Rumpelstiltskin the Healey 100-4

Nice!!

The car has to travel about an hour back to its home. With delivery date rapidly approaching, an uncertain weather window past this week, and no time for a thorough test drive cause I have to work( I want at least an hour) I had to hire a test driver to flog it around.  It's kinda breaking my heart!

Work ?!?!?? you have a regular job? I was under the impression that  you're a man of leisure with unlimited resources/projects  to keep you safely behind the fence of the compound.

Some days.....

I actually hired a guy to drive this car for over an hour yesterday so that the sign-off would go smooth. No issues at all. "Easiest $50 I ever made".

So the owner and I head off this afternoon and the car is running great. He is happy. 

The we run out of fuel.  Gauge ( that I made sure worked) somehow went from 1/4 to empty. 

Got dark by the time I got gas delivered. 

Headlights did not want to come on. Yeah...those same lights that worked so well in the shop!!!!

Anyways, owner was happy with the way it drove and agreed that after clearing the beer account he wanted a few more details attended to. So it looks like the Molvo is going to be pushed back another few weeks, and the hour drive to deliver is going to be done in what could be very cold conditions.

Is the heater  at least functioning and is that on the list details?

759NRNG said:

Is the heater  at least functioning and is that on the list details?

Nope.

No side window.

No top.

Gonna pretend it is a snowmobile.

Brrrrrr.......goggles........snowmobile gloves......long flowing scarf......Fur trapper hat.....quite the fashion statement. Worthy of some on the road shots..eh?

Okay ..............that's good fer now......where's the goggles?

So, after that nice warm fall drive, we take a small step back. Upon inspection, I could see some minor fluid weeping from the RH side of the cylinder head. The damn thing went so far as to blow a bubble at me!

So this has had to happen...

And a quick check with a straightedge and a light behind the ruler shows this:

So, I think I know why it was weeping. Sadly, this will invoke the cost of another oil and filter change, new coolant, assorted engine gaskets, the cost to plane the head ( block is good thank god) and about 5 hours of time. Mentally, I was ready for this to go home.

When I listened to the ytube of it running it just didn't sound quite 'right'......oh well more $$$$ in the beer kitty. 

You know, if you keep finding problems you may be able to afford those Fox coilovers.  Just sayin.

The head is back minus 0.0100" of its lower surface. New upper gasket kit should be here on Saturday so that can start going back together.

The wiring. What can I say about the wiring other than I was trying to ignore it. I prayed that the all-white wire home-made harness would work as it was intended. As seen in a previous pic, it seemed like my prayers would be answered. Until the test drive. Headlights failed. And the brake-lights.  Can't really expect a person to drive without lights, so I investigated.

First bone of contention was that all of the circuits were being fed off of one 50 amp fuse. Hardly any point in having a fuse at this point, but fairly common thing for the Brits to do. So this happened

Every circuit gets itw own 15 amp fuse. Even added a fuse to the fuel pump circuit that was not fused from the factory. Go figure?! The red feed wire is two gauges thicker than what was feeding all of these circuits before. And miracle of miracle, everything worked after this.

For a short while...

The front headlights stopped working, first on high beam and then on low. Weird. I mean what are the chances of both burning out at the same time after a 27 year period of doing nothing.

Pretty good it would seem. They were burned out and I could see smoke residue inside. Seems that the vacuum is not guaranteed to last forever.

Neither is the wiring as this is what it looked like inside the bulb housings

I did not remove that tape. The connector in the DS just fell apart before I even go the light out.

At this point, if it were my car I would be looking for a Paynless aftermarket harness and re-do the whole car.

I would tend to agree. As berked up as the wiring in, gutting it and starting over may be less time consuming.

And the owner has responded how to this latest dilemma? Full speed ahead .....Git R Done!!!

http://www.britishwiring.com/category-s/84.htm

This is where I got the harness for my Bugeye from.  Looks like good stuff (I havent installed it yet)

Apexcarver said:

http://www.britishwiring.com/category-s/84.htm

 

This is where I got the harness for my Bugeye from.  Looks like good stuff (I havent installed it yet)

sorry NH but pete what was that MAdMax mashup your were werking on this past summer and wassup?

759NRNG said:

Apexcarver said:

http://www.britishwiring.com/category-s/84.htm

 

This is where I got the harness for my Bugeye from.  Looks like good stuff (I havent installed it yet)

sorry NH but pete what was that MAdMax mashup your were werking on this past summer and wassup?

The Molvo or the Crashed MGB?

I lose track.

If you mean the Molvo, then the poor thing is feeling neglected and it will continue until this goes home. There is at least a year of work left on that project according to the initial plan and maybe two years if I keep working on visitors.

The MGB is back with its owner and coming along quite nicely. It should be a rolling painted car by early next spring. The goal is to be driving before the summer of 2018 is over.

She is going back together again!

Got the head back after a 0.010" haircut so it should sit flat on the block. Even though it passed a fluid leak-test when I flooded the combustion chambers with fluid, I went ahead and lapped the valves in just because I was there.  Got it all bolted back on before I ran out of week-end.

Cause nothing is ever easy...noticed a leak in the head/header gasket when I pulled the head off. So, put some sandpaper down on the flat steel table and spend a bit of time running the flange over the paper. Bit concerned about the exhaust manifold flange. If 15 more minutes on the paper does not do it, might have to go find a mill. The guy who fixed the hub would make short work of this, but I would really like to get it done and delivered next week-end. I hate these types of decisions points where I know the correct answer but it does not fit with my needs or the clients pocketbook.

Fun bit of sidewhow was to cobble up a spring compressor that would work for this engine. Bit of tube origamy with the grinder and a bit of the molten wire stuff and this results. Worked so well I don't want to take it apart so it can be a C-clamp again!

Something had to be done about the one exhaust flange cause I was not confident that it was goint to hold up. My contact with the Mill was a week out on time, so berkeley that, out came the file and I went over all the flanges and finished with some more sanding on the steel table.

Bit more convincing.

In reply to NOHOME :

Does the head already have hardened exhaust valve seats?  I've read in numerous places that if not, lapping the valves will remove the "cushion" that was created by leaded gas back when the engine was new and then the valves will pound themselves into the head. The end result being in a couple of thousand miles, you'll be yanking the head again for a full rebuild.

Ian:

There seems to be valve seat inserts. I assume they are hardened.

Did a liquid test to see if the the valves leaked before I pulled it all apart. Seemed to be good but when I laid eyes on the seats I made the executive decision that some lapping compound would be a good investment.

Nothing on this car is pretty or pristine, but I need it to be "Good enough" and "Safe".  

If past history is any indication, 1000 miles might be more than this car will ever see under current stewardship.

Deja-vue anyone?

Please let this be the last time I have to pull this apart!  Fill with fluids and fix the E36 M3ty headlight plugs and it should be ready to go.

The wipers made a very brief and unexpected return for about two swipes last night. But then went AWOL again and since all the wiring is pro-bono work, I am loath to go down that rabbit hole.

The most frustrating thing about this car is that it needs special wrench sizes. I suspect that most of the fasteners are Witworth and that is not a tool-set I own. You can get by with metrics and luck, but it gets old.

(me the owner) uhh this has turned out way better than i expected........what do you think about the wipers? 

NOHOME said:

The most frustrating thing about this car is that it needs special wrench sizes. I suspect that most of the fasteners are Witworth and that is not a tool-set I own. You can get by with metrics and luck, but it gets old.

You can use SAE wrenches on a lot of the more common Witworth sizes in addition to the metrics.