Tanny's 1967 MGB GT

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tannyo
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Re: Tanny's 1967 MGB GT

Post by tannyo »

Steve Simmons wrote:Funny how the little things can be so fun. I pulled over once to take a photo of 77777 in my Y-Type.

I do however refuse to believe that you alone put 100K miles on your car already. ;)
When I got the car it had 69,017 miles on the odometer. That makes over 30,000 miles since March 2012.
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Re: Tanny's 1967 MGB GT

Post by tannyo »

You would think that with all the money they have in Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, and Brentwood that the roads would be in good shape. But no, I think they are third world. Lots of bad repairs and pot holes. After 47 years, the right front spring broke, twice.
broken-spring1.jpg
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Stewart was up in Goleta at Moss and bought the springs and delivered them. Saved me a day of car rental. Now the car not only rides high in the back (still too high) but all around. I'm ready to go 4 wheeling.
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Re: Tanny's 1967 MGB GT

Post by Steve Simmons »

That spring has been ready to go for a while. Look at the internal rust!
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Re: Tanny's 1967 MGB GT

Post by Larry Kluss »

Yes, it definitely looks like it's been cracked for some time. I'm glad the spring mishap did not cause any damage to your pretty silver paint work, or yourself, Tanny.
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Re: Tanny's 1967 MGB GT

Post by VWNate1 »

OUCH ! .

This is why you should buy your springs from Eaton , they have a direct sales site and are not overly expensive .

Glad no one was hurt .
-Nate
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Re: Tanny's 1967 MGB GT

Post by Stewart »

How high is the front riding? Hows the ride compared to the old ones?
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Re: Tanny's 1967 MGB GT

Post by Steve Simmons »

There are two different springs. Make sure you have the right ones!
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Re: Tanny's 1967 MGB GT

Post by tannyo »

Back in May, Malcolm replaced my rear springs with springs from Moss. My car Road high in back like a hot rod. And it rode so rough I think I may have lost some fillings. Here's a picture of the replacement springs from Moss because the springs they first sent us were bad. Notice the spring in front is the new spring. I wonder how many people bought bad springs?
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Re: Tanny's 1967 MGB GT

Post by marankie »

My experience with my 73 MGB-GT springs is as follows.
When I got my car, the rear was sagging, and lower compared to the front. As part of a complete suspension rebuild, which included all urethane bushings and rebuilt shocks, I installed Moss red up rated springs. Theses are shorter than stock, an brought the front end lower to match the "sagged" rear end. Thus the car is lowered about one inch all round which promotes handling. The lower front end also results in mild negative camber, which also promotes handling. The whole package works pretty well, with sharp turn in and minimized under steer. The ride is still very except able for a GT car. Also believe it or not, fitting of a smaller 15" steering wheel made the car more responsive and controllable in brisk motoring.
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Re: Tanny's 1967 MGB GT

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Last Tuesday when I went down to the bottom floor of the parking garage at work, I discovered that my rear bumper had been hit. I pulled the bumper out from the body, but the bumper was bent. There is a little damage behind the bumper and there was no note. Stewart purchased a Moss bumper for me when he was at Moss in Goleta and I installed it this evening.

I kept the old bumper and may have it fixed in the future because the Moss bumper is not as thick and has a slightly different shape.
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Re: Tanny's 1967 MGB GT

Post by Steve Simmons »

If the previous bumper was thicker than the Moss one, then it is almost certainly an original and worth saving. The Moss bumpers are the closest thing to original, but still not quite as thick.
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Re: Tanny's 1967 MGB GT

Post by Stewart »

I liked it better with the over riders the other way :jester
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Re: Tanny's 1967 MGB GT

Post by tannyo »

Steve Simmons wrote:If the previous bumper was thicker than the Moss one, then it is almost certainly an original and worth saving. The Moss bumpers are the closest thing to original, but still not quite as thick.
The side cut of the leading edge of the bumper is more vertical than the original and the profile is different too. The overriders don't quite fit right. It's just so expensive to have the bumper fixed and rechromed.

I wish I could find a NOS replacement.
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Re: Tanny's 1967 MGB GT

Post by Steve Simmons »

NOS no longer exists, unfortunately. The only option is junk, Moss or refurbish. Even damaged originals are getting difficult to find.
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Re: Tanny's 1967 MGB GT

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Had a occasional grinding, rattling noise coming from underneath my car. We thought it might be the Release Bearing (Carbon throwout bearing). I have 35,000 miles on the car since it was replaced. This would have required pulling the engine and transmission and "while you're at it" might as well replace the clutch and fix the chipped first gear in the transmission. I don't know how much it costs, but that sounds like a lot to me.

