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Something I thought would be easy wasn't.....again.

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woggerone Avatar
woggerone Todd A.
Los Lunas, NM, USA   USA
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Hello Guys and Gals. I ordered a few things for my 1979 MGB a few days ago, and got the box today. It was like opening a Christmas present early. New lenses for the back, sunvisors since this car is missing them, except for the brackets, gaskets, various other small items. I was excited. I had just gotten off work. I took my presents to the garage and decided to replace those old Lucas backup light lenses with the brand new ones, including gaskets. Should be easy, right? Not with my car. I didn't know the old dried out lenses on the car were held in with self tapping sheetmetal screws that somebody put in. I had even ordered the correct screws. Of course the female threads in the housing were stripped now, so the correct new screws didn't work. I drove down to Lowe's (because I work there, and it just seemed the right thing to do) to get longer screws with the same type threads. I got back home, and my wife says "didn't you get the right stuff when you ordered it?". Well I did, but didn't realize this was turning into a drama. The longer screws actually worked and grabbed new threads and tightened the lenses up. I didn't want to buy a whole new housing. Jeez, I'm not doing a rotisserie restoration here. The taillight lenses have the same type sheet metal screws in them. However, I'm done for tonight. A simple 10 minute job that took 2 hours. Sorry for venting. It's just frustrating. I'm going to bed early tonight. And a picture for a few laughs.


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WP_20141217_003.jpg

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jimmididrjim Avatar
jimmididrjim Jim & Maureen Wilkas
CT, USA   USA
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1960 MG MGA 1600 "Miss Daisy"
Todd, never expect to get off easy...it never seems to be the case!

Jim

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JoeReed Avatar
JoeReed Joe Reed
Cordova, TN, USA   USA
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1978 MG MGB "Kermit"
Those look like drywall screws! eye popping smiley

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woggerone Avatar
woggerone Todd A.
Los Lunas, NM, USA   USA
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You are actually correct Joe. Upon further examination they are drywall screws. It's isn't the last of them either. There's a few more holding various lenses in place.

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dipstick Avatar
dipstick Kenny Snyder (RIP)
La Center, WA, USA   USA
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1941 Ford N-Series
1958 MG MGA 1500 Coupe "Rosie"
1970 MG MGB GT "Pat's GT"
1971 MG MGB "Gifted To Me"    & more
"... and decided to replace those old Lucas backup light lenses with the brand new ones, including gaskets."

Don't over tighten. I got new lens & chrome covers installed and the next day all four lens had cracked around the screws.



Be safe out there.
Kenny

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ingoldsb Avatar
ingoldsb Silver Member Terry Ingoldsby
Calgary, AB, Canada   CAN
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1971 MG MGB
DPOs!



Terry Ingoldsby
terry.ingoldsby@DCExperts.com

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woggerone Avatar
woggerone Todd A.
Los Lunas, NM, USA   USA
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Thanks Kenny. Great advice. I went out and backed them out. They're attached but loose. I'll retighten when I'm in a better frame of mind. I don't want to break them. Sometimes it's better to walk away. The car will be there tomorrow and I'll tighten them carefully.

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misterfox Avatar
misterfox Bryan Lever
Beachwood, OH, USA   USA
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1972 MG MGB "Gone, But Not Forgotten."
1973 MG MGB
1974 MG MGB
This is an MG -

You will often find yourself in the second day of a 15 minute project.



Member - NAMGBR, Emerald Necklace MG Register


Murphy's paradox:
Doing it the hard way is always easier.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-12-17 10:45 PM by misterfox.

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lgorg Avatar
lgorg Larry Gorg
Renton, WA, USA   USA
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1966 MG MGB "Robbie"
In reply to a post by misterfox This is an MG -
You will often find yourself in the second day of a 15 minute project.

X2 thumbs up
Working on the MG is a three step process. Two steps forward, and one step back. Numerous times, I've started doing one thing, and finding out to complete that one thing, I have to fix something else in order to get the first item done.

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MG Cruiser Avatar
MG Cruiser Keith Delta4
Rockingham, WA, Australia   AUS
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1970 MG MGB "Moneypit"
Whenever I say to my wife, "see you in ten minutes" she replies "a couple of hours more like"! Yep you got it !

