I Have Written Many Articles About Restoration Work In Which I Tell People To Make Sure They Take Pictures Of

I have written many articles about restoration work in which I tell people to make sure they take pictures of things before they take them apart. But sometimes you also have to THINK BEYOND THE CAMERA.

Tonight we were putting the twin S.U. carbs back on my MG Magnette and we couldn't remember how the float bowls were oriented. Did the fuel line run to the rear carb or the front one? How about the line between the two carbs - how was it routed?

I remembered that I had diligently taken photos of the engine bay the day the car arrived. All I had to do was look at them, right?

Wrong. A few months after getting the car I bought a second engine on eBay. It turned out to be slightly different. When I complained, the seller said it was the correct type of engine. It was then that I realized the car had an MGA engine in it. That was the engine I took photos of. (I never did take photos of the second engine, until after we removed the carbs.)

Bottom line: The photos I had weren't going to help much. I had planned everything so well, but I forgot to think beyond the camera.