Switzerland!

In May I headed off to Switzerland to work for a Mechanical Engineering firm on my last practicum. The experience was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I had the chance to work with an exceptional Mechanical Engineering firm in Switzerland. Not only did I learn a lot, I got the chance to travel Europe. Thats me in the picture being taught how to make an authentic Swiss fondue.

My Mom had some relatives in Wales so I made sure to go and see them on my way home. My Mom's cousin was a great help in tracking down a few really good examples of a restored MGB.

We spotted this blue one in Wales and had the chance to talk to the owner about some of the differences in the North American car and the British one. That night, my Mom's cousin and I were talking over a few pints about the car and he suggested we get an official British "T" reg license plate for the car. A plate with a T as the final letter are reserved for cars built in 1978, the same year as my MGB. My cousin assured me that we would be able to pick one up at the wreckers the next day.

We set out in the morning to find a T-reg license plate for my MGB. After hitting a few of the wreckers we managed to find one. My cousin had brought all the tools required to remove it from the car and we headed home with the plate. My MGB back home was going to get an official British T-reg plate.

Transmission

While I had the engine out, I decided that I might as well pull out the transmission and clean it up as well. The transmission drain plug had a slight leak and had managed to coat just about every square inch of the transmission, not to mention other parts of the cars underside.

I jacked the car up as best I could and proceeded to pull out the transmision. The front of the transmission was held up by a rope and 2X4 laid across the top of the front fenders. I put a jack under the center of the transmission and proceeded to remove the transmission.

1. Remove the gearshift cover by unscrewing the 4 mounting screws holding down the cover plate.
2. Raise the rubber boot and remove the gearsift retaining plate and bolts.
3. Get under the car and remove the cable for the tachometer.
4. Remove the bolts holding the clutch slave cylinder in place and set it aside making sure you dont kink the hydraulics hose.
5. Remove the reverse light switch.
6. Disconnect the drive shaft, making sure to mark the driveshaft and the transmission so you know it will be balanced when you put it back together.
7. Disconnect the grounding strap.
8. Remove the Engine restraint rod.
9. Make sure the jack is supporting the weight of the transmission and undo the mounting bolts. There should be four of the them, don't take the cross member off, it will come out all in one piece.
10. Ease the transmission down and either pull it out on the jack (if you have the car raised high enough) or strongarm it on to the floor so you can slide it out from under the car.

I cleaned the transmission with some engine cleaner, a wire brush and an old tooth brush. Once I had it as clean as I thought I could get it, I painted it with a high heat engine paint.

The engine and transmission were ready to go back in the car, but it would all have to wait. I had gotten a job offer to work in Basel, Switzerland for my final work term. It was time to head to Europe!

Reassembly of a Classic Car Engine

Over the Spring semester of school my friend, his brother and Dad helped me to put the MGB Engine back together. I am very grateful to my buddies family for not only being my family away from home when I lived in Edmonton, but for putting up with my English Motor. Thanks Aubrey's!

We slowly but the engine back together, working weekends and evenings when we had the chance. It wasn't easy with having to be in school full time but it was a good way to relax and forget about school.

Once we got it home I set about painting it. If you look closely at the picture of the primed engine you can see the "Mexican Chromed head".

MGB Parts are in!

I got the phone call from the local MGB parts place. My order had come in! All the bearings, washers and gaskets to put the MGB motor back together. All I needed now was a new head and camshaft.

On a weekend at home I went through all the boxes of stuff that my brother in law had given me with the car and my luck was holding. In one box was a used camshaft and complete head. They both looked like they were in pretty good shape but was hard to tell with all of the caked on gunk. I packed the parts in a cardboard box along with assorted other goodies and headed back to Edmonton for school.

My friend and I took the head and camshaft into the local machine shop that the British car shop guy had recommended. They set about cleaning both heads and cams, the original parts and the ones I had brought back from home.

I got a call from the machine shop to let me know that I was in luck, one of the heads was good, and both camshafts could be used. I just told them to use the best cam, they were going to machine the lobes to provide better performance as well.

When I went to the machine shop a few days later they had told me that they had chromed the head for me. I was shocked, being a traditionalist, I couldn't believe my eyes. "Mexican Chrome" the shop guy informed me, simply put, silver paint. We had a good chuckle about that one, and still laugh about it to this day.

All the parts were in, the head and cam were machined, it was time for reassembly!

