The MGA With An Attitude
MGA Guru Is GOING MOBILE - (November 16 - November 30, 2020)
Monday, November 16, 2020:
Parts shopping day. Ordered parts from Moss to convert Ansel's MGB distributor back to points and condenser. Gathered list of parts for Dave's the TF brake hoses and parking brake cables, but so far not to be found in a single source. Still shopping. I think we have an appointment tomorrow with another MGB to install new carburetors.
Tuesday, November 17, 2020:
We have a new acquaintance today, Fred Price in Columbia, SC. He has a 1968 MGB, long time owned and often driven, but now parked for several years. Some time ago he bought a sparkling new pair of SU HS4 carburetors (for a very proud price). But folks are having a tough time figuring out how to configure the linkages, so he would like some assistance with the installation and getting the car running again.
 Start by airing up the tires all around, and roll the car back for better front access. Good that it has been on a charger so the battery is ready to go. Stick a hose on the front fuel pipe, disconnect ignition coil, and switch on fuel pump and catch some of the fuel for inspection. Horrible stuff, smells like turpentine, no way the engine would run on that stuff. Use the fuel pump to drain the tank, and put a few gallons of fresh fuel in it. Then get on with installing linkages and bolting up the carburetors.
There wasn't much to do on the electrical side of the engine other than to check to assure it was all in order. I did notice the engine number was 18GH-WE-H-38604 where the first "H" looked like an over-stamp or maybe final production line stamping. The first GH engine, 18GH-WE-H-101 would be October 1968, fitted with crankcase breather to the carburetors while deleting the PCV valve, which could be the correct setup for this car. But 38604 would have been late 1970, so not the original engine. The cylinder head has plugs in the air injection ports, correct for 1968-1974, with air injection pump and gulp valve deleted, and thermostat cover changed to earlier type with no air pump bracket. The valve cover has rearward pointing vent pipe like 1975 and later cars with fuel vapor recovery carbon canister(s), which this car never had. Oil filler cap is vented with internal filter correct for this car, so the rear vent just needs to be closed off to be properly functional.
The front float valve was stuck, so I R&R'd the float covers to free it up and be sure which were fuel feeds and which were vent ports. The rear dashpot dome had the top vent web misaligned, so that came off to check and assure the internal part were correct. No vent hole drilled in that web, and yes there is a vent hole in the damper cap, so no foul, except the rear carb has a dome same as the front carb rather than original mirror image parts. Fuel metering needles were spring biased type, correct for 1968.
We sent someone off to a local parts store for new 1/4" hoses and clamps and a vent "T" fitting 1/2"x1/4"x1/4" (never found). Once properly plumbed and oil in the dampers it was stubborn and needed a short sniff of ether to fire up. That may have been just a little remaining stale fuel in the lines, but we got the big grin, so all is well. Once fuel mixture was fixed and other minor linkage adjustments done, it ran quite well, but with extra fast idle. That last issue might result from the venturi vacuum ports being open (no "T" fitting). We ran out of time then, so some minor details were left for later attention. The aftermarket chrome air cleaners have negated (deleted) original ram stack fittings, which were good for about 4-HP improvement, so want to discuss restoring those parts (and maybe the original air cleaners as well).
With a little daylight left I dropped in to visit Elliot Cox (very near by), poke around his Triumph GT6 project and chat for a couple hours. He has a new fuel pump installed, still missing one connection fitting, and still needing to have the fuel tank boiled out. Slow progress there.
Wednesday-Friday, November 18-20, 2020:
Catching up photos and notes, BBS and email. Ordered parts for Dave's TF brake hoses on Wednesday (to arrive Saturday). Parts for Ansel's distributor conversion arrived Thursday (to be installed Saturday). Friday is a good day to go foraging.
Saturday, November 21, 2020:
Back to work on Ansel's MGB. Chilly in the morning, and he had a mid day business meeting, so 10-AM intended start was changed to 1:15-PM. First business was to remove the failed Pertronix unit and install parts to convert the distributor back to points and condenser (as original). Good results with nice fat spark for 1/3 the cost of another Pertronix unit. Score one for the good guys.
It didn't want to start, even with full choke, but a sniff of ether got it running. Warmed up enough to push the choke in, then shut it off and try to restart, and it would not go without another sniff of ether. How long since this thing was parked? About a year (maybe two). Think stale fuel, so drain the tank, flush the lines, and give it some fresh fuel. We pulled the front fuel hose, disconnected ignition coil, and used the car's standard fuel pump to remove three gallons of old fuel (slow going). Once it was sucking air, we removed one gallon of fresh fuel from my MGA in similar manner (much quicker fuel pump) to put into the MGB. Pump a few ounces through to flush the pipes, reconnect fuel hose, give it another small sniff of ether, and it fired right up. Once the idle smoothed out, shut it off and restart, and it again fired up immediately. Score two for the good guys.
