As the Mk 2 MGA continues to be re-restored......
First, MGA Mk 2 taillights. Moss supplies taillights from Britain that are
obviously sourced from Mini suppliers, because the lenses are marked right and
left - but to fit them on an MG they are the opposite way around.
That was good for 10 minutes of head scratching, and I only mention it in
case anyone else is in this position. Had to buy the whole danged light as my
old ones had bad chrome and by the time you strip everything out of them and
rechrome them, it would cost nearly the same.
The rubber gaskets that go under the taillight plinths were very slightly
too small to fit properly, and no amount of warming the, rubbing them, pulling
them or cursing at them would make them quite as they should be, but in the
end they worked well enough.
Next up was replacing the wiper wheelbox bezels. I had ordered new ones as
they are cheap. Unfortunately they also aren't very good! The old ones are a
casting that is fairly lightweight and fits easily. The repro items are made
from thick tubing or perhaps drilled solid stock, but as they are much thicker
than the original, they don't fit over the wheelbox very well at all. Ended
up reusing the originals. The little oval rubber gaskets supplied look like
they were cut from an inner tube and are much too wide, and the only way to
trim them properly would be once they were clamped by the nut, but then you
can't use a razor knife because you'd mar the paint. Ended up using some old
ones
that were thin like the originals.
Finally, I ordered a signal flasher to replace the modern style I had. Only
problem is that while it is indeed a Lucas unit, and may be what the old
number supercedes to, the part isn't quite right.
The original one was a little alloy can with a right angle mounting plate
riveted to it with two rivets, and a single hole in the other end of that plate
for the large Phillips head screw to hold it to the firewall behind the
heater box. The new one has a hook on the bracket instead of a hole (no big
deal
as you probably can't tell once it is fitted), but the bracket is gold cad
plated, which really sticks out.
Must go through my old boxes of stuff to look for an original, or grit my
teeth and use the new one.
Bill
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