Moss Motors, Ltd

MGBGT RESTORATION: Day 2 and 3

MGBGT70 — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 12:09:00 GMT

Once the gearbox was removed, I was able to get to the pressure plate, clutch and flywheel and remove them all:

Then the top end disassembly. The first picture is me taking off the rocker arm assembly. The second picture is my little brother Jim removing the cylinder head studs then removing the cylinder head.

Look at those nasty combustion chambers! How could their be any compression with those burnt valves?

Now I know why it wouldn't run. Look at the unburned oil sitting on top of the pistons!

My brother Jim looking for a dropped bolt

Removing alternator brackets

Knocking off the crankshaft nut and removing the pully

YIKES! Cracked number 2 piston fell apart when we removed it. The floor below the engine stand was littered with pieces of the broken piston rings from every cylinder. This old girl is definitely ready for a rebuild.

I've had the hardest time removing the oil pump body from the crankcase. I've got all the studs out, but it won't budge. Any ideas?

Color 75 Spitfire Frame

jwithers — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 22:20:00 GMT

As I get ready to paint the frame on my 1975 Spitfrire it appears to me that the frame was not originally painted the same gloss as the rest of the car. Can anyone out there confirm this?

69 Sprite Clutch issues

jo251971 — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:18:00 GMT

Hi all, I am a new member here and this is the first time I have blogged about a car or anything else for that matter, and have been reading some of the posts by others. Seems like there are some very knowledgable peopele on here so I figured I ask a few questions and see if anyone else had any ideas. I have worked on many cars but very few manual transmissions and this is my first British car. I picked up a 69 Sprite 1275 for dirt cheap that was in bad shape and needed about everything but it had a clean title and ran good and came with new rear quarters for 400 bucks. Since then I have stripped it, had it blasted, replaced multiple body panels, hours and hours and days and days of body work, painted it, (came out really nice, its blue) detailed the engine, slaped it back in and got it running. It runs fantastic but has some clutch issues. My mistake came when I put the engine and trans back in and did not seperate the trans from the engine to check everything out before re installation. I have replaced the slave cylinder, slave push rod and pin, master cyl linkage pin, and believe I have thoroughly bled the system. Im getting approximately a 1/2 to 3/4 inches of movement out of the slave pushrod (not sure how far it is supposed to move but thats all Im getting. I have read some of the clutch bleeding posts and tried pushing the slave plunger in and bleeding, not pushing it and bleeding, and cannot get more anymore push out of the slave plunger. My release bearing still has a pretty good carbon pad on it like an 1/8th to a 1/4 inch or so and its making contact plus about an 1/8 to quarter of push past contact. Dont think Im getting all the push I shoud be but thats only one of my issues. The car has 104k on it so its possible the clutch has been replaced (should have seperated tranny to find out but got in too much of a hurry). The car sat for some time, I would guess outside. So anyway, last nite I fired her up (runs like a champ), and cannot get into any gears. Thought maybe clutch was froze from sitting. Shut it off put it in gear and restarted,(on jack stands of course), drums spinning good and when reved they spin faster. However when in gear and and wheels spinning pretty good, clutch pedal depressed, I stomped the brakes hoping to get the clutch to free up. No change. I then tried with the clutch pedal not depressed in gear (several gears) just to see if it would stall, it yielded no rpm drop or stall what so ever. It should have stalled, but it made no difference at all. The wheels stopped and engine just kept purring like there was no clutch at all. Brakes are working great and have no problem locking rear wheels. But in gear not pushing clutch pedal down and brakes applied she did not stall. Could the clutch disc be so worn out its not even making contact? That would be pretty worn out, it should make some kind of RPM difference, really should stall but at least a noticable rpm difference. Like I said Ive never really done any serious clutch work and was wondering if there is anyway or anything I can check to figure this thing out without yanking the engine back out. Im hoping Im just having some mental block and am forgeting something stupid and simple. So I guess my questions would be, How much movement should I have at the slave push rod for starters? And second, what could cause the clutch to make no difference at all when in gear, wheels spinning and brakes applied, other than completely worn out clutch. Parts dont look like they are original and dirty by any means when looking up through the dust boot. Not new but not 100k on them either. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance for any help. Maybe Ive just been starring at it to long.

Joe

I'm back

MGB — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 23:06:00 GMT

It's been a while sense i last posted anything, so i thought you all needed an update.

I've been working on it slowly over the last couple years, and for a while it seemed like it would never end, But after i got my drivers licence it kind of sped up.

