MG Midget

[Renrut]

Well I said I wouldn't post anymore on my new project until I bought something and so I've gone and bought a 1979 1500 Midget!

Saw it this morning, paid cash and had it back at mine for 2pm. Here's the old girl:





Originally a rumber (thats rubber bumper) model but the bumpers are now missing. This is a familiar story with the rest of the car, the interior is a pair of seats. They are nice tan leather ones though and look like an afternoon with some leather cleaner will reap rewards as they're not scuffed or torn.

The eagle eyed of you will notice that it has a small amount of rust and a dent in the front valence. This is just the valence and its that rotten that a replacement one is a requirement anyway. The doors are a state, the bottom half of both has been chopped off and strips of steel roughly welded in place but they're not butt welded so they're horrible. Saving them looks like an exercise in futility so my best bet is a couple of replacement doors - new skins are £50 but I can get whole second hand doors for less than that which is a bit more tempting. Other patches have been welded in on rusty areas, they're solid but look an eyesore. A couple will need redoing but the shell is otherwise solid and not twisted.

The hood is torn in a few places but a new vinyl one is only £130 and a new Mohair one only £300.

The engine is the 1500 but I've no idea if it works or not, neither has the guy who sold me it as he'd only had it a week from a company that had 50+ cars and was shutting doors. He only really wanted the minis so all the other stuff (salmon pink beetle converible anyone?) he was shuffling on quick.

[fha772]

That looks like great project Will!!

I always fancied a Midget, and fit a MX5 engine and box, I wasn't going to bother swapping anything else, just the engine and box, to make it more civilised to drive, and give it a bit more go, when you wanted it.
This was just a thought, I have not idea if the Mazda lump will fit, but it does seem feesible to me.

I can't wait to see how you get on!!

[Renrut]

I've hankered after one for a few years now then this one turned up at the right time.

Needs a lot of work though but its all doable. Biggest unknown is the engine. A K-series 1.4 sounds good to me, nothing too mental just enough to give it a good shove but I'd rather get it running as it is first, its my first proper foray into Carbs so that will be fun and the idea of a megasquirt setup and bike throttles is tempting. If it turns out it isn't a leadfree engine then the K-series will be cheaper than getting the head converted but I'll look at those options when I know more about what I've bought

It doesn't have keys, locks or an ingnition barrel either but I might be able to use the ones I've still got from the Fiat

Really need to clear space in the garage and get it up in the air to properly see it all but the hard bits to do like leaf hangers are all good.

The only plan at the minute is get it running and on the road. 999 might happen but I'm not doing anything to push it down that route specifically. So first step is clear garage space, anyone want some cheap 14" 4x98 alloys?
http://www.fiatforum.com/classifieds/showproduct.php?product=25572&cat=500

ETA - forgot to mention the front left tyre has come off the rim, probably some time ago, obviously flat as a pancake, so I'll have a go at refitting that but it'll probably be a new tyre there.

[hititwithanhammer]

there was a fibreglass Sebring spridget kit on ebay but dunno if its still on there. Saves a bit of welding and future rot problems

[fha772]

This might save some welding...


(random eBay link!!)

[Relentless Rob]

VTR powered Midget?

Smith and Deakin used to to do GRP doors. I don't know if they still do.

[MFrV1]

Smith and Deakin used to to do GRP doors. I don't know if they still do.

http://www.smithanddeakin.co.uk/L-S.htm

A quick look says they do

[Renrut]

there was a fibreglass Sebring spridget kit on ebay but dunno if its still on there. Saves a bit of welding and future rot problems

Yes I saw that one but I can't find it on there now.

Fibreglass doors look a bit expensive! I could get both doors in metal for one of them!

Doubt the VTR would fit in the front, it'd need to go sideways and offset to one side - that'll be far too wide! It was wide for the fiat and the midget is about 6" narrower and runs double wishbones at the front rather than mac struts so even less room.

If I went bike power which is very unlikely I'd go for something big and unstressed like a Pan european V4 or a big 4 pot out of one of the other tourers.

I'll probably bung the VTR engine on the bay and use the funds to get something more appropriate.

Frank that Arkely SS kit car looks awful! I'd rather poke my eyes out.

