1979 MG MIDGET 1500
A list of jobs, three days, most of the tools needed and a shocking amount of optimism – Jesse gets down and dirty with some fiddly jobs on his Midget at the NEC
I’ve long believed that my trusty Midget is actually someone else’s rushed restoration and the more time I spend working on it, the more clues there are. It started with finding that the fuse block had been wired backwards. Then there’s the sub-par paintwork – the bonnet isn’t so much suffering from orange peel as major acne and there’s overspray on the black sills – and the tyres, which were a hodgepodge of brands and styles when I bought it.
Predictably my findings at the NEC this past weekend have further reinforced this theory.
With a spot on display confirmed, I set about thinking about the jobs that I needed to do and could achieve on a stand in the NEC; thrust washers, re-align the steering wheel, overhaul the front brakes with new pads and rotors… simple enough, surely?
CAN YOU FIT A WORKSHOP IN A MIDGET?
Loading the Midget up with my shop ramps, a trolley jack, axle stands, what I assumed was a well-stocked tool box and the parts for the array of jobs that I had lined up was a tight fit; the ramps ended up riding shotgun, the axle stands filled the passenger footwell, the tool box sat on the bulkhead behind the seats and the parts pretty much filled the compact boot. Some careful Jenga-esque packing made everything fit in and we were soon NEC-bound, weaving across country and enjoying the spring weather.
Upon arrival at at the NEC, it was the usual long weave down its service roads, through lorry parks and all around the site until I could eventually thread my way into Hall 5 and over to the Midget and Sprite Club stand. With a hi-vis jacket donned, I joined the rest of the club to shunt the cars – from a unique Innocenti 950 to a Frogeye and the bare tub of a 1500 awaiting restoration – into position. Cars finally positioned just-so we popped my Midget onto the ramps ready for three days of full-on fettling.
WORN WASHERS
Now, being a Midget 1500, the Triumph power unit has decided to wear through its thrust washers, resulting in some atrocious driveline shudder as I slip the clutch; the excess crank end float remove any sort of finesse to slow speed manoeuvres. But with three days to sort it out and an array of replacement washers to get the float within tolerance, the NEC seemed like a prime opportunity to sort this problem. A quick scan of the internet (first error) showed that I should be able to drop the main bearing cap at the rear of the crank and fiddle the old washers out, slip in some fatter replacements and solve the problem with the engine still
