>What would be the best book to get for working on Midgets? Something
>for a mechanically adept person more used to working on small, roundish
>cars of German persuasion.
The Bentley manual (they publish some books on small, squarish
cars of German persuasion) is a virtual reprint of the factory
manual on Midgets. Get "The Complete Official [your year here]
MG Midget/Austin-Healey Sprite" from Robert Bentley.
Note that the Bentley manual makes a couple of mildly annoying
assumptions, to wit that you are working on a new, clean car
and that you have every factory tool ever made (including the
elusive 18G 389 and 18G 389(C), right Andy and Roger?). At
least it gives editorial comments such as "If you do not have
special tool 18G 389 and 18G 389(C), wallop the living daylights
out of it with the largest hammer you can find, and then buy
a new unit and put it in when the old one comes out in pieces."
You should also get a Haynes manual, as they do a complete teardown
on a somewhat used car and often have interesting tips on how
to get things out. But they still use the Big Lie of Technical
Writers everywhere -- "Installation is the reverse of removal."
Right, and childbirth is just like intercourse only backwards...
A book you shouldn't be without is Lindsay Porter's "Sprite/Midget
Guide to Purchase & DIY Restoration." (DIY == Do It Yourself, if
that isn't a TLA you already know.) This book starts with REALLY
ratty old cars and make showpieces out of them. It's got a lot
of stuff that's mostly useful if you intend to do your own bodywork,
like how to keep from slicing your digits off with the swarf from
a panel cutter and how to recognise The Rust That Ate Rotherhithe,
And What To Do When You Find It, but there's a lot of good information
even for the weekend tinkerer.
And if you haven't heard yet, MG Midgets are identical to contemporary
Austin-Healey Sprites through 1974 (if you allow for the fact that
the Healeys' contract ran out in 1970 and BL only made a few hundred
1971 Austin Sprites); 1975 and later Midgets also share engine and
transmission components with the 1500 Spitfire. Anytime you see a
book on Sprites, pick it up and evaluate it for potential purchase.
(Likewise, Mr. Time Bomb Demolition Squad, you should be aware of any
books on MG Midgets to give you hints about some of the components on
your new Blazin' Racemobile.)
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