I finally got it licenced this last week, all i can say is that it is absolutely amazing! it is just plan cool and SO worth all the time, money, and pain.

Pictures

i already have a new project 58 Austin Healey Sprite

installing Robbins top

MGB Roadster 70 — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 20:20:00 GMT

I'm getting close to the finish with my 70 mgb roadster. If anyone can give me some helpfull advice with the remounting to the front bar. Mine is riveted to the main peace with rubber seal molding bracket.

Any advice on where to begin.

De Bumpered 1500 indicators

mgsteve — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 23:47:00 GMT

I,m looking for some indicators to fit in the holes in the wings behind the rubber bumpers any help appreciated

SELLING OUT

STEWD8 — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 01:22:00 GMT

HI GUYS & GALS

HAVE TO SELL MY 78 RUBBER BUMPER. BRITISH RACING GREEN,, NEW TOP, TIRES AND HEADER...SOME RUST, BUT RUNS GREAT,,,NEEDS FRONT SHOCKS & LOVE ..........$2500.00.............STEW 604-966-7433 WHISTLER BC AUG 11 / 07

SPRING

Rita 73B — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 21:54:00 GMT

HI all

It has been a very long winter here in Southern Ontario, and finally after not having seen my "B" for 134 days (but who's counting) I finally was able to go out and get her out of storage! The sun came out and the birds were singing, it certainly wasn't warm enough for a " top down " but it was lovely none the less. She started up right away and all my gauges were dead on. In this garage there was a Healey, a 70 something Camero an older Mustang a TR6 (not sure of the year) a ferrari (does it matter what year) a very new Corvette and my lowly little "B". Well the owner of the Vette was there to get his car out as well and I got the definate feeling that he was looking down his much more superior nose at me and the B, so I was very proud and not in the least relieved when she fired up. As I was letting her idle and warm up the "Vette" guy had uncovered his car and was getting ready to start it up, expecting to hear that distinctive ROAR that only an engine the size of a small third world country could make you can imagine my surprise(and delight) when all I heard was CLICK...CLICK... his battery was flatter than flat! So yes folks there is a god and today he was definatley a Brit!! As I was pulling away they had hooked up the cables and didn't seem to making much headway and I know it's very petty of me and very small but damn it felt good to be "Alive to drive British".

Cheers...Rita

Finally...a drive in town!

Brett — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 13:32:00 GMT

Well, the snow finally melted, and I was able to start the MGA. Amazing what cleaning the battery posts will do to get an engine running!

I really love the first drive of the season! As I whipped down the country lane (well, almost country lane, what with the gravel trucks and "drunk hobgoblins" that are the neighbors racing off to the liquor store, it's more like an L.A. street!) I was surrounded by the wind, the quite clatter of the MG running patiently down the road, and the smells of the car as it strolled down the highway. There's always that faint odor of castor oil that still comes out of the old floor boards, still the original ones from the day the car left England. It's a mysterious perfume, reminding me of my grandfather's dirt-floor garage in Cleveland, still saturated with the drippings of many Packards and Chryslers that had lived there over the years. The essential "old car" smell, a smell that tells your passenger that this car has been the get-away vehicle from at least a pub brawl or two, has seen beautiful girls in their scarves and tight sweaters.

There's also the odor of wetness, the damp that all convertibles have from a night or two in summer dews from years past. Of the days that it started raining and you and that beautiful girl labored in the downpour to get the top up, both soaked to the skin before all the turnbuckles are tight and you laugh as you turn on the demist, knowing full well that what you're about to do will defeat its purpose as surely as leaving the top down...

Ah, the memories!

I am brought out of my reverie by the fact that the brake pedal is "soft" again: probably some air in the line from being towed nose in the air for thousands of miles. Oh, well, something else to do this weekend...

A heartfelt thanks...

Rita 73B — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 19:36:00 GMT

Hi all...

I finally figured out how to post a blog...Not bad for an old girl...

The purpose of this blog is taking a minute to thank the people in our lives that are very tolerant of our fave pasttime. Mine happens to be my significant other, he is not a LBC lover, although he has come to respect the gutsy little cars.He is also helping me look for my "A" and is showing signs of genuine interest and is voicing opinions on body styles (loves the big Healey's) and colors, wheels, etc. This is pretty major considering his love (next to me.. LOL..) is his 1991 Cadillac Eldorado Baritz,so you can see what giant headway I have made! But all joking aside most of us (if we're lucky) have got someone in our life who tollerates the fine madness that is part and parcel of British car ownership,so don't forget to thank them once in awhile 'cause it takes a very special person to understand and put up with our idiosyncrasy. So having said this I think that as soon as the weather is better, I will wash and wax the "land yacht", because he deserves it....Cheers

Snow day!

