The MGA With An Attitude
MGA Guru Is GOING MOBILE - (August 16 - August 31, 2021)
Monday, August 16, 2021:
Pretty decent working weather, after the morning rain stopped, to it was time to fix the badly leaking front tappet cover, That required removing the carburetors and intake manifold to get to the tappet cover. Sure enough, pretty much exactly what I suspected, gasket slipped out of place while tightening the bolt during last assembly. Now the last time I ordered parts from Moss Motors few weeks past (pistons and camshaft and related parts), the tappet cover gaskets were out of stock. I didn't worry too much about it, because I had two of them in the trailer to get the job done. But now I needed another one, which I don't have, because I haven't placed another parts order yet.
That left us making a side trip to a local auto parts store to buy cork gasket sheet stock, which we finally found in 1/8-inch thickness. It needed to be 1/4-inch thick, but we could double layer it, and it was soon done. With that back together, it was time to see why the rear carburetor choke was sticking, and why it was leaking fuel, (immediately after replacing all seals and gaskets). Easy enough to fix the sticky choke by re-centering the the jet bearings along with re-centering the jet. again. And then I found out why it was leaking fuel. I had never seen this before, but the clevis was attached to the bottom end of the jet with a tiny square head screw. The female thread in the jet was not a dead end hole, but went right through into the fuel cavity inside the jet. So when the thread worked loose fuel would easily leak through the threads. Poor design I think. That should be a blind hole, and I believe every jet I have seen before this had the clevis riveted onto the jet.
The quick fix was to clean the threads and screw it back together with thread sealant. After reassembly it no longer leaked, and the carbs were soon back on the car and running. Getting hot again in the afternoon, so we're out of here.
Tuesday, August 17, 2021:
Added a tech page for a body fixture for MGA Twin Cam body shell (which will work as well for any MGA body shell).
 Now this was an interesting Tuesday night at Darrell's Garage. We were wondering why there was a BMW on the lift yesterday, and now we know. Bad starter motor, just two bolts, one cable, and one trigger wire, bur what a bear it is to change that thing. It is located high on the side of the gearbox, almost on top of the transmission, and nearly impossible to get an arm in along side. Apparently they had worked on it a couple days earlier, enough to remove bottom covers and get frustrated by the starter bolts. Tonight was the time to get serious and git-er-done.
The flat rate manual allows 3.2 hours to change this starter motor, and they may be pretty close to the correct allowance for a professional tech who is familiar with the car. These guys spent a couple of hours before, and something close to four hours tonight. Occasionally there were as many as three people working a couple of wrenches, and not making much progress. But they were persistent, and eventually it was done. And now I get to say I have worked on a BMW. Install the heavy steel stiffener plate underneath the engine with eight large bolts, and the light plastic air pan under the radiator with several quarter-turn screws, and it was heading home.
Unfortunately the car was flat-bed towed to this shop, and the tow driver bent two rear lower control arms with his tie-down chains. So now the owner gets to give the towing company the bill for rear suspension repairs and 4-wheel alignment. Guessing the tow driver might lose his job over that one.
Wednesday, August 18, 2021:
Added some pictures to a tech page illustrating reduced gasket seating surface for MGA Twin Cam rear wheel hubs with late production design change. This could be important if you make your own paper gaskets.
Heading for cover in the evening, the car was running crappy for the last few miles, misfire and loss of power, but we got where we were going.
Thursday, August 19, 2021:
Since the car started okay this morning, we thought we had a good chance of driving two miles to our breakfast spot. It ran okay to get us a mile out onto the expressway before it changed to running bad again, and finally crapped out entirely leaving us on the narrow shoulder of a very busy interstate highway. Ah, such is life. Pop the bonnet, grab the test light, poke a few terminals and crank it for diagnostics. Fix one loose terminal on a wire from coil to distributor, but that didn't make it run yet. More poking and diagnostics, and I finally broke the nylon terminal fitting on the side of the distributor. Curses, but we did have the spare part in the trailer.
Just getting into fixing that part when a road service truck showed up to park behind us with his big flashy lights to guard our tail. A little more fiddling got the new side terminal and wire installed, reinstall the distributor, and after a bit of cranking it was running again. Score one for the good guys, pack away tools and parts, thank the road service guy, and we were on our way again. I didn't have time to check the clock, but I guess 20 minutes on the shoulder of a busy road seems like a lot longer.
The "regularly scheduled" Thursday night committee meeting for CMGC web site development was cancelled, due to a conflicting local car show involving club member cars. That freed up the time in the evening for me to watch the Tesla AI Day presentation, which is of some interest to me (not everyone's cup of tea). Being a west coast event, that pretty much sucked up the rest of the day until late night on the east coast.
Couple of tech questions on clutch judder and rusted threads in front suspension swivel links.
