Maggie gets some attentions

After a thunder storm passed us by the air temp dropped from unbearable to manageable with lots of ice water. I took the opportunity to do a little clean up in the garage and made the attempt to start back on Maggie the 1972 MGB.

After breaking down 20 (about a weeks worth) of boxes mostly from Amazon. I got them all into a single box that I can put out with the trash. This opened up a large area of space in front of the tool box in my garage that I can use. Closer to the door, the workbench is still covered in crap, apparently the crap fairy did not show up to clean in the past couple of months that I have been focused on my Truck. I cleaned off a small area and try to piece together where i was with the project (Maggie) when I left it last. I remember removing and rebuilding the fuel pump, removing all 4 wheels, ready for new tires and removing all the parts for the rear breaks so they can be completely rebuilt. I haven’t cracked into the front brakes but the car is sitting on jack stands with all 4 wheels off. The hood is up and I have removed the pedal box which held both the brake and clutch and also both of their master cylinders. The brake master cylinder was shot and had leaked everywhere. This is why I had removed a bunch of other parts that the brake fluid had contaminated and started oxidizing. I remember the plan was to remove as much as possible from the firewall and the drivers side inner fender so I could re-pain them with the can of pain I bought to touch up the hood.

The easiest job to finish is to re-install the fuel pump. So I got the new insulator and put the bracket on it and got under / laid down next to the car. I offered up the pump to figure out how it will go back and see the hole where the top of the pump will fit into the battery box and I see where the fuel hoses are naturally sitting which represents where the bottom part of the pump will go. I can get the bracket in place and the pump in the hole of the battery box but the hoses don’t totally line up correctly. I also need to know how to hook up the vacuum tube. It seems off.

I take the pump back to the bench and compare it to the photos on my phone from when I took it apart. I can see that the pump is two bolts off clockwise so which explains why the tube for the vacuum hose is not aligned. I remove the screws and turn the pump without letting it separate. I know it has all the brass fittings that are ready to fall out if i let them. I manage to get it turned. Here is the before and after

The sticker is a little worse for wear but the rest of the pump is like new. I have bracket on and here is an image of the location where it goes.

On the right of the two holes is a panel with two studs sticking out. This is where the bracket mounts. The nuts I found on the workbench are rusty enough but they don’t seem to fit. I decide to take a break and go look up the info so I am not wasting my time or stripping the studs. I checked all the normal sites. theMGExperience.com and MossMotors.com and I read through my shop manual. No one has any information about this. I do see some vague reference to the fact that many of the bolts and nuts are UNF. UNF stands for Unified National Fine Thread. I end up ordering a bunch of nuts, bolts, and washers in stainless steel. If I am going to replace them I don’t want to allow them to rust afterwards.

Well it is still hot in the garage and it’s Sunday night so i guess I will wait for the parts and just clean a little more out there each day. Here are some images of other MGBs in the same foul color.]