grind in 2nd on downshift or high RPM upshifts, and a slightly crunchy sounding 1st at times. Would be good to have a spare on hand, even if I need to overhaul the spare. For $50, a bit of a no brainer.

First priority is getting the fuel pump/PCV remedied.

 

Try new fluid first!

 

It got a fresh fill of Redline MT90 when I bought it & went through it all. Trans was nearly dry, so I'm glad we trailered it home originally.
Engine, diff, trans, brakes & radiator all have fresh fluids at this point.

 

what about hydraulic line for clutch? Old fluid, any chance you have air in it?
Just thinking out loud.

 

Definitely a possibility. Clutch is the only fluid system I haven't messed with.

 

The vette has a weird checkvalve in the line but MAN was it dirty...it made my clutch and pedal feel WAY better...

 

None of that that I'm aware of on the MG, but couldn't hurt to do a fluid refresh/bleed.
Contemplating pulling the drivetrain & doing a reseal/gasket refresh over the winter. Would give a good chance to really clean things up as well.
Complete engine/trans only weights about 300lbs.