Thursday, April 21, 2016

Ok, now back to fun car stuff....

So it has been a while since I wrote about my LBCs (Little British Cars); the MGB Roadster, MGB-GT and my Triumph Spitfire/Spit 6, which has been in restoration for a decade.  Believe it or not it is getting closer to finalization as the exhaust is now nearly complete, all under chassis work is done except for the new clutch slave cylinder and the little bit of welding work needed in the rear is done.

Once those last few things are complete it can come down off the lift and the final bits for the interior can be installed and then the last major hurdle begins; doing the body and paint work.  Some things need attention, but for the most part it needs a good sanding and a coat of primer before final paint; which will be the same American Racing White (current base color) and adding a blue stripe.

The Spit 6, Spitfire with race prepared 2.0 liter GT-6 drive-train, used to be a race car back in the days of SCAA Time-trials classification.  I'm going for the street-able restoration, which requires things like...lights and turn signals.  So a few of these things need attention as well.

Neither the Roadster nor the GT have been out of the garage for more than a few minutes over the winter, but now that spring is here I plan on getting them out for a run or two in the coming weeks.  One of the things I need to do is top off the tanks with fresh gas and add BG-44K additive.  My LBC Mensch, Barry, swears by the stuff and he is not easily impressed. I bought 4 cans from him, one each for the MGBs and one for my wife's Volvo C-70 Turbo Convertible. 

I saved the last can for my 1985 Toyota pick-up truck; over 182,000 miles and the engine has never been apart! It's not much of a looker and I don't drive it a lot, but when you need a truck for something it's really handy.  I took it out last Saturday, threw in the can of BG-44K and filled up the tank.  Made a drive over to the local shopping center and a cruise around town and I swear, it ran better on the way home than on the way out without the BG-44K.

I think Barry is right, the stuff works miracles to clean fuel systems and de-carbonize the valve train.  It's not cheap, but it works and you only need to add it about every 20-30K miles.  I'm looking forward to adding it to the Volvo to see what extra performance and drive-ability might be reclaimed.

Later! --- SF

1 comment:

  1. Understood; it is hard to find time to play with our LBCs. I guess we do what we want to do!

    Thanks for the heads-up on the BG-44K. I'm about to start a project, revitalizing a '74 MGB GT that has sat / garaged for over 3 years; ran when parked.

    The MG belonged to my Father In-law and unfortunately, it has been neglected since his death. Out of respect for "Mr. Mitchell" and the MG, it is time to put the GT back on the road. The car was a restoration project at the time and it deserves to be driven as he intended. My plan is to have it ready in time for the upcoming MG car show in Chattanooga in late October. Now that I've said it, I guess I own it and need to get busy!

    I'll let you know of my progress and the results using BG-44K too.

    "Barry, have you seen my tools?"

    Unused Tool

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