Hard to believe that five months past, since we assembled Mildred's engine. A few open tasks and issues prevented the final completion. The biggest problem was that I bought ARP main bearing studs instead of bolts. The 18V engines need those as otherwise the oil sump cover does not fit. Although I know that it... Continue Reading →
MGB Oil pump and other stuff
After last weeks engine rebuild session it took me a while to clean up everything. The only thing missing to finish the engine are the ARP main bearing bolts. As mentioned last week I mistakenly bought ARP studs. These are used for the 18GB engines - 18V requires bolts. A set is ordered and should... Continue Reading →
Mildred’s 18V581 engine rebuild – Part 3 – Up’s and Down’s
This full post is going to be a long read. The TLDR summary is: After a number of problems the engine is about 85% complete. A few parts need to be changed and ordered - a first test firing might be still a few weeks away. But if you want all details you need to... Continue Reading →
Mildred’s 18V581 engine rebuild – Part 2 – but not quite as expected
Finally! It took much longer than expected to get the parts of Mildred's engine back. The first part of the engine rebuild was the disassembly back in February 2024. The company I worked with sent the parts to an external machine shop in Aachen. Expected completion was about 6-8 weeks. Calls in April, May and... Continue Reading →
Engine Test Rig complete & other things
With just a few hours in the garage every week, it felt like I did not get much done in November. But looking back at the pictures I took - quite a few things happened. First was setting up my new welding machine. There is not too much to say about it. It does what... Continue Reading →
Mildred’s 18V581 engine rebuild – status update / Engine Stand
When we took Mildred's engine apart back in February, the plan was that it would go to the machine for 4 to 6 weeks and get the assembly done in June. My intention was to get it completed, attach it to the Mazda 5-speed gearbox I bought last year and change Maggie's engine out. This... Continue Reading →
2024 MGB Spring Service
The days are starting to get longer and it is not as cold anymore. Last week I read a good blog post over at AnnoyingLittleCars. That reminded me to complete my tasks list for Maggie's spring service. As mentioned before, I currently have not a lot of time and therefore I don't post about the... Continue Reading →
Mildred’s 18V581 engine rebuild – Part 1 – disassembly.
The decision to do a bit more than an buff-up on Mildred's engine was made a bit more than a year ago. After cleaning, painting and appling all new seals to the engine I started working on an engine test stand. But I did not fit a radiator at this point - so the only... Continue Reading →
Lejog 2023 trip report – part 1 of 3
An eventful, intense and exciting journey to and through the UK has come to its end. Trying to share and put across the experience and motivation to do the LeJog classic car rally to others is difficult - it is somewhat crazy, and it may very well be that a lot of people cannot related... Continue Reading →