Hi Mike, You are making amazing progress. A couple of questions, How much trouble did you have removing the large phillips screws that hold the field coils. What did you use to remove them, and are the phillips screws right hand thread? Thank you Frank
Hi Frank, hope you are well. Those big Phillips head screws are extremely tight. I needed a few days of penetrating fluid, then a BFH on a manual impact driver. The yoke is extremely tough so no worries about hurting it, but dang... it needs some serious wacks. You can use those in reverse to tighten with a heavy hammer blow and thats what it took to bed them well enough to fit the commutator without issue. No subtleties with these. Yes, they are right hand thread... nothing funky about them other than they are tight...
Oh, I would add that the key is to make sure that the bit is the largest size so it stays engaged into the bolt and not back out and start stripping. The heavy hammer blows does keep it nicely engaged in the screw head so I never had any issues.
Wow that is such a nice job. How did you source all the parts? I have several as well I guess I need to figure out how to check them to see if they are good!
@@pucman1 Hi JP... most of the bits you need are easily sourced. The bearing came from Amazon, just type in the bearing code ($18 for 2). The brushes came from Moss and while I got a friend to supply the bushing, that is also available from Moss. The cotton wrapping came from eBay. Search for Egyptian Field Coil Wrapping. I bought the non-egyptian 3 pack of cloth for $15ish plus shipping. Testing whether they work even a little is easy... jump the two field coil leads, put battery negative there, then positive on one of the ears (positive earth) and it should spin like a motor. If it rattles and turns erratically then take apart and replace bearings and bushings. The link in the description gives you all you need to do it step by step.
Mike would you be willing to give me your email address? I’m ready to start the post and sill repair but have some questions regarding leveling the frame in advance.
The ‘OCT 1’ stamping inside the shift mechanism housing is interesting, seems a bit superfluous though given it’s hidden when assembled! I’ve tended to fit reverse switches (the overdrive ones are external to the casing) on the small chassis cars with just a bit of hylomar (non setting gasket compound if it’s not a brand common in North America) which seems to do fine given it’s only splash oiling at the top of the casing.
@@mikeg5877 same, I do like finding the date codes for the little clues on the car’s (or at least part’s) history. Although maybe it is Oct 1 AD, a reeeeeallly early TR gearbox :D
Hi Roy... the current plan is to mount the engine to a spare chassis and test run it there. This will happen in the Fall. Hopefully the OD gear box will be complete by then and the whole drive train can be tested.
@@mikeg5877 .....thanks for the reply, yes a good idea to test before committing to the frame. I take it from your accent you are Canadian, a couple of guys I follow on YT post regularly, Elin 'Rusty beauties' and chef tush 'tush mahal' both are triumph enthusiasts, and from your neck of the woods, though obviously Canada is just slightly bigger than the UK so you may not be that close.
Glad you were able to get the plugs in with the shortened hex wrench. I think your fuel pump top cover isn’t oriented properly Mike. The bowl should be on the other side of the pump I believe. Looking great!
The crank does look pretty sexy :D With the head and block skim, especially with the valves requiring shimming, you may find you need shims under the rocker pedestals to keep the rocker geometry right (20 thou to compensate for your 8+12 skim would be my thought). I think that’s the right move in this case, but check me on it as I’ve only ever built one engine so can’t claim super expertise!
Thanks for suggestion... talked to my machine shop and he said if the shims are readily available it wouldn't hurt to do it, but he also didn't think that was enough to make much of a difference... as long as the valve lash was properly set he thought it would be fine.
Hi Mike, the pin that the bell crank pivots in is silver soldered to the mounting plate. I replaced the pin on mine and added a bronze bushing to the bell crank and now a buttery smooth pivot. Good luck with your repair. Frank
I’ve never opened a starter that looked that good inside! Do the rest of the donor engine parts suggest a fairly low mileage too? I’d seen slip plate, and considered it when I redid some Herald/Spitfire manifolds a few years back, but I seem to remember it was either unavailable or only as a particularly expensive import over here. Looks good though.
when I purchased the car (pre-covid) it came with 25 boxes of mostly trashed bits. 3 new style, 1 old style bullet, and at least 5 generators. Only the starters have been a surprise. Most of the rest have been junk parts. The car did not come with engine or transmission...
Precisely John, it sprays just like a paint and with gently buffing, it forms a slightly shiny cast grey. If you mar the surface it is trivial to correct with another quick spray and buff. Of course, how it holds up to rusting in the longer term is the key question. Farmers use it to lubricate grain chutes and such... All the best to you!
Very shiny! What did you do to clean up the bodies? I’ve got the Strombergs from my GT6 to deal with soon and, while looks are not my highest priority in the engine bay, they do look disgusting right now…
I started with ultrasonic cleaner and some dish soap, then moved to a Dremel polishing kit... essentially cotton bats that I ran with polishing paste. GL with GT6 project!
