That awful colour MGB GT

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LynehamHerc
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Re: That awful colour MGB GT

Post by LynehamHerc »

I thought so too but according to Ben it's primer:

What colour are you going for over that primer?

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Re: That awful colour MGB GT

Post by SiC »

PhilA wrote: Wed Jun 02, 2021 3:06 pm It's all them yellow cars, attracting the flies, I tell you
Insects definitely love the colour of my MGB. Always a wasp/bee/hornet sat on the car when parked up.
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Re: That awful colour MGB GT

Post by DodgeRover »

So have you figured out a knock detector yet and a way to automatically adjust the timing on the fly via a laptop plugged in as you drive? So you work out the perfect advance curve - for the current phase of the moon anyway - if you haven't got this at least roughly worked out and built on a bread board by this time next week I shall have to lower my expectations!
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Re: That awful colour MGB GT

Post by SiC »

Pulled this out yesterday to give it a run. The plan is to use it for my brother-in-law wedding to take him to the venue.

It was rather grumpy when first starting up in storage. Stalled twice when revving and a slight misfire. Smoothed out and seemed to be fine since. I imagine it was just possibly a bit too much choke and slightly flooded when trying to get it running from sitting.
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As Mrs SiC doesn't fully trust the car still, she wanted it to prove itself. So today we went down to Sidmouth in Devon to see my parents. En-route stopping off at the Haynes Museum Breakfast Meet.

So pictures first of that...
Apologies if there are any repeats. Tapatalk has a habit of messing up photos and overwriting the photo with another.

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Didn't go into the museum this time but had a gander at the Williams F1 cars on show.
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Close up of those red flashing lights on the back of the F1 cars. This amusingly looks hand soldered and not very waterproof.
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Looks much better engineered
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Workshop was open and you could see the stuff they were working on at the moment. Car park had some proper chod waiting there for their turn in being refurbished.
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Re: That awful colour MGB GT

Post by SiC »

Next up was Sidmouth.
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Then finally Lyme Regis
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Watched the Lifeboat do an emergency launch. I imagine someone got stuck walking between places on the coast with the tide coming in.



Then the 2 hour drive back. 170 miles without a hitch.

Except I decided to tighten up the boot hatch springs. Left one sheered off. Then decided in my infinite wisdom to tighten the right hand. Which sheered too 🤦

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Removed them completely as I didn't want them exploding while under tension and smashing the screen. So now the boot has nothing holding it up.
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Re: That awful colour MGB GT

Post by SiC »

I'm not usually the car washing type of person. At most a rub down with a sponge. Polishing is a very rare thing for me to do as it takes forever and it'll get dirty again anyway.

But this weekend it's my Brother-in-laws wedding and he wanted a car. I decided to take the BGT over anything else as (apart from the only working classic) I've had it long enough (over 4yrs now!) that it's pretty much a keeper. Also want to get the miles on it this year. Hopefully it won't let me down tomorrow!

Anyhow I hose it down.
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Then spent a good 3 hours polishing with T Cut original. I'm sure there are more advanced products out there and I've probably got them in the garage, but after trying on the Morris Minor I found it worked really well on cellulose paint.

After all this effort it looked like this. I won't deny, I can't tell too much difference. Auto-exposure won't be helping here either. Slightly deeper colours in person though and less of the cloudy Cellulose look.
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Then I waxed it. Cocked up here a bit as I used Collinite 476s for the first time and didn't follow the instructions. It says do a 2ft² section at a time. As the car is small, I just did the whole thing and then rubbed down after. What I didn't realise is that it flashes off pretty quickly and when it does, goes like concrete. I chose this wax as I have read it has excellent longevity and protects the paint well - for a good year apparently.

By that point it was getting dark and I was having to rub down while holding a lamp. I was fearing what it would look like in the morning but thankfully it isn't too bad. Up close you can see the milky residue but you have to look hard.

Internet says if you put another thin layer on, the fresh solvents allow you to take off excess.
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The one issue with this colour is that bugs seem to love it. Which is fine until you have product on it and they get stuck to it.
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Not fixed the boot struts yet and not sure I'll get time. Hopefully they won't be wanting a photo sat on the tailgate!
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Re: That awful colour MGB GT

Post by LynehamHerc »

I've been using that Colllinite for 6+ years or so now on the camper. It's been pretty good so far although I do do it twice a year.
It is a slog though especially with something that size.
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Re: That awful colour MGB GT

Post by Scruffy Bodger »

Great cloud reflections in that second photo.

I've been using the Bilt Hamber speed wax and it's not hard work at all as long as you don't put too much on. I've been parking the 405 under a tree off the street the last couple of weeks, there' an Albatross or Emu or something of that ilk roosting above the car judging by the crap that's been landing on it. So far, not a blemish on the paint, touch wood it carries on like that. It's also been working well on the Z after a paint problem last year during lockdown.
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Re: That awful colour MGB GT

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Stuck another coat of wax on. This time I did a small square instead of doing the whole thing. Much easier to polish off when it's slightly wet still.
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Decided to have a go fixing the boot struts.

Ground off the remaining stub.
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Chopped the end off a bolt and then welded on it on
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Spent a lot of time grinding it down to make it fit. Both so it slid into the bottom piece and also so the top could turn. I did pad out the gap with washers. Right on the edge of fitting the spring on.
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I need replacement caps as these are all broken up.
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The other side I welded the stud on while in the arm. Not sure this was the best idea as ended up having it too far out and harder to weld. Was rather difficult to not catch the arm when grinding.
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The arm itself had worn down.
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Welded on a washer. Again I buggered up as should have welded on the side less visible. Couldn't put another washer on as the gap is too wide and catches the trim in the boot. Also lopped down the stud as it was too long.
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But the boot is now holding up. Also the rattle that always used to be in the boot has gone. Still needs some fettling as when fully open the angle isn't quite right to push down to close.
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Re: That awful colour MGB GT

Post by SiC »

Wedding went well. Mrs SiC cake went down a treat. Fruit cake, cookie dough and chocolate orange, depending on the tier.
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Car looked a completely different colour now it's been polished and waxed. Rain beads off too which I believe is a good thing.
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Hit a satisfying mileage on the way back.
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But the journey was not all great. I started to get misfire and lumpy running on the travel home. Thankfully I went back roads rather than the motorway. It wasn't constant and did it intermittently. When I eased off, it wasn't as bad.

Managed to get it home. Felt a bit less power than it should have to be honest. I'm hoping that it's something simple like a loose plug, wire, vac line or similar. Kinda wondering if it's fuel starvation too.

Bit gutted its playing up as I thought I got it nailed. At least it behaved itself when it needed to most while getting me home and dry.

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Plan is to check in roughly this order:
- loose plug leads + cap
- loose plugs
- plug condition
- inside cap
- cut open/replace fuel filter
- vac line
- compression
- tappets
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