still waiting for brake parts.
removed crusty sound deadening on trans tunnel, treated and painted floor pan and tunnel.
Those aren't really waves on the tunnel by the shifter. It's a funny camera. Artifact
spent most of the weekend with wifey
still waiting for brake parts.
removed crusty sound deadening on trans tunnel, treated and painted floor pan and tunnel.
Those aren't really waves on the tunnel by the shifter. It's a funny camera. Artifact
spent most of the weekend with wifey
On this weekend's episode of duct tape, bandaid, or urgent care i got 3 points (stitches). Do they make left handed grinders? (im serious, i keep on nicking my right hand) spin the other way and have the switch on the other side
Mostly good weekend friday car, Saturday zoo sunday car. brake parts showed up. 
my actuator rods were doe the wrong car. the new ones were adjustable for either diskwheel or wire wheels (i have wires) adjusted in they work great.
easy stuff. put 'carpeting down in the interior (bulkhead, trans tunnel part of the fire wall (mid process pic ) for $20 it makes the car look way better. (12$ for carpet roll and 8 ish for spray glue) when im doen there will be no yellow in the back will remove (then reinstall ) the seatbelts to do all the way up the wheel well. and do the bottom and go down to the floor of the bulkhead. it will not go on the floor. still thinking there.
i may completely redo the part with the speakers.. i will remove the speakers and leave holes and just paint and put back grills so sub can come in. i may just remove it like a sprite. i may replace it with 3/4 ply and mount an infinite baffle sub there.
this carpet also works like the fuzzy side of velcro, so many 'tactical bags' will grip to it
)
went to look at a new to me transmission. they owner thought it came from a 74 spitfire which would have been the correct transmission. but he got it as a spare drive train when he bought his 64 spitfire. he was in this late 70s and could not send me a picture. it was a 3 rail not a single rail. so no good. Mine will need to be rebuilt or replaced. its way to noisy on my maiden trip.
i need to move my exhaust to the right about 2 inches. it is fouling the parking brake actuator rods a bit. If cut off the second muffler (that runs along the rear bumper) in making end 'cleaner' ground my knuckle with my angle grinder.... (See 3 points above)
I need to replace he hanger right where the red cutline is, i plan ot reuse the hanger at the last right angel on the cut off part. may be the right angle bend too i i can clamp it
last night was super productive.
more carpet. easy peasy
rehung the exhaust without the last resonator (red X)
found the transmission mount assembly was missing 2 bolts. (that could cause some fo the awful noises i was hearing)
the upside down T bolts to the transmission with is part of the tiny cross member. the other 2 rubber mounts that go on the 'wings' looked way better than i expected. thats why i was looking.
and NO INJURIES
Put the seats back in wheels back on and .... Got inspected. Huge milestone. Road legal. And it was a real inspection not a wink wink inspection. Still lots to do. But around town it felt good.
I plan to go to Devins on 10/26. So if anyone else is there stop by.
replaced the master cylinder this weekend. brakes feel great. pads, rotors shoes, drums look OK but that's easy compared to what i did so far.
did some more carpet in the back bulkhead
ran some errands.
In reply to scooterfrog :
I remember what you are calling the second muffler as being homemade looking. Like thick tin foil crimped together.
Great to see it up and running!
In reply to Snert :
Its not much louder without it and now the exhaust doesn't rattle with the second muffler applying torque because of the 90 degree bend.
The exhaust starts on the right side crosses to the left, then made a right angle turn back to the right. i read MG the adapted the triumph engine the older car (which swapped the sides of the manifolds).
As with most of the car its 'good enough for now/ a problem for future me''
The right way would be to run it down the passenger side as one almost straight line. it even goes under the rear axel so curves.
Friday I didi 2 quick things on the rca.
rewired the running and headlights to be ignition on my headlight switch burned out and i knew i was going to the autocross on sunday morning and it would be dark at 6 am
i think i i will replace the switch and just make the running lights always on.
i had a coolant leak from the thermostat housing to the intake manifold also i replaced the hose there.
on sunday i drove from my home to Devins afb fo the last AX of the season with scca.
I MADE MY GOAL Still under 1500 all in. and AX in the fall. 8 clean runs. second to last in pax
notes from the AX and journey
with new tires i might be able to use all the meager power i have.
this car will never be competitive like my 94 e36 in DS (in 2000) beet even as slow as berkeley it was awesome. nice to be back on the course after 20 years.
The picture with it and the Porsche is neat.
My 16 year old self discovered that my Midget could Zig and then Zag with neck snapping quickness. I was showing a friend out in the county how it would do this and on the Zig I gave it a little too much and we spun off into a sage grass field. I can still see John R. sitting there real stiff with his fingernails dug in the dash, going Ptui, Ptui spitting out sage grass. Cracks me up to this day. 
In reply to scooterfrog :
plans for the winter
must
should
could
Wont
Yay, a titan of productivity and frugality. Very impressive and so disciplined. I am happy to see a midget under way in New England.
https://www.applehydraulicsonline.com/ is the place you want for the shocks. They offer uprated valving that is worthwhile.
I have fun with my 1275 swapped bugeye and it's faster than it has any right to be. If I ever build a motor with more power it could pax really well with the regional HCS class.
If your shocks aren't leaking you can try just putting thicker oil in them - some guys run STP or 90 wt. EP (gear) oil.
