MG Midget Dash Respray

MG Midget Dash Respray

The next small installment of the journey of my 1972 1275 MG Midget RWA, And its a big difference in todays episode!

After last time getting all the bits installed, including a new steering column, new steering wheel, and sorting the horn out. It was NOW time to sort the rest of the dashboard out that was totally ruined with rust, and bad touch up paint jobs.

Chris Leverett based in Backwell, Bristol, took her in, and removed the whole dashboard and shot blasted it to hell, before respraying with crackle paint and then reassembling.

They did a "crackling" job - hahahahaha.

See the difference before and after the dash is completed!

We then look at an irritating rattle in the engine bay, and think about how to rectify it!

Thanks for watching you lot, all the support is welcome!!

[corrinecummings]

My bonnet spring and locking mechanism unwind constantly with the vibration of the running engine. About once a month or so, I screw the lock up to 5cm from the underside of the bonnet. It's about a 30 second job and keeps stuff where it ought to be.

[andrewreynolds]

Hi there is it possible you could forward me a link for your steering wheel please, many thanks. Andy

[mundanestuff]

What a great ride Margot is, a really sweet Midget. "this here" is the heat shield that's supposed to stop vapor lock or fire and exploding by shielding the carbs and fuel lines from the super hot exhaust manifold and pipes just below. A cross-flow head would put the exhaust on the opposite side and solve the vapor lock problem but cause problems (for your bank account) for systems on the other side, like oil and ignition, or you can use a $0.35 silicon rubber washer? The two braces aren't on the 948 or 1098 motors, added with the 1275. It IS a little larger, come to think of it. I have a pile of these in my spares bins, and there's none improved over the others IMO, one from an early Sprite looks an awful lot like like one from a later Midget. My father's race cars just used the same heat shield on the 1098, but some of his buddies put the cross-flow head on because of the temperatures they ran at, or wrapped their exhaust in asbestos tape. Every picture I have of dad's engines show the same setup you have, he solved the problem by routing a pipe from a headlight bucket to blow air over the carbs... so it only got vapor lock at low speeds. The plates may be slightly different, but really, how different can a sheet of steel be, the biggest payout seems to be had by providing better airflow? I intend to wrap the pipes on mine when I get the chance, and as I rebuild the ones I'm rebuilding because it improves the heat problem without sacrificing cash or performance or authenticity.

[emmajacobs]

I think the carb heatshield bracket thingy is supposed to fasten onto the engine lower down on the block, rather than one of the exhaust manifold studs. That might give more rigidity to things. And things are always improved with a bit more rigidity …
Damnit, now you’ve got me making terrible quips

[inFmsGamingHD]

Hi Andy, I've just got a 77 Midget and am in the process of making it pretty again (nasty old rubber bumpers are already long gone). Can I ask if you have any advice or guides to take the dash out? I need to re-spray mine and the speedo doesn't work so need to get in there. I have a Haynes Manual but unless i've been blind there wasn't anything obvious in there about getting the Dash out.

Any help would be hugely appreciated!

P.S. Love the channel, you pretty much sold me on the idea of Midget ownership!