Pulled a rear wheel to see 'what's-what' with the hand brake.
Basically I can't get enough adjustment on the hand brake lever and the lever is all the way up before it holds the car.
I was lead to believe that this is caused when the drums are machined - but I'm not so sure.
The PO dealt with the situation by removing the anti-rattle spring, allowing more movement on the adjusting nut. I replaced the spring because it should be there but I believe the cables are stretched so as an interim 'fix', I did what he did and removed the spring.

While I was at the rear brake, however, I noticed that the spring holding the hand brake levers on each wheel, were fouling the rubbers on the wheel cylinders. If left, I believe they would have worn through.
The springs were a solid coil and should have been a two coil arrangement separated by a straight section where it passes over the wheel cylinder.
After some discussion on the forum, I decided to have a go at coiling my own.
After a few trials, I think I got a successful result.

The one shown above was what was there before, below are pics of one of the first I made. With practice I got better at it and the two that went on, I believe were better than that.


I think I'm ready for Rego.

Few weeks ago, during the school holidays and on the way to visit the in-laws, we called in at Heritage MG and I bought a new side mirror. I intended to get the 'bullet' style but when we got there I compared it with the more traditional style and because it was lighter and had a bigger glass area, I decided to get the more expensive, rectangular shaped mirror. The part of the door where the mirror went looked a bit like 'swiss-cheese' from past efforts with mirrors and I should have sorted this out much earlier, before painting. I suppose I thought that the base of any mirror I would put there would cover up the holes. Well, they didn't.
I was able to use one hole but there were three others that had to be filled and a new one drilled.
Today I attacked this by using the 'bash and bog' method then repainted and late tonight I put the mirror on. It had a sort of rawlplug type fixing which could be done all from the outside so the door lining didn't have to come off.
I'm not totally convinced that it's terribly secure but it feels pretty good so time will tell.
The only thing I'm a bit 'iffy' about now for Rego. is the hand brake issue that I've mentioned before.
The fix for that apparently is cutting the levers and lengthening them at each rear brake.
I'm not convinced that this is the best solution so I'm exploring alternatives in that area. In the meantime I think I may be able to do a short term fix by removing the spring on the end of the cable which will allow a little more adjustment. This may be enough for the inspection.
The other issues are cosmetic and shouldn't impact on it's roadworthiness.

The speedo was pretty much the last important thing to sort out and I ended up pulling it and disassembling it. Was all gunked up with hardened grease.
While it was out I thought it would be an opportune time to deal with some of the dash lights - especially the indicator arrows.
The new wiring harness has the sockets on them but they are worse than useless. The globes won't stay in them and they are a general PITA.
Some discussion on the forum re: the use of LEDs got me thinking that I could do better with something like that. I went searching on Ebay and came across these:

Bought them and with some hot melt glue, shrink tube and an old socket made these:

Very bright and fit in well.
I've still got 20 left so I'm thinking of doing some other lights.

Peter died early last week and I'm struggling coming to terms with it. A few days ago I wouldn't have been able to write this but I'm getting a little better.
The funeral was yesterday and while it was a celebration of Peter's life it was very disturbing for me. The strange thing is that I've been taken aback by my depth of emotion and how much it has effected me. I had not realized how much Peter had meant to me. I had not seen much of him in recent months as he had completely absorbed himself into his flying.
However, as difficult as it was, the funeral and the gathering after has been very therapeutic for me.
Good bye, Peter.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/09/02/2352606.htm

Mentioned before about a new glove box out of PVC sheet.
I thought that I may have been able to make the box a little bigger to make use of some of the space behind the dash, however, the reality is that no matter how big it is the size is determined by it ability to be actually wiggled into place and I found that I can't make it any larger because I can't get it in there.
So a tray with sides is about all you can get.

I'll post some pictures when I've finished it and it's in.

I used the innards of two cheap clearance lights to make new front parkers which use the small torpedo shaped globes and they seem to be working ok. The front left parking light is still causing some issues but I think I may have solved it with some careful bending of the globe contacts.

Ended up buying 2 horns from REPCO, a high and a low tone and I'm really pleased with the sound and the volume. No relays, but they work really well.
Some issue with the fuel gauge. It moves slightly but is not functioning at all. I think it's probably the sender unit.
Found the stay retainer for the boot and put it on and the boot catch went on and is functioning well.

Not legal yet but, went for our first decent drive tonight. Went up the road did a 3 point turn and came back. Checked around the car a bit, checked the tyre pressures and put David in the passenger seat and went for a longer drive - just around the streets near home. Very exciting!
Clashed the gears twice - hit reverse instead of 2nd changing down and hit 1st instead of 3rd changing up once. Gears are very clunky but I think I'll get used to them.
This is the first time the gearbox has been run in all gears and it seems OK. Brakes are a bit heavy, 'spose that's normal - no power assist. Same with steering.
Still got a couple of things to do but it should only be a week or two before I can get it inspected and registered.

*Battery hold down
*Seat belts - going with static $95 each.
*Some interior panels need screwing in.
*Speedo cable
*Still have to sort out the ground for the washers - not a bit deal.
*Glovebox, I'm fabricating a new one - just the bottom and sides.
*Back cockpit trim still to be attached.

I think that's about it, Lots of trim bits but these shouldn't be a rego issue.