Stripping the Engine

The Engine for my 1978 MGB had been pulled from the car and was in my friends shop. With the help of my friends brother and Dad, both heavy duty mechanics, we systematically took the motor apart. I had a great book, Haynes, MGB, to follow and the four of us spent the evening and next Saturday going through the strip.

The head and manifolds had been removed so we just needed to dissemble the block. The engine was taken apart in the following order;

• Removal of the flywheel. The flywheel bolts have a tab washer that has to be bent back prior to removing the bolts. This was done with a flathead screwdriver and a hammer. The starter ring was in pretty good shape and the clutch surface showed little signs of wear.
• Removal of the oil seal retaining plate. The oil seal retaining plate had tab washers as well that had to be pushed back prior to removing the retaining plate.
  
• Removal of the engine back plate. Once the back plate was removed the oil seal could come out. Replacement of the oil seal is cheap and should be done regardless of what it looks like.
• Removal of the distributer housing. The distributor housing is held in with a plate; after removal of the plate the housing comes right out with a slight twist.
• Removal of the tappet covers and tappets. Each of the two tappet covers come off with a single bolt. Once the tappet covers are off the tappets can be removed by sticking a finger into the tappet and pulling it out. The tappets were worn and corroded, an indication of what the cam was going to look like!
  
• Removal of the water pump. The water pump pulley was removed and then the water pump bolts could be accessed. The water pump didn't want to come off and had to be gently tapped with a rubber mallet to come loose. The water pump was slightly corroded but turned well.
  

We turned the engine over so we could access the oil pan.

• Removal of the oil pan. All of the oil pan bolts were removed and the pan given a tap with a rubber mallet to break the seal.
• Removal of the oil pump. The oil pump was unbolted from the block and removed.
• Removal of the timing chain cover. The front crank bolt had a tab washer on it that had to be pushed back before removal. When trying to loosen the front crank bolt the crank just turned, a good sign!, so we stuck a 2X4 in the crank to prevent the crank from turning while we loosened the bolt. Once the bolt was removed the pulley could be removed. Next the timing chain cover was unbolted and tapped with a rubber mallet to remove it.
• Removal of the timing chain. The timing chain tensioner was removed, it showed considerable wear. Another tab washer on the large gear was pushed back and the gear was removed. The gears and chain were pulled off in one piece. Keys in the cam and crank were taken off and stored with the gears.
• Removal of the cam. The camshaft had a retaining plate that was removed. Then the cam could be eased out. The cam was in very poor shape. The lobes were almost round and deeply scored. It would have to go to the machinist to see if it could be repaired.
• Removal of the front plate. Now that the timing chain was off the front plate could be removed.

We turned the engine on its side so the pistons could be eased out.

• Removal of the pistons. The end caps were loosened and removed, it should be noted that the nuts were 12 point nuts. Once the caps were off the pistons were pushed out through the top of the motor. The sleeves had a bit of a ridge but no major scores.

We turned the motor upside down so the crank could be removed.

• Removal of the main bearing caps. The bolts on the bearing caps were removed and a puller was fitted to the caps. The puller did the trick as the caps were tight. We stamped the caps to make sure they would be put back in the right place. The bearings had little wear, as did the crank and the thrust bearings.
  
• Removal of the crank. The crank was lifted out and placed aside. It was in great shape and showed no signs of wear.
  

We made sure to label the parts and keep them together. All the small parts were put in the varsol tank for a good soak. We loaded up the block and took it to the local car wash to wash it out. It worked well, just turned the car wash to engine cleaner and it came out sparkling!

Once the parts came out of the tank they were coated with oil. We did an inventory of parts, figured out what we required, and made a trip to the local British car shop to place the order. Then all we had to do was wait for the phone call that would tell us the parts had arrived.

Pulling the Engine

In September I headed back to school and left the MG behind. I started my studies and dreamed of getting the MG back on the road. One of my friends at school suggested I bring the engine back to school after the Christmas break. His dad had a great shop to work in and would help us take the engine apart and rebuild it. Enough said, I made plans to get the motor out of the car.