I'll have a proper look at it tomorrow once I've organised the garage a bit better i.e. piled everything high in one corner

[fha772]

Frank that Arkely SS kit car looks awful! I'd rather poke my eyes out...

I know, but I thought I'd get the first eBay link on your build diary!!!

I personally think the Midget is a lovely car as it is, why anyone would want to alter it, is beyond me.

I'd stick with the plan you have in mind, and keep the mods to a minimum.

[Renrut]

Well I regard the 1500 engine as something MG did to pass silly emissions anyway so changing that doesn't make me feel bad at all but keeping the rest how it is appeals. A lightweight modern ish revvy engine sounds like ideal and preferrably one that won't kill the standard gearbox and diff.

I haven't braved the garage yet today, its minus-lots out there the slush from yesterday has formed an inch thick ice sheet over everything. But apparently I've got to show the missus my latest acquisition as she only got a quick look yesterday before it was shoved into the garage.

Might have a go at this though to see if the flat tyre is any good:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecB-8f5rlo4

This is of course assuming the wheel nuts aren't tighter than a badgers arse after someone has tried to milk it...

[fha772]

I've done that with Jeep tyres, it's better if you can lay it flat on the ground, because lent up like that, it can spring away from the wall, if it's flat down, it doesn't do that.
Just lay it flat, and squirt some lighter fluid round the tyre bead, then just drop a match on it, it'll get a bit loud and scarey, and your tyre will be back on the rim, or if it's rotten, it'll be blown to bits

[Steve33]

That looks a good project drop in a k and It should be fun if you get stuck with wheels mgf alloys seem to fit everything bl.

[Renrut]

Tried the tyre trick - no luck, its been sat far too long with it flat and as a result it leaves a gaping hole for all the gas to escape Gonna take it down the local tyre fitters tomorrow after work and see if they can put some air in it. I only need it for moving it about the garage at this stage.

Also found that one of the studs on that hub has been snapped off.

Once the wheel was off it was obvious that the front suspension was in need of a complete overhaul, all the rubber bushes have completely perished.

Anyway main job today was what everyone has to do these days at the start of a project - the rust assessment!

Panels all off and seats out. The seats have a couple of rips in them and are missing their runners but an hour with some leather cleaner and they were looking a lot better. They've now gone into the attic for safe keeping.

Body looks ok but has a lot of patch repairs all over it. Some much better than others, none finished off though so they've all gone rusty but thankfully just surface rust. A measure of the door gaps top and bottom on both sides says the body isn't bent and the rear leaf hangers are very solid. Those would have been big headache problems so I'm glad they're ok.

The areas that need major attention are the footwells and the ends of the sills. These have been patched already but its a shabby job with crappy overlaps and pigeon sh1t blobby welds. I'll have to spend some time once I've got the suspension off with a grinder to see what I've actually got to work with.

I plan to get replacement doors so I'm not even going to both worrying about them, they're about £40 each for just the doors and I'll transfer over the bits from mine. I've noticed that I haven't got wing mirrors either so I'll need them too.

As far as the engien is concerned I've looked it over, it has oil and water in it, turned over easy (but you can feel some compression) with a set of mole grips on the crank pulley (there is no V belt though). Connected a battery up and got lights on the dash so that was nice, thought I'd give it a whirl so out with the liverpool locksmith and the engine turned over on the starter but VERY VERY slowly. THought it might be the battery so I tried jumping it off the jag - still only VERY slow. Anyone any ideas what could be making it so slow? Crappy old oil? Knackered starter? I wasn't expectiing it to start just wanted to see it turn over at the sensible speed.

[Steve33]

Starter might be abit stiff if not been turned in a while is it same engine as a spit 1500.?
Maybe try a compression test as a mate had slow cranking engine and had 3 cyls .

[Renrut]

Its one of these engines:


Which is supposed to be the same as the spitfire. THey are horrible looking engines, the inlet manifold is actually bolted to the exhaust, so much for cold air intakes. I've never liked the whole non-crossflow head style so might dig to see what else fits with minimal effort.

I'd have done more photos today but my camera phone has decided it doesn't want to load the camera program anymore

I'll investigate the slow starting more once I've got some space in the garage. anyone want a VTR engine and wiring loom?