Steering, Wheels, Column, etc

So Barnaby arrived with an early wheel (like the one pictured above) that is almost certainly not original. based on the info I've found online, its hub should not be compatible with the '68 '69' steering shaft. (the hub on this wheel fits the shaft, and the shaft - apparently - is correct for the car.)

*** Turns out this info was wrong and the earliest cars had the same shaft diameter and spline count as the '68-69. ****

Regardless, the wheel is pretty beat up, and I am fond of the banjo-spoke type (below) particular to the 68/69 mode years.

The splined and threaded portions of the steering shaft vary by year, apparently as follows:

Steering column splines for both MGB and Midgets:
58-61

spline 5/8 by 36 splines

62-67
spline 3/4 by 48 splines
thread 11/16 X 27 TPI

68-69
spline 5/8 by 36 splines
thread 9/16 X 27 TPI

70-80
spline 11/16 by 36 splines
thread 9/16 X 18 TPI

And here are the column switches

Notice below, same switch, two different stalk lengths.

Unfortunately, The cowl and column switches were disassembled when I bought the car and the right hand side of the cowl is missing.

Comments

Engine bay dissasembly - reference photos

Firewall area

Front frame repair

Heavy metal stories... As mentioned in a previous post the front frame was in worse shape than I'd imagined. You can see in the photos below and elsewhere the bent frame rail and steering rack mounting beam, plus the really bad work on the front chassis horns. The painful kink in the frame rail. Fortunately, a few very kind folks took the time to explain to me how to approach this sort of a frame repair. So, I bought a "portapower" on sale, and a frame clamp and followed the Eugene's directions. And slowly, carefully, was able to pull the frame mostly straight. Amazing! A great first step. I also used a large C clamp to bring the box section back into square as it had been moved into a parallelogram shape at the site of the bend. As detailed in another post, I was able to salvage he front half of a parts car. Thanks for your generosity Ken! From this I cut some repair pieces required for Miguela. So far, the steering rack x-member and a section of frame...

Engine teardown and reassembly

Miguela's seized engine could not be freed in situ. After weeks of soaking, rolling etc I could not get it to budge and resigned myself to the teardown I had suspected was inevitable. The odometer reads 49000 miles. The "12CD" series engine is original to the car, and it does not appear to have been opened in the past, though it does have a copper-faced head gasket which may not be original. Some of the photos also show the light green paint colour that is particular to this series of engines. They are rare and particularly fast as a result. Ease of access is facilitated by the absence of any front end sheet metal. After more hardened mud and grease were removed, the starter, generator, induction and cylinder head were removed. The engine and gearbox were then unbolted and removed. While lifting the engine alone was possible with a helper, an engine hoist will be required for reassembly as the gearbox and engine will be ...

1968 MG Midget

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