Servicing Your Vehicle The Non-Traditional Way

You don't need a mechanic for 90% of the car problems you have. You definitely don't need to pay through the roof for dealer service. You need to learn it yourself.

[pallysaurusrex]

Servicing the Wiper/Washer/OD Switch

Early 70’s MGBs have a combination two-speed wiper switch with the windscreen washer function and the overdrive on-off function on the right side of the steering column. This switch is fairly basic in design and reasonably well built. As with most other items on our aging beauties they eventually develop problems. But don’t despair, they were built to be disassembled and serviced and it’s really not hard. No special tools are required; just a clean work space on the bench and your trusty ohmmeter. If the wipers are intermittent or the washer pump doesn’t work or, heavens forbid, the OD quits you might want to check the operation of the switch before you decide to rip the car apart.

You’ll need to call up my buddies at the local car detailing shop if you don’t do this right.

Unplug the switch’s 9 pin connector that lurks under the left side of the dash. There will be three similar looking plugs there; one for the turn signals, one for the ignition switch, and one for the wiper/washer/OD. You can figure out which one is which by the color of the wires. The yellow and white wires are for the OD. The white wire is the hot, or supply, side, the yellow provides the voltage to the OD solenoid when the switch stalk is pulled forward. Use a couple of alligator clips to attach your ohmmeter’s leads to the yellow and white wire’s pins on the connector and engage the switch. You should read very low resistance, less than a couple off ohms at the most.

 The same thing applies to the wipers and the washer function. In the wiper’s “Off” position the red/green and the brown/green make contact. In the wiper’s “1” position the red/green and the green make contact and in the “2” position the green/brown and green make contact. When the stalk is pushed in the washer pump’s light green/black and black wires make contact. If any of these are showing a high resistance then dive in and fix the switch. You can act French and say “I give up” and pay over $130.00 for a new one or you can bloody well ‘ave on wit ‘t job.

 Remove the cowl from the steering column and remove the switch. Nothing to it. If you can do that, the rest is a piece of cake. I found that by gently rotating the back of the cowls downward and forward they come away with a minimum of fuss

 You’ll need a phillips screwdriver, and very small slotted screwdriver or stiff pick of some sort, some needle nosed pliers, some alcohol or thinner to clean stuff, some 1500 grit wet/dry, and some lithium grease. And your trusty ohmmeter.

 Remove the two screws from the metal cover plate:

 Here’s where you need to be careful. Hold the switch firmly so the stalk doesn’t move and lift the cover off:

Using the small slotted screwdriver remove the two springs from the end opposite the ball bearings. Be careful, the springs can launch the ball bearings into outer space, or at least some space where they’ll never be found. You can see how the ball bearings pop in and out of the rounded notches as the switch is rotated to hold the wiper contacts in place. The main problem with the switch assembly is that these ball bearings and the OD’s brass spring/plunger combo get dried out after 30+ years and bind up, breaking the plastic parts.

Now you can ease out the stalk assembly. Push on the two wires that come in through the back to help ease it out. Wiggle it. Here’s what’s underneath:

The little brass plunger has a spring behind it and serves as a detent to hold the stalk in the OD position. Pull the brass plunger and spring out. The thin brass band is the contact strip that makes the wiper’s “Off, 1, 2” connection. It comes out by lifting it away from the plastic thusly:

Set this stuff aside for cleaning. Now let’s tackle the OD contacts. You can see how the OD switch works; the stalk pushes it’s lower part forward to make these two contacts meet. This transfers 12vdc to the yellow wire.

vThe moving contact is easy to remove and clean; use the needle nose pliers to gently rock it up and out.

vOnce out you can use some 1500 to clean the contact area. There are also two little teeth on the other end of this strip that bite into the flat, crimped connector that holds the wire. Clean these and using your pick, gently bend the teeth back out to they will get a good bite when you put the contact back in.

Also clean the stationary flat brass contact that makes up the other part of the OD circuit.

At this point you can move on to the wipers contacts. Here you can see the four flat contacts that the brass strip makes contact with as it moves from Off-1-2. Clean these with 1500. Clean the ends of the brass strip you removed earlier and replace it.

Here’s a cool note on wiper blades in the future.

