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Gentleman, At the risk of taking this discussion in a new area I would ask only this. What the hell do I do now? I've gone and replaced stock fasteners with Grade 8 on driveshaft and other hardware in the possibly mistaken belief that Grade 8 was Great. Do I go back and replace, say prayers, die in a wreck? Anxious for enlightenment. Rob C '75 rolling threat? robbiesg@... 25531... MORE
I'm in the process of rebuilding my motor(1275+). I had the crank lightened (wedged,-2lbs), balanced and polished during it's stay at the machine shop. The block was cleaned and new main bearing were installed. When I test fit the caps, with 40lbs torque but without the Thrust Washers, the crank turned smoothly with little effort (I used assembly lube). I removed all the caps and then reinstalled them with new Thrust Washers from VB; now the crank needs about thirty pounds (approx) of force to start it rotating. It still moves smoothly but requires some effort. There is no... MORE
Drag, Don May....non-turning T/O bearing ...."bearing" upon pressure plate. You will also notice with the stock carbon throw-out bearing that the starter will turn the engine over faster if the clutch is not depressed during the start, except in real cold weather when the drag of extremely thick transmission oil causes more drag than the throwout bearing/pressure plate drag situation. Then...start with the clutch pedal depressed of course Much less drag with "roller" types now available in place of original carbon types. The "rollers" allow the T/O bearing face to turn (less drag) as it engages the pressure plate....... MORE
Hi, Kevin... You will eventually hear from a lot of others on this I'm sure, in time. If the oil pressure is good (10psi or more at idle and about 60psi running at 3,000 rpm or better), two things come immediately to mind, considering it's coming out the oil filler hole and not out between the block/head. 1. excessive clearances in the rocker system between bush/shaft and/or 2. larger than normal pushrods (aftermarket "performance") which may be slowing oil flow back down into the crankcase as these can be thicker in diameter than stock. I am assuming the engine... MORE
Yes depends on how much 'severe' is. As David said, you can rebuild the front end with the bushes of the top trunnion behind (inboard) the kingpin as opposed to in front of it. This gives the sort of negative camber (top of wheel further inboard than bottom) that even the lariest of race cars don't run with. "Jeremy Cogman" 25361... MORE
Dave You really need to find out what is causing the 'severe inward tilt', before you can contemplate fixing it! There is no means of camber adjustment because there is no need to adjust it - if the car is set up correctly it does not need adjustment. Unless you've been in a frontend shunt, or someone has whacked the car on the side in an accident - why would you need to straighten the frame? If you haven't been in an accident recently or whacked that sides wheel on a kerb or know of a PO that bent... MORE
Well it's about time. My 71 MG is back and refurbed. While it was apart for a new clutch disc, why not put a Datsun 5 speed in it? 266 cam, lite lifters, right springs, new shells on the still-standard crank, Cooper S 163 head with rimflows and ported, 45DCOE, and LCB, with a Kenlowe to cut cooling losses. Cooper S dizzy. I want a merit badge for making the Rivergate kit work. It is not easy for one who must follow directions literally. Much more difficult than it needs to be, for me, anyway. I know many listers... MORE
Hi Neil I had the same problem with mine but got them working in the end although I am not sure whether the same circumstances may apply. I say this as it was my brake light and indicators that were not working, everything else worked fine. It mentioned in the Haynes Manual that these two are related and when I fixed the one both sprung back to life. What it was down to was a loose and corroded connection between the brake pedal switch at the master cylinder and the wiring loom. I choped these off and repalced the... MORE
Robbie, Widening the tunnel is nothing - it takes just a few minutes and makes no difference to the structural integrity of it. The replacement cross member can be bolted in place - which is exactly the same principle as used in the MGBs. It is even possible to reverse the changes if you needed to. Guy "Guy Weller" 25234... MORE
need to widen the tunnel by about 1". Easy with a scissor jack. need to cut out the cross member and replace with a similar steel box section immediately below the floor pan, either welded or bolted in place. A quick and easy modification. Guy "Guy Weller" 25232... MORE
"Now that your older (like me) you just worry more about that stuff" "What? Me worry?" (courtesy...Alfred E. Nueman) Whadya mean, Jeff?! Older? Yes, BUT...wiser!! And worrying far less. Why, you ask? 'Cause I've learned how to get more bang for the buck while "conserving" to the extent possible considering the same (more or less) perfomance level. What you say is true about the "A" series being bulletproof though, most especially the 1275 variants. Good motors. And if you're a Frank Clarici you needn't worry about mechanicals, etc. at all! :) I got 80K+ miles out of my Vizardized... MORE
