An update....... and real progress

Its been so long that I have forgot where I left off last time.

Anyways, the thermostat sent back to the MGOC ( and oil gauge pipe) that got lost in the post is now resolved.

After a little windfall from the good old NHS Bursary dept I purchased from MechSpec

:- thermostat housing ( £ 5.50 and second hand, new from MGOC is £16.00)

brass plug to suit, I think I must have thrown the "saved" one away or can't find it.

Top and bottom water hoses,

braided oil gauge pipe with unions,

braided fuel pipe ( pump to tank ).

Unfortunately fuel pipe and brass plug for thermostat was not in stock so I had to wait a few days for them to be posted. This gave me a few days of good weather during the recent Easter break to crack on since Uni had 2 weeks off.......yipee.

During this period I managed to sand down the front RH lower wing where I welded on a large repair panel. I even added more filler and sanded down again to get a reasonable finish. I really hate filling and sanding. There is still a little more work to do on the wing but this requires its removal so I left it to get on with the fuel tank, hoses and heater.

The heater required a brackett at the base welding. It opens/closes a flap to direct the hot air ( Do MG's have hot air ???) It also needed the foam insulation for the mini radiator in the heater body and specially shaped foam to insulate the two pipe exits from the heater.

The welding part was easy, the foam bits not so. I had run out of money to buy these from Mechspec or elsewhere and was thinking of visiting my lovely towns Fri morning market. I know there is a " Foam Stall" frequented I guess by budding upholsterers and bedmakers, but he was not there. recession and all that. So in a dutiful fit of Saturday morning shopping in town I did my usual wander around Wilko's.

Below is a view of the unmolested heater.

Where the cable disappears to is the brackett that needed welding. The cable goes into a hard ( but very perished ) shaped foam seal. The rest of the foam seals were on the base and around the inside body to insulate the mini radiator. After lots of cleaning and ages of rooting around the shed, swearing and a pop to ma in laws for wifey's soldering iron ( Don't ask )

So, a fantastic piece of inspiration saw me buy 3 x cleaning sponges for 32p each , one "tuff" sponge for £1.35 and 4 x jubilee clips for 64p total . Grand Total = £ 2.95. Some careful cutting with a very sharp craft knife and the heater was almost sorted. A coat of gloss black on the front face ( used wifey's Black gloss Acrylic spray from one of her thousands of arty stores, .i.e plastic carrier bags, secreted in hiding places around the house)

See the finished attempt below.

This pleased me enormously as I must have saved a fortune in overpriced foam seals from the MGOC. And And. I remember the heater was very very difficult to remove due to the "toughness" of the two pipe special sponge, so it should all go back together much more easily.

Another good piece of progress was the fuel tank. It had been sort of covered up by the side of the shed for a few years and I expected it to be beyond repair and full of pinholes.

No way............It had been undercoated from new and after a good clean up with the electric wire brush it looked almost new. Only one tiny pinhole on the top surface near the filler spout. I remedied this with a good spot of Araldite and a complete coating of red lead plus the remainder of the Black acrylic spray liberated from wifey's store.

Now its stopped raining I'm hoping to fit all this lot in readiness for buying a battery next week. Fill up with the correct oil, add water, connect fuel line and bingo...fun time starts.

Yipee, its my Birthday treat so then I may actually get to fire her up. I think that is where the title of the blog comes from since this part may be the most frustrating.

More soon.

p.s forgot to add I cleaned up bonnet ( top and bottom) and sprayed it and RH doorskin + RH wing ( again) with grey primer

Much to tell.................but later today !! Watch these first whilst I'm busy

Meanwhile............................here's the sexiest thing to have ever been invented.............!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Vk4RiEMLY8


.............................................................And the funniest

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dpZ4BPsLZI

More very soon