Repairing machinery in the field

Interestingly, that was what da bus is all about. I have a Bruxelles hor mill and my Maximat, a universal grinder, press, saw, torches, belt sander, hand tool cart, a bench or two, etc. No doubt it will all fit and maybe leave some room for a doss and small kitchen. Now, let's tap the CW of the group ...

Suggestions on arrangement would be welcome. Yeah, I know not to put heavy stuff behind the axle. Electricity and wiring? Securing stuff like the tool cart, which has to be mobile when da bus is stopped and vice versa. There must be a number of things I haven't even begun to consider. You guys want to take it from here? Thanx.

Regards, Hoyt McKagen

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At least you could get to everything on an MG. Every procedure in the XKE service manual began with the same three words: "REMOVE THE BONNET"

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Well ... that depends. One of the frequent repair items was replacing the clutch and/or associated things (between three cars -- one belonging to a friend, and the other two to me -- one at a time -- and given that at least one pressure plate assembly was maladjusted and resulted in the throwout bearing (graphite ring) being battered to death in relatively little time) -- anyway -- to get to the clutch, you had to:

1) remove the engine and transmission as a unit 2) Requiring removing the transmission tunnel (and the gearshift tower). 3) Requiring removing the plywood floorboards (screws always rusted into the captive nuts in the frame, and threads battered by road rocks from rough terrain.) 4) Requiring removing the seats.

In *reality* -- if it is done right, it is possible to remove the engine and transmission as an assembly *without* removing any of the rest except the gearshift tower, but if you did it as described in the factory manual, you had to remove all of those other things too.

Proper accessories to this involved an old fan belt, and a length of 2x4 to control the tail end of the transmission once the long bolt through the rear motor mount was removed.

Also -- you needed small hands good at working by feel to remove the four bolts and nuts securing the universal and prop shaft to the output flange of the transmission. You also needed a good ability to rotate the exploded drawings in your mind to see how to get to the transverse bolt through the rear motor mount.

And since it was such a pain to remove all of those things, it was standard practice to replace the synchro rings whenever the engine/transmission was out of the car. They didn't cost much, but the effort to get there was significant. :-)

The quote that I remember most from the manual was to the effect of:

"Remove the three sliding rods and forks. Note the three balls and springs released in consequence."

If you were not prepared to catch those balls and springs with several layers of cloth, you either wind up with totally lost balls and springs (especially when doing this outdoors), or severely bruised hands from catching them. Of course, after the first time, you learn to place a screwdriver down there to control the exit of the balls and springs. :-) This was working with parts from the inside of the transmission.

We won't even *mention* the changing of the oil filter -- which was a pleated assembly of felt and wire screen mounted inside a hard steel shell. To get clearance to unscrew the central bolt, you had to put a piece of 2x4 under the oil pan and jack the engine up in the play in the right front motor mount to let the bolt head clear the frame. (And you got a face full of dirty black oil as the parts separated.) One of the things that I added from the later MGB series was a casting which rotated the oil filter housing to project upwards, so it could be removed from above, by simply reaching down beside the engine. Unfortunately, that put a changed stress on the oil cooler hoses, which had been in one position for a long time, and they failed, requiring replacement within a couple of weeks of the change. :-(

And there was the electric fuel pump -- a known weakness -- which could be made to work in an emergency by cycling the ignition switch on and off quickly -- until you could pull off at the side of the road, and remove the cover over the batteries behind the driver's and passenger seats. Once you had that clear, you could take one of the square steel rods used to crank the jack, and hit the fuel pump a sharp knock, which would convince it to run for a little while. Two or three cycles of this usually sufficed to get to work or to get home -- so you could then get under the car, remove the cap, and wind the rocker toggle assembly a few turns to get things working again. Again, something done mostly by feel. :-)

For the MGA Twin-Cam (which I never owned), the only things which were *easy* to get to were the spark plugs, which ran down the center of the top of the cylinder head. To get to the distributor to adjust or change the points, you had to remove the radiator. (But then again -- you were more likely to need to replace a connecting rod than to replace the points -- that engine was a bit overstressed, at 1500 HP from 1500 CCs. :-)

Enjoy, DoN.