Thread: 51 MG restoration.

This is nearly ready to install now as well.

My need for symmetry had me pull another purchase and I have a Bluetooth friendly set of waterproof speakers and 600 watt amp coming, designed for m/c’s.
The volume knob for that will go in the bottom right hand corner and allow dash access to volume as opposed to reaching for a phone, which is such a no no these days!
Cup holder works and is only really ‘ugly’ when deployed. And the seat heat buttons,,, mah, they are what they are.

Hopefully mounted tonight if my order arrives, then I can integrate these wires into the main harness and really close that chapter, clean up the shop,,, again,, and prep for upholstery.
Cheers gents..

That dash looks really good Mike. I don't think the non original features look bad and I wouldn't use the word "ugly." They are at least not glaringly obvious nor do they stick out like a sore thumb.

I think subtle would be the word I'm looking for.

Subtle is what I was going for so,, good word.
.
My lil fans arrived, so I pulled out the distribution board and added them in.

As you can see, 2 blowing opposed to each other. Should create a lovely lil vortex in there, specially once the upper board is installed. Fresh air on either end and this in between should be plenty cooler than a Cuda firewall!

Also decided f—k it, had to get new bumpers and hub caps. This far down the rabbit hole, those items would scream against all the new shiny stuff.

So yet again, I say I’m done shopping!
Cheers.

You GO Mike!!

I laid my hand on the firewall before the box. They do make heat.

Distribution board back in the car again.
Got the amp and volume installed tonight as well and now have both dashboards ready to go.

Will keep an eye out for a bigger press on knob, ideally still in chrome, maybe a top hat volume control from one of my kids guitars will work,,?
Or an Amazon equivalent.
Hehe, don’t mess with a man’s guitar, or car…

Working on the ignition and I notice my optical pick up leads out of the dizzy are not red white and black as all the internet info says they should be, but gray, white, and black respectively to the molex plug. Hate to guess that the gray is red but not sure how to test it with a meter.
One is supposed to be power, one ground for the led, and the third the i.r. Receiver that fires the trigger. But none show continuity to ground at the connector and a close up of the head doesn’t really shed any light either..
Tom could you toss a guess here?
It looks like I have the diode across the black and white as I show high resistance between them, but nothing between either and gray when I check with my fluke. So it stands to reason that black and white power the led, and therefore grey should be the receiver..
First real puzzle electrically I’ve hit..
Edit,
I re-read the old crane manual and it says to tap the white and grey leads from the optic cable with a screwdriver to fire the module. So that stands to reason that one of those two is the trigger, and the other 12 volt positive? So I think my logic is sound..
At least I can wire everything up this way and test my spark when I get there..
Time to move on..

I was close, gray is trigger, but white is ground and black 12 vdc. Set up the crane on a power supply and tested outputs to verify everything, and figured it out that way.
I committed to final wire routes. Wrapped all the bundles in high temp insulating cloth tape, mounted my fuse box and now am ready to install the freshly modified driveshaft tonight.


Still leaving the bundles loose until the wires are connected to the headlights and such, after the fenders go back on, but was able to keep all the wiring on the right side of the car. Should make for a clean engine bay if I lift my bonnet for strangers. Hehe.

The crane system should have a diagram on line. The 2 to the LED should have continuity one way and none when the meter leads are reversed. You might use a little 1.5 battery and see which is positive and negative by tapping the wires to see when the LED fires up?


Oh! Looks like you have it!

New drive shaft fits! Yeah!
And I may leave the rear end lifted till I change the rear shoes now as well.
Little more room under the car will be handy for the next few tasks anyway.
Need to run the new cable clamps down the frame as well as pull the intake manifold one more time to tap the 1/8 npt new vacuum take off for the booster. 1/8 npt works out to about 1/4” tube id so that should be plenty of pull. I may fabricate a heat shield for under the new carbs while I have everything apart too since I have the steel and the tools. Cooler carbs can’t be a bad thing.
Then, interior time!

Added some high temp aluminium/fiberglass Matt to the underside of the passenger floor where the exhaust will run to aid in heat control and also added an 18gage angle to the floors to be used to attach the tunnels to.

I attached the angles on the underside of the floors, and the angle, as well as the floor itself will help to keep everything very tight once all assembled.

And here in car you can see that the 8” piece I need to fabricate for the increased shaft length will become a handy removable access panel for later u joint lubrications. It’s also the transition piece from above to underfloor for the tunnels them selves. The bell housing cover was really rotten along the bottom so it will connect to the new angles, and at the rear, the new angles will connect to the sides of the ebrake tunnel to provide a smooth transition for the carpet.

Just about ready to screw these down permanently like, hit the tunnels with rust paint and a layer of soundproofing. More and more car like each step now.