Brett — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 14:51:00 GMT

We had the first "real" snow of the year in Indy yesterday. Work "released" us in time to hit all the traffic - then the snow stopped when we got home! However, the "drunk hobgoblins" were out in force: wish I had a tow truck - I could have retired in two hours. Here's what an MGA covered in snow looks like...

It's supposed to get above freezing in a week...maybe I can get the MG cleaned and running again... {SIGH!}

Roadster Headgear

Brett — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 05:58:00 GMT

(NOTE: If you NEVER use a cell phone in a car, you can skip this post...you won't like it.)

It's too cold to even think of starting the MG: highs have been in the teens here in Indianapolis, and I've had a bad cold to boot. So my weekend plans came to naught: I sat inside, sneezed and sniffled rather than being out for a bracing drive in sub-freezing temperatures.

So this week's entry deals with something I researched several months ago: what headgear works in a small, loud, British roadster? I don't mean hats or berets, but what kind of hands-free phone headgear can you actually use while trying to wrestle your car through traffic on I-95?

Now, I've ALWAYS hated holding a phone to my head. I've been using a headset of some sort at work or at home since the early 1980s, long before it was "bling" and a fashion statement. My ham radio headset was an old Telex unit patched into my Heathkit, and even in the car or RV I used speakers and a PTT button on the wheel or turn indicator for CB or mobile ham commo. My first cell phone was an old 3 watt Motorola bag phone, equipped with a speaker jack and a remote mike, so even this was patched into the inside wires to afford a hands-free environment.

So when modern cell phones came along, I of course upgraded my hands free units along the way. Wired headsets from Plantronics and Panasonic were my first choices, and they work fine in quite environments or in a nice Cadillac sedan. However, when it comes to driving the MG, you're in a whole different realm of noise.

Noise in roadster comes from three sources:

Mechanical noise from the car
Aerodynamic noise
Traffic and environment.

Mechanical noise - the engine, exhaust, gears and tires - is the major noise source at under 30 MPH. The good news is that it is usually low-frequency with some higher frequency overtones - exhaust noise, engine noise and gear/tire whine. You listen to this for warnings of potential problems.

Aerodynamic noise generally becomes a nuisance above 30 MPH. At this point the wind moving over the windscreen, around the pillars and past your head becomes noticeable. Part of the reason is the air flow over the vehicle starts to create turbulent vortices that are pushed down into the cockpit from above and around the sides of the windscreen. At lower speeds these dissipate above and to the sides of the vehicle, but at higher speeds they buffet your head and ears - especially the outside ear, which gets a double-dose from both side turbulence as well as from above the windscreen. Various wind deflectors can help with this, but without careful aerodynamic design (like the newer Audi, Mercedes and BMW convertibles) these only postpone the turbulence.

Finally there's the noise from "outside": primarily other vehicles that you're passing, but also reflected noise from nearby buildings, parked cars - even curbs. Being low to the ground places your ears in line for noise sources and reflections that are normally dissipated away from and below larger vehicles. Exhaust noise - normally projected down and reflected in a broad circle away from a vehicle becomes a straight-shot when you're only a foot above someone's tail pipe. Tire noise from other cars is at your ear level (especially these days with 19" rims on almost EVERYTHING!), and the turbulence from other vehicles pushes right into you from both sides. Worst of all: any semi-tractor and trailer (or big RV or bus) is pushing a hurricane of turbulence to each side, and the wake from the trailer projects a vortex cone at least 100 meters behind the vehicle. Right into your head - or so it seems.

OK, well that was a long-winded way of starting this piece. What it amounts to is that you have different noise rejection requirements at different speeds and driving conditions - conditions that you do NOT have in a sedan or large vehicle.

In order to be useful while driving, a telephone headset has to muffle or cancel the ambient noise from the sources above that reaches your ear(s), and do the same to separate your voice out of the noise at the microphone. There are numerous ways of effecting this filtering, all of which are used in modern portable telephony equipment. Some work on specific noise components, others are more general, filtering out or passing ranges of frequencies that are found in noise or speech.

How most of these filters work is beyond scope here: what follows are my personal choices for cell phone headsets that work for me in the MG. I've owned and tried well over 20 different headsets in the past two years, and I've found the following three that seem to do a good job - under specific circumstances.

