Patience required

The weekend started with a bit of research on LED lights for classic cars. A while ago I switched to LED headlights on the Mini. First, I had the Apollo bulbs from Steveston Motor Company. LED headlights make a huge difference in the dark compared to the standard H4 bulbs and certainly add security. Unfortunately, the Apollo bulbs are not road legal. Therefore, I switched to the Osram Nightbreaker H4-LED when I saw that they are approved to the Mini.

As Miffi turns 30 this month (well actually 31 – Miffi was sold and registered first in 1992 but was built in 1991) – I need to present it to the German TÜV (our MOT check). While making the appointment for later this month, I had a chat with the inspector. He pointed out that the Osram LED approval is only for a certain headlight-insert. Miffi has the original Lucas headlights and the ECE number is not the required one. By coincidence the broken headlight I took of Mildred (the MGB GT) has the correct number: E11-0035. Turns out that this is a Wipac Quadoptics Series 397 – used in a wide range of cars. In order to pass the inspection without hassle, I ordered a set of Wipac from AES.

On Saturday Stephan,the owner of the paint and body-shop I work with, finally had time to inspect both MGB GT bodyshells. Just as a quick look back: Mildred’s bodyshell revealed many bad welds, rust and metal that needs to be replaced. Initially, I thought that it is so bad, that I am better of getting a replacement shell. I found one back last December. However, it is also far from perfect, but it requires significantly less work. Nevertheless, I could just not dump Mildred’s shell. When Mildred’s heritage certificate finally arrived, along with previous MOT information – I saw that the car has still the original engine, gearbox and rear-axle. All numbers match and the last failed MOT in 2017 was at 82,242 miles – which I believe to be the total milage for this car.

Of course, Stephan said that Mildred’s shell can be fixed – it is just going to cost more and will take more time. This led to the decision not to dump Mildred’s bodyshell and essentially build two MGB GT. Mildred will the a long term project with the intention to keep it as original as possible. The “new” (replacement) bodyshell will be an entire new project on it’s own. Drumroll please for the name: Hello Project Molly !!!! More on Molly in another post.

I also started to prepare two sets of MGB bumpers plus the old Morgan bumpers. It will be interesting to get the quote for the overhaul and I already fear that financially it might be stupid. A new MGB GT bumper cost ~250€. The ones for the Morgan are harder to get and far more expensive. I currently don’t plan to drive the Morgan with the bumpers – but want them in good shape in case I make up my mind.

Today, even more patience was required. I spent the entire day working on the Morgan wiring. With the position of the MTA fuse and relay boxes set, I started by adding purple wires for the PIN 30 of the Micro-Relays. Those will be connected to the “power distribution” fuse box I got from Amazon. A new 6mm brown cable going to the startermotor along with the existing one will handle more current than needed.

One important change I want to make is to add a relay and overwrite switch for the fan. The old wiring had a brown cable to an inline-fuse, then purple going to the fan. The fuse was located close to the exhaust manifold – not ideal anyway. To replace this I needed to unwrap pretty much the entire loom. One thing leads to another and because I am also adding an igition relay more and more things have to be changed. Tomorrow, I will need to order more cable colours that I don’t have in stock yet or anymore. I will take a few more days before I will finish this task….