The rear of the car has some sort of tar smeared all over it, so I spent about an hour trying to clean it off.  There's still a lot to clean off.

Also, started removing rust from the luggage rack using WD40 and steel wool.  That job will take a lot of elbow grease, but it is cleaning up.

January 3, 2011

Today we spent about two hours working on the car.  First we attached the driver's side lower control arm and swivel axle. 

This side went much faster because we knew what to do.

Then we noticed that the brake line was pretty rusted and we decided to replace it with some new line given to us by a local Midget owner (British Car lovers are a great bunch of people). 

In order to remove the line we first removed the heater fan and hose, to make access to the PDWA connection easier.  This is what it looked like under the fan (and grime):

There's no doubt about it...this car was originally painted British Racing Green.

We ran into a small problem installing the new brake line.  The fitting on the end of the new line is smaller than the old one.  So we have to get a proper diameter fitting and attach it to the new line.  Hopefully that won't be an issue.

There was nothing more to do today as we are still waiting for more parts to arrive from Victoria British.  Tomorrow I'm going to Boston to pick up a spare Rostyle wheel to match the ones on the car.  We are missing the spare tire, but I found a matching wheel outside Boston.  They are hard to find so I want to get it before someone else does.  Also, it's also a great excuse to have lunch with my daughter, a student at Boston University!

January 4, 2011

Today I drove to Boston and picked up a number of Midget parts including the early Rostyle wheel that we can use for a spare.

<= This is the proper wheel for a 1971 Midget that I picked up in Boston today.

This is what is on the

car right now.=>

They are actually the same wheel.  The one on the right that is currently mounted on the car was repainted to look like a later Rostyle wheel.  Why?  I have no idea, but I plan on repainting the wheels on the car back to the original design.

I also picked up a few other spare parts, including a rear end, that will come in handy if we find a problem there.

January 5, 2011

Today we fixed the problem with the incorrect fitting on the new front brake line.  You can't see it in this photo, but the lower fitting on the left was a larger size than the fitting on our new brake line.

It took a trip to a local mechanic's garage for advice, then visits to two auto parts stores before we found a solution. 

The counter guy at the Poestenkill Auto Parts store went digging around his shelves in the back and came up with a adapter that fit perfectly, so we were able to install the new front brake line.

Then we removed the fuse box, voltage regulator, brake lines and wiring harness on the passenger side of the engine bay.  After spraying a lot of degreaser and using a scrub brush, we got it looking better.  Then we painted it with Hunter Green rattle can paint.  The green contrasts nicely with the yellow:

Tomorrow we will reinstall the fuse box, voltage regulator, wiring harness, etc.

Our Victoria British order shipped today so we should have it by Friday.  Then we can finish the brakes and front suspension.

January 6th - Today we reinstalled the fuse box, voltage regulator, wiring harness and brake PDWA switch.  We also installed a new brake line from the switch to the left front brake.

Then cleaned up the radiator overflow bottle:

<=Before

After=>

January 7th - Our parts arrived.

First, we replaced the passenger side motor mount.

Then we installed new front springs, ball joints, sway bar ends, bushings and brackets.

January 8th -

Rebuilt the front brake calipers, installed new front rotors, hubs, and new front brake pads.

The front suspension is finished!

Just a few small items left on the front brakes. 

The stainless steel front brake lines required a little modification so the banjo bolts would fit.

January 9th -  Today we started replacing the rear brake lines and discovered a broken bleeder screw on one of the wheel cylinders.

We are going to have to get a new one.

Then we went to work on the fuel pump, replacing the points, but ran into problems.

The threads on the new points are not right and won't fit on the old fuel pump.  

After working on it for about two hours, we decided to pack it in and order a new, electronic SU fuel pump so the owner won't have to deal with this problem again!

Finally, we rebuilt the clutch master cylinder.  At least that went smoothly!

On to February