First, I break my driving down into two categories: "neighborhood cruising" and "over-the-road". They mean pretty much what they say: driving to dinner or the store and a nice cruise back home, never going above 45 MPH (well, not hardly!) and driving in traffic on the freeway for an hour or more.

For "neighborhood cruising" - typically my daily commute over mixed rural roads and city streets - I've found that a good noise-canceling headset with good wind resistance works just fine. I have two that I switch day to day. For "over-the-road" NOTHING I've found does a superior job; however, I have one headset that does pretty well up to 55 MPH and fights truck noise and buffeting very well.

For my day-to-day drive I use:

Plantronics Voyager 510S. This little jewel of a bluetooth headset is relatively cheap ($50-60), is pretty rugged, has excellent wind rejection and is plenty loud to hear over most road noise. Yet it's not totally ear-blocking, so it can be worn in the office or at home without giving you a "honey-do ear" (turning a deaf ear toward those "honey-dos"), and is light-weight enough to become unnoticed. And it stays put without a lot of hassle: even crawling around under stuff doesn't usually dislodge it - although your ponytail will tangle in it when you least need it to.

Blue Parrott B150 Roadwarrior. I found this on my way from Dallas to Jacksonville driving the MG at a truck stop. Normally it sells for over $100, which kept me from buying one for some time, but you can find these at trucker centers for under $80. This is a "conventional" headset design: over the head pressure band, with an ear-covering speaker on one side and an adjustable flex boom microphone. The boom mike has a "right" side and a "wrong" side: it contains two microphones, one that is pointed toward your mouth and a second on the back side that picks up noise. It electronically cancels the noise out of the mouth mike and also uses this to cancel noise in the earpiece. Not as comfortable as the Plantronics, and plenty "geeky", but it does much better in noisy environments - like heavy traffic and can take a bit more wind than the Plantronics. I use this quite a bit these days when I'm outside in the cold and wind, as it also give a bit of ear coverage as well.

Nextel NASCAR Pit Crew cellular headset. OK, this is TOTAL geek! I originally got this so I could hear a phone conversation when surrounded by a crowd of people all talking loudly at the same time. I think it was at work, although it could have been my wife and her sister at home...anyway, this is an actual NASCAR pit headset (I can't remember who actually makes it, but the same unit is available from the manufacturer as part of a UHF communications set for racing). It has been modified to work with a standard cell phone - meaning the PTT is non-operational, but you get full-duplex voice and can add a second mono input for background listening - like your NASCAR UHF receiver. It's hard to wear for a fat-head like me, but the inconvenience is outweighed in "over-the-road" driving, where the full shell binaural earpieces give excellent protection from the buffeting that truck wakes and passing vehicles hit you with. While it provides a considerable amount of attenuation to low and high frequency noise, it passes enough mid-range to allow good perception of surrounding sounds. And it keeps your ears warm. I highly recommend it if you're going to drive on the interstate for several hours with the top down. Eliminates "road deafness" and the lingering ringing that too much wind will cause. I was never hassled by the police in any of the states I went through wearing this headset, although I think it was the MG that wowed them, not the headset!

I hope this is helpful to you folks out there. It's a pain to buy "a pig in a poke" when you're looking for things like a headset, since there are so many choices, and none of them are as cheap as a burger and fries. However, when you're trying to drive your little car and you need to talk on the phone - and remember, you should NEVER place a call while driving, and only answer if you feel safe (you don't HAVE to answer, you know!) - these headsets will make your life more comfortable - and a damn sight safer!

Well, that's the post for this week. Hopefully I'll have some "real" MG news to report...if the weather gets a bit better...

So many projects, so little time!

KelvinD@Moss — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 23:48:00 GMT

Mmm. It's the first time I've ever posted a Blog, I'm not sure exactly the protocol. It's a bit like standing up at a meeting to say your name and that you are addicted to British cars. Lots of them. Mostly rusty, battered, tatty cars that have lots of "potential". I think my wife summed it up succinctly when I brought home a smashed TR8, with the statement. "That's eighteen! That's enough!" But then it was she who pointed out the derelict Rover P6B in town that she thought we could buy cheap a week later.

I have a lot of project cars. There, I've said it. It's not something I'm necessarily proud of, but I guess it beats molesting sheep for a hobby.

Luckily I found the right lady to marry, as the first thing we built when we moved in together was a 2,000 sq ft barn. Now, four years later, we still live in an 800 sq ft shack with no insulation and not much in the way of walls. But we have a very nice workshop. My side of it is however completely filled with junk British cars. Not just parked mind you. We are talking stacked! With bodies hanging from the ceiling. (sounds a bit like a risque detective novel).

