Ray drove the car while I was gone on a 3 week trip. Coolant and oil leaks, plus a crack in the new windshield glass! Otherwise it runs well. So got some work to do.
Crack in the windshield we are pretty sure is due to a top frame that has too much curvature. Pictures below show how we compared the curvature on this car to Ray's MGA with a piece of plywood indexed off the convertible top posts:
We got a used top frame rom our used MGA parts guy and it better matches this car's curvature than Ray's! We also got new glass, it appears it will break if we install it with the used top frame when we lay the frame on the glass. So, we bent the used top frame flatter by hand and it looks like that will work! Now need to remove the windshield assembly, remove broken glass, bend this car's top frame flatter, then re-assemble with new glass.
Oil leak appears to be a loose fitting on the rear side of block, the large oil line that feeds the oil filter assembly. Removed all parts and re-assembled with new washers and tight fit on this fitting, should work now.
Coolant leak turns out to be a small crack in the block just above the distributor, between the second and third core plugs. Got a small video that depicts the rate of leak, which is pretty small:
This leak was there before and had been covered with a sealant, which has now failed. We cleaned up the area with a drimel and installed new JB Weld, two applications. Hopefully this solves the problem!
Last we installed the new top. We think it turned out pretty good:
Finishing windshield and installation of cockpit trim are remaining steps. We have all the pieces for windshield, should be done this week. Then we are waiting on Josh for cockpit trim.
Oh one other item. Passenger door has a small defect in the body filler which Darrell the body man has agreed to repair. So a few days at the body shop are also in store.
