Coronation weekend

The sunny weather on Saturday morning was a good opportunity to get Miffi, Maggie and Moggi cleaned up – just before King Charles III was formally crowned. Maggie (the MGB) had quite a bit of dirt on the sills and in the rear arches from the Highland Games last week. The rusty spots on the sills get worse every month. She needs to hold on for a bit until Mildred (the other MGB GT) is done. As daily driver Miffi (the Mini) has not received as much attention lately. Someone caused the little dent on a parking lot in February but this has been fixed last month. I was surprises how expensive this was – fortunately, the insurance covers it all. A new rear plastic wheel arch has been ordered and should arrive soon.

Miffi has two sets of 12inch 4.5J Minilite wheels. Two years ago, I bought a used set with cheap 145/70R12 summer tires. Now, with in their sevnth years – they really didn’t have much grip as I noticed during the driver training last year. The 165/65R12 Yokohama A539 tires were on my wish list ever since I rebuild Miffi. It was also a good time to have the Minilite wheels freshly powered coated. While balancing the wheels we noticed that one wheel is completely crooked. For now, I have I mounted in the rear and will switch it with the spare wheel (which is being sorted right now)

It is hard to describe how much of an upgrade this change is. The ride comfort in the Mini is soooo much better. It is a proof that the tires are an essential part of the suspension. I also used the opportunity to check and grease up the entire suspension – as well as the brakes. Another issue that I found and sorted was a slight gasoline smell. Turns out the rubber vent hose from the fuel tank has failed. Replacing it was easy and the smell is gone now.

Next my daughter and I did a short test run in Moggi before I take things apart again. This was good because we found a couple of more issues. First up – the temperature gauge is still acting funny. Reading 130° Celsius on the gauge is worrying. The temp sensor on the Revotec electrical fan starts at 90°C. As I added a switch last time, I was able to test it and it works fine.

So, either the gauge needs calibration or the new temp sensor I bought last time does not have the correct resistance. I will also double check that the voltage regular is putting out 10 Volt. A bigger problem is that the starter motor does not work, when the engine is hot and the Revotec running. Last time I has the wiring harness out I already thought about add a starter relay. As I just got a new Lucas SRB 113 for Mildred a few weeks ago, I will use this for the Moggi now. Today I also decided to replace the 44Ah battery with a 60Ah one – matching the alternator I just put in.

As it started to rain, I moved all cars back in. With a bit of delay, I watched the Coronation live stream and tuned into a fitting playlist on Spotify. Oddly, this helped me focus to clean up the mess on my workbench where countless screws, bolts and other stuff accumulated over the last couple of weeks. Besides of the Mildred’s engine – I have all MGB parts in the left garage now – helping me to focus on the Morgan tasks at hand in my main garage.

Today started with carefully taking most of the newly fitted interior out again. It was a good decision to have all carpets made removable. Same can be said about the dashboard wiring connectors – only takes a few min to get this out as well. This allowed me to tackle the passenger door issue. I prepared three shims out of 1mm, 1.5mm and 2mm thick metal. As I did the same drill last Tuesday night – it only took 90 minutes to get to the following result:

Modifying the dashboard was on my list anyway. The wiper stalk could not be mounted last time, as the edge of the dashboard was little bit too low. To make the old dashboard fit, I also lowered the steering wheel a bit last time, by adding a few washers as shims. Removing those results in a 17mm higher center point. Space much needed as the new seat rails are 60mm instead of 50mm high – like the ones from the Morgan factory. I jacked up the front of the car to verify that the steering is still moving freely after the change – this it does.

New seat rails are necessary otherwise the back of the seat scratches the rear leaf spring cover. The entire steering column also was adjusted another 4mm to the left. Now it is perpendicular to the dashboard – marked on the indication stalk cover showed that this was an issue. At least the door can be ticked off my list now – the dashboard will be a bit more work…