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Restoration of a petrol cap? Yes. These cars have a unique chrome plated non lockable petrol cap with a quick release mechanism. The condition of the cap was rather poor condition but with great care and patience I was able to remove the outer cover and entrust it to 'Derby Platers' who...

My new patrol tank end panel are at last back from the chrome Platers. These new panels were not especially well finished as they arrived from Moss so I have - at considerable expense - had them re done by 'Derby Platers Ltd.'. They are now to concours standard but the story doesn't end...

A very clever guy in Germany called Declan Burns has a small business making and supplying MG parts. I have purchased a novel electronic fuel sender unit that works on the hydrostatic principle. The system has yet to be tested but I an hopeful because the quality of his products is the highest...

My latest little set back has been resolved but I thought it would be worth sharing here. The stud has snapped off the left hand tank strap. Examination of the break revealed a long standing stress fracture; corrosion showed the fracture had started years ago so it was only a matter of time...

For some guys it is all about the folding stuff. Personally, I take a more relaxed attitude than most; after all, no matter how much you make, you can't take it with you.

Hello Graham. As you are probably aware, the home market cars lacked indicators, despite other pre War Midgets having traficators. American exports (EXU), on the other hand, utilised their rear D lamps and with the use of a DB10 relay operated the brake lights as flashing indicators. This, in...

Yes Jon. I must just be unlucky because I when I looked I also found a small pile of grit etc. in the bottom of a can of thinners that I had just finished. YES, THINNERS!! The worrying thing is that it came from a different supplier! I know it is not my fault as I take great care to keep...

Is it just me?? I have just noticed a small pile of grit in the bottom of a tin of thinners. I have tried using a pot filter but they only seem to work with thin paint. I am trying to spray high build primer. I even found some bits in the primer. I have had to thin the paint in one pot and...

Filtering new paint is a wise precaution... but you don't expect to find this! The supplier had no answer but agreed to send a new tin free of charge. Fortunately, I have had no such issues with the replacement paint. .

These cars look older than they are. They have running boards... although to be fair they are only cosmetic. ( By means of a contrast, the ones on my 1926 Dodge Brothers tourer were substantial enough to stand on:lol:) The running boards that were on my car when I got it had been mutilated...

Hello Darren. You must have the patience of a saint ! However, when it's done you will have a quick motor with something most others don't have...a brilliant driving position. Even when lowered you have a much better view of the road ahead. Don't worry about seeing what's behind you...they...

MY apologies for not paying enough attention to what you were saying. So the extra air valves are in the inlet manifold and not the cylinder head. I don't know the reason for them. All I would say is your mixture may be weakened which could cause more problems.

Oh dear oh dear ...and I thought I had problems.! The first thing that I would suggest would be to reinstate the original exhaust manifold. I have a suspicion that your problems are related to back pressure. Incidentally, is it possible the extra valves are for decompression as an aid to...

There is a truism that if you want a job doing properly then do it yourself. The "professionals" obviously thought that this was "good enough". Do I have "mug" stamped on my forehead? .

I think it takes a particular type of individual who would see fit to paint a surface like this, but the previous owner had no qualms about covering it in shiny new paint. This is what I found when I removed the paint. Here is the panel after some work to remove rust. There was evidence of...

The MG was collected by I Wilkinson & Sons (Coach builders) this morning. It has been a frustrating three months wait for my car to be "fitted in" but now I am hopeful that things will move forward. I shall be visiting their premises next week to run through exactly what needs doing to the...

Another issue - related to the above, in a way, is that the age of the car often reflects the age of the owner. For example, a fast Ford from the 'eighties will likely be restored by a younger person than 1950s and 1960's cars. Many pre WW2 era cars are now far less sought after than they once...

Yet another problem (not of my making) is to do with fitting the hood tacking strips. The back of the body tub should be STRAIGHT (matching the top of the petrol tank) but it has been made with a slight curve. This means the piece of Ash to which the hood (fabric top) is attached does not...

Another job connected with the dashboard is fitting the chrome beading to it's perimeter. Quite a few restorations have this original feature missing ...and at over £100 I can see why!! The beading is chrome on brass and comes in two lengths; one that follows the double hump of the scuttle and...

