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Peter, Right you are. I wondered if anyone would realize that the distributor drive gear is connected to the camshaft which actually turns the oil pump. Lots of wasted time doing it this way if you ask me. Its your money.....I heard of one fellow that hooked up a presurized bug spray can with oil in it to the oil gauge feed pipe or something and pumped oil through his engine before starting. I heard it killed bugs for miles when he drove by for years afterwards. LOL Really, I think that this is to anal for a common... MORE
Paul, Yes, there is a proper way to break in your engine. The first 20 min will tell if your engine will live a long life or die at an early age. Lots of people have differant ideas on how to run it in for the first 1000 miles. I will tell you how I do it at work and what I reccomend to my customers. When we go to start up a new one we always go through the same check list. All fluids up to specs. Gravity fill the oil cooler if installed. Make sure the fuel... MORE
Nah!! You mean "healthy old man", Nigel!! I could look at physically attractive females all day. As a matter of fact, as a regional airline pilot I did quite a bit of this (on those trips when it was the First Officer's turn to fly the ship, of course!:). May not have seen the Paris video but, the transaction cost me nothing. I'm smarter than they are, they having given me cause in advance to suspect a scam. I know how to "CYA"!! :):) Still, if the video had been of good quality, I wouldn't have minded paying a... MORE
Hi all- First, let me take a moment and thank you all for the gracious way so many of you have spent your time trying to help. I recently sold a '96 Porsche 993, and let me tell you, if you do your own wrenching, you are on your own. This group is a real pleasure..... Worked on the problem this evening. Not sure what I have learned. I first pulled the starter. No change in problem. Next I decided to spend some quality time on my knees watching the valve and piston movement. Very interesting. I watched each... MORE
Hey Everybody I need some help. The guy I bought my Midget from has two AH Sprites and he doesn't know what year they are so Im trying to find out for him. Iv already taken the identification numbers and tried decoding them using the guide on this web site. http://www.mgcars.org.uk/midgetspriteclub/sprite/spriteident.htm I know there Mark IVs but I cant narrow down the year they were made. My Midget has a plate a the door jam that shows the m/y it was made but these darn Sprites have nothing. Is there anywhere in the VIN, engine, or body #s that... MORE
"Sounds like you put a long bolt where a short one should go" Boy...this just lit up a bulb. There are two short screws behind the crankshaft timing chain pulley on the front face of the block. If one of thesse screws is a tad too long or is not fully home into the block, it will foul the crankshaft pulley. This may or may not be the source of the problem but just remembered this so thought I would "put it out there" for consideration. Hope you find the culprit, hope it's something simple and easily fixed, and... MORE
Be sure and pull the starter (easy) and check inside with a light and mirror, and listen in the hole for sound. (Long bolt) Chances are that a long bolt would not stop engine at TDC but somewhere in the cycle. (random). Use the broomstick! It can't ;possibly just stop with out making a noise unless someone left a red grease rag in a cylinder. I am taking Vegas odds on the cause. I think if it stops at TDC, it is something in the Cyl, but my vote goes for a long bolt (Non TDC stopping) in a... MORE
Paul, I have been reading this thread with interest. A lot of interesting ideas. Let me think a moment and apply my simple Polish logic. Before you go into motor....... you have marked crank pulley and it always stops in the same place. If you back it up, it stops a few degrees from the same place always? right? Then take it until it stops and check into plug holes and find if any pistons are at or very near TDC. If they are, there could be something in the cylinder that is hitting the piston. If non of... MORE
Or over-long spark plugs .... "Roger Stinson" 27703... MORE
I can't imagine anyone competent doing it incorrectly but I would suggest that you take off the front timing cover and make sure that the valves are correctly timed. It sounds very much like the pistons are striking something solid (a valve?) If you carry on rotating the engine given valve mistiming, it can be a bit expensive bending the valves etc. Aside from the con-rod being in the wrong way around, (although I think that the symptoms would be different for that - the interference would be much sooner during the revolution) there is not much else that... MORE
After all this time do you think something has fallen in there? A 1/4" nut or valve cotter would do the trick. Also possibly you have a sticking or bent valve that is hitting the top of a piston. Take the valve cover off and see if the valves and rockers look allright. Look in the spark plug holes. I can have a head off alot faster than a pan and then you could tell if the engine turns over. Happy trails...Rex Urban "Rex Urban" 27701... MORE
I need help. Here's what happened. Began restoration about 10 years ago. Thought it would go faster than it did, so early on I had the engine done. It was built by Dave Tabor of Comptune, the guys who built all the SCCA champ 1275 motors. Anyway, I told Dave I wanted a 1967 street spec high compression engine. I know he used a factory crank and cam. I believe he used aftermarket pistons that he preferred with a compression of about 8.9 to 1. He used a factory non-emission head, redone to run unleaded. Job was completed many... MORE
spacecraft re-entering the earth's atmosphere. The lead pair of reindeer would absorb 14.3 quintillion joules of energy per second each. In short, they would burst into flames almost instantaneously, exposing the reindeer behind them and creating deafening sonic booms in their wake. The entire reindeer team would be vaporized within 4.26 thousandths of a second, or right about the time Santa reached the fifth house on his trip. Not that it matters, however, since Santa, as a result of accelerating from a dead stop to 650 m.p.s. in .001 seconds, would be subjected to acceleration forces of 17,500 g's.... MORE
