The Fidget: combining a 1974 MG Midget with a 1975 Fiat 124 Spider Pt. 10

[JunkleMKVII]

Got some work done the past couple of weeks. Not so much this weekend as I got boosted and flu shotted on Friday and it made Saturday a bit of a rough day. Sunday was taking advantage of the weather and putting up lights for Christmas. Anyway….on with the update.

In case you missed it…
The Fidget Pt. 1
The Fidget Pt. 2
The Fidget Pt. 3
The Fidget Pt. 4
The Fidget Pt. 5
The Fidget Pt. 6
The Fidget Pt. 7
The Fidget Pt. 8
The Fidget Pt. 9

Since I got the engine bay painted, I sanded out a couple of runs on the firewall and got the interior a coat of paint. This is just Rustoleum that I rolled on. I just wanted a good consistent coat since it pretty much won’t be seen.

After that, it was finally time to start putting this car back together. First off was the pedal box and rear brake line. Then added some heat shield for the header. I also did the tunnel around the transmission.



I coughed up for some good tools to make running all the lines for the car easier. The tubing straightener was great for making nice straight lines, the bender was very basic, but the real gem is the Eastwood flaring tool. It just makes it so easy. Cannot recommend it enough if you have to do multiple flares.


I learned some lessons making the rear line that helped me with the rest of the lines. Mainly staying very focused, so no pictures. It still took multiple evenings. Some other little things have gone on, like the wiper motor, washer pump, remote oil filter, fuel pressure regulator, coil and all of the grommets and plugs in their respective locations.

That’s it for this update. I’m going over everything to make sure, but I think I’ve reached the point where the engine can go back in for basically the last time. After that it’s time to nail down the seat/ shifter final positioning so I can button up the last of the engine mounting. Getting to bolt things on has been incredibly motivating and all I want to do is work on the car. It will have to wait some as I going out of town for the holiday. Till next time…..

Thanks for reading!

[davesaddiction]

@junklemkvii

Looking great!

[sony1492]

@junklemkvii Looks really satisfying having
all those new parts on fresh paint!

[Shop-Teacher]

@junklemkvii It's coming along nicely! The brake line is very tidy looking.

[MM54]

I've wanted that style flaring tool for quite a while, looks like some good progress!

[JunkleMKVII]

@sony1492 I have to admit, after 3 1/2 years of challenges it feels very, very good to bolt on nice clean parts and see something actually come together.

@Shop-Teacher Thank you. I really worked hard to try and make them look so. I messed up a couple of times. I even forgot to put a nut on before flaring a perfectly fitting line…

@MM54 It’s a complete game changer for me. After messing with one of those of the shelf flaring tools years ago for one fitting and absolutely hating every second of it, I wanted another way. I could do dozens of flares in the same amount of time with this tool

[Shop-Teacher]

@junklemkvii said in The Fidget: combining a 1974 MG Midget with a 1975 Fiat 124 Spider Pt. 10:

I even forgot to put a nut on before flaring a perfectly fitting line..

Classic brake life ooofffff!

[JunkleMKVII]

@shop-teacher I can only describe the sound I made upon realizing as a chuckle-groan

[Shop-Teacher]

@junklemkvii The sound I made when I did it, was considerably more FFFFFFFFF!!!!!!!

[MM54]

@junklemkvii said in The Fidget: combining a 1974 MG Midget with a 1975 Fiat 124 Spider Pt. 10:

I even forgot to put a nut on before flaring a perfectly fitting line…

EVERY TIME THE FLARE IS PERFECT THERE IS NO NUT

[Urambo Tauro]

@mm54 So that's what they mean by No Nut November!

[RallyDarkstrike]

@junklemkvii Oooo, awesome work! It's getting closer to first-start time!

[Shop-Teacher]

@urambo-tauro said in The Fidget: combining a 1974 MG Midget with a 1975 Fiat 124 Spider Pt. 10:

@mm54 So that's what they mean by No Nut November!

Rimshot

[glemon]

@junklemkvii "I think I’ve reached the point where the engine can go back in for basically the last time." Jinxed it

Looks great, this is the kind of project I have started in my head several times, but never had the whatever to follow through, just kind of cool to see one of those what if you did this to that late night conversations and making it happen.

[JunkleMKVII]

@glemon So true. After I typed that I did remember that it has to come off the mounts at least once more when I finalize the shifter/seat/steering wheel relationship. The shifter has to come out to finish modifying it.

This is the result of me wanting to do something like this for a couple of decades. Swap something into something was always the goal. It took me a while to work up the belief that I could pull it off