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spikemichael Platinum Member Michael Caputo
Canton, IL, USA   USA
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1973 MG MGB "Freebie"
1973 MG MGB
1974 MG MGB "Spike"
1976 MG MGB "Cecil"    & more
Have your wife do the next order... and everything will come up perfect and she'll say "I never have these types of issues" ... have her continue ordering... they will always come in correct for her.



Michael J. Caputo
'79, '77, '76, '74.5 (rubber dual SU), and '73 owner. Extensive experience in 12v Audio System design and installation. Vendor of Regalia and Promotional Products since 1993. Supplier of Accessories to MOSS. Forum Member since 2009; with a warped sense of humor since birth. Publisher of the annual MGB & GT Calendar, mailed worldwide.


Member Services:
Please send photos for next year's calendar to photos25@mgbcalendar.com. If you need help with your Weber downdraft carburetor, feel free to call me at 978-249-5760, USA, Central Time!
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gphackney Avatar
gphackney Silver Member Gregory Hackney
West Linn, OR, USA   USA
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1969 MG MGB GT "FrankenGT"
1969 MG MGB GT "Betty"
I walked away from a GT that my wife wanted to buy.
It was a "rotisserie restoration" that looked beautiful until I looked really close.
Beautiful "Sonic blue" paint. A redone interior.
A pop rivet in a corner piece trim of the windscreen. (WTF?)
Incorrect screws in a number of places.
Other minor things. But enough to make me fear how much damage I would have to undo.

Later I bought a 95% original GT.
But 95% original meant rubber mats and sill covering that were 90% gone.
None-working courtesy light.
Shot rear leaf springs.
...

But as I've redone things, I've had almost no damage done by POs to undo.

Even then, things take longer than one might expect.
Getting 45 year old screws, nuts and bolts to loosen can be frustrating.
The amount of crud I had to clean out under the three (THREE!) layers of rubber mats laid down on top of the remnants of the originals was amazing.
The PO garage kept the car, but could not pull the mats out and use a vacuum?

You gotta learn patience and enjoy the process.
And those rewards when you get something all cleaned up.

I re-upholstered the drivers seat.
My wife says it is beautiful.

My wife helped me re-carpeted from the fire-wall back to the rear seat.
When I did the drivers seat, I installed a bum warmer.
Wired it under the new carpet. Hooked it up and it worked first time.
She sat in the seat and was gleeful. "It's warm!"

She needed to run an errand, so I finished the rear seat and back deck.
But not all the fiddly bits.
She returned and looked. Pointing at the rear wheel arches, she said
"Well I can tell you haven't done those because they are no where near up to your standards."
She was right. I quit for the day on a high note.

Oh yeah.... She still wants a Sonic Blue car.

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2150john Avatar
2150john Silver Member John L
Nolensville, TN, USA   USA
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I'd say fairly common to find self tapping screws in the taillight and backup light lenses. I recall even doing that myself when I was in college on a bug eyed sprite I had bought for $200. I had money for gas back then but fixing anything meant looking through my dad's junk drawer for whatever screw or nut I could find. Wish I still had that Sprite. One of the most fun little cars I ever drove. I am sure whoever has it has cursed me as a DPO on many occasions. All I can say is I did the best I could and kept it on the road and out of the junk yard.

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79mgbv8 Avatar
79mgbv8 Gil Price
Constable NY, USA   USA
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1971 MG MGB GT
1976 MG MGB
1979 MG MGB V8 Conversion "Rumble Bee"
From about 1973 to 1980 there were self tapping screws holding in the back up lights ---I ran into this before --just look at Moss catalog part number 314-115. But as you found drywall screws that would be a
DPO "upgrade" smiling smiley

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Nicecar Avatar
Nicecar Gary (ex "Harv") G
Victoria, BC, Canada   CAN
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1980 MG MGB "Red On Red On Red"
Surely with all the talent here, someone could write and perform a DPO song, (then UTube post), members throwing in a line or two.

Off the cuff, let me begin:

Saw this fine looking MGB, and wife liked it too.
Hey Big Daddy says she, now one for me and one for you.

Bought it, took it home and what did I find?.......
So much wrong stuff my face turned blue.

Chorus:

Oh the DPO, the DPO, some call him "dipstick" some call him "dumb"
How anyone can butcher such a beautiful car leaves me angrily numb.

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