Bumping into good and bad news.

This week I had a chance to call Chris, who is re-building Old Biddy's motor. On this rare conversation with him, he told me about his progress on the project. He started by saying that when he was draining the oil he noticed some roller bearings stuck to the magnetic drain plug. Should I continue with the story, or have you figured out what the conclusion is? Yes, I may need a new transmission! Chris's comment, "Well, I think I discovered the reason why they parked the car!" Got to admit that that made me chuckle.Yeah, that was great news....

So, since it will be a little longer before I get the motor back, I continued on the vein of puttering, as I have been doing the past three weeks. I wanted to clear more space down in my cellar workshop by putting bigger parts on the car which take up room downstairs. Since the front lights were installed last week, I went ahead and put the back ones on, too.

As with the front indicators, they went on pretty smoothly, also. The driver's side is an NOS light which now makes the original passenger's side one look pretty ugly.

Then I started to work on the front bumper. By far it is not perfect but it will hold a space for the new one that I will get some day down the road. It was rusty on the inside.

Here's some good news...I actually bought a tool!! Yes, I know that sounds strange coming from me but I splurged and purchased a wire brush wheel for my drill. It worked great for cleaning up the inside of the bumper.

It came out looking like this!! NO, not really. This is the next day after I had primed it and painted it with some "chrome" paint. It will do the job for now as I know it will only last a few years.

After I polished the chrome with Nevr-Dull, just for kicks I hung the bumper on the car. It gives the car some real character. All of my bumper bolts and hardware for both front and rear were beyond saving. When I make my big order for engine parts to Moss motors, I will put them on the list, too.

I found the bumper over riders in a box hidden inside another box. They will also hold a spot for the new ones...whenever I get them. The original ones for the MG 1100 literally crumbled to bits when I was disassembling the car. These were from an Austin America.

They do not quite fit. Their profile is quite different. I may have to put a rubber strip on them for now so they will secure tightly. Here is a close up of that crazed rusty gleam that some people call "the vintage look".

I still have not gotten the wire harness back from the UK! Josh at British Wiring contacted me and let me know to expect it around August 24th if everything goes as planned. I have to think positively and hope for the best. At least this week I had contact with Chris and I bought a new tool so life is not all bad!

Thanks for visiting!

Toddy