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Have you tried squirting some oil in the lock? That sometimes helps. The lock on the passenger's door of my midget is difficult to use, so I lock it from the inside. Margaret South Lincolnshire (UK) "May you be in Heaven half an hour before the Devil knows you're dead" mmbrock88@... 36892... MORE
I recently purchased a basket case MG but I got a great deal!! So anyways.. 73 1275 Midget starts, runs, timing is good, spark is good etc... Car drives gets up to speed. Gets hot after about 2-3 miles runs like garbage. So I checked the thermostat looked like crap so I replaced it. I am now trying to figure out which way does the water flow on this motor? Does the radiator supply from the bottom or the top? Trying to figure out if they had the thermostat in backwards really..or if the water pump is hosed. Jeremy... MORE
Hi Jeremy, Water flows from the block/thermostat housing to radiator top then cooler water returns to the water pump from the bottom of radiator. Thermostat should have the heat sensor/bellows toward the block. There may be a passel of other things that are wrong too. Such as radiator blocked with debris, return hose collapsing, heat gauge off calibration, vapor lock, fuel hoses partially blocked, the list goes on!! Don't run the car without a thermostat, either. May develop dangerous hot spots in the engine. Paul A "Paul Asgeirsson" 36888... MORE
The valve controls the water flow through the heater core. Without the core the valve should be closed or some of the water will by-pass the radiator. With the heater core in place, the core will act like the radiator, cooling the water passing through it. Cooling problems can be caused by a number of things - "junk" in the radiator, bad thermostat, and, while not too common, the water pump impeller corrosion, amoung other isues. "Jim" 36873... MORE
Just wondering if the gasket has failed between 1 and 2.. as when I had the head off my '75 I found some odd machining round the top of the bores.. this overlaps between 1 and 2, then 3 and 4, no idea what it was for, but can't help gasket sealing, but I just put it all back together and found I had good compresion so did not worry too much. If anyone knows what this is for I would love to know! Stewart "Ford Prefect" 36865... MORE
Gavin... I know little about 1500's and nothing about European spec types however, I 'd not be driving the car with a fuel leak in the engine compartment. Not as bad as a Series A wherein the exhaust/carbs reside on the same side of the engine nor a situation wherein the higher pressures of fuel injection may be involved but....not a good idea nontheless. Pick up from your supplier an SU carb overhaul kit. This will contain the n ew gaskets/seals you no doubt will need to put a stop to the fuel leak, assuming it is from the... MORE
My car recently broken down and I was hoping somebody might be able to give some idea of the likely fault and how to fix it. After being run fairly hard for about 30 mins then pulling up to traffic lights my '76 1500cc Midget had very little power when I tried to pull away from lights. Pressing the accelerator made neighter the speed increase or the Revs. Instead it just made the engine sound rougher. I pulled over straight away and found out that the lower two pistons ( furthest from the driver) were doing nothing. (I pulled... MORE
I misunderstood. I thought you said it misfires above 2800, when what you actually said is that it misfires AT 2800, but is okay above and below. I'm pretty sure this is a carburation problem wherein at a certain rpm there is a strange harmonic set up in the intake manifold and carburetor, which causes erratic, uncontolled movement of the air piston. Try this: Remove the old oil from the piston damper. To do this you'll have to remove the cap and the screws which hold the cover in place. Then remove the piston and it's diaphragm. Be careful,... MORE
I don't know what the deal is with motors and me. I think the only things I have that have good motors anymore are the two new cars I got in December. They are good, because I purchased them brand new. I don't tear things up; I just tend to buy other peoples worn and abused stuff, and more than likely they tell me things are fantastic, when in fact they aren't. Skorpion Motorcycle Motor dropped a valve, chewed the piston up, etc. etc. etc. - recently sold to a racer - was caused when the PO jacked with... MORE
Hi I have noticed for quite awhile the faint smell of coolant while the engine is running. No dripping or smoke from the block. More like that "pissing" thing they do. In the process of changing the carbs and now have a clear view of the teltale rust trail coming from the front side of the head (manifold side). should I?? Crack all the head bolts a 1/2 turn then retourque everthing Just retorque now,possibly finding a loose head bolt in that area. I will probably end up having to do the new gasket but thought it may be... MORE
Unless you have an aversion to removing the water pump, I'd just go ahead and replace the head gasket at this point, based on my experience with "quick fixes" in this area. The hard part is already done - removing the carbs & manifold. An oil change is always healthy. However, if you do want to try the re-torquing bit, from what i have read/heard, you should do one bolt at a time - loosen and retorque - in a specific order (as listed in Haynes & Bentley manuals). Cracking all the bolts at once will allow the oil... MORE
Or at least the MOT tester thinks it is, Took it for it's MOT this morning and it passed. It still has a high idle to sort out (the throttle spindles are a little stiff it would seem) Nad the clutch master cylindre would apear to need new seals still. For those that don't know the MOT is the yearly road worthyness test here in the UK the car can't be driven on public roads with out a currnet MOT certificate, unless you are driving to a pre-arranged MOT inspection. Stewart PS this is the first MOT it has... MORE