At this point it is a good idea to make some resistance measurements on the contacts to see if there may be other problems. Use the ohmmeter and measure from the flat brass contact on the inside of the switch to the round female pin in the plug that goes to the wiring harness. If you see more than a couple of ohms of resistance you may need to remove those flat brass contacts and re-crimp the wires. These flat brass contacts are held into the body of the switch by a little tab. This tab can be pressed back into the contact with the sharp end of the pick and the contact can be slid back out of the switch body. These tabs are accessed through the slot directly in front of the contacts. Gently lever the tab back toward the plate while pulling the wire. The plate will slide right out.

The flat contact with the pick under the tab:

You may also need to re-crimp the female connectors in the plug. They are removed in the same manner, by pressing the tab back into the connector:

Use a standard crimping tool or needle noses and just barely squish the part of the crimped connector where it bites into the wire. The object is to break the corrosion on the surface of the wire. Not much pressure is needed to accomplish this task.

You’re now ready to reassemble the switch. Grease the brass plunger and spring that fits up into the OD stalk’s body and fit them back in. Put a dab of grease into the socket where the plunger fits into the body of the switch. The plunger moves in and out of this socket as the OD part of the switch is engaged and disengaged. Grease the two springs and ball bearings that fix the position of the wiper switch and set them aside.

Ease the stalk section back into the body of the switch while gently pulling the wire back through so it doesn’t get fouled.

Now that it’s back in you can carefully replace the springs and ball bearings. Seat them in their slots carefully. Try no to move anything once you have them in or they’ll pop back out.

Now slide the cover back on being oh so careful not to move the switch. Put the two screws in and you’re done.

Once you’ve put it all back together put the switch arm through it’s different positions to make sure everything operates smoothly including the OD action.

The last thing to do is to clean and check the washer pump contacts.

The metal button on the end of the stalk unscrews to reveal it’s conical contact and the spring. The body of this part will slide down the stalk to reveal the two fingers that the cone makes contact with. The little copper band on the cone makes the connection between the two fingers shown in the last pic to give 12vdc to the washer pump.

The finger contacts that the copper band touches to make the washer pump turn on. Clean them lightly with the 1500. I use the Dremel with a fine wire wheel.

That’s about it. All that remains is to re-install the switch back into the steering column and the plastic cowls back over them. Be patient with the plastic cowls. You’ll find the combination of twists and turns that make them slide right back on. Dress the wiring harness carefully so it doesn’t keep the cowl pieces from fitting correctly.

Take it slow and easy. It’s really a simple switch, just lay the parts out neatly and it will be a breeze to take apart and put back together. If you really want to make sure everything is right test each set of contacts with your ohmmeter as you clean them to make sure you have no resistance.

It’s a piece of cake. The biggest job is getting the switch in and out of the car but even that’s no big deal if you take your time. If I can do it, anyone can.

Thanks to my buddies in Naperville for a lot of this info.

[pallysaurusrex]

Today, I needed to be able to tap a 10-32 hole in a spot that my normal tap handle could not reach. This is what I did to get through the job.

Looking at my 10-32 tap I saw that I needed a square receptacle for the handle end of the tap to fit into. I pulled a scrap piece of 1/4" stainless steel tubing from my scrap bin and went to work. First, after clamping my tube in the vice, I took a long #2 Phillips screwdriver bit, and drove it into the end of the tube with a couple of licks on a hammer. This leaves the four corners from the screwdriver bit embossed into the inside of the tube. Next, I took a square, 1/8" easy-out and drove it into the tube, taking care to match the corners of the easy-out with the embossed corners the screwdriver left. After a couple of whacks, the easy-out was stuck in place, so I took the tube out of the vice, laid the end and easy-out down flat on the anvil, and hit the side of the tube once on each of the flats of the easy-out. This squares up the tube and allows the easy-out to become free. I then put the tube back in the vice, drove the easy-out home again, then loosened it again as before. After about three of these actions, I had a neat square end on the tube that fit the end of my tap just perfect. I then bent the other end of the tube into a 90 degree angle for use as a handle and I was done. Tubing is cheap easy to work. Stainless is great, copper may not be as good because it is softer, steel should work as good as stainless

[pallysaurusrex]

