1958 MGA Coupe

bobs77vet · Dec 20, 2013

I cut the anti rattle springs although i am not sure why, they didnt look like they would hit any thing.

with a grinder and a cut off wheel

i will bend the tabs after its on the road with the real body

had little Joe make a seat bottom

hes going to have to get a pair of those skinny driving mocassins for those aircraft carrier size feet

and todays work....

made some room to work

bobs77vet · Dec 20, 2013

good day today......

looks like a good match

clean baby clean

1/2 and 1/2

plan is to change the oil pump and i see no reason to get out the engine stand

this will get scotch brited and clear coated

that my friends looks like a new pressure plate

and of course the 2nd hardened gasket

typical of an engine that has been sitting for decades

looks like originalstyle pump

new pistons

another new piston, that makes 3 new pistions and one with oil stains

cleaned up

measure this tomorrow

need to do some research on this freeze plug on why its out so far, when i got the car it still had antoifreeze in it and the radiator was full and had not split.

a good day in bob land

bobs77vet · Dec 21, 2013

well I took care of the spin on oil filter adapter, I modified the approach Lee Narjam took and only did the grinding to the filter side of the retaining nut, this allows the machined surfaces to be mated to each other

full face mask so icould see what i was doing and the final poisition was with the grinder on top paralell (sp?) to the wood

its now 3/16 and it took about 30 mins of just slow work so i didnt screw up

bobs77vet · Dec 21, 2013

had a family holiday party so my time was limitied today....pulled oil pump off and removed pressure plate.

pump came off easy

heres how you measure it

tough to hold and take a picture

the oil pump is right at the point of out of specification and will be replaced

thats pretty clean in there considering that both the throw out bearing and clutch disk show about 1/3 wear

no ridges or grooves almost looks like a new flywheel same with the pressure plate.

bobs77vet · Dec 22, 2013

so if the oil pump is just out of specs what else is going on?????

a one person show this am so this is how i wedged the crank to remove the crank nut

well that doesnt look right

so what else is going on????

pulled # 1 CR cap and this looks good the the crank has not been turned

you probably know where this is going

i think this is one of the left over front end parts it had a castellated nut on it

yeah baby thats what we are talking about

so you dont screw up

and always take two pictures of imporatant stuff......it looked really nice

on to the trans

throw out bearing pivot bolt

slightly worn clevis

looks pretty good

so heres my on the scene conclusion......some 40+ yrs ago and 10K ago they put in a new clutch,pressure plate,throw out brg and flywheel (based on a 30K mile clutch life of kids)then they drove the car until the engine started needing some help....then when it went to the shop it needed 3 pistons and this threw the budget out of whack, they replaced the 3 bad pistons and maybe the crank....cam is original and they replaced the main and con rod bearings. I know this car has good compression and i will not be taking the head off so who knows what new up there....and for some reason they had to replace the rear engine core plug

SuperBuickGuy · Dec 22, 2013

you won't pull the head? the cynic in me is laughing at you because he knows you will.... while you're in there, and while you're at it, and since it's the right way to do things.

:bump::skeptic:

bobs77vet · Dec 23, 2013

SuperBuickGuy said:
you won't pull the head? the cynic in me is laughing at you because he knows you will.... while you're in there, and while you're at it, and since it's the right way to do things.

:bump::skeptic:

nope not this time..... i have great compression and it doesn't burn oil, i dont have any reason to think theres a problem or an issue. On these cars the 1500cc is the first generation old dog and most guys upgrade to a 1600cc or the 1800cc engine. so if you are going to spend any serious engine money you would just step right up to the one of those and spend the money there.

SuperBuickGuy · Dec 23, 2013

bobs77vet said:
SuperBuickGuy said:

you won't pull the head? the cynic in me is laughing at you because he knows you will.... while you're in there, and while you're at it, and since it's the right way to do things.

:bump::skeptic:

Click to expand...

nope not this time..... i have great compression and it doesn't burn oil, i dont have any reason to think theres a problem or an issue. On these cars the 1500cc is the first generation old dog and most guys upgrade to a 1600cc or the 1800cc engine. so if you are going to spend any serious engine money you would just step right up to the one of those and spend the money there.

then you will be an example to us all

bobs77vet · Dec 23, 2013

did some more quick clean up on the trans

in case you ever wanted to know....the trans mount has a stepped outer ring

the trans mount is soaking in PB blaster i have no idea if that works with steel and aluminnum galvanic corrision but since i did this before i am more careful with trans casings,see that nice shiny area....i broke it off by accident

Sam Cogley · Dec 24, 2013

bobs77vet said:
nope not this time..... i have great compression and it doesn't burn oil, i dont have any reason to think theres a problem or an issue. On these cars the 1500cc is the first generation old dog and most guys upgrade to a 1600cc or the 1800cc engine. so if you are going to spend any serious engine money you would just step right up to the one of those and spend the money there.

So before long we're going to be seeing a bored, stroked and supercharged 1800cc in there. :bump:

SuperBuickGuy · Dec 24, 2013

I think I'd take advantage of the dissimilar metal properties and heat (MAP gas) the aluminum up to break the bond...

bobs77vet · Dec 24, 2013

when i get a chance i will link up a guys thread where he slightly modified the drive line.....this is pretty sweet

http://www.mgexp.com/phorum/read.php?2,2542209

well I didnt have any problem just work.....

hard to see but i cut and sectioned the inner sleeve with a body saw and collapsed the mount in on itself

mated the trans bracket to a socket for support and tapped the mount out

i win, remember its just metal

seems like a newer trans then should be there

cleaned

clear coated

SuperBuickGuy · Dec 24, 2013

nice, I had images of pounding that out with a BFH and having to reweld the tab back on (not that I'd ever do anything like that :bounce

bobs77vet · Dec 25, 2013

Merry Christmas what a great day today for the family..

when the boss curled up for a little snooze i beelined out to the garage for some clean work.

started by carefully examining the trans mount bushing to make sure there were not any nicks in the casing shell and there was so i took a file to those and then polished it with 600 grit paper and oil to make sure i had a really nice smooth surface, then cleaned it really well and set it out side on a block of ice with the "press socket"

came inside and "brake honed" the trans mount and made sure there were no nicks inthe outer most part of the mount and deburred it with a fine file on both sides and cleaned it with brake clean and then oiled it up. i prestaged all the tools i would need and i put on gloves so i didnt transfer any body heat

i found the pitman arm off of a corvette worked pretty well to start the process

it was a pretty good upper body work out even with the 2' long breaker bar, i had one foot on the trans base or i was just picking up the trans when i tightened the bolt

done

and Santa was very good to me all the parts i ordered on Monday to wrap the engine/trans install up were deliverd yesterday afternoon, I dont often set timeframes but the goal is have the engine in the car by sundown Sunday.

bobs77vet · Dec 26, 2013

dry fitting of the oil filter head to bend the tubing to fit

off alittle bit

just a vise and dead blow hammer

give it a little bend

done

checked specs and washed with soapy water and a bottle brush , lubed up with engine build grease

hammered down the bottom with a piece of wood and dead blow hammer on the floor

sanded and cleaned

not sure how other do this but this is what i conjured up

divine inspiration the sun shone in i did put the new tenisoner in also must have missed the photo

this really screwed with me for a moment trying to use the new one but the woodruff key wasnt long enough

didnt finish it all though before the boss came looking for me.

ready for the inner trans tunnel to get painted and an engine install

MYBAD79 · Dec 26, 2013

As always, this is some awesome work !!! I really can't wait to see this car on the road (well, photos or video) .... Lol...... You're making so much progress I wonder if you have the plates and drive it before I get this VW done.....