Friday, August 20, 2021:
Looks like another rainy day, so good to sit and fiddle. Someone sent a tech article for installing an MGB fuel gauge in the MGA, so I posted up the new tech page.
Question today about a no-start MGA. The car had been fitted with an electric starter solenoid, and some of the symptoms sounded more like a failing solenoid, which would be a cheaper and easier fix than repairing a starter motor.
More questions about installing a back up fuel pump, putting two pumps in series or in parallel,
Saturday, August 21, 2021:
Another odd question from same guy installing the MGB fuel gauge in his MGA. He is installing an MGB 1800 engine, and seems to think it would be a good idea to install the fuel vapor recovery system along with it. Okay, then some discussion about how to plumb in the vapor lines from carburetor to carbon canister, and from canister to the fuel tank (and maybe the expansion tank in the boot as well). Can 't wait for the next question about anti-run-on valve.
Updating a new web page on the brake adjustment tool to give credit to multiple contributors to the effort.
Got a note from the Toolmaster at Chicagoland MG Club. Seems like they have just acquired an early MGB 3-main bearing engine, now looking for a new home. I may have been interested several weeks earlier, but just spent a lot of money repairing my broken engine, so no-go for me. It is a complete long block engine without the external bolt-on accessories. It was likely running before being removed, but otherwise no info on history or current condition. It is located in western suburbs of Chicago, and I don't think they want to ship it, so figure on local pickup. If interested, contact Jim Evans, email jimevans.aag@gmail.com, phone 630-209-8602 or 630-858-8192.
Sunday, August 22, 2021:
I dunno if it was just a day off, or if I was really out of it, because I don't remember doin nuttin.
Monday, August 23, 2021:
Had to add a few photos and notes to a tech page for space saver spare. It is well known that a Saab wheel will fit on the MGA, so the Saab space saver is a good choice. Someone recently reported using a Volvo space saver wheel, but it turns out the center hole may be too small to fit over the front bearing hub on an MGA with disc wheels (at least for 1500 drum brake cars). Got busy and managed to miss the John Twist UML Monday night Zoom tech session (bummer).
Tuesday, August 24, 2021:
Yeah, somebody said it was Tuesday, so we were back at the garage again. Tonight's primary patient was a 1972 MGB needing a tune-up. Use a set-back timing light to set road speed timing first.
After fiddling with fuel mixture screws for a bit, the rear carburetor fell right in line, but the front carb was dead lean no matter what the setting of the screw. These are SU HIF carburetors, so turn the screw in (clockwise) for more rich, but all the way in and still running lean. Logical conclusion is that the crow's foot inside is somehow disconnected so it doesn't pull the fuel jet down. That requires removing the carburetor to flip it upside down for access to remove the bottom cover to fix what's inside. Owner declares that a job for a different day. So we reinstalled the air cleaners, and replaced a leaking radiator top hose before letting it out of the barn.
There was a five minute Keystone Cops flurry to pull lots of stuff away from the front of a work bench. I thought they were cleaning up the shop space, but it turned out they were only after a "skate" (roller board) that was under the A-series engine and gearbox. And then they put the stuff all back where it was, to enjoy the traditional condition of disorganization and clutter.
As things were winding down, and some folks were leaving, we pulled the Morris Minor into the shop to fix a malfunctioning tail light. That turned out to be a weak spring contact on the light bulb, easy to bend down for more tension and better contact.
As we were tipping off the last drink for the night, we got a distress call for an MGB with a flat tire not making it home. Grab a spare used wheel and tire out of the tire barn, put some air in it, grab a jack and lug wrench, and head out a few miles to do the rescue. Turns out he had a spare in the boot, but no air pressure in it. And the tire being removed looked like it must have also had no air pressure, so it would self destruct being driven only a few miles from the shop. I haven't seen a tire in that bad condition for years, but it was good for a laugh.
Wednesday, August 25, 2021:
Updating a few pages on the CMGC web site for current events. Posting yesterday's photos and notes, and catching up two days of email and BBS, and there was a LOT of email.
Posted a new tech page for the changing location of the turn signal indicator lamp on the MGA dash board. Some new revelation discloses it happened about a week before advent of the MGA 1600-MK-II model, so a few hundred 1600's had the new dash panel(s) in early 1961 (without the vinyl dash covering).
Added a photo and not to a tech page for emergency spare tire and wheel noting that a Saab wheel fits fine, but a Volvo wheel center hole is a bit smaller and may not clear the bearing hub on front wheel spindle of the MGA (drum brake and disc wheel cars).
Thursday, August 26, 2021:
We were hanging out in York, PA today, because we had an evening appointment to install carburetors on an MGA. The car was in a storage unit, all steel shell with no insulation, and it was 95dF with full sun in the afternoon, so the car owner cancelled the appointment (for the second time for the same reason). Reschedule it for same time next week (maybe).
