Having inspected my propshaft, I'm going to replace both UJs. Obviously the shaft was balanced when originally put on the car (I can see two balance weights on the shaft). Do I need to get it balanced again, or is it safe to assume balanced for once, balanced for life? For UK members only, what sort...

Just as a follow up, it was a real pain getting the taper pins out. When I assemble, is there any reason why I couldn't tap the holes and use grub screws instead of taper pins?

Having moved on from the engine to the gearbox assembly I found that the clutch shaft and/or associated bushes were worn and therefore rattling. Having bought a new shaft, I looked at getting my local engine shop to replace the bushes. However, they didn't have a mandrel long enough to go through bo...

With regard to play in the clutch lever, there is no cracking, but there is too much play so I'll have to replace the bush. Is this something that can be done in the home garage with basic tools, or do I need a machine shop? Today I took it to the shop that skimmed and valved my cylinder head, but t...

Nice work, I'll go with what you did.

By the way, how much play is acceptable where the clutch lever (the shaft that holds the clutch fork) goes through the bell housing before it's worth going to the trouble of putting bushes in?

Quick question. What colour should the gearbox be. Engine coloured? I'm talking about the box itself, not the bell housing, which presumably remains bare metal.

I'm a scientist by training, so I like to think that I have a rational (if a somewhat Newtonian) view of the world, so I'm struggling with this... For the last couple of days I've been searching my garage high and low looking for my starter switch, but without any success. Yesterday, Norman Verona p...

That's great Chris, thank you. By the way, Lou says that your not allowed to move.

I'm 100% certain that it will turn up the day after I buy another one.

That's what I did and I even took a photo of what was in each box. However, the starter switch isn't in its box and doesn't seem to be in the other ones either. Presumably I took it out for some reason, but I cannot for the life of me think why I did that or what I did with it.

Thanks for the advice. I've tested the field coils and I get 6.9 ohms, which is exactly right according to the link that Duncan provided. I then connected a multi meter between the D terminal and ground and spun up the dynamo using an electric drill driving a socket on the pully bolt. I couldn't spi...

It seems that the best way of testing one is to have the whole of the electrics installed in the car. I guess at this stage all I want to do is something that lets me know if it has a chance of working. I'm aware that doing the wrong thing can damage an otherwise servicable unit, hence the request f...

I need to test my dynamo and I'm unsure as to how to go about it. I've seen guidance on testing it when on the car, but as I'm in the middle of rebuilding my engine, I need to do a bench test. It's been sat in a box for a long time, so I guess that I need to repolarise (flash) it before I do any oth...

Before I go to the usual suppliers for new, I thought that I would try on here first (UK only due to postage). I'm looking for i) MG TC y-branch water pipe (thought mine was ok but, when I took the old rubber pipes off, it had been eaten by rust) ii) A rubber transmission cover in decent condition (...

Thanks to Norman who went to the trouble of making a tap from an old spark plug when he found that he didn't have the correct size, the plugs now all fit as they should. What I should have done was to check the depth of the holes before I bolted the cylinder head on. As near as we could measure in-s...

I think that that bottom edge is lead loaded to create a smooth curve from the overlap of the scuttle to the quarter panel where Stephen has indicated (actually, just below that, where it's covered by the closed door). Other than that, as indicated by Roger, it's held on by tacks along the edge wher...

Hi Norman,

Thanks for the offer, if you're passing by then please do drop it off. I can then give you back the last thing that I borrowed off you

I've got to be heading over to the observatory at about 4:30pm though.

Steve

Just a quick and hopefully easy question to answer:

What is the thread size for the spark plugs on a TC? The reason for asking is that I need to clean up the spark plug hole threads on my cylinder head and I need to know what size tap to buy.

Tis now the season where I am back to restoring my TC again. A quick question - how do I work out if my current clutch cover and pressure plate is ok to reuse?

Interesting choice of mounting point for your seat belt - through the wood floor. Have you reinforced the underside of the floor to spread the load in the event of an accident? I'm a way off making a decision on seat belts and I know that there has been a lot of discussion around mounting on the cha...