Currently the active roster includes a Moss supercharged tatty 1970 MGB (with rustholes). A TR8 with bad paint job, that needs a steering rack and suspension rebuild. A Rover Sd1 that is really cool, but a tad neglected and a 65 MGB vintage racer that needs to be brought back up to spec. Hmm. I think I'm beginning to see a pattern here.

Sitting in the sidelines (or hanging from the ceiling) are some really interesting projects, as I can't really leave well enough alone. Needless to say, there are enough bits of lamentably decrepit British iron in the shop to deflect the compasses of passing planes.

At the moment, I've taken a bit of time away from wrenching to tidy the shop up and add some outlets where they are needed. Last night I installed a couple of pulley sets to hang the bicycles on, so I can get to the nifty bead blast cabinet that I bought used about 2 years ago and promptly buried under junk. I managed to pick up a heated aqueous solution cleaning tank and a lift from a local Ford dealer that went out of business. So a major re-organization was needed to make space for even more tools. Walking into my shop now, is like realizing a childhood dream of walking through a forest full of little footpaths with foliage overhead. Only the foliage is made up of Morgan body parts and air hoses. The trees are lifts and storage shelves and the roots are extension cables and air lines just waiting to trip the unwary, or my wife, whomever comes first. She can't complain too much as the chain fall that is suspending the Morgan tub from the roof beam is a family heirloom from her side of the family. The chain wrapped around the beam was hand forged by her grandfather and the 5 gallon tubs of grease and 140W oil are all hand me downs from her dad. Now all I need is a logging truck to work on, so I can use his 1" socket set.

You see, we really are just products of our parents!

Posts from the Roads of America: Ventura to Indianapolis

Brett — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 09:26:00 GMT

The past week Kathleen (my wife and CEO) have been driving the motorhome from Ventura to Indianapolis. This has been a rather hurried drive: we're trying to stay ahead of the ice storm that is hitting the midwest, not a good thing to be in no matter what you're driving.

We tow the MGA on a dolly, and do nothing special to it for towing. I've read many posts at several web sites about MG towing, and the general consensus is that as long as the gear box has enough oil there should be no problems. So far this seems to be true: about 3000 miles of being pulled behind the motorhome (and another 1500 or so being driven around) and there are no discernable problems in the MG. Although the top does leak...

We had a bit of excitement in Texas: lost a tire on the dolly about 75 miles east of Dallas. This at the time that the NWS was issuing the ice storm warning and TDOT was busy closing interstates around Dallas. Our emergency road service could not get anyone to go out to the break down site and assist with a tire replacement - the only tow operator that called back told us and the ERS that "loading the dolly on the flatbed would damage the tow truck", so we dropped the dolly (after taking the MG off) and drove both to Wal*Mart to wait for a tire store to open in the morning.

Imagine our surprise when we returned to the dolly site to find the bad wheel and lug nuts missing! Apparently someone decided to "put dibs" on the dolly and stole the flat tire to prevent us from getting the dolly before they did. I pulled the good wheel, blocking the thieves from taking the dolly with their own trick, then had to purchase two new wheels and tires. Yeah, we could have used one, but I wanted a matched set - and I got a spare now. We got the tires on and retrieved the dolly in about 10 minutes: the most terrifying ten minutes I've spent on the side of the road, as cars and semis were litterally driving into ditches within a mile of where we stopped. Within an hour we were on our way to Shreveport and meterological safety!

IMPORTANT SAFETY TIPS

Always carry a spare for ALL your tires - even a tow dolly. Buy the spare when you buy the trailer or dolly: it's cheap insurance.
Always carry tools that allow you to change tires and remove road damage. I had to purchase a cheap set of air tools (the motorhome has a hefty air supply and chucks for hoses) to remove the tire, and had the thieves not removed the shredded dolly fender for me I would have needed a hack saw and cutters as well.
If you have a choice of roads to take to a destination, take the route with the least potential weather hazzards. I decided to take I-20 instead of I-10 to save 8 hours of driving - and ended up having to drive two 10-hour stretches -AND- lose a day with the tow dolly in order to avoid the ice storm. I-10 would have been longer, but no worries about ice.
If you have a motorhome, invest in a trucker's road atlas. Not only does it list all the truck plazas (most of which have 24 hour service centers), but it also tells you about low clearance hazzards and weight restricted bridges. Trust me: you don't want to sweat crawling under a 13'6" bridge with the suspension flat because you got caught just past the last cut-off. (Our motorhome is supposed to be 13'4" tall...but you can't trust bridge markings...)

