That awful colour MGB GT

[SiC]

I’ve been following this adventure on the other place. Glad you’re beginning to get some miles in. Just enjoy it now.

Sometimes it takes me time to get around to sorting stuff, but generally speaking I do eventually. Occasionally takes longer than others. Especially this car! From the month long search that kept everyone entertained* to the nearly two years where I've actually started driving it for enjoyment.

[fried onions]

If it makes you feel better, I can has done over 500 miles this weekend, mostly at 80+

Hopefully it wasn't a car over 50yrs old as apparently "I do want to use it as an everyday car, and 50 year old oily bits weren't going to make that either reliable or pleasant."

Who said that in relation to what?

[Junkman]

If it makes you feel better, I can has done over 500 miles this weekend, mostly at 80+

This is shocking!
Have you at least checked your brake temperatures every ten minutes?

[SiC]

If it makes you feel better, I can has done over 500 miles this weekend, mostly at 80+

Hopefully it wasn't a car over 50yrs old as apparently "I do want to use it as an everyday car, and 50 year old oily bits weren't going to make that either reliable or pleasant."

Who said that in relation to what?

Colc justifying changing his Pug 403 to a modern Golf diesel lump on Vulgalores Princess thread.

[SiC]

If it makes you feel better, I can has done over 500 miles this weekend, mostly at 80+

This is shocking!
Have you at least checked your brake temperatures every ten minutes?

Don't you think that's a bit excessive? I mean I was only doing it every 30 minutes.

... I did actually consider hooking up a thermocouple on the back plate and running to a multimeter in the car. But decided that I probably wouldn't as great heat transfer to the rear of the drum from the shoes to make it worthwhile and of course the drum had enough thermal mass that it would heat up slow enough to only need to stop to take measurements. Oh and that might have been too excessive to do too.

[captain_70s]

Since dealing with my heat siezed rear calipers on the Civic which ended with car being sold for parts I too am wary of hot brakes...

[fried onions]

When they begin to smell of burning is when you need pay attention.

[SiC]

So I went through all 51 pages of my Autoshite thread and come up with a list of the things that I have done or replaced on this car to date.

Ready for it?

1. 4x Barum tyres
2. Fuel flexi hoses
3. Fuel rigid pipe
4. Fuel filter (x2)
5. Fuel tank
6. Fuel tank sender
7. Fuel pump
8. Rigid fuel pipe
9. Reversing light gaskets
10. New distributor vacuum pipe
11. Battery
12. Battery box
13. Battery clamp
14. Front and rear brake flexi hoses
15. Clutch slave cylinder, pushrod and clevis
16. Engine Earth Strap
17. Brake Master Cylinder
18. Brake pushrod pin
19. Carb rebuild (all rubber seals, jets and fuel needle valve)
20. Carb throttle plates from poppet to flat
21. Carb gaskets
22. Distributor (cheapy ... needs original rebuilding still)
23. Decent condensor
24. New coil
25. Oil + filter change (twice)
26. Spark plugs (x4)
27. Oil pressure relief valve and spring
28. Rocker cover gasket (twice)
29. Rocker cover rubber washers
30. Rocker shaft
31. Oil cap
32. Front lever dampener refill and seal
33. Front upper suspension bushes
34. Lower suspension arms to Polybush
35. Lower suspension pivots
36. Anti rollbar bushes
37. Alternator
38. Alternator bulb
39. Pedal rubbers
40. Drivers seat foam and webbing (Passenger side still needs doing)
41. Radiator cap
42. Coolant
43. Wiper motor brushes
44. Steering wheel
45. Fusebox
46. Radio
47. Gearstick bush
48. Gauge 10v regulator
49. Windscreen wipers
50. Windscreen wiper arms

Whats left to fit?

• Clutch master cylinder
• Front brake rebuild:
  - Front discs + pads
  - Front calipers
• Rear brake rebuild:
  - Rear slave cylinders
  - Rear shoes
  - Rear shoe adjuster
  - Rear Handbrake levers mechanism

Probably stuff that I have forgotten too and also doesn't include any of the new hardware + small bits I have bought (e.g. the wiper gaskets or sump washers). None of it even seems excessive. Vast majority of which that has been replaced is stuff that was either broken or knackered. Stuff that can be said "Yeah thats just normal wear and tear on an old car"

Most of that list was from either Moss Motors or http://msc.parts - ever wonder how these places stay in business? You know how now. I am not going to even add that list up! I'll leave that to someone else if they so wish.

[Hooli]

You are the perfect person to buy this sort of car off...

[fried onions]

Much in that list is unnecessary overkill, but I agree also much is desirable due to age. It takes me a year from buying a car to get it up to scratch. It depends on the particular car but this usually means brake work, various gaskets and the ordinary consumables like tyres, exhausts and so on. I would never consider changing a fuel pump, tank or fuse box unless they were certainly defective.