Morning all,
thanks to whoever it was last week that mentioned they had bad vibes at
50-60 mph due to loose bolts on the driveshaft. I had the same
problem. Mine turned out to be due to a missing bolt :-( I put a new
one in just in time for the MMGG outing to Ellingson's Auto Museum in
Rogers, MN. A nice day out, we actually got 4 MGs to come out of
winter hibernation this time, so mine didn't feel so lonely. The museum
was worth the trip. Fairly common cars for the most part, but well
displayed and documented. I particularly liked seeing the original
prices listed. It was interesting to see that between about 1919 and
1930 you could buy a basic car for about $500. Of course the 1930 model
was quite a bit more car for the money. The less common cars included a
Mercedes 500K and my favourite a Lambourghini 400 (I think that's
right). RWD V12, about the same width as an MGB. Beautiful car. They
didn't have much in the LBC line, an XK140 and an E-Type. In the sales
department they did have a couple of big Healeys, another E Type and a
Westfield. I sat in the Westfield and made appropriate broom, broom
sounds. I would really enjoy zipping around in one of those, but I
didn't have the $19,500 :-( Probably not enough windy roads around here
anyway. It wouldn't be much fun on the freeway).
Getting back to the driveshaft...the U joints seemed a bit seedy so I
thought I should replace those. What a job! U-joint replacement should
be near the top of the 'jobs-from-hell' list. I finally got it done
after about 7 hours. Whoever wrote those wildly optimistic words.."tap
the yokes with a hammer to release the bearing caps' should be shot. If
I didn't have a hydraulic press I would probably still be trying to
disassemble the wretched things, (actually I would probably just take
them into the local repair place and let them have all the fun). Anyway
all the vibration is gone and it drives like a RR now, (warning poetic
license in use).
Cheers,
Simon
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