Airportable

Firstly thank you team for correcting my goofs & secondly it’s almost as if the pictures from my first attempt are sidelined to wait for the next bus to come along. It is this second bus on which they hop to join their twin, journeying along to embarrass me yet again.
Thanks again team for nursemaiding ageing members such as I.
M

Thanks chum, I’ll print that out & attach it somewhere where I can’t miss it, possibly on the inside of my eyelids.
I have to say that that is my attempted procedure, however with a 50% failure rate I must be getting it wrong half the time. (!)
M

Will someone give me concise instructions on attaching pictures, I go through the same procedure each time

As may be gathered MGB281 has had great experience with tyres & alignment. He has illustrated graphically how important this can be & has uncovered errors in the alignment information used by the larger companies.
On the back of this I did some reading up found several references to the “string method”
Basically you create an accurate “box” around the car & from that measurement are taken.
Anyone who has looked at my posts will have gathered that I can be obsessive about things & so I “boxed” the car using lasers mirrors & prisms.
The car was placed on skid plates, levelled & by using the front O/S wheel as datum, which was tested with the appropriate MGf info (it was within a midges dick) I set the laser up & measured.
There was nothing to worry about in the findings, it just took all bloody day, which was fine if you have a day to spare & another making all the bits to do the job.
Tempting providence I’ll attach a picture of the gear; I didn’t take any pictures of the operation.
M

Why am I such a failure with pictures? Sometimes it works with not a problem, then the system rejects me for a bit & I’ve to repeat. I do the same each time & with a failure rate of 50% plus.

As promised two are on the car the other is an odd USB voltage tester. The six & a bit voltage is across a variable power supply on the blower motor.
The third is across a fag lighter socket. I dispensed with the socket in the car but still require one for the kit to re- inflate a tyre after a possible puncture.
My main volt meter is in a combined instrument cluster in the space vacated by the fag lighter.
You probably didn’t want to know all that!
M

You can buy off eBay small volt meters, these are inexpensive, a couple or three quid is all.
They are an inch x three eighths at a guess, I’m not at home at the moment to measure, but that will convey their size.
A little bit of ingenuity will find a place to fit one & these can give you a view of not only the battery condition but indicate other electrical niggles.
These come in two & three wire types; the two wire is self explanatory, in the three there is a constant feed with the meter feed on the third. These are for instances where there is a difference in the maintained voltage & the measured voltage.
You will also find on the universal everything superstore called eBay metres that measure voltage & current, the current being measured across a shunt.
Walk straight past these & look at something else, these are great in power supplies, I use several, but for cars they can be a pain in every part.
I’ll post some pictures later when I’m back in the workshop
M

From what I recall there is one spot where you can remove & reinstate a standard stud, although an amount of judicious grinding might be required if you wish to install longer studs. This is recommended if you were to fit wheel spacers.
It’s quite a while since I replaced a stud in this way & the memory fades.
So best of luck & hope my memory of this job is off an MG & not any other car I’ve had dealings with.
M
M

The transfiguration of a metal into another chemical conglomerate after it has been introduced to a motor car, especially but not exclusively British, is interesting.
An aluminium alloy whose surface could me easily marked by poking it with a thumb nail turns into a titanium hard substance when you approach it with a drill.
Likewise an 8.8 tensile bolt would neck & fail at the transition from thread to uncut portion long before the proscribed torque setting.
The problem then arises “how the ********+****+++** do I get the remains out.
I do like your use of the word percussive in context, I’ve never been short of big hammers, punches or drifts, however I’ve never before had to dress the raggy arsed ends as often as I have since I acquired MGs.
My wife & I have always been great fell walkers but as we’ve aged we have become fair weather walkers, the shortfall in exercise has been made up by knocking seven bells out of metalwork associated with vehicles.
M

Irwin do a socket which had a left hand course spiral machined into it, once engaged with the remains of the nut & torque is applied the spiral bites into the nut. The more grunt you apply the greater is the bite until something gives.
Irwin tools took over Record & a number of other UK tool manufacturer & china has become the source of some items in the range; what’s fresh?
These work well & a set of Chinese branded items will cost you a tenner, there again you want the situation to improve, so I would search out the Irwin items.
M