How do you lube the steering on a 60 bugeye. There is a zirc fitting and the book says to use 140 weight gear oil. I went to the car parts store and couldn't find a tool to inject the oil into the fitting. Any ideas? Thanks Bob Irwin rlirwn@... 36732... MORE
Vince....I may be mis-understanding your terms, but here goes..... Off hand, it sounds like the front carb is "weak" while the rear carb is "correct" or maybe a little rich. Don't forget, these are "interdependent" considering they're "connected" by a "balance" tube. Therefore it is possible for one carb to run the whole show....IOW, one "weak" and one maybe "overly" rich. For BOTH carbs..... the result with proper mixture should be a slight initial rise in rpm (50 or so) followed by a return to the prior i dle speed as the air valve is "held" less than 1/8"... MORE
I'm sure others here know better then I do. But, shouldn't you have some lubricant in the water. When I was sixteen I had a '52 cadillac. (Best $25 dollar car I ever bought.) It had a leak at the water pump. I kept putting plain water in. Without the lubrication of the antifreeze it just kept getting worse and became a down hill spiral. Of course, I could be wrong! Tim "trpgrp" 36716... MORE
I think you're spot on, Tim. Here are recent posts from others about the same. From Chris: "I think what you are seeking is commonly called 'water pump lubricant.' It is made by many of the automotive chemical companies, three of which are Radiator Specialties (aka Gunk) (# C10-12), Cyclo (# C51 and C53) and Justice Brothers (# RSR1.)" And Paul: "And Prestone!" I only drained the volume of the radiator and left the remaining antifreeze solution in the rest of the system to get these results. But to answer your question, yeah, I'll be looking for one the... MORE
Never had an X19, but my wife did have a 124 Spider. I'll probably be burned at the stake as a heretic, but the 124 was superior to the MGB in every way - design, build quality, reliability. Oops, time to duck!! "joe blxfstz" 36700... MORE
Two words. Crash Test. They have to furnish something like 20 cars to the testing bed. Aside from financial difficulties at the time (early 80s) MG found themselves increasingly unable to produce a quality roadster for the US market due to polution controls, crash test expenses, safety features and a lot of other concerns. The power output of even the B engine when harnessed to air pumps, hydrocatalysts, polution gear, crash safety problems (recall with the rubber bumpers were for!!) was really anemic. The midget - even the 1500 - was a dead loss with all that junk hung... MORE
I don't quite agree with you on that. The British car club I belong to (www.sbmoc.com) is very active, and we have enthusiastic members ranging in age from nearly 90 down to several teenagers. The youngsters are fascinated by cars which they can actually understand and work on themselves, and they think they're way cooler than new Japanese stuff. I don't think our hobby is dying - it's just getting passed on to the next generations. "joe blxfstz" 36677... MORE
Hello, Couple of questions I have hopefully some one can solve them for me. My Car is Uk 1500cc 1976 Midget First my car does not indicate tothe right when the steering wheel is dead straight. The lights does not come up and the dash board and the clicking noise is far more rapid than it should be. However when I turn the steering wheel a small amount in either direction it works fine. ( And i get strange looks when I have to sway across the road so my car will indicate) The left hand indicator works fine.... MORE
Terry, the hoses go in place of the rigid pipe from the block to the filter head and the cooler itself usually goes in the nosecone in front of the radiator. For remote filter units, look at MGB V8 conversions (and factory V8s) as they use them - absolutely no room for an engine mounted filter there. David "David Jacobs" 36635... MORE
David I did measure it and it was not that easy to be exact but it was going to be tight or not go. Will try for a conventional oil cooler. Does it go in place of the pipe from the block (banjo fitting) to the top of the oil filter screw on bit? Mind you I do like the idea of a remote oil filter, perhaps I could put it where I can easily get to it.where can I get details, looked on MGOC but did not see it. terry Terry Isherwood Essex UK "Terry Isherwood" 36634... MORE
Why not measure the thickness of the heat exchanger (including the amount the threaded bit sticks out, for the room needed to get the filter unscrewed) and measure the gap under the existing filter and compare? If it's tight, you could get a remote filter and position the filter somewhere with more space, but if you're going to that sort of trouble, you might as well fit a standard oil/air cooler, as the plumbing would be a bit simpler. And it won't put additional load on the cooling system like the oil/water one would. David "David Jacobs" 36585... MORE
I now have two original hardtops that I'm going to paint. I have a question, both tops have cracks in the gelcoat. I believe from flexing. The fibeglass is perfect, no cracks whatsoever. What I am wondering, is with those gelcoat cracks, what is the best way to get them ready for paint such that the gelcoat cracks won't propagate into the new paint. Do I need to strip it down to the bare fibeglass? What stipper works the best? Any help would be appreciated. One top will be stock to match the car, the other will be checkered... MORE
Brand new, light weight (175 lbs) see photos section (teardrop) Licenced, 12" spoked wheels, hatchback, flip out shelf, carpeted,inside light, front cooler, cool little trailer! only $600, in Arizona. "hdsteveg" 36543... MORE
