About Me

New Hartford, Connecticut, United States
Name: Todd Russo Location: New Hartford, CT, USA

Saturday, August 29, 2015

Wheels, tires and more.


It took the powder coating shop a week and a couple days to work on the wheels, but the wheels finally were stripped and powder coated and ready for me to pick them up. I brought them to a place called Plas-Tec Coatings in East Windsor, CT. I was home by 10AM.

They were very accommodating and did great work at a great price!
 

Later that morning (at around 11AM), I took the new Nankang tires and wheels down to my local tire shop to have them mounted and balanced. The shop was a bit pricey but they always do good work. Also, the job was done within an hour. I was home by 12:15PM.
 

After lunch, I went out and mounted them to the car, because after all…I just could not wait to get the rusty ones off. It was 1:30PM when these pictures were taken.
 

I think they look awesome!! Now I am searching for a set of original MG 1100 hub caps, which are rare and expensive! After this picture was taken, I went for a cruise up the road, one mile up, one mile back. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING worked fantastically!! What a difference new tires make!!
 

When we had three day stretch of gorgeous weather between the heat waves last week, I took a morning to figure out how to wire the rear trunk (boot) lid handle light, which was the last electrical item that had to be finished. It was quite simple to connect the wire to the tail running light connector, then run the wire up the hollow trunk hinge and through the hollow trunk lid. At first there was a grounding issue that puzzled me, but, it turned out to be something I easily overlooked. Now it works and looks great. The handle will have to be removed whenever the car gets color sanded.

As a little side story, my father in-law took my son and I out in his restored 1960 Boston Whaler 13 a mile and a half out to this point. This is a famous daymarker in Mattapoisett on Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. For twenty years I have been yearning to go out to this and take a picture of it as it is mentioned quite a bit in all the navigational literature but it has never been pictured on the internet. You see it here first!! Here is the Cormorant Rock daybeacon complete with Double crested Cormorants!

 

Next big tasks are getting the title search and registration done, and getting the car color sanded so that all the trim and stuff can get put on.

Thanks for visiting.

Toddy

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Punching the finishing punch list


With the car now drivable and all major systems working properly, I can concentrate on getting the final bits and pieces all buttoned up for DMV inspection.

Here is the list:
 

The tires arrived a couple weeks ago. I decided on Nankangs because first, they are one of the only companies that makes the correct size; and second, because the reviews have been good about them.
 

I also ordered trim fasteners (part no. BSF078P) from Bresco in the UK. This car requires 42 fasteners. Howard was awesome to deal with!!
 

As for actual work on the car…the bumper bolts were finally switched out to the correct smaller ones that I got from Aaron in Oregon a couple months ago. They just look “right” now.
 

But, there is one hole that does not align on the right (passenger) front corner. That is for another day.
 

Her sun visors (sunscreens) were installed. I decided to put in the original black ones that I had rather than the ones I got from Aaron just because they were the ones that came with the car.
 

And, to make Old Biddy an official car again, her “Commission No.” plate was riveted in place! I had to look at the photos from nine years ago to make sure which way up was correct.
 

The dashboard screws were all attached as well. No picture to prove it though. The next task is getting the wheels blasted and powder coated and the tires installed. Then hopefully the body can get color sanded so all the trim can be applied.

Thanks for visiting.

Toddy