Turned out to be the bolts holding on the disk brake dust cover had come loose and one of them had fallen out. The bolt is toast and you can see where it ground on the disk's hub. Much less money. Whew!
Loose bolt that's toast
Loose bolt that's toast
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Damage to disk hub
Damage to disk hub
IMG_0648.jpg (76.58 KiB) Viewed 36391 times
There sure is a lot of preservative on those parts. :)
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Re: Tanny's 1967 MGB GT

Post by Steve Simmons »

Now you have to machine the same amount of metal off the other disc. You know, weight balance and all... ;)
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Re: Tanny's 1967 MGB GT

Post by tannyo »

Finally had to have the transmission rebuilt. After 114,000 miles and 45,000 miles on the clutch, it was making a lot of noise in 1st and reverse. When I put it in 1st the car would go backwards and I had to hold the shifter in reverse to prevent it from popping out of gear. Here's some of the damage.
IMG_1599.jpg
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The surface of the release (throw out) bearing was fine, but the tabs were each worn on one side. Anybody know why that would be?
IMG_1603.jpg
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The clutch was good but the pressure plate was wobbly. On the suggestion of someone on the MG Experience Forum, I decided to use the TR7 5 speed clutch. Here's what the stock MGB clutch looks like on the pressure plate. Notice the space around the clutch.
IMG_1607.jpg
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Here's the TR7 5 speed clutch. Notice that there is no space around the clutch. I'm told that this clutch has 20% more surface area. We'll have to see how it works.
IMG_1608.jpg
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This is what I was told about the TR7 clutch:
AP stock mgb pressure plate same pedal pressure, TR7 5 speed disc, roller TO bearing. Over 20% greater friction area, lasts longer, clutch take up is smoother and takes the torque of modified engines. Plenty of plus, no minus other than spending a few more dollars for the disc not provided in a kit.
There is a heavy duty clutch kit from Moss for $199.95, but I like the idea of using "stock" parts.

At the same time, the rear engine seal was leaking. There was a lot of preservative coming out of the engine. I hope that's where it's all coming from. The plugs and compression look good. I was going through a quart of oil every 800 miles. Not good.

The throttle cable is frayed and since Moss doesn't sell a throttle cable for a right hand drive car, Russ is going up to the bicycle shop to get a cable.

I'm going to have to get tires soon and Bridgestone no longer makes the RE960AS Pole position 195/65R15 tire that I've been using. I'm going to have to research a different tire.

Bad News! Moss sent a package with a label that showed it was the laygear for my car, but when the package was opened it was not a laygear. A call to Moss and a check of their stock and the other packages are the same. They don't have a laygear. British Victoria says they can get one in 6-10 weeks. Russ is calling Quantum Mechanics tomorrow and if they don't have one, the Moss Europe website says they have one in stock. We'll have to see what happens tomorrow.
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Re: Tanny's 1967 MGB GT

Post by Martin Keller »

Tanny,

Give these guys a call. I have used them a lot when I lived in Oregon and they usually had the very hard to find parts for most British cars and MG's.
http://www.bpnorthwest.com/

:drive
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Re: Tanny's 1967 MGB GT

Post by tannyo »

Got some good news from Russ on the laygear.
Quantum mechanics has the laygear in stock. NOS not repro. Ships today.
I should have my car back next week. :)
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Re: Tanny's 1967 MGB GT

Post by Steve Simmons »

I use a TR clutch in my '65. Been there for many years, probably since the 90's.
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Re: Tanny's 1967 MGB GT

Post by VWNate1 »

Thanx for the update Tanny :thumbs: .

Looks like the TR7 disc is a good thing .

The T.O. Bearing's wear indicates it was a crappo part , I've seen a few like like that over the decades .

Keep us posted .
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Re: Tanny's 1967 MGB GT

Post by tannyo »

My original steering wheel started to fall apart. Instead of restoring it I decided to purchase an aftermarket wood steering wheel. I drove up to Moss Motors in Goleta and looked at what they had to offer. I finally decided that I liked the Tourist Trophy wheel the most. However, I never liked the horn push on any of the steering wheels. So this is what I've been driving with for the last couple of years.
IMG_0243.jpg
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Not bad, but I never liked how "modern" the horn push looked. I was looking at the MG Experience for options and found one person who simply used black silicon to attach the original horn emblem over the aftermarket horn push. It doesn't look flat and has more depth. I think it looks better and I'm happy with how it turned out.
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Re: Tanny's 1967 MGB GT

Post by VWNate1 »

Looks super to me Tanny ! :thumbs: .

I'm assuming it works fine ? .
-Nate
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Re: Tanny's 1967 MGB GT

Post by Steve Simmons »

If you install a black interior then we're going to have to get name tags. ;)
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Re: Tanny's 1967 MGB GT

Post by tannyo »

When I had the shocks replaced, the rear shock links were replaced at the same time. On one shock link the rubber deteriorated to the point it was unusable. On the April 16 run I noticed that the rear felt a little wonky making shallow left turns over bumps. This is what the left link looked like. I know Moss guarantees parts for 2 years, but they don't pay for my time, nor the mechanic to replace the bad part. Plus you have to pay for shipping to Moss and for a $16.95 part, it's not worth the time and you don't really save any money.
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