New car - Midget

[dikkie]

Seems to be a bit of a trend of kit car owners getting a classic too so thought I'd join in as well! Got myself a 1976 midget to tinker with and drive when the westfields out of action (seems to be happening a lot at the moment):



Picked her up from portsmouth last weekend, was a nice day, just a shame I had the hard top on...

Bodywork all looks good (and original!) there's a bit of surface rust in the boot and some bubbling on the drivers door but nothing I can't live with

I've not got much to do to it as everything seems to be working (touches some wood!), there's a bit of an oil leak coming from the rear of the cylinder head, I suspect it's the gasket seal around the oil passage going up to the rocker (seems to be a common problem with 1500 engines). Going to try retorquing the head as I have no idea when that was last done, if that doesn't work I'll just live with it until something else warrants taking the head off...

Apart from that I've just been getting it back to daily driving standard - changing all the fluids, re-greasing everything I can and protecting it from the elements, can't decide between por-15 and waxoil - I've heard lots of good things about por-15 but at the same time this car was waxoiled from new and it's clearly done a great job at protecting it so why change!

[bluehornetrider]

Looks nice, hope it's all as tidy underneath.  Love POR15 it's marine quality stuff and guaranteed for 30 years and converts rust to primer.  I've spoken to mechanics who hate waxoil as it traps water against the panels and hides rotten panels.
The oil leaks come as standard from British Leyland engineering, if it was designed to not leak they would have made them in germany or japan!   The engine in the midgets is the same as the triumph spitfire 1500 with different numbers so parts are easy to get hold of.

[dikkie]

Seems to be tidy underneath, I think the oil leaks have kept the underside well protected (good thinking on BL's part!).

Maybe I should bite the bullet and go for por-15, my main goal is to protect the wheel arches as the underside is already sealed and there's no sign of it failing anywhere.

Would you recommend doing the 3 stages of it: I'm looking at this kit:

http://www.holden.co.uk/displayProduct.asp?pcode=094.920

it would be going on top of pretty good looking paint so I'm not sure if steps 1 and 2 are necessary...

['The Gaffer']

Looks like a very tidy car, enjoy it

[bluehornetrider]

The instructions that POR15 offer suggest that you clean with marine clean then prime with there primer direct over pitted rusty sections then paint por15 ontop, it isn't UV stable and will change colour if exposed to light but it doesn't affect the properties of the paint you'll just need to top coat it with whatever colour you want it.  It can go on thick with a few coats and self levels into a rubbery coating.  Be warned if you get it on you skin and don't get it off straight away you will have por15 protected hands for a few days!

The first coat is a degreaser, silicon remover which is advised and the second coat is a rust converter which seems to help the top coat.

Clever old BL with it's self lubricating chassis.  
Check under the carpets and around the seatbelt retaining points for rust. 

[fullpint]

Nice little MG mate.. Not sure whats getting into the members on here!! Buying all these classic cars... If I had a double garage I would buy my-self an old Ford..

[bluehornetrider]

The old fords are really picking up in price now even bog standard mk1 escorts are fetching 30k at auctions.