Cap'n, This has come up before and the Spit OD will not fit without mods. The conversion I saw widened the Midget tunnel with a bottle jack to fit the OD unit. The conversion also welded in a support piece as I recall. This is one reason I'm reluctant to do this. I have zero welding skills and am somewhat dubious about stretching the drive tunnel that way. Rob C robbiesg@... 25222... MORE
Don, The 3.73 diff from a late rubber bumper Midget will drop a couple hundred revs at 70 mph, and larger tires a little too. Lots easier and cheaper than a different tranny. I don't remember what year your car is, but if it's a 1275, 4000 rpm all day long won't hurt it. Now that you're older (like me), you just worry more about that stuff. Just FYI, I have read that the factory test, when they were building new Spridget engines, was 100 hours on the dyno at max HP. That's about 10,000 miles pedal-to-the-metal. "Jeffrey Holmes"... MORE
I guess what I'm saying is that although my five speed (Toyota) makes the car very relaxed at speed it is not essential for high speed cruising. In fact I'm toying with the idea of going back to a standard box and 3.5 diff sometime in he future so I can do historic road rallying in it. "Jeremy Cogman" 25211... MORE
Wondering what the source of lubrication is for the end of the First motion shaft and bearing in the center of the flywheel? Don "Don May" 25224... MORE
May I disagree. For years I ran my mk2 Sprite with 1275 and 4.2 diff. It was a bit buzzy at 80mph on the motorways but easily bearable. Much of this was hood up to and it's much better with hood down which is I'm sure most of the year where you are. You then have the options of either a 3.9, 3.7 or even 3.5 (Moss now sell them again) to make things even better. 3.5s aren't cheap but they are cheaper than a datsun box and fitting kit. "Jeremy Cogman" 25208... MORE
Well said, Don May... You hit the nail on the head..exactly spot on. This is the position I found myself in, more or less. Prior to knowing about the Datsun 5 speed, I attacked "the problem" by moving the whole rpm range upscale to 7-7.5k rpm by "Vizarding" a 1275 and making 4-4.5k rpm a comfortable cruising rpm. Supertuning the motor to take higher rpm is not inexpensive... for it's operating range is just short of a track motor. Weber 45DCOE, bigger valves, prepared head, VP3 cam and 1.5 rollers, big bore LCB and large diameter free-flow exhaust system... MORE
All the discussion on transmission and differential changes have forced me to face some harsh realities . . . Where I live in order to get out of town there are only two choices; Freeway or miles of traffic clogged streets. Freeway speeds here outside of work hour traffic and accidents seldom flows less than 65 miles per hour and 70 to 75 miles per hour is the normal traffic flow speed any speed less than 60 and you create a dangerous traffic slow down and hazards as people pass you on any side there is an opening. Makes... MORE
"What's the sense of gearing these cars primarily for highway cruising?" Well.... 'Cause I didn't get a BE so I could leave it home in nice weather when I commuted down to NYC airports to fly the friendly skies in bascially 70mph limited access highway driving circumstances where having a 5 speed enables me to tune for low and mid-range instead of top end, as one might have to do with a 4 speed and 3.9. :):) All depends upon the driving circumstance, state of tune, spec., etc. Considering my engine spec in terms of torquey low and mid-range... MORE
Yes an excellent motor sport diff used it all last year however it is very busy on the road and a bit short on long straights and to get the best you need a free reving engine etc mine is safe to 7500 and revs freely to 7000. Some other competitors are using 5.3 very rare now only fitted to Morris Minor GPO vans I think "Peter Whittle" 25187... MORE
"Spitfire O/D gearbox" Will this fit the Spridget tunnel, etc? Seems to me this came up before and I sort of got the impression it would not? Cap'n. Bob '60 :{) PilotRob@... 25194... MORE
that's why I added the 'roughly' qualifier! I have read different road test reports with hugely varying mph/1000rpm figures - by more than the diff ratio change! David "David Jacobs" 25184... MORE
The useless road engine was the cars original 948 motor.. that was a right screamer, and overheated in traffic all the time.. The Current one seems much happier, but as I said the result is it will not even notice going right round the rev counter and out the other side in 4th!. The modded 1275 does have a lumpy idle, but pulls cleanly from standstill, and can pull off from rest in 4th although this does require abuse of the clutch (but not as bad as you might think.) I believe my 1500 has a 3.9 diff so... MORE
Pretty sure the diff in it is the 4.55, whether its original or not! As for the engine.. its a bored out 1275.. to 1380. although not much more is know about it apart from the idle has always been lumpy and the car went like stink! The car itself was used for hilclimbing, but this was with the original 948 engine taken out to 998. this engine had been tweaked beyond all hope, and a useless road engine as a result (hence the later bigger engine). It has disk brakes on the front, riley 1.5 drums on the... MORE
As someone else said, every crown wheel should have it's number of teeth and that of it's pinion stamped on it's outer edge somewhere. This will definitely be right unless someone in the factory (GKN?) had too much 'Hen the night before. "Jeremy Cogman" 25162... MORE
