I don't know how many of you recall the story of "Finger-Tight Malcolm"
which someone related on the list some time ago.
Well, I just met the Mother of All Finger-Tight Malcolms.
I was helping a friend with a car he bought off eBay (not an LBC), and here
is a partial list of the fastening felonies we have encountered so far:
Missing fasteners:
1 tie-rod nut
1 tranny bracket bolt
All cotter pins in the front suspension except the inner end of the idler
arm.
Passenger seat frame front nuts
Finger-tight (or less than) fasteners:
3 of 4 tie rod nuts
3 of 4 upper shock bolts
2 of 4 ends, front brake flex hoses
Multiple lug nuts
Transmission cooler bypass hose (!!!) hose clamps (guess what happened
there...)
Coil mounting bracket (hanging from single stripped screw on firewall, so it
could swing freely and ground the terminals against wiper motor)
Passenger seat frame rear nuts (much looser than finger-tight, actually --
seat flops backwards)
Other hacks:
Power steering pump (devoid of fluid)
PCV hose (misrouted to manifold vacuum takeoff for power brake booster)
Vacuum advance (disconnected)
Front brake calipers (masking tape applied to working surfaces when painting
calipers was not removed when brakes were installed)
Steering wheel (upside down)
Rear wheel spacers (sized for wrong bolt pattern, so hacksawed to fit
asymmetrically)
Lug nuts (mag-style with mismatched washers)
Brake master cylinder (missing cover gasket)
4bbl carburetor (choke plate removed)
Exhaust system (5 welded splices in one 12 inch section of straight pipe)
This is just the ones we found yesterday... I don't think we're finished
yet.
--
Max Heim
'66 MGB GHN3L76149
If you're near Mountain View, CA,
it's the primer red one with chrome wires
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