I'm sitting at Tom Sawyer's campground just outside of Memphis (a nice place) having made it this far. Tomorrow we finish the trip with the last push to Indianapolis. Only a day late back to work...

A Brief Time of History

Brett — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 10:16:00 GMT

I got my 1956 MGA when I was in junior high - 1968. It was "driveable" - if you pushed a lot. My dad and I repaired and restored it for the next 6 years, keeping me out of trouble in high school (the car never was running...you know the drill). (An aside: my girlfriend then had a Mercedes 190SL, so between us we were always pushing something home on a date...) The restoration was completed in Kansas City with a beautiful beige paint job.

I moved to California in late 1980 from Kansas City. The first few weeks I was living at my parent's home while apartment hunting. My sister arranged a date with one of her friends, and I borrowed the MG to go out on that date. The young lady, a girl by the name of Kathleen, was quite taken by the little sports car we used that evening. We cruised Whittier Boulevard (at the peak of the Low Rider phenomena) and were accorded a spot in the "show-off lane" as we circled back and forth through Whittier. We received many whistles and other complements from the other drivers. I guess the reception was good enough: that same girl and I have been married now for 21 years!

In 1981 I was driving by Macarthur Park in L.A. and rear-ended a new Cadillac at 5 MPH. Ruined the front grill, totaled the Cadillac (long story there), got me 57 stitches where I hit the steering wheel, and I stopped driving the car - my dad suspended my driving privileges! My dad and my sister repaired and restored the car for the second time, restoring it to the original white and black interior. They exhibited the car in Concourse events in the L.A. area for the next few years. In 1995 my dad got tired of fighting with the 1500 engine and slipped the 18GB into it for better drivability and added front disc brakes.

Skip forward to July 2006. My dad had the MG in for brake repair, and told me "you pay for it, it's yours". In October I flew to Dallas where the car was, paid off the mechanic, and drove the car from Dallas to Jacksonville, FL. Along the way I stopped at all the casinos in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia, and let the valet krew park it - which I mention because it turned everyone that sat in the car into an instant "I want one!" MG fan! (This also insured that the car was kept under close observation in front of the casino and not parked in a dark corner...)

So I now "own" my first car! It's a "10-footer": MGB motor, many Moss replacement parts, but it runs well and is a hoot to drive. I call it a "time machine": you get in, turn on the engine, and you're 17 years old again!

The MG is dolly-towed behind a motorhome, and is our "dinghy" for warm-weather locales (a 2002 Saturn VUE is the alternate).
My wife and I are data warehouse consultants, and we live full-time in two motorhomes. We criss-cross the US, and the MG faithfully follows us where ever we go!

Feel free to contact me about any topic, especially full-timing in an RV or consulting...or even knuckle-knocking an MG on the road...

What I have done recently

MGB — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 19:02:00 GMT

Hi everyone

I hope that everyone had a good Christmas and new year.

for Christmas I got a new windshield and mirrors

to day i recolored the faded headliner it looks great so far but I ran out of the spray

I will post more soon.

About me and my car

Hi Everyone

my car

last year I bought a 1973 MGB GT with new paint for $500 dollars

This is what I have done so far

The water pump was seized with rust.

I bought a new gas tank.

The compression was low on one cylinder so I removed the cylinder head and refinished the valve seats and the compression went back up.

Started it up for the first time and all most went Def .

Bought a exhaust system.

Rebuilt the clutch master cylinder and brake master cylinder.

Bought a new slave cylinder.

Removed the front suspension sand blasted it painted it replaced the bushings and reinstalled it.

I Removed the rear suspension replaced the thrust washers sand blasted it and the leaf springs painted them replaced the bushings and reinstalled it.

Replaced the wheel cylinders brake hoses and pads.

The brake master cylinder started leaking again so I bought a new one.

Future plans

lots of future plans.

I will put more of the stuff i have done to the car in this Blog when I feel like it .

About me

I am a teenager in the California central valley.
I like motorized stuff.

and I can not wait till I can drive

Moss USA On The Subject Of Quality

MossUSA — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 21:39:00 GMT

On the Subject of Quality

First, What is Moss Trying to Do?

