I Love My Midget

I've been discovering over the past couple months since I bought my Midget that an MG is not a car.  It's an adventure.  And the fun never ends.

Recently I started hearing a bit of a growl that seemed to be coming from the passenger front wheel.  I assumed I had a wheel bearing starting to fail.  So I went to my local parts store and asked them to order me a wheel bearing ('cause apparently they don't stock them for a 1978 Midget - go figure).

The next day on the way to work, the growl grew a lot louder, and turned into quite a wicked vibration.  I thought, "I've never seen a bearing disintegrate that quickly".  So upon arriving at work, I lifted the car to check how much play was in the wheel.  Seemed quite solid to me.  So after work I decided to just drive it home and park it until the bearing came.

About a quarter-mile from home, something let loose with a bang, and a very loud knocking ensued.  And the engine would no longer turn the wheels.  At this point I was pretty certain this was not a wheel bearing problem;  I was suspecting that I had killed the transmission.  I pushed my Midget the rest of the way home (not too difficult with such a little car) and called my boss to schedule the next week off so I could attempt a rebuild.  I then hoisted the car and crawled underneath to investigate the extent of the damage.

Here's what I saw:

This is where the drive shaft attaches to the transmission using 4 bolts.  Notice that there's only one remaining bolt loosely attached.  The knocking I heard was the drive shaft being flung around instead of being turned by the transmission.  Whoever assembled this used cheap grade 5 Home Depot bolts and nuts.  They were just long enough to reach through into the nut, but not long enough to include a lock washer.

Thank heaven the third bolt fell off when I was so close to home and slowed to under 15 mph for a left turn instead of letting loose on the highway.

So a quick trip to to the auto parts store for $12 worth of grade 8 bolts, lock washers and lock nuts, and my Midget runs like a dream (that is, at least as well as it was running before).

I'm still taking next week off.

Oh, and thanks anyway, Auto Zone, but it appears I won't be needing that $70 bearing you ordered for me after all...

I love my Midget.