I was in process of adjusting timing and idle speed when it fell back to running on three cylinders. Bummer. Resistance test on HT wires reads good, right around 5000-ohms for each wire. Resistance test for the spark plugs also read about 5000 ohms per plug. That's good for resistance plugs, but maybe not good to use resistance plugs and resistance wires at the same time. But that doesn't account for it missing on one cylinder. Compression test shows very good compression (~140 psi on all cylinders), but it still runs on three. Pulling plug wires one at a time revealed no fire on #4. Switched spark plugs between #4 and #1 cylinders to see if it might be a bad spark plug, or something else.
About that time the battery went dead, no more cranking. We only had a trickle charger, no jumper cables, and we were losing daylight, so call it a day and pack up the parts and tools. Leave it on the trickle charger over night. Tomorrow Ansel will pick up and install some new spark plugs (non-resistor type), and see if that works (or not). Note to self, "Buy a spark tester" (to replace one that was lost).
Back at the hotel, package arrived with brake hoses for Dave's TF, so maybe something to do tomorrow.
Sunday-Monday, November 22-23, 2020:
No word on either Ansel's MGB or Dave's TF. A little discussion on MGA Twin Cam replacement heater valve being not exactly as original (but probably functional). Someone looking for original style King Dick pliers. Otherwise, a couple days with some spare time to work on my web site.
Tuesday, November 24, 2020:
Got a call from Ansel. He bought a better battery charger, and installed new spark plugs and new HT wires, but his MGB still seems to run on three cylinders. So it was time to take up where we left off. He had some prior commitment, so we didn't get started until 4-pm, losing light rapidly. Good compression, good plugs, good HT wires, new points and condenser, and a nice hot spark. So go check the distributor cap. Sure enough, aluminum contact posts which are badly corroded, cannot get any electrical connection with an ohm meter or continuity tester. I have two distributors in the trailer, one side entry cap and one top entry cap, both with similarly corroded HT terminals. Note to self, buy a couple new distributor caps (and look for the ones with brass terminal posts). So I spent some time with Ansel's cap chipping and scraping and grinding on the posts to remove enough of the aluminum oxide to get down to clean alloy and good electrical path. That did it, finally good spark all around.
Then it was just a matter of R&R the air cleaners again for fine tuning of the carburetors, and the engine was running well (FINALLY). Way past dark and working with flash light by that time, so pack up the tools and call it a night.
Received email from Chicagoland MG Club with preliminary plans for next Spring's swap meet, and a request to post the notes on the club web site. That would be easy enough, except it required posting a link in the club website calendar for next March, and there was not yet any web page(s) for the club 2021 calendar. So I ended up pulling an all-nighter to get half way through that exercise.
Wednesday, November 25, 2020:
The new club calendar pages for 2021 were uploaded by mid day (still needing to do calendar pages for 2022). Oddly, I seem to have survived the night with no sleep, and still had another productive day.
Dave's TF is with his son, not available today, and tomorrow is the holiday, so we made a (tentative) appointment for Friday. Then Ansel called in late afternoon to say he was going to move his MGB, but the clutch doesn't work, apparently no fluid in the clutch master cylinder. He topped up the fluid (at least some fluid), but still no clutch. Again, tomorrow being holiday, and Friday already committed for Dave's TF, and Ansel with some week end commitments, we made another (tentative) appointment for Monday.
Then I got a request (suggestion) for a new tech page on MGA frame straightening with accurate laser measurements. That seemed like a good idea, and the friend had already done it and was supplying lots of photos and notes, so I did. That killed the rest of day until late night, and half done (one new page uploaded), more to be done later.
Then I was making a new tech page for the MGA Twin Cam heater valve with notes on current replacement part irregularities, and mods to fix it. Also a request for dimensions of the MGA horn push button (which someone wants to use on a 1933 Ford). I measured the button diameter on my car, and extrapolated (scaled some pictures) to get rough dimensions for the rest of it.
Thursday, November 26, 2020:
Slept in until noon. Thanksgiving holiday here in the States, so we sit tight today. I suppose the second web page for MGA frame repair is higher priority than the 2022 calendar pages. So yes, I did get that one finished as well.