Are we a supplier of genuine NOS parts screened for originality for use by those restoring cars to Councours standards? Are we supplying painstakingly recreated parts based on original Morris Garage blueprints? Are we buying off the shelf parts that happen to work in an old MG? Are we selling state of the art replacement parts that totally replace the original parts? Are we supplying the latest supercession of a part made by an OE supplier? Or are we selling reproductions made in small quantities by a 2^nd or 3^rd tier supplier that is close, but not really identical to the factory part?

The answer is yes to all of the questions. We believe our role is to provide parts that are suitable for the purpose and in so doing keep these cars on the road. The reason we are doing so many things at once is that no single approach will allow us to meet the needs of our customers AND stay in business. The key is how we represent the parts we sell.

Why are problems on the rise?

This industry has evolved over the last 30 years, and in the 20 years I’ve been here, I have watched as one supplier after another went out of business, merged, restructured itself or dropped product from their range. Some examples: Lucas is gone; pieces of what used to be Lucas were sold off to various companies around the world. Where Lucas branded product is available, it is often product made by another company and sold in a Lucas box. Lockheed is now owned by Delphi, and American auto parts company. They also own Borg & Beck. RHP Bearings are now owned by NSK Bearings. Girling is owned by TRW.

Looking at the history of a single item is perhaps useful.

In 1986, the distributor cap for the Austin Healey BJ8 was made by five companies. Bosch, Lucas, Commercial Ignition, Brovex, and Quinton Hazel. Moss at the time had one part number and bought whatever we could at the best price, our sole purpose being to keep a distributor cap for the is application on the shelf. By 1998, there were only one, possibly two companies actually making a cap. We obtained samples from four sources, Lucas, Bosch, Brovex and CI. In examining the samples we found identical black (not brown) caps with aluminum (not brass) fittings. Looking carefully, we found the minute flaws in the surface of the cap (tooling marks) to be identical on all four samples. Clearly brand names do not mean what they used to. As manufacturers decide to quit making bits for British cars, they outsource... they may still carry the part, but it is not what it used to be. In 2003, the cap began to disappear because it had been decided that it was no longer cost effective to produce the cap. Supplies began to dry up and the cap was actually not available from us for about half a year. Working cooperatively with a specialty parts supplier in the UK, a cap was successfully reproduced and we are happy to be able to supply the cap.

The reality today is that many of the tier one suppliers are gone, the tier one suppliers that remain are not making/selling the same product they used to supply. As the old sources go away, we are increasing looking to tier two and three suppliers to supply the product we need.

The Issues

Quality issues fall into two groups.

Expectation & Reality

No matter what we send you, if it is not what you expected, you will be disappointed.

It is up to us to make sure that when you open the box you will see exactly what you expected. This of course is a process that will never stop. We have taken steps to provide clearer information in the catalog and in the computer, and we have begun to develop additional information and / or instructions for many of the products we carry.

Originality

This is an issue for some, and it is very much a case of what’s expected versus the part in the box. First, let’s see if we can define the term. What is “original”? Is it the part on the hand-built pre-production prototype? Is it the part fitted to the first 500 cars? Is it the service part supplied by the MG Dealer in 1967? Is it the part supplied by Austin Rover Group in 1984? Or, say in the case of a brake hose, is it the part in the BMC packaging or the same part in Lucas-Girling packaging? Is it the first version of the Lucas 552915 rubber seal for the headlamp bucket, or is it the fourth version? Lucas never changed the part number, but I have drawings and samples of four very different versions of the same thing sold under the original part number over a period of 20 years. Another example: the original 11 inch brake hose we got from Lockheed is now a 9 inch hose from Delphi/Lockheed under the same number. If original includes brand, we have no hose to sell because the 9 inch hose won’t work. We sell an non-Lockheed hose that is 11 inches long with the correct fittings. It is not technically “original”. With our goal of keeping the cars on the road, originality has to take a back seat to functionality. Again, we need to give as much information as possible and let you decide if it is “original” enough for you.

Form, Fit & Function

No matter what we send you, if it does not fit or perform the intended function, you are going to be disappointed and rightly so.

Why then, do you sell parts that don’t work or that cannot be fitted?

We buy parts from all over the world from suppliers that sell parts by application, just like we do. We assume they are suitable for purpose. As odd as it sounds, we are most often unaware of a problem until someone tells us. A common assumption seems to be that "we know" when an item is somehow less than perfect and "we sold it anyway" with the implied message being that we only want your money. I have seen posts on web based forums bashing us for one thing or another and that is a common tone. When I contact the person, invariably I find they had not contacted us at all. I've been here at Moss for 20 years, and the idea that we knowingly sell crap is fantasy. There is no future in pissing people off. If there is a problem, we try and deal with it. If we can fix it, we do, if we can't then we will discontinue the product or sell it with enough information available to sales and the customer so there are no surprises. If it's wrong and you tell us, we can do something. If you assume we know and don't call us, the problem persists. There is no doubt that we have supplied parts that were poor quality and for that we need to be slapped up side the head. The key issue for me is that it was never part of a plan, we're just oblivious sometimes.

