Michael Todd Thorpe's Journal

Wow, been a long time since I wrote anything here.

In the last year, I’ve bought tires, replaced all the rubber hoses in the engine compartment, pulled the Zenith Stromberg carb and rebuilt it, and also replaced the brake booster. That is a very brief overview of a heck of a lot of work. I’ve had her on her own feet and driven her around the block a couple times and down the street to put gas in her. Very nice to have “Sweet B” running and on the road.

I’ve been dealing with a high idle and a vacuum leak, all dealt with so far thanks to a lot of research and reading here on MGE. Now to adjust the fuel/air mixture and check the valve lash. I’ve set the valves a couple times, having never done that before, after again much research and reading here. I may have made a mistake, or I may have a worn valve or lifter... I don’t know yet. But... I think I hear a ‘clatter’ and I also notice that the third cylinder isn’t always firing, though I’ve checked spark all the way to the cylinder and plug. I ordered a compression checker and it arrived yesterday, so perhaps I’ll have a little time for that this weekend.

I’ve also ordered seat foams to redo the seats, and I’ve decided I like the look of the old-style chrome interior door pulls over the foam handles that were original to the car. I’ve also been thinking seriously about using ABS sheet plastic for the door cards, and not covering them... I’m not sure about that yet.

I continue on the job of cleaning up the engine compartment...

This poor car sat for so long outside, and was neglected for so long by the DPO... but I’m making headway and happy with the results thus far.

Pulled the valve cover off and checked the clearance on the third cylinder... sure enough, the intake valve was “clacking”... I tried the John Twist routine of sliding the .10 feeler into that rocker gap and it quieted right down, so I readjusted the valve. Runs a lot quieter now. This also solved the third cylinder misfire I’ve been seeing.

March 5, 2018
I worked on the MGB today. Jacked her up, removed the old parking brake cable and put in the new one. I’ve hardly set any tension and it’s working pretty well. It is way under tightened than the old one. So, that’s good. Lots of room for adjustment.

March 11, 2018

I got a good full day in yesterday.

I had been thinking about the new timing light, and the fact that the timing mark was jumping around when I was trying to set the timing on the MGB. I did some research since the last time I worked on the car, and it all came back to the distributor. So...

Yesterday, I pulled the distributor from the car and broke it down as far as I could. With it all apart, I tried to clean as much as I could. Really, it needed to be blasted, but I didn’t want a mess, and I don’t have a cabinet yet for that kind of work. So I used the wire wheel and Scotch Brite and sandpaper and the Dremel tool. I got everything at least passable. And I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. A combination of Simple Green and lube spray to cut the oil and grease finally did the trick. I got it all clean. It’s not pretty yet, but it is clean.

In the process of all this, I found the base plate, which consists of two plates mounted together that are supposed to swivel, was seized solid. So I cleaned and lubed that real well. And then I cleaned some more. The springs and the advance cams seem ok, and work. The springs are fairly tight.

I put it all back together and got it running right at the end of the day, almost six o’clock. I ran the rpms up to three thousand or so and set the timing as described by John Twist, guessing at the 32° btdc. Only when I was in bed last night did it occur to me that I could have used the dial back on the timing light. Oh, well.

Regardless, the timing mark was dead on. No jumping about like before. That was the issue I’d had before.

I’m glad that I’m learning all of this and figuring it out.

Also, I think that the wiring connections on the distributor that go with the original device, for lack of better word, looks to me like they could be disconnected and sealed. Those electronics are no longer used since the Allison ignition was installed. That means I could clean up the engine bay a little more.

I also think I figured out where the oil leak on the engine is coming from. I originally thought it was from the drain plug, but I now think it’s from the flex hose going to the oil pressure gauge.

So, I need to fix that. And I need to tighten the bolts on the transmission, I think, because I think that might be where that leak is coming from. And I need to get a tray or something to put under the car for these situations.

I learned, too, yesterday, that I could roll the car, in gear, back and forth and set the timing mark. That’s pretty cool.

I need to tighten the new parking brake cables. I was able to move the car while it was engaged!

I forgot to take a photo of the cleaned and refit distributor. Maybe I can do that sometime soon. Also, I looked high and low for some definitive info about the size of screws on the distributor. I’d like to replace them if I can find the right ones.

Yeah, so... I was pretty jazzed yesterday.

I was remiss in entering some updates from over th last few weeks, so I’ve done that tonight and backdated the posts...

I ordered a replacement flex hose for the line going to the oil sending unit and it arrived this week. I also ordered a new turn signal switch as the original one was jacked up. I spent a little time trying to fit the new switch and found that it doesn’t quite fit the same. I’ll have to have a go at that when I have a free Saturday... maybe next weekend.

I’ve also done more research and I now suspect a different leak I’ve been seeing at the overdrive is actually coming from the solenoid. I need to order the o rings for that. Maybe during spring break I can have this all done and take a spin. I’ll also try to get more photos to post.

I replaced the two oil lines, making a mess in the process. The line to the filter, and then the line to the oil pressure sending unit. I also removed the distributor and put the new rubber grommet on it. Then I ran the engine for a while, warmed it up, and set the timing again. I also tightened up the big oil line as it was leaking just a little.

Then I took her for a drive up the cul de sac and around the block. Parked her, then pulled the Toyota into the garage and replaced the resistor for the AC fan. All went well and I’m pretty happy with the day.