Someone found a very nice picture of MGA EX181 at Silverstone in 1958, so had to post that one on an existing tech page for EX181.
Received a new copy of the Driving Events list for CMGC, so spend some time updating the club web pages for a couple new events.
Updating a few tech pages today in reference to the MGA and early MGB crankshaft key. It takes two #605 Woodruff keys, but the key has a BMC special part number, and someone was asking what might be special about it. Reason is because the #605 was not a standard Woodruff key part number in 1955, just wasn't on the standard hardware list, which is why the factory had to assign a drawing number. But the #605 has since been added to the list of standard Woodruff keys, so now you can buy one at a local hardware store.
Chasing broken links again. Unfortunately I have no control over what someone else does with their web pages, so when someone might move or delete a web page, my off-site link goes dead. This is a regular habit with YouTube, but now we find British Pathe also renaming the ID numbers for some of their videos, so the historical video documents are hard to keep connected.
Friday, August 27, 2021:
Added a note on a new and novel way to adjust the timing chain tensioner on the MGA Twin Cam, as the book method seems to be a bit vague and subject to mistakes in process. Also some notes about materials use fur the static chain guide (damper) and rivets to secure the parts. Was disconnected from email and FTP access yesterday, so catching up two days email and uploading web site updates today.
Had a little problem with the SIM chip in my cell phone, reported to be "not installed". After fiddling with it a bit it was working again. Not the first time. I think it looses electrical connection and just needs a little jiggle from time to time. Don't remember everything I was working on, but we ran out of time late night without getting everything finished.
Saturday, August 28, 2021:
It rained yesterday, turned a little cooler last night, and downright pleasant today (for a nice change).
Posted new tech page on installation of the timing chain on the MGA Twin Cam engine. More of a chore than it sounds, and tricky stuff until you understand how it all works.
Sunday, August 29, 2021:
Additional update to the new tech page on Twin Cam timing chain installation, calling out an error in the factory documents, and use of locktabs to secure more of the fasteners.
Monday, August 30, 2021:
Temperature is down some, and rains mostly subsided, so today was the day to get a little jump on the paint blister repair on the LR wing of the MGA. Besides, tropical storm is coming in a couple days, so we gotta get this done to get out of here. Grab a grinder, and grind away paint and rust to bare metal, outside and inside, and we found another hole large enough for two fingers. Totally accessible this time without disassembling anything (other than removing the wheel for access underneath). No metal patch this time, just a quick and easy one. Tape a piece of thin card stock on the outside, and lay up three layers of fiberglass cloth underneath. Hurry up and wait. Four hours later, peel off the tape and card stock, and play a little bondo and primer tune on the outside. Will leave it half a day before primer underneath, and color coat. The metal patch installed a couple years back in Florida is still holding up okay, while this new trouble spot is a couple inches lower.
We cleared the work space long enough to get a Buick people carrier on the hoist to investigate a problem with anti-lock brakes. That was easy, Some prior wire repair with a crimp-on butt connector had failed by breaking the wire at the splice. Recommend solder and shrink wrap next time, for a cable that constantly moves with the suspension motion.
Tuesday, August 31, 2021:
Last day (or half day) of decent weather in York, PA, so get the paint work done early. A little sanding, followed by get some primer underneath, and one last coat of primer on the outside. Wet sanding after a half hour of drying time. Give it another hour to dry, and hit it with the red enamel, underneath first, then the finish coat outside. Don't touch the wet paint, but get the wheel back on and get it off the jacks.
While waiting for the paint to dry some, we got after changing out the corroded lamp sockets on the trailer tag lights (inside the plastic frame). The new twist-in mount sockets were too large to fit inside the frame, but a little power sanding took the flanges off to make them fit. Then a bit of tedious wire stripping and soldering, and it was time for reassembly. Success on the first pass, we now have two small lights over the trailer tag.
Out of the shop by 3-pm, the paint looks better in ambient light (don't touch it) Beginning to get a little misty. Off for a late lunch, intending to return 5:30 or 6:00-pm for the normal Tuesday night garage party (hoping the tropical storm will hold off a few more hours).
We were back at 5:30 to see what the Tuesday night gang was up to. No projects this time, just social. The Dodge motor home is still giving problems with the starter switching circuits, so that needs some lift time to get at the wiring on the starter motor, but not tonight. Tropical storm moving in pretty fast, and navigator thinks 6-hours driving to northwest to get out of the rain, so we headed out at 6-pm. Did indeed drove six hours north, northwest and west on I-80, then I-76, something like 370 miles. Had some light mist part of the time, but by midnight we were 90 miles into Ohio with cooler temperature and some humidity but no rain. Pity the guys in York, PA tonight and tomorrow.
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