Why don’t you just find a good source and keep buying from them?

It sounds logical, but the fact is our sources have their sources and they are also merging, consolidating and discontinuing parts every day. Many customers believe that all it takes is a phone call to the supplier and they will make or do whatever we ask. Often we find that they went and had 10,000 of the widget made, and what they have is what they have. Getting a manufacturer to change tooling on a low volume item is tough. I have found that if the problem is serious enough, the item will simply be discontinued because the cost of new/improved tooling make the continued production uneconomical.

What Have We Done?

In 2003, Moss created the Product Management Department to deal with issues of fit, finish, originality, quality and product information. I was offered the position and I accepted. The Technical Services Department and Returns Department work for me

First and foremost, I believe that our job is to minimize the difference between what you expect and what we supply. Secondly, we must provide enough information for you to make an informed buying decision. With these in mind, we have implemented several changes.

Where real choices exist, we offer both in the catalog, as in our oil filter listing. (See page 12 of the MGB-0508 catalog.
Brand is now identified where it is believed to be an issue, as with body sheet metal. (See page 58 of the MGB-0508 catalog)
Information relating to quality is displayed in order entry so that sales can advise customer of issues. Take a Healey bumper: When a salesman brings up a 991-353 bumper on screen, the salesman sees this: "NOT OE SPEC, BUT THE ONLY ONE AVAILABLE. MOUNT HOLES MAY NOT LINE UP & PRESSINGS MAY NOT BE GOOD AT THE ENDS. If your OE bumper can be repaired, do it." If the customer does not have an original bumper, they can try and find one. If they decide to order the new bumper, at least they have some idea about what they're going to get.
Where the part we supply works, but requires modification, we are including that information in the computer, on the web and where space allows, in the catalog. (See comments on parts 141-220 and 163-500 on page 42 of the MGB-0508 catalog)

When we receive a comment about a part, we have a variety of responses. Regardless of the significance, if the comment will be filed by part number. If there is a more serious issue, we will freeze the inventory and investigate ASAP to determine the facts. Using a network of restoration specialists, the BMTA, and our own staff we will make every effort to determine the facts. Our findings will be shared with the manufacturer. If they are unable or unwilling to change, we will change sources or drop the item. Safety critical issues are very rare, be we have done recalls where it was necessary.

We have implemented procedures to enable us to better control the inventory. If we have a problem that is intermittent, we may flag the item for “inspection upon receipt” and that will prevent the product from going on the shelf until we have verified the item is OK to sell.

Vendors that cannot supply the quality we ask for are flagged as NSQ meaning “Not Satisfactory Quality”. Parts from vendors that cannot be fitted are flagged DNW meaning “Does Not Work”

We will not but that item from that vendor until they convince us they have fixed the problem(s).

Bottom line is this- we stand behind what we sell. You have a problem, call us or use the “Contact Us” form on the Moss website, and we'll make every effort to resolve the situation to your satisfaction. If there is a problem with a part, we will either find another source or discontinue it. If it is critical and there is nothing else available, we will carry it with suitable notes to make sure you know what you are getting before you open the box.

So…. Where does this leave us?

Moss is working very hard to keep the pieces you need on the shelf. Because each customer has different needs and expectations, we need to be as clear as we can about the parts we sell. We are clearest about the major components like upholstery and very specific where people want to know the brand, and less specific when it comes to fasteners. This is a process that will continue and because things keep changing, it will never stop.

Welcome to Community Server Blogs!

admin — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 22:40:41 GMT

A weblog (blog) is an online journal you can use to share thoughts, ideas, gripes, project status, or anything else you want. Blogs allow you to be a contributor rather than just a bystander.

Postings are arranged chronologically and can be categorized depending upon how the administrator has configured the system. You can view a post by clicking on the title from the home page where all users' posts are collectively shown. Once viewing a blog you can read other posts by that person or provide comments on postings.

Creating new posts is quick and easy. If you have the ability to post you should see a link (usually on the left) on your weblog's home page: new post. Clicking on this link takes you into your blogs administration pages for creating new posts.

If you don't have the ability to post, contact the site administrator and ask for your own blog.

Happy Blogging!