Inca Yellow

This is the sight which greeted me when I walked in the garage the other day. Not good. Our mountain bike rack had detached itself from the wall bringing two bikes down with it, right onto the car.

While we've got all the engine block 'unplugged' we've got a really good opportunity to get access to the bodywork which is normally obscured.

With all the other work we've been doing in the engine bay, the engine block had started to look pretty tatty. First decision was what colour? The 'proper' colour for this production year is black, but I wanted to be able to see the shape of the block and so decided on the more traditional MGB block colour of maroon.

The engine bay is rapidly approaching a finished state, so it's time for a before and after shot. On the left is the engine bay pretty much as we pulled it out of the garage (the funnel was our addition!), still with the green ignition leads. Over the past (nearly) two years we've done a lot of work in it, as well as elsewhere on the car, having replaced wires, pipes, coil, plugs, points, filter, cylinders and loads of other parts.

With the nights drawing in I'm trying to get as much driving in as possible, so we took off in the MG for a run around the Yorkshire Dales. We clocked up around 100 miles in all, passing through a bunch of lovely villages.

I'd noticed the top of the rear license plate holder was a bit rusty, so I decided to remove it for a clean-up and fresh coat of paint.

It was probably something I should've checked when I took the car on, but in the end I came across it just in time. While checking the rear diff. was topped up I noticed the exhaust's rear saddle brackets had totally rusted through and the exhaust was being supported by about a centimetre of rusty metal.

I realised that I'd not posted any video of the car moving for a while, so as I had some new tyres and it was a nice day, we took a quick run out to our nearest B-road. The new tyres and adjustments definitely give the B lighter steering and a much smoother ride.

The tyres which have been sitting on the B for the past year or so are around 20 years old. Although the treads are still very good, almost like new, the rubber has perished somewhat (it's recommended you change tyres at least every six or so years) and could result in a blow-out. Before I do any more driving they need to be changed, else I'd be likely to find myself facing the wrong way down a B-road.

The engine bay had been saved - like much of the car - by a Waxoyl coating applied by a previous owner. Where the coating hadn't been applied the paint in the engine bay had rusted, I suspect largely due to the attention of the mice inhabitants. However now the car is getting constant attention I feel happy enough to remove the coating and reveal the pristine paintwork beneath. It will also make a huge difference to how the engine bay looks as the yellow paint really sets off the components well.

The bodywork at the corner of the windscreen had suffered over the years a little and had finally succumbed to the water runoff from the windscreen and roof. A small rust hole had appeared, so a little repair job was required.

All the Rostyle wheels, even the spare, are suffering from surface rust. Following some very good instructions I had a go at restoring the spare wheel to a just-off-the-factory-floor look.

A bit of an indulgence, but I needed a workshop mate and this'll be sitting on the car quite a lot, so why not have the MG logo on it? Ordered from the MGOC, this does a great job of protecting the wing and unlike the towel I was using doesn't keep slipping off. It could do with some weights sewing into the bottom of it as occasionally the wind does shift it.

I found this touch-up pen in the armrest console. Not wanting to risk uncertain age paint on the car I ordered an aerosol and new touch-up pot from MGOC Spares.

The floor looks to be in good shape, apart from this bit under the pedals. It looks like rust has eaten through part of the floor, but it doesn't look fresh. I'll treat it and keep an eye on it.

Back home and after a good wash the MG is looking very smart. Amazingly the tyres have stayed inflated, which is good as there will be quite a bit of parts to buy and if I can put off buying a full set of tyres for a while it'll help.

Collection day - she took a bit of a push to get out of the garage. Luckily the tyres inflated and stayed that way and once we started pushing, the brakes released. Thanks to all the helping hands.

The MG has been sitting in my grandad's garage for about 17 years, so it actually looks in pretty good nick. The tyres are totally flat which is to be expected.