Moving Lizzie to her temporary home

After trying for FOUR hours to start it a few weeks ago, I got her started today.  Turns out to be loose / oxidized terminal on the ignition coil.  A couple of "in and out" on those wires, and she started right away, even with one spark plug out for spark test.  Same as before... a big puff of smoke, and smooth idle after that.

After I let it sit for a couple of years, I decided an oil change would be good.  Used a Fram PH3614 oil filter, and 1.5 gallon of oil.

Also added brake fluid. 

Drives pretty good.  Good enough to move to her temporary home, until she goes across the bay to her new permanent home.

Things to fix soon:

• fuel hose under passenger side floor pan
• replace engine mount bushings
• more rust, more rust, and more rust
• replace battery

It's 2017

Wow.  My last post was in 2007.  Has it been 10 years since I worked on Lizzie?  No, but it's been 10 years since I posted here.

So... It's 2017, I'm back. 

Lizzie is still here, and she's still running.

Got her out on the road today.

Still here

It's true... Still have Lizzie. It's been a year since I did any work on her. She drives fine, so instead of working on her, just been driving around.

Still more work to come.

Rust found on left rear quarter panel

Rust found, again. No big shock there. The paint was bubbled up, and upon investigation (by way of jabbing Lizzie with a screwdriver), the rust was discovered. It is not merely surface rust, but through and through.

Quick cut with the angle grinder and the rust spot was removed. Welded on a patch piece, will need to clean the spot up later.

Burning oil odor resolved

Upon examining the vacuum hose and "emission system" of Lizzie, it was decided that the vacuum advance hose should be diconnected as part of the investigation.

Upon disconnecting the vac advance hose, the engine ran smoother, and less smoky. When Lizzie was first acquired, the vac advance hose was plugged, and disconnected. Perhaps the vac advance unit on the distributor had other problems which caused the smoking when attached.

Test drove Lizzie without vac advance, and it ran much better now.

Burning oil odor in the passenger compartment

Suspected that odor was due to exhaust leak, since Lizzie is burning oil. Upon closer examination under the hood, determined that smoke is coming from flywheel housing. On a 1275 engine, the flywheel housing has a "oil separator" attached, as part of the Crankcase Ventilation system. The smoke is not coming from where the oil separator is attached to the housing, but rather a block-off plate next to the oil separator.

Next step: determine if the block-off plate gasket can / need to be replaced. Also check operation of crankcase ventilation system. May need to clean oil separator and assorted hoses.

Passenger window lifter

When passenger window is lowered, the rear of the window does not lower at the same rate as the front of the window. If pressed down by hand while cranking, the window will lower. Window lifts without any issue. Hear grinding sound while lifting window.

Removed passenger door panel, examined window crank mechanism, and determined that the "Lower glass channel, rear" (ALA5747) is rusted, and no longer clamped on to the glass, therefore the glass will not lower without additional assistance. Replacement part is about USD$50, will try to fabricate one first.

Also will need rubber strips, which were suppose to be on the channel, but missing.

Spring time work

With spring, time to get more work done on Lizzie.

1. Check where oil is burning (leakdown test needed)
2. Check water leak, again
3. Repair passenger (right) front window lifter
4. Determine why smoke is going into passenger compartment

Attended MGs on the Rocks

Attended the 2005 MGs on the Rocks, hosted by MGs of Baltimore. Saw three other Mini's, traded seat track extenders for a SU Carb book.

Not as nice a venue as Brits by the Bay, though.

Replaced rear speakers

The rear speakers were falling appart, so they had to be replaced. Purchased a set of new 6.5" Pioneer speakers from eBay for $27, shipped. Sounds great, looks great.

Oil change, unexpected result

Performed a long overdue oil and filter change. While under the car, noticed the lower "dogbone" engine stabilizer bushings were rotting, and replaced all four bushings.

Filled engine with Shell Rotella 15w-40 oil. Engine was formerly smoking, but did not notice any smoke at tail pipe after oil change. Will continue to observe both oil consumption and smoke.

Attended Brits by the Bay

Lizzie attended its first car show. Brits by the Bay was held by the Triumphs Around the Chesapeake club. Great time, and saw some great British cars. Pictures.

Spark Plug installed

Installed plugs, no noticeable difference. However, once the engine warms up, it does run very well.

Purchased Bosch Platinum Spark Plugs

Purchased some Bosch 4216 Platinum plugs. Will put it in after compress test.

Found Water Leak Source

Found water leak source. It appears to be coming from the bottom of the A-Pillar. Attempted to fix by welding and sealing, but still leaking. Will need to address so floor pan does not rust.

Engine Running Rough

Drove for a longer duration today. Engine feels rough, smoking at the tailpipe. Will need compression test.

Water leak discovered!

Discovered that water has been leaking into the cabin. Could not determine where the leak is coming from, so some baby powder was applied to various locations on the driver side to see if the origin could be found. Suspect that it is the windshield gasket.

Install radio antenna

Lizzie did not come with her own radio antenna, so the radio only worked as a tape player. Spend $5 to get a universal antenna, and was going to mount it on the fender. Due to time contraint, the antenna was connected but not mounted. The antenna now sits in the glove box, but radio still gets good reception, so it'll remain there for a while.

Radio DOES work!

After talking to my brother about the radio situation, it was decided that the old radio should be thoroughly tested first. So, after 15 minutes of "thorough" testing, it was determined that the radio does work. The previous owner did not connect the "12v accessory" wire, which was needed for the radio to work, of course.

Connected all the proper wires (Gnd, 12V+, 12V+ Accessory), and the radio works. One less thing to buy.

Radio / Alarm system

Spend a bit of time today looking at the existing radio. I thought it used to work, but just couldn't get it to work, so the radio was removed.

The alarm system was also removed, because without instructions, it was just a pain.