MGB Front End In

One weekend home from school I picked up all the parts for the front end and started putting it back together. I cleaned and painted all the front end parts individually, including sandblasting and painting the 1969 cross member. I rented a spring compressor from the local auto parts store and put the springs back in. Once the cross member was rebuilt, I put it back in the car.

Things were running smoothly, until I determined the steering column was too long! Because I was fitting the car with a 1969 front end cross member to lower the car ride height, the steering column would no longer fit. Another delay. I managed to take apart the steering assembly before I had to head back to school.

Pops took the steering column into the local machine shop for me, with the new dimensions. They ended up shortening the shaft by removing a section out of the middle of the shaft.

Another weekend home and we put the steering assembly back together and in the car. Pops had manufactured a couple of steering column adjusters out of a design in the MGB Workshop manual and they worked great. We managed to setup the steering without any problems. Now, the engine.

Front end rebuild

After I got back from Switzerland I had a couple weeks before I had to be back at school in Edmonton, plenty of time to get the front end rebuilt. I eased the front end out of car by doing the following.

1. Remove the front tires, it makes it easier to remove the front crossmember.
2. Under the nuts holding the front anti sway bar to the wishbone arm. These may be tight, you will have to use a tie rod splitter to get them apart.
3. Remove the steering rack by undoing the u-joint closer to the steering wheel and undo the four mounting bolts.
4. Undo the brake line union nuts and free the brake lines.
5. Place a jack under the cross member and undo the four crossmember mounting bolts.
6. Ease the cross member assembly down and away from the car.
7. Inspect the mounting pads, they may need to be replaced.

I took the whole assembly into the local MG shop and had them look it over. They removed the springs and took apart the kingpin assemblies for me. After inspection we determined the shocks needed to be replaced and the kingpins needed to be redone. More shop time before I would get the car on the road, it was looking like next summer would be when I could finally drive it.