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MG MGB Technical - Eureka! Oh, and I need a new clock.

Well my discomfort in the car is finally over. I bit the bullet today to tackle the fact that my drivers seat wasnt giving me much room and when I slid the seat forward I realised that the 2 rear bolts holding it down were loose and one was sticking up preventing the seat from going all the way back. A quick tighten and the seat slid fully back, making the car infinitely more comfortable!

Also, I got stuck in under the bonnet today to try and get my engine running right. I started by replacing the spark plugs and fitting a colortune on the 1st cylinder. I removed the air filters and started the engine. Immediately the colortune told me the mixture was far too rich. I balanced the carbs first, and then meticulously set about adjusting the front carb for the best balance between economy and performance. Not too rich, not too lean. Then I started on the back carb, and made the same adjustments. The back carb was way off and as I got closer to the mark, the engine stopped rattling and smoothed off into a beautiful purr but with a great roar under acceleration. The mixture seemed just right, and I checked the spark timing, lifted the carb pistons slightly to make sure all my adjustments were in keeping with what I was previously told about adjusting them and it seemed spot on. So I took it for a drive and all was well! Im delighted! I just now have to see how she starts in the morning from cold and see how she is on fuel. If alls well there then I'll be a very happy chappy. Oh, and my overdrive seems to be working well too. It engages and disengages as it should now almost all of the time.

Since I was on a roll as well I tried to see if I could fix my time clock. Its beyond repair so I need a new one. Originality isnt of paramount importance to me. So long as it has a black face and is backlit with the rest of the gauges Ill be happy. Does anyone know where I'd pick one up cheaply? Im not on for spending 80 on a clock. It needs to be a good bit cheaper than that.

Thanks.
Ross Kelly

By the way, can a dual temperature gauge easily be fitted to a late MGB GT? I like the idea of them and it might be a nice dashboard upgrade. I mean the feed for the water temp is there. Where would the oil temp sender go or would the car already have one?
Ross Kelly

Hi Ross
I fitted an oil temperature guage by drilling and tapping the sump plug to accept an electronic sender. Just remove the sender wire from the sender terminal when unscrewing the sump plug to change the oil.
Regards
Peter M
Peter M

Way to go Ross!!! Have been following your issues. Good job.
Watch ebay for the clock, you will find one for your price, just keep watching one will everntally show up.
Mike
MK Mike

The car started on the button this morning and I was actually able to knock the choke off almost immediately. I think my tappets need adjusting again though. Theyre sounding very ticky. I'll try to