As if I don't have enough on my plate, I have just discovered that the new dashboard that I have painstakingly covered in leather should have been made from 3/8" plywood but was in fact 1/2" thick. This means it won't fit properly in the car. Short of making another dashboard the only thing I...

Here is a 'before' and 'after' shot of the hood/top front rail. The original Ash had perished beyond use so a new one was made by the supplier of the body tub. I needed to tweak the metal frame to get it to fit, but once I had the rail clamped in place it was a simple matter of screwing them...

When I got the MG it had no hood fitted, but fortunately the frame came with the car; along with a set of decrepit side screens. I wish I had taken some before and after photos of the frame because it was in a terrible condition. Someone had smothered thick black paint over rust. The frame...

Just to summarise the progress so far. The dashboard is now covered in leather and ready to be screwed to go on the car but I need to paint the (double humped) scuttle top first because masking off the dashboard where it meets the scuttle edge would be risky. Unfortunately, the dash is being...

I had a call from the Coach builders this morning. It will be remembered that they have my new rear wings which need fettling. They will need the car in their workshop to ensure they get it right. I have been told it will take two days work - or 16 hours labour. So much for 'ready to fit'...

In an earlier post I explained how I had modified the braking system with the addition of a remote brake fluid reservoir so that in future the fluid level could be checked without recourse to grovelling about on the floor to gain access. A consequence of this is that the access hole in the...

Here is a frustrating problem. Having bought a new rubber gearbox cover (replica of original) it is disappointing, to say the least, that it appears not to fit. The photo shows how the cover needs to wrap around the gearbox mounting but fails to do so. I may be able to stretch the cover by...

Sometimes there are things that happen which simply shouldn't. The folding windscreen on these old cars is screwed through the scuttle into the supporting timber frame. What shouldn't get in the way is a steel strengthening bracket. In this case it came directly in line with the pillar...

I am pretty sure if you have an interference engine (and most Diesels are) that some serious damage would have been done. Something doesn't add up. I would go back to the main agents. If they are responsible for servicing your vehicle a belt change should have been done at 60k miles. My...

One reason why any resto-mod takes longer than a standard equivalent is that so many choices and decisions have to be made that stray from the original design. In this case it is the windscreen wipers. I have now changed direction again and decided to retain the original wiper motor. (A...

One of the mods that really gets the purists foaming at the mouth is if someone dares to change the windscreen wiper layout. Originally, a Lucas 12 volt wiper motor was bolted to the top of the screen frame. This then drove a passenger side wiper arm with a rod that linked across the screen to...

One important item that I have not yet covered is the windscreen. The frame is made up of a number of chrome plated brass sections and has the novel feature of being able to fold flat. Unless one wears driving goggles the only advantage I can see is if individual aero screens are fitted. I...

In other news, I have been struggling with the running boards. They are merely a vestigial aesthetic in the design but play an important part in linking the front and rear wings. Unfortunately, at some time in the past, someone has mutilated them and to add a further complication they have...

Hi Jon. I bought the car in June 2019 but had to wait an agonising 2 years before the new body tub was delivered. They blamed Covid19 for the delay. The wings were hand made and expensive. You shouldn't expect to pay top money for poor workmanship but we are where we are. I know Andy...

It has been quite a while since my last post. This is because I have had problems in posting on this site. Everything kept locking up. Hopefully the problems have been resolved. One of the major developments in the rebuild has been to do with the rear wings, which, as previously explained...

With the better weather I have been tackling the paint job. There was far more preparation needed than I had envisaged but now the body and rear wings are in primer. The replacement body was delivered in primer but the quality was so poor in many respects I have had to rub it down and start...

Hello fellow T Type owner. Are you still with this forum? I would be interest to know how you feel about rebuilding a basket case TC. Do you think it should have mods or kept original? My car was in bits and needed a new body ...so not much original left but it does have a matching numbers...

Probably one of the best looking BMWs ever. They were very pricey when new... and still not cheap even now - that''s if you can find one. Ray.

Talking about fitting high tech stuff to old cars; I have added an oil pressure warning light. There is already a gauge as original equipment but this is an electronic device that in addition to a warning light on the dashboard has a buzzer that would sound in the event of a sudden drop in...

Here is my rare 1930 Austin Swallow.