Greetings John, Hope you re well. I have not yet done so. When I am done man-handling it, my plan was to wipe it down with kerosene, then spray a coat or two of clear. This is my first time doing a polish on these... think this will do the trick? Thanks Mike
Oof, you’re lucky this is a separate liner engine, that piston would’ve been extremely hard work otherwise… The Midget looks fantastic, I love the colour, is it an original one? Heard you mention being near Durham NC in an earlier video, I happen to live near the original Durham in the U.K.! Kudos again on the effort you’re putting in to the panel work on the TR, it really does look fantastic.
Many thanks Red! Yes that is the original color of Aconite. MG had some kooky colors in the early 70s in an attempt to enhance flagging sales. Midge is exiting a 25 year restoration so it may be 95% complete for a while yet as i continue to find new things to improve. Thanks also for the kind words on the TR bodywork. I do take pride in doing it to the absolute best of my abilities. I will return to bodywork when its time to put the midget away for the season. I cant even imagine how many curse words i would have discovered if the i couldnt have just cut the liner off. It was really fused on there.
Good on you for learning to make that really complex panel. Shame the commercial repair piece was so poor. I don’t really get why anyone bothers selling panels that’re so wildly wrong. I’ve had my fair share of them too… Obviously price, but for an exterior panel like that rear valance who’d fit that! It’d look such a mess.
I restored one of those . After install of the crankshaft I noticed ( thankfully ) the frount of the crankshaft was bent ( where the pully goes ) . Owner of the TR 3 had a extra . Beautiful restoration. Another thing , unknown to me the center main jet , if removed , IS NOT SELF CENTERING. So if you remove , really unesscary , the needle will drag an stick the slide. I still have the special tool I made to center the main jet. Worked like charme. Also , took me some time to work out that the car is positive ground. Temp would climb , an keep climbing if you were not throughly moving down the road. Not enough radiator.
Thanks David... started dissasembling the first set of carbs, and very rough shape so will need completely strip down... thanks for heads up on the self-centering bit.
@@cheftush shoulders are improving. holding my arms out in front of me is no longer agony. pretty steady PT with inclined press, internal and external rotation resistance work has been key. MY PT guy told me no straight up lifting, ever... Told me my pitching career is over! 🤣 My son is done with his pitching career, so no more catching help needed LOL
@@mikeg5877 great! Glad you are feeling better. It’s tough having bad shoulders to be sure! I was thinking that doing the engine work would be a good break for them. Just get your buddy to torque the head bolts. 😉
Great advice using the blocks, I’ll try the same as my 1964 Sprite leans to one side for some unknown reason. I purchased new leaf springs here in the UK thinking it would cure the problematic lean but it didn’t. Glad to say the ride height did remain the same as original, so I wonder if your springs are a different type? I have seen midgets here in UK with incorrect high ride height, so maybe there are different springs out there. Great video thanks.
Hi Pete, the car always had the rear bulkhead, what I'm calling the interior entrance to the trunk/boot, missing and mangled in some way. Some young punk I used to know additionally cut holes for big speakers in it. Sounded great. I have since purchased a new interior panel kit from Rimmer Bros, and that came with a closing panel for that section. It is now fitted, but as you know it is cosmetic and not at all structural. Are you implying that there is structural weak spot that should be reinforced some way? I am pretty sure I could cross brace that opening without affecting the fit of the panel, but was unaware that was important. Thanks!
Hi Mike, I’m no expert so can’t comment on whether that panel is structural. It’s many years since I owned a Midget and can’t remember if that panel was metal or if it was part of the structural bodywork. I’ve never seen a car with it removed and was surprised to see how much space it freed up although items in the trunk need to be tethered safely. You car looks a beautiful example and the colour is stunning.@@mikeg5877
Another interesting video about fixing the gaps. I showed my wife one of your more involved videos and she said “ Do we (ha ha ha ‘we’) have to do all of that!”. I quickly told her (truthfully) “No, we don’t”. Darn happy about that. Thanks for the videos and Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays.
Ahh yes, the royal "WE" I know that one, especially when there are a million leaves on the ground... WE need to rake leaves this weekend ;-) I am glad you are enjoying the series, I consider it a large collateral benefit of this project for dad.
Hi Twin! Chopper pilot? Turns out my dad only enjoys this with and through me. When he could travel we spent a lot of time on my MG. Good times together. Now he is house bound so this is my way of opening up his world a little bit. Hope you enjoy the channel. It is essentially a 1 way conversation with my dad 🤷🏻♂️
Not a chopper pilot, I have a 1953 Hudson with the “twin-h” option. It’s great that you are able to share your project with your dad this way. The rest of us get to benefit as well! Keep up the great work.