Friday, November 27, 2020:
Off to work on Dave Daniel's MG TF today. Last time was on the 15th, when Dave's son Jay took the car with him, 20 miles to the east, but he brought it back today for more work. First up was replacing front brake hoses, but the conversion tube shocks were in the way of wrenching on the hydraulic lines, so the tube shocks had to come off (fairly easy). Once the new hoses were installed the tube shocks went back on, because they worked and we didn't know the condition of the original Armstrong lever shocks assuming they need to be rebuilt).
Then Jay went to work on the left side brake hose, same story, remove the tube shock for access, and put it back on when finished. Plain nuts for the tube shocks were dead lose, because there was no shoulder on the mounting studs, so Dave took a hardware store run, and we installed Nylock nuts for reassembly. Also notice the swivel pin rubber seals were long since missing and will need to be replaced, put those on the shopping list.
While we were under there, we noticed the right side suspension buffer was old and rather beat up, and the left side buffer and spacer block were missing (and the mounting flange was bent some), so put those parts on the shopping list for the next work date.
Then on to replacing the rear brake hose (same part number). Typical cramped quarters for wrenching, but not too difficult, and done in due time. Here the old hose had to be ancient, pretty ugly, soft like a wet noodle, and mostly clogged so I couldn't blow air through it. That one was way overdue for replacement, but the new one looks nice.
Under the rear end we found a couple more problems. The thin steel catch straps with rubber bottom liners appeared to be still serviceable. One rubber bump stop under the chassis frame looked quite old, but likely still serviceable. The other bump stop was beat to about half height, so should be replaced. The shock absorber links could be as old as the car, with the rubber lined ball joints on bottom end so loose they would rattle when tickled with your fingers. So put those parts on the shopping list as well.
Brakes bled, wheels back on, jacks down, and trip around the block for testing. All is well with the brakes, get the victory shot. Then Jay took the car again while his dad followed him home to protect his tail on the expressway. All around good day, pack up the tools and head home.
Got a call from Ansel Gantt. He was going to move his MGB, but the clutch doesn't work. He topped off the fluid, but stil not working. We made an appointment for Manday.
Late evening I got caught up with photos and notes, and got a healthy start on the CMGC 2022 calendar pages.
Saturday, November 28, 2020:
Thought we had the weekend off, but got a morning call from Ansel. Apparently he managed to free up some time, so we bumped his appointment up to 1:15-pm. Got a few more hours work in on the club 2022 calendar pages before lunch time.
Off to Ansel's mother-in law's place to check on the clutch on his MGB. I jacked it up to try bleeding the slave cylinder, got a little bit of fluid, a lot of air bubbles, some fluid dribbling out of the dust boot, and finally concluded it was sucking air in around the seal cup on the return stroke. Given the choice of repacking it in situ, or replacing it, I could do either, as I have the parts in the magic trailer. Since a new Classic Gold slave cylinder is now less than $20, We collectively decided he would be happiest with a new one. Already jacked up, it only took 10 minutes to change the slave and another 10 minutes to bleed it nicely, and the clutch was working again.
Trying to start it for testing, no go. Charger on, it cranked a little, then not. Found a corroded battery terminal, did a quick R&R to clean it with wire brush inside and out, after which it cranked well and fired right up. Clean up, pack up, and follow him home so I could fetch him back to get his daily driver car, but the MGB ran out of gas 100 feet from from the start. So it had used up three quarts of fuel we put in it a week ago after draining the stale stuff. No problem, bleed another quart of fuel from my car to put in his, then drive a mile to the nearest gas station to fill it up. Then we were off to park the MGB in its home garage (where I hope he drives it more). Then back to MIL's place to retrieve his daily driver, and then I was off for the day.
In the evening I decided to finish the CMGC 2022 calendar pages and get them on line before getting involved in anything else. A few hours later, all done and about to FTP the finished web pages to the club web site, one key stroke away from being finished, and I hit the Delete key instead of the Enter key, blowing away a full day's worth of work in an instant. Oh, crap. Now I know what I'll be doing tomorrow.
Sunday, November 29, 2020:
Yes indeed, I spent five hours recreating the web pages for CMGC 2022 web site calendar. Man, I'm glad it worked this time, finished and out of the way.
Then more time posting another tech article for a special machined puller for speedometer and tachometer drive seal.
And being a bit bored with more time available, late night I whipped up the 2023 calendar pages for the CMGC web site, and got those uploaded.
Monday, November 30, 2020:
Just received a PDF copy of the December issue of CMGC newsletter. Need to get that posted on the club web site. Got a start on it, but can't finish it because I haven't received the publisher copy yet.
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