Hi there - A Newbie here. I am wondering - is it possible to fit a 1275cc A series engine block from a Metro into an A.H. Sprite? I assume being an A-Series block it 'should' be possible - but I've head various stories of possible complications. What exactly is involved in performing this transplant? I only ask because a relation has offered me a VERY low mileage Metro (1275cc), with known history for FREE, but I need to act quickly otherwise it will be scrapped!!! Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance, T. W. P.S. I... MORE
Hellow Im new to this list. Two weeks ago I purchased a 73 Midget. It needs quit a bit of body work. Iv heard of Sebring Sprite replica conversions and I would like to go that rout. The problem is this Yankee cant seem to find where to get a decent replica kit here in the states. The only place Iv found that supply a kit is British Speedwell Racing http://www.toyshop-resto.com/britspd/sebring.html but I don't at all like how the back of the kit looks. I would prefer a kit resembling more like the silver Sebring Sprite here... http://www.mgcars.org.uk/midgetspriteclub/surrey/spritegallery3.html If... MORE
I read this this somewhere before, the bit I don't agree with is ..... Recently I heard of another reason that makes a lot of sense, early powered boats used automotive engines and often were simply the engine in the middle of a boat with an extension on the rear of the crankshaft to drive a propeller at the back of the boat. But I say The early engined boats were steam driven , as everybody knows Steam engines run just as fast in either direction . (simple reversing lever on the valve gear) Not withstanding that, the first... MORE
the jets wear first; because the needle is sliding up and down, all it's wear is spread over it's length, but the jet wear is concentrated at the top. The actual wear rate is minuscule - I don't know if they were the originals, but I couldn't measure the wear on mine when I rebuilt them at 106,000 miles! David "David Jacobs" 27551... MORE
Thanks, David.... I know nothing about the later spring- loaded carbs considering I never used them. Never like the idea of the needle running up against the jet...something about this that goes "against the grain" so to speak, despite the fact they meter fuel more precisely (or so I read). But, if you couldn't measure the wear at 106K, I wonder why they bother talking about it in books? Very strange 'cause that's pretty damn miniscule wear they're talkin' about. :) The latest Spridget I ever owned was a '74 who's engine came with emissions carbs but "fixed" needles.... MORE
Rich... "Spring-loaded"? Forget about the centering and "center" on replacing now and then, 'cause these don't center at all. They instead wear against one another and I forget which metal is softer and which wears first...but in time, they both wear. I assume playing with the timing to adjust idle is a temporary fix? Sure. Anyway, you've found part of the problem. Frank C.'s post should give you a little more food for thought! :) Cap'n. Bob '60 :{) PilotRob@... 27547... MORE
Yep... The colortune also is a real handy, neat tuning aid. I use a very sensitive handheld portable tach to set the mixture as "seeing is believing" and the colortune certainly fulfills this axiom in spades in living color! :):) Cap'n. Bob '60 :{) PilotRob@... 27540... MORE
Roger Well as I don't have the correct breathing equipment for two-pack, yeah it got to be cellulose! And yes, I also remember the person saying about lots of thin coats, but he was doing a motorcycle - somewhat smaller than a car! and I don't intend to spend the rest of my life rubbing down a Midget and spraying it! And you're right, its not the best weather for spraying top coats, and yes I've already had some 'blooming' but I have no choice, I have to get it done, I simply cannot afford to wait until the... MORE
Don First make sure that your release bearing is not being held on, leaving the clutch partially disengaged. This could be a sticky throw out arm or a problem in the slave / master cyl inder. Usually the problem is found at the clutch end. If its not this then the driven plate friction material could have worn too thin OR it has over heated due to slipping - this will result in a shiny glazed finish of the friction material. Will work ok until the engine torque required to move the vehicle (accelerating /going up hill, or with... MORE
Don, Hope it's not rude to interrupt. I have exactly the same situation in my Midge and have decided on a new clutch/throwout assembly. The clutch works fine under moderate acceleration but whenever I put my foot into it is slips badly in any gear. It also seems to get worse the longer I have the car out. Without taking the car apart I have narrowed it to two possiblities. Oil leakage or old springs. I used the original clutch from my $500 dollar buy when I installed the engine. I am reliably informed that with age they will... MORE
Duncan You're most welcome, I'm just sorry I can't be of more help. I have quite a lot of old SU literature here, courtesy of an old 'motor-racing' friend of mine who many years ago had a tuning shop, but as many of us do, never threw anything out! He's now passed most of that information onto me now, I have a whole host of information relating to Solex carbs! If I do come across anything else that may be of interest to you, naturally I'll let you know. It is an interesting question though, if the Carbs were... MORE
While contemplating various 5 speed conversions, engine mods etc etc I had fall into my lap today a complete 87 Toyota Corolla GTS, that's the 1600cc twin cam and 5 speed RWD car . I did find one web site http://www.team.net/www/mg/tech/midget/engswapa.html that describes the transplant of a 4T motor, which is very similar but not of a 4A swap .. Anyone with any first hand experience and or URLs of this swap . ? Oh and for the purists out there, if a 5 speed Japanese transmission is an acceptable improvement how can the whole doggoned drive line not... MORE
