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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Fitting wings

Fitting front wings - not an everyday job though over the years I have done it more often than I can work out why. I am meaning on the post frogeye models with fixed front wings. I always struggle to get the wing fixing bolts lined up with their respective holes. The tricky one, that can keep me occupied for a very long time, is behind the wheel arch, towards the front of the curved sill section. Eventually if you waggle the wing around for long enough the bolt pokes through into the gloom of the footwell and you squirm in head first to start a nut on the thread only to experience an early withdrawl.

Only today - light bulb moment! I cut a 3" length of 5 mm ID windscreen washer plastic pipe and screwed that onto the bolt thread first. I could then easily hold the wing out far enough to feed the end of the pipe through the hole in the footwell side to act as a guide for the bolt, before diving into the abyss to pull the pipe off and spin on the nut.

So there's an idea for the collective back burner. Or maybe there are other similar applications?

Somebody will now say they have done that for years. I don't care, the first time is always the best!
GuyW

If I understand you correctly, you are fitting screws into the captive nuts from the opposite side, before pushing them through the footwell side and fitting a nut to the inside?
Dave O'Neill 2

Not exactly Dave, the 3 into the footwell towards the rear of the wing are as you describe and generally the bolts do align to the captive nuts from inside the footwell reasonably easily as the hole in the panel has plenty of jiggle room. But all the front wings, both sides on 4 different cars, I have done use a fixed threaded stud for that front lower fixing.
GuyW

Interesting. I've only found captive nuts there.

anamnesis

Sounds a lot easier than trying to manoeuvre studs into place!
GuyW

"Interesting. I've only found captive nuts there."

Me too.
Dave O'Neill 2

With one exception, which was in good condition, each of the wings I have dealt with have needed repairs both in that area and the rear lower corner. But each has had a short length of threaded studding welded to a bent L shaped bracket at that front corner
GuyW

I suppose the one benefit of doing it that way is that the nut is less likely to be rusted to the stud, or easier to deal with if it is.

What normally happens is that the set-screw gets rusted into the captive nut and when you try to undo it, it bends the bracket, or rips it off completely.
Dave O'Neill 2

The metal wings I have for my car have the captive nut on the L shaped bracket that is quite flimsy and as Dave says can twist if itโ€™s a bit seized. My fibreglass wings didnโ€™t have captive nut there so I pulled a zip tie with a large washer on through the wing cavity into the footwell and put another zip tie onto it from the footwell , worked well ๐Ÿ˜€
Mike Fairclough

So, my cunning plan for fitting awkward front wing bolts was apparently only applicable to my non standard wing fixings!

How about this Plan B then for a different application. Removing the bucket shaped plunger thing from the gallery of the oil pressure relief valve. Likely solutions of compressed air (could be messy) or magnet on a stick (gone walkabouts) both discounted. So, use a plastic expanding rawlplug. The larger, 8mm ones slide perfectly into the bucket thingy and expand with just a few turns of the screw (no horror here, James) to grip and remove the item. Clean and quick.
GuyW

I usually jam my little finger into them and pull them out like that, can't remember one that wouldn't come out like that-
willy
William Revit

Too easy, Willy ! ๐Ÿ˜‚
GuyW

Guy- you'll get a laugh out of me here--I've been googling trying to find out what a rawlplug is, kept coming up with wallplugs, then it hit me , that's what Guy means--just a small dumb moment on my part, and yes I can see how one would work just fine on a relief valve, good idea might try that next time on an MGB, they're a bit deeper down the hole-Then as you say a stick magnet works just fine.
cheers
willy
William Revit

Rawlplug - historic, specific used generically. Bit like Hoover, or nowadays a Dyson when you mean a vacuum cleaner
Not keen on sticking my pinkie in a deep dark hole. Knowing me I would get it stuck and need to have the engine surgically removed.

I wonder if the wall plug would work for a crankshaft spigot bearing. I use grease, a close fitting dowl and a hammer.
GuyW

Was your stiff/stuck Guy?

I've always removed them by flexing the spring sideways and pulling.

If stiff to remove, that could suggest it wasn't seating or lifting well, and not properly setting oil pressure.

I've always called 'em rawlplugs too. Silent 'l'.

John Joseph Rawlings. I'll bet he made a mint out of plugging that. ๐Ÿ˜ƒ

anamnesis

Has anyone ever replaced the valve seat in the block?

I did buy a couple, many years ago, but never bothered to use them.

https://www.minispares.com/2a797-oil-pressure-relief-valve-seating


Dave O'Neill 2

never Dave--have done on an XPAG but never an A series,
Actually the XPAG one is interesting and often get's overlooked--I've had engine blocks come back from being machined that haven't had the seat removed to clean out the galleries and found truck loads of metal jammed in there behind the spring/seat.

grease and a dowel is good for the bush removal, bread instead of grease works ok and there's always some left over for lunch, easier to clean up after as well. also if you've got the correct size thread tap, 14mm fine from 'memory'(don't quote me on that) you can screw it in cutting a thread then just keep screwing and the tap buttoms out and pushes the bush out----only down side of that though is the bush is wrecked/unuseable
willy
William Revit

Talking of fitting things one that I recall gave me great surprise and satisfaction in equal measure was replacing a flywheel ring gear.

Though pretty practical I am not an engineer and have never had any sort of training or even worked alongside someone with such experience. So the 'no going back' type of concern when first chopping through and then replacing a ring gear was memorable. It just seemed like the sort of job that could go irretrievably wrong in so many ways! But the surprise was how beautifully simple the process was in practice! The old ring split off with a hammer and sharp cold chisel. Clean up the flywheel ledge and put it in the freezer for 2 hours. Wait until SHE had gone to Sainsbury's. Arrange a ring of bricks on the kitchen floor with new ring, tong grips and hammer all at the ready. Heat the ring gear on the bricks with propane torch. Then, in a single, seamless move get the flywheel, put it next to the bricks, grab the ring gear and drop it into position. I expected to have to start beating it with the hammer but the temperature difference meant it just settled perfectly, fully up against the flywheel lip first time. Easy! What was all the fuss about!
GuyW

That takes me back Guy. I did pretty much the same thing. Except my older brother's mechanic mate had already showed me how first. Probably saved 5 quid by doing it myself.

Looking back, I'm fair amazed at how 'clever' and willing we all were to do most jobs ourselves. But really, as you said, what was all the fuss about.

Years and years of gradual advance, but mostly all quite easy to understand. And at a basic level, easy enough for an 'amatuer' to have a go a make a great job of it too. No so today. All a lot more complicated, and so much more need for special tools and diagnostics.

I wonder how much it costs to have a ring gear swappped now.





anamnesis

This thread was discussed between 14/05/2025 and 28/05/2025

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