MG  Grounds

Damned grounds! Ninety percent of the electrical problems on our MGs are from bad ground connections. Sometime lights work, sometimes they don't. If you find power at the socket and the bulb is good, then chances are real good that the problem is just a bad ground. To make things worse, it seems that some of the light fixtures were just designed to fail. Ever notice how some fixtures have a black ground wire attached to the socket and some don't? The one's that do not have this wire already are counting on a good mechanical connection between the ground side of the socket and the body part to complete the circuit and could benefit from a bit better connection. Here's what I do:

This is a front turnsignal light from my 72BGT. It had just two wires originally, both hot wires when the lights were on or the turn signal was in use. There was a rubber insulator between the fixture and the body so in order for things to work, the disgners were counting on an electrical ground through the mounting screws or a cast in locating tab. Neither were consistantly good grounds. So I drilled a 1/8" hole in the metal case and with a wire connecter and a stainless steel poprivit, I added a third wire. the third wire has the same Luclar connecter on the other end as the others and can be hooked to the ground wiring harness that goes to the headlights. After attaching the ground, the whole thing was repainted and the wires were wrapped with tape. A bit of Vaseline under the connecter will prevent any corrosion from starting for years.

Here’s some more info on cleaning grounds if you’re interested: http://www.familyhandyman.com/automotive/auto-electrical-system-how-to-clean-the-ground-cables/view-all Along the same lines, you ever installed an instrument in your dash and then realized that your light for that instrument does not work? Then you remember that damned black wire with the loop connecter that you were supposed to put under the thumbscrew but forgot because you were doing everything you could just to hold the instrument in place, hold the mounting bracket in place as well, get the thumbscrew started without dropping it into the behind the dash bottomless pit of wires and dark places that have not been seen by human eyes in thirty years? Well, here's what I did for the instruments in my car. I drill and mounted the same ground wire as above to the back of the instrument cans. Now I have a dedicated ground wire for each instrument that can be hooked up with ease! Just make sure you check for clearance inside the gauge case when you decide where to drill the hole, oh, and be sure you remove the gauge from it's can before drilling!

[pallysaurusrex]

Installing V8 Bushings

Through the years, I have heard people complaining how hard it is to install V8 bushings in MGB . The job is really pretty simple if you go about it right. After removing the old bushings and cleaning out the holes in the wishbone arms, I use a 3/8" bolt or stud 6" long, a couple of nuts and washers, an 1 1/4" socket and a bit of dishwashing soap.

I clamp the head of the bolt in my vice, place a washer and then the 1 1/4" socket with the opening facing up.

I then place the wishbone arm on top of the socket with the arm angling downward. I then take the V8 bushing, dribble a bit of soap around the outside surface and place it on top on the wishbone. A big washer, the one off the suspension where the wishbone mounts works just fine, then the second nut screws on the bolt.

  Now just use the wrench to tighten the top nut and push the bushing into the wishbone arm. Keep turning the nut until the washer is about 1/4" from the wishbone, then back off a turn or two, take the whole thing from the vice and inspect the fit. If the bushing is not centered you can just tighten the top nut another turn to push the bushing in a bit more. If for some reason you have pushed it in too far, just remove the wishbone arm, turn it over on the bolt and push the bushing back using the same method that you used before.

The two secrets to this is the fact that you are pushing the bushing straight in and the fact that you are using the dishwashing soap as a lubricant. DOT 5 silicone brake fluid works just as well but everyone has dishwashing soap so why buy DOT 5 just for this job. If you already have DOT 5 then feel free to use it.

All four wishbones took less than ten minutes to do. If you are installing the original style two piece bushings, just place one lubed bushing on the bolt, then the wishbone arm, then the second bushing, washer and nut, and tighten just as above, and you will push both bushings in at the same time. Hope this helps someone in the future

[pallysaurusrex]

Yep, you know the sound. That's the sound of your floor jack handle hitting the side of your beloved baby. You cover your eyes with one hand and slowly spread your fingers just enough to be able to peek through while thinking "Oh, shit, did it chip the paint?" Get chills up your spin just thinking about it? Well, here's how to avoid that horrible sound. Run down to your local hardware store or building supply and buy a piece of foam water pipe insulation of the proper size to go around your jack handle. My small jack needed 3/4" and my big jack required 1 1/2". Whack a piece off long enough to cover 3/4 of the jack handle and press it on. The stuff I used had some glue along the seam protected by some peel off tape. I peeled the tape off and stuck the two ends together and I was done. No more KALUNK!