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MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Crankshaft damper

Since the engine will be out of our 1275 in the near future is it worth fitting the MED S Damper?
http://www.med-engineering.co.uk/catalogue/engine-assembly/pulleys-timing/med-s-damper-kit

My only concern is the space between the pulley and the chassis rail.
d brenchley

WHY?
what is wrong with the damper you already have?
Surely MED only make and sell theirs because the originals are NLA. Apart from bling value how is it any better?
David Smith

Because dampers degrade over time and ours is showing signs of cracking.
d brenchley

Minispares sell a good repro of the original 2 piece cooper S damper.
Cheaper and certainly up to the job.

I have one for my new engine build and it looks realy good.
Slightly bigger in diameter (damper not the pully) and slightly flatter.
Makes for an easyer engine removal and v belt replacement
Onno K

It's never occured to me to look. What fails on the old original dampers?
Lawrence Slater

the rubber in between the 2 pieces

I had 2 spare dampers, one with a large chip out of the cast piece and dried out rubber, one looked fine but the rubber could be pulled out of the damper with 2 fingers.
Onno K

Thanks Onno, I'll have a look at the one on my spare engine, and when I pull the current engine sometime this year, I'll check that too.
Lawrence Slater

Cheers Onno,
Seems you have to have the mini spares one balanced whereas the med damper and pulley come balanced...
d brenchley

The thickness of the standard damper was quite a problem when I stuffed the 1275 into my Heritage shell recently. There is very little clearance between the damper and the chassis rail. It is only just possible to get the belt in the gap, with a bit of wriggling. Are they always like that? Also it seems impossible to put a socket spanner on the crankshaft bolt. I haven't had a midget for many years and I don't remember that issue from way back.
Mike Howlett

without mods it is never possible to put a socket and bar/ratchet on the bolt
Onno K

Mike

I can barely force a fan belt past my front pulley/damper. It is a real struggle so maybe this is a common condition!

Chris
Chris H (1970 Midget 1275)

It must vary, because I had plenty of room for the fan belt replacement even before I converted to a Type 9 g/box. The bolt access though involves lifting the engine off the mounts.
Lawrence Slater

Yes that is normal a fan belt is a struggle. I bought an offset combination spanner many years ago simply for the job of removing the front pulley bolt. This can just slide in behind the chassis member and then can be chocked whilst engaging the starter to release the bolt.

Not the correct spanner of course as it is metric. :)
Bob Turbo Midget England

I agree. Fan belt is a pain on mine too. I had to slightly re-design the shelf the heater fits on in order to lift my engine enough to remove the pulley/damper everything was such a tight fit.
TonyJH

This thread was discussed between 07/02/2012 and 08/02/2012

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG Midget and Sprite Technical BBS is active now.