The car was stored outside, thankfully the winter was mild so we wouldn't have to work in the snow. Pops, my brother and I managed to take the motor out of the car armstrong style. The head had been taken off by my brother in law, so we didn't have to bother with draining the coolant or antifreeze, it had already been done. We removed the hood and disconnected the dead battery (just in case). Then we disconnected the oil pressure gauge wire that runs to the motor and took out the distributer. We disconnected the heater control unit and then removed the starter. We figured the more stuff we removed from the engine, the lighter it would be when we attempted to yank it out. All of the Exhaust Gas Recycling equipment had been removed already so we didn't have to worry about removing the air pump or any of the associated equipment. We pulled out the radiator, we figured we might need the room and I was going to have it cleaned up anyway. We laid a 2X4 across the front fenders close to the windshield and tied a rope around the transmission, securing it to the 2X4. We loosened the engine mounting bolts and the bolts that hold the transmission bellhousing to the engine. We were ready to try pulling out the motor.

Pulling out the 1.8 litre engine by hand was a lot easier than we anticipated. By stripping the motor down as best we could we reduced the weight significantly. The three of us pulled the motor forward and it slipped right off the transmission. After catching our breath we lifted the motor over the bumper and gently put it on the ground in front of us. The motor had been freed!

Now that the motor was out of the car, all we had to do was get it out of the bush and into Pops truck. The thought of carrying the motor through the bush and lifting it into the truck was daunting so we hatched a brilliant plan. We commandeered my nephews wagon, loaded the motor into it and hauled it to the truck. The wagon strained under the pressure but luckily, didn't fall apart!

I drove the truck back to school, engine securely fastened in the back and dropped the motor off at my friends garage. My friend, his Dad and I made plans to start taking it apart that weekend.

Towing the MG Home

In late October I finished making the required payments to my sister and brother in law for the MG, so it was time to get it off their front lawn. I borrowed my Pops truck and headed off to a rental place in town and rented a 20 foot flatbed trailer; then it was off to my sisters place. I hadn't seen the vehicle in a while so was quite surprised when I pulled up to the house.

The car was in pieces. My brother in law had started taking apart the motor. The manifolds and head were off, the head showed a significant amount of burn and a couple cracks around the exhaust ports. The interior was unsalvagable, the car had spent a considerable amount of time out in the open with the roof down. It wouldn't really have mattered if the roof was up, as the roof had a couple 2 foot splits in it. The rear trunk had a serious wow in it, the result of a heavy luggage rack being installed and only the one sided trunk support to hold it up. The driver side quarter panel had been pushed in, probably by an improperly placed power pole. The paint was dead but the rest of the body was solid, the car had very little rust.

We loaded up the MG onto the flatbed and made sure it was strapped down. It look us longer to load all the extra parts my brother in law had in boxes than to load the car itself. He had purchased a complete (used) 1969 MGB front end that he was intending to install to lower the ride height of the car.

We got the car safely to my parents place and managed to park it in the bush, somewhat out of the way of regular traffic. I covered the car, probably for the first time in its life. It would be staying there for the winter while I finished school.

After unloading the car my sister made me make a deal on the purchase of the car. If I was ever to sell it, I had to sell it back to her, I could tell she still had an emotional attachment to it.

Time Machine

It was August of 1992 when my sister and brother in law were over for dinner. My brother in law had bought my sister a 1978 mgb a few years earlier for their 10th wedding anniversary. He had begun disassembling the car and after getting it all apart, decided their was way too much work to do and they needed to sell it. My ears perked up, I had always loved the car and pictured it fully restored and running, taking me all over the countryside. He wanted $1500 for the works, I wrote him a cheque.

I really had no idea what state the car was in, but I didn't care. I wanted an English sports car. My brother in law told me "you know it isn't running?", I said "yeah", my sister had been telling me all about it. We agreed to 3 cheques of $500 over the next 3 months. I had to go back to school and wouldn't be able to pick the car up until November. I arranged with my Dad to park the car at his place once I picked it up. I think he was just as excited as I was, it helps when your Pops is into restoration as well.

Introduction

Hello my name is Graham and I am the owner of a 1978 Brooklands Green MGB. I purchased the car in 1992, my first automobile purchase. The car has taught me exaclty why people who love to fix things, love MGB's. Over the last 14 years, anything that could go wrong with the car, has. There are a few resources out there for maintaining and fixing MG's and I have always found them to be quite useful. So I decided I should make my own contribution to the MG community and describe some of my own repairs, modifications, and frustrations. Oh, and to answer the question, is it running? No. I floated a valve last summer and haven't had a chance to get it running again. But stay tuned, the open road is calling and I have to get the Green Machine on the road again!