MGB post trip maintenance and thoughts

Just a few days after I came home on April 1st, my son visited for a few days. He took the MGB for another tour up to northern Germany adding another 1000km on Maggie’s clock. When he returned it was time to do a full service on the car. Especially the brakes did not feel as good as before the trip anymore.

The MGB Owner Workshop manual covers routine maintenance. Two years ago, I created a worksheet using the tasks for the 3-, 6- and 12-month service, but altered this slightly to my needs. Typically, I do a check in spring – usually April/May – and another one in October/November. Depending on how much we drive with the MGB – I might do some additional some tasks in-between (e.g. lubricating all grease points)

But as it is now a bit more than 3 years and 23000km since the major overhaul and engine rebuild at Frontline Developments it was time to look as everything else listed in the book. Going through those, I realized that quite a few of these checks were the things I did as preparation for my trip (new spark plugs, compression test, etc). And I decided that some tasks (e.g. rear suspension stuff) will be done a bit later this year.

Most of the checks are straight forward and could be marked of the list quickly. There are however a few spots where Maggie is starting to rust. I am considering getting the entire underside dry-ice cleaned this year. Front valance and sills will need also need to be painted – adding another shade of British Raching Green to the mix.

While doing the oil change, I decided that I will get a magnetic drain plug – I have this on the Mini and Morgan – no idea why I never added it to the MGB. Just after priming the new oil filter, I realized that Moss has sent me two different sizes when I bought the spin-on oil filter adaptor. And of course – the new one was a bit too big. Luckily, I had one from MiniSpares which had the right size.

Checking the brake system was last task on my list. Last June I had uneven wear on the Mintex M1144 front brake pads. As I had just dissembled Mildred (the 1973 MGB GT) and a set of new brake calipers on the shelf. Knowing that I wouldn’t need them anytime some, I fitted them to Maggie including the inexpensive standard brake pads. Ever since I am occasionally fighting with squealing brakes. The problem was gone for a while, but at some point, on my tour it started to occur again.

To my surprise the pads and discs inspection the pads looked good to me. It was a good decision to replace the calipers last year – as the pads do not show the uneven wear like the last ones. The discs also still look good – I hope that the silicone based anti-squeal paste will address the squealing. The rear brakes very really dirty. Slave cylinders and rear pads were replaced in April 2019. The left side is bone dry and looks good. The right one is not really leaking (yet) but one end of the cylinder is a bit darker – indicating that it won’t last long before I will have an issue.

With all this out of the way, it is time to do a small summary of things I would like to change for the next long trip.

• Seats – lumbar support
  Maggie came with two pairs of seats when I bought her. The original one from 1967 and a pair from a rubber bumper MGB. The later ones which I am using right now are much more comfortable but I will look into options to add a form of lumbar support (maybe inflatable or maybe something I take out off an old office chair…)
  
• Exhaust – silencer
  While I love the sound of the Tourist Trophy exhaust system – especially on the long trip I did I started to bother me. I will look into an option to add another silencer in the middle at some point.
  
• Wheels
  I love the look of the central locking wire wheels but cleaning them after 4000km is really a pain. A set of Minilite or D-Style wheels from Realm is on my wishlist now.
  
• Interior changes
  Some form of cup/bottle holder would be nice. Something that fits a classic car or that can be folded away/hidden. I have a few ideas and will test out some options.
  
  I am unsure in which year interior light switches were added to the doors for MGBs. Maggie was built in Nov/Dec 1966 and delivered in 1967 – she doesn’t have them. And I never used the interior light before – now I know it is not working. On this journey I needed light in the footwell a few times. I am considering add some form of hidden LED under the dashboard for the future.
  
• Heater
  One problem is that the heater element inside the heater rattles sometimes. It is likely that the foam around the element has reached its end-of-life. I also noticed that the engine shakes quite a bit of low revs. As the hose is attached to the pipe on the valve cover – this causes the heater element to shake as well. I need to address this by trying to find a way to reduce the engine shake. Maybe new engine mounts are needed – maybe the additionally engine steady is a good idea.
  Either way – the hose should also not be attached to the valve cover anymore.
  
• Rear axle
  The routine maintenance should have included an oil change of the rear axle. But I decided to do a complete overhaul of the rear suspension later this year as this was not done in 2018. First step is to get the underside of the car dry ice cleaned as mentioned above. Then I will replace the rear suspension with the one from Mildred – the other MGB GT – the one I just overhauled. This is a good test if changing the thrust washers is sufficient to de-clonk the rear axle. Then will I decide what will happen with Maggie’s rear axle…