Fix It With Steve...

Again it has been busy in the shop. There has been a steady stream of projects – planned and unplanned – to fill up my weekends.

On Saturday & Sunday (2/14-15) things went as planned. We inspected a 1979 very late model Midget. It needs work to the propeller shaft U-joints, front suspension upper bushes and a leaking exhaust manifold to catalyst joint - only one nut of the original three is there and it’s loose! I’ll let you know when we are going to do this, probably early March. The good news is the car is structurally sound with only minor rust issues.

At the other end of the spectrum from the 1979 Midget I went and looked at a 1960 Iris Blue Austin Healey Bug eyed Sprite that’s in the process of being rebuilt. It’s going to come to Downers Grove for some work including getting the carb linkages sorted, completing the wiring and (hopefully) fixing why the gas tank cap is barely clearing the top of the ‘trunk’. Again when that’s scheduled I’ll be in touch.

On Sunday Doug Clark came over and we spent three hours going over Carol Mullis’ MGB and generating a rather long list of work that needs doing to get it safely running again. The good news is it’s structurally sound and we got the engine running after 2+ years of being parked.

Saturday (2/21) John Schroeder put his MGB on the lift. His leaking pinion oil seal was okay but he did discover the source of his differential oil leak and hopefully fixed it. However he will be back! - the right rear shock absorber is leaking and needs to be replaced.

Also on Saturday and continuing on to Sunday, we started to build Russ Mehaffey’s 3 main bearing crankshaft B engine. He has all the heavy stuff, block, crankshaft, head etc. back from the machine shop so we will be working on this in the future.

Looking ahead to the weekend of March 1st & 2nd, Fix it with Steve will be taking a break to go and run a half Marathon in Little Rock AR. ‘Normal’ service, such as it is, will be resumed on March 8th.

In The Works…

	Saturday March 8th we will be working on Tim Schafer’s 1979 Midget. Replacing the U-joints on the propshaft and hopefully fixing the free play in the upper front suspension arms.
	Sunday March 9th we will return to Russ’ B engine & put the pistons and connecting rods in and carry on with the rebuild. The fallback plan will be to start cleaning up parts for my TR6, which is now in primer and expected to be returning in a few weeks.

Look forward to some tech sessions in April to rectify everything with Carol’s 1972 MGB once we have agreed what is being done and we have the parts.

Other than this, the work schedule is a little vague right now, so if you’re interested in seeing what’s going on, please let me know so I can keep you up to date with any last minute changes.

Finally,

My 2003 Mini Cooper got two new Oxygen sensors but that didn’t fix the check engine light issue. (Message to self – stick to old cars………..!)

~~Steve Skegg

Editor’s Note:
Now I know you are all visualizing a frigid open-door garage ‘out in the sticks’ with a greasy mechanic in a winter parka bending over a cold bonnet working on a cars’ ailing innards. Well, that couldn’t be farther from the truth (well maybe some of it). Steve is the proud owner of a tandem two-car garage—heated and air conditioned in the Summer—plenty of working room! It even has a full-height four-post lift—and tools to fix mostly everything! Steve is located in Downers Grove, IL southwest of Ogden avenue and Main street.