A set of steel wheels will be better than the wires, but good, modern tires will make all the difference. Way back in the day I think we ran Chevy Vega or Fiat 124 steelies......
Yeah, vegas share the 4x4 bolt pattern, but there are a bunch of parts to swap to ditch the wire wheels. Front hubs are different, entire rear axle is different.
I have cosworth Vegas wheels on my bugeye.
When I went through my car, I did 450lb front springs, offset nylatron bushings, bigger front sway bar, etc. I still need more front camber, but I am on 13x6 with 185 tires.
the shocks don't appear to be leaking (or they are ALL complexly empty :) plan was to clean/paint them up and add new oil. that question coming up. i know about apple hydraulics, seems to be the go to place.
Autocross will be just for fun, not trying to be competitive. so a disk wheel swap is not inthe plan. especially since my painting looks so fabulous
I have wire wheels. disk wheel that worn happen unless i pick up a whole parts car at some point. i know the rear end is narrower than the 'disk' wheels so the hubs AND the rear end need to be changed. Maybe spacers could be used but the wheel studs seem awful small to run much spacer.
When tires are the weak link they will be replaced.
picked up a 13.5 inch steering wheel from a 77+ mgb. I will have to figure out the horn becsu the later mgb and midgets had a stalk push horn. worst case / cheap case just put a horn button on the dash. I am going to add a gps speedo with high beam / left ritght / voltage/ fuel. that will open up some spots on the dash i could put a horn button. the blue bezel of the high beams is already broken. the fuel gauge isnt working it could be the gauge or the sender. this solves half that problem and adds voltage
BIG NEWS. this winter i will to pull the engine /trans
i bought a transmission that seems good enough to not be rebuilt. it actually sounds great and is complete with the shift lever assembly (a nla part) in better condition than mine (the plastic bushing is 95% intact instead of 50) bell housing shift fork and throwout bushing. the plan was to buy one and worst case scenario combine the in car and on bench transes to make one good one. Because this was outside the boston metro area (2hrs north in maine) it was $100.
i am a bit worried about 'while i'm in there' known musts engine, trans mounts and clutch / pressure plate spigot bush, probably slave and master too but...
if anyone knows some other 'must change' please recommend. to control project creep i would like to go in with must should could wont. (i do a lot of project management so i like MoSCoW)
oil and gearbox fluid change trigger MUST
the fan blades need to come off. should i switch to electric fans. Could
better do all the hoses as i have to disconnect them anyway..., Should... triggers Should change thermostat and MUST replace coolant already triggered
Clean the engine bay while there is more access Should
throttle cable, choke cable are half disconnected. just replace them.... (Won't unless i see a real problem and simple disconnecting them would not be a trigger)
Buying the trans put me above 1500 my this year goal. but SWMBO and i agreed the total budget all in is 3200, that gives me a lot of room as long is i keep all the professional hands off the car.
I've been following along and I have to say I'm impressed with your progress, results, and budget. I've worked on a lot of 1500 Midgets since the 1980s when I worked for John Twist at University Motors and now at Eclectic Motorworks. I've pulled a lot of those engines. I just use a chain attached via tabs to two head studs and hook it about 2/3 toward the front. A balancer can be a little helpful, but most of them are junk and don't adjust very well under load. I find it better to have a friend helping at the back to guide things. I prefer a chainfall to an engine hoist--and if your garage rafters are up to the task, a chainfall takes up no space.
I like Redline MTL for these gearboxes. It's a bit pricey, but quiets things down and helps the synchros. I'd stick with the stock fan but get rid of the fan clutch if it's still there. If your throttle and choke cables are good, keep them. New ones are pretty bad these days. I bet we return 1/3 of them because they break almost the first time they're used, especially choke cables.
The big thing to check are your thrust washers and rod bearings. We used to replace rod bearings at 25,000 miles in the old days as we saw a lot of failures at 30K. They can be done easily with the engine in the car, too. The sump comes off easily. To check your thrust washers, just have someone push the clutch pedal with the car in neutral while running. Watch the front pulley--if it moves, the thrust bearings are failing. If it moves 1/4 inch or more, you may have bigger issues. I've seen as much as 1/2" or more and by that time, the crank and block are damaged.
Good luck and keep going!
thanks Carl. Im super proud, but recognition from the site feels great. i have been reading the site fro a long time and i am in awe of what some people are doing. i realize thera re the last 5% opmn this site and .5% compared to most car forums
what to lift from was a question for later. it looks like there are tabs near the alternator and the heater valve.
fan- mine spins at startup so the clutch frozen or clamped ore removed. haven't looked closely yet.
i keep learning how much i don't know in general and about the car because it something APPEARD to be working i left alone until i was sure its not.
Cables-- i have a hanging idle someone suggested throttle cable. its number 3 on my list to fix right now. its not the carb piston and not the return spring.
if i am doing bearings I will do the trust washers, and I will need a stand.
If you decide you want to swap for non wire wheels, let me know. I have spares that could get you a lot of the way there, including a rear end and 4 spoke 13x5 wheels.
Apexcarver said:If you decide you want to swap for non wire wheels, let me know. I have spares that could get you a lot of the way there, including a rear end and 4 spoke 13x5 wheels.
speaking of must should could wont.
its money i am not looking to spend right now. Won't for the foreseeable future.
now if you need to get it out of your garage.... I am sure i could find a place to hide it from swmbo
Completely understand!
Just figured it was worth mentioning.
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