The ignition problem was caused by what looked like an original crimp being left on a wire when a new spade terminal was crimped on (PO) - I could just visibly see the inner crimp moving around inside the outer one. This was undetectable with an ohm-meter, but it was when I used a volt-meter with the circuit on load and saw a volt-drop where there shouldn't have been one. I suspect this looseness had been caused earlier in the year when the fan-belt was starting to unravel and a loose end wrapped itself around this wire and yanked it off the coil twice within a couple of hundred yards before I spotted the loose end.

The fan relay failing to operate was caused by the wire having broken off the connector at the Otter switch. I suspect this was my fault for resting a volt-meter on top of the engine while I had been looking for the 'chattering solenoid' problem.

The one fan not working was caused, I suspect, by one of the pins in the two-way connector at the fan being not pushed fully home and could have happened at any time. I opened up both connectors, made sure all the pins were fully home and although both were clean inside reassembled them with Vaseline as they are right in the path of the water, dirt and salt that comes through the grill.

The chattering solenoid seems to have been due to the wire gradually corroding away from the connector at the solenoid spade and getting higher resistance, until the solenoid would operate but once the normal volt-drop that occurs during cranking had taken place there was insufficient current to hold it in. The engine always cranked and started while this had been happening, which was why I was fairly sure it wasn't the battery or heavy current cable. However I made some very strange voltage readings in the starter relay/solenoid circuits while it was happening, and although it has been fine for the past two weeks I can't say I'm totally confident yet. We shall see.

4-star leaded seems to have vanished from my local forecourts now, but 'Bee' still has half a tank - plus five litres in the carry-can - so I should have until the spring to finally make up my mind whether to go for LRP (ease of use, same octane as 4-star leaded, but only half the quantity of lead-replacement chemical) or an additive (full dose of lead-replacement chemical, potentially tricky to measure out on the forecourt, and not all of them have an octane-booster).

The first job was to replace the brake m/c and all the clutch hydraulics on the V8. I discovered the brake m/c had a pinhole in the top the last time I bled them with a Gunsons Eezi-bleed - and wondered where all the fluid was coming from. The clutch m/c was leaking back, and I decided to change the flexible and the slave while I was at it. Having read many times that the clutch is a real pig to bleed I decided to try filling the system from the slave rather than the m/c, with great success, getting full travel in just five minutes and no bleeding required. See Clutch Bleeding for the details. The brakes were not so easy. Used the Gunsons but still had a spongy pedal. Next day got my wife to stand on the pedal while I snapped the bleed nipples open and closed and all was well.

Also on the second day I replaced the needles and jets on the V8 HIFs. It has tubular manifolds and K&N filters and has always had flat spots at higher speeds, even when the idling CO exceeded the limit. Since I cleaned and re-oiled the K&Ns it had got much worse. I used my list of needles to select one (BAK) with the same idle dimensions but narrower (i.e. richer) dimensions elsewhere. The difference is amazing - pickup is now what it should be plus it is within limits for idle CO.

Days 3 to 5 saw me tackle the replacement of the back-axle on the roadster. It was a Rostyle car that I had fitted conversion hubs and wires to, but the rear tyres were fouling the outer arches on cornering. Rubber-bumper roadster springs cured that, but led to the back-end breaking away in the wet sooner than normal. As time and miles went by the axle started grinding and clonking so I decided to replace it with a reconditioned wire axle and revert to the original springs, and renew the prop-shaft UJs at the same time. Picked up a used axle and had it reconditioned earlier in the year through Clive Wheatley. The crown-wheel and pinion were shot, but fortunately Clive keeps good used sets when he is converting axles to V8 spec so I had one of those. Early afternoon on day 1 saw everything off the car (except the handbrake cable) with the short brake pipe being the only part that was damaged during removal. I couldn't split the exhaust so I decided to work with it in-situ as I didn't want to have to mess with the manifold end of the car at the same time. Wasn't too difficult - removed the back-plates in-situ then slid the axle sideways on a trolley jack till it cleared the pipe, then lowered it and removed it from the rear as normal. The propshaft UJs were a bit of a pig to get out but the new ones went back in OK. "Replacement being the reverse of removal" I supported the new axle on ramps and trolley jack as well as having a large bundle of dust sheets under the nose while I manoeuvred it into position - bumping the pinion flange on the concrete would have destroyed the pre-load. Everything went back together as easily as it had come apart - then it came time to change the handbrake cable. I just could not shift the nut and bolt that secures the bracket to the corner of the battery box (the smallest nut and bolt of the whole job), so I had to drill it out. As it is right next to the fuel pump I had to slacken its clamp and slide it clear and remove the battery. Clamped the nut with an adjustable wrench to stop it spinning and put a small jack underneath so I could bear down on the bolt head from above. Slowed me up by about an hour but it saved destroying the bracket. When I came to re-assemble the handbrake end of the cable the trunnion was missing. I presumed it had dropped out and rolled somewhere, but searched high and low to no avail, so I made one out of an old kingpin bolt ("If you haven't found a use for something yet you haven't kept it long enough"). Slightly smaller diameter than the real thing but it would do till I could get the proper item. Later on when I had finished and was clearing up I found it lying at the bottom of my 'parts washer' - it was just a 10-minute job to replace my make-shift part, which is now on my shelf of miscellaneous bits ("It you haven't found a use ...").

Week 2 saw me back on the V8 again - replacing the RHS lower rear 1/4-panel where it covers the sill. This is one of the worst places for rot on the MGB, the two panels are so close together it is difficult to get Waxoyl between them. (I had to replace the same panel on the roadster when I restored it in 1990 and despite copious applications of Waxoyl from behind the trim panels on both sides, the other side is beginning to go through now). I was a bit concerned about what I would find behind the panel but apart from some light surface rust on the hidden part of the sill all was very sound. Prepared the new panel by cleaning off the black 'transit' coating (it isn't intended to be primer), gave the surface a good key and a coat of primer. Welded it in, covered the join with filler, shaped it, many coats of primer, more filler and shaping, more primer, seam-sealer (inside the arch), then top coat. Finally, liberal spraying of WD40 and Waxoyl from behind the trim panel. I am quite pleased with the result, for although I have done welding before it is the first time I had tackled filling and shaping.

I have always hosed under the wings and wheel arches of my cars to prevent a build up of damp, salt-laden mud ('Vee' is my daily driver) and had been a bit concerned about lumps of rusty underseal that had been dropping out of the rear wheel arches during the year. The underseal was of the kind that breaks adhesion with the painted metal then just serves to trap water, so I decided to scrape it all off both arches - wondering if I would find rot-holes. I was amazed to find that, for the most part, under the flaking seal was original paint, over factory underseal, over fawn primer, over solid shiny metal. Only about 10% of the surface showed rusting, and although quite scaly in a couple of places it was perfectly solid. Painted on two coats of Trustan 23 rust converter, one coat primer, then two coats Waxoyl underbody seal. I am glad to have got rid of the rusty panel, and there was much less corrosion of adjacent panels than I had feared. Must try and get round to the bonnet/hood sometime. It is a replacement panel (a PO collected a jogger) with very poor paint adhesion and has chipped down to the metal very badly.