Since our last report here we
have whipped through several more tasks in our engine-start countdown, leaving us now with just 45
steps and 86 hours remaining. Still quite a bit, but we think we're on track for getting the engine
running by no later than April 20th, or maybe the 21st, or possibly some day after that. We'll have to wait
and see. This week we installed the rear wiring harness, bolted in the front suspension cross brace,
strapped in the fuel pump, installed the oil pressure gauge, and painted the scuttle for the
umpteenth time.
Worst case of orange peel ever
Painting the Locost scuttle has been a rough experience. We've painted about a million things over the
years, and we've had issues before, but nothing like this. In spite of our semi-diligent prep work,
each application of paint—and there have been several—has been worse than the last. I know we said
we'd quit after this, but the scuttle looks too bad to give up now, so we're going to try one more
time, and just to prove we're not crazy we'll to do something different this time, although we're not
sure exactly what.
Wiring not as complicated as it looks
Installing the rear wiring harness went better. Our original routing scheme had to be modified
slightly because other parts got in the way, but we were able to use all of our welded tabs so it
looks like the harness is installed exactly where we planned for it to go. The harness snakes around
behind the passenger bulkhead for a bit, but stays out of the way of the fuel and brake lines, which
as we've noted before is important in reducing the odds of an explosion when the wiring harness
suddenly bursts into flames.
Fuel pump leaves just enough room for the axle
The only wire of any real importance in the rear harness is the one for the fuel pump, and that's all
we'll be hooking up for now. Everything else is tie-wrapped to the frame until we get around to
working on it. We installed the fuel pump in our modified bracket, and it still fits, although it
seems to be a lot closer to everything than it did the last time we bolted it in. As long as the trailing links and Panhard rod
keep things in line, we should be okay, but we'll be keeping an eye out for any scuff marks on the
differential once we're up and running.
We made a few more modifications to the dashboard, and managed once again to do it without ruining
anything. Although we're not done yet so anything is possible. First thing we did is drill some half-inch
holes for the turn signal indicators, alternator light, and high-beam indicators. We don't want to
install any of the indicators yet, because it looks like they're not designed to come out, so we'll wait
until the dashboard is all done and covered with whatever we end up covering it with.
Screws in approximately the right place
We also drilled holes for the oil pressure gauge. Most MGB gauges are clamped to the dash,
but apparently that wasn't good enough for the oil gauge. So we
had to drill some holes, and they had to be perfect or else the oil gauge would be crooked. The
holes in the oil pressure gauge are tiny, and the screws have to be countersunk, which means we had zero assembly
tolerance. Luckily the bezel is separate from the gauge and clips onto the dash, so as long as we get
the bezel straight no one should notice if the gauge is off a little.
So that's it for now and the next big project on our list is installing the transmission. It fit in
the car before so we're not expecting any difficulties, except for maybe finding all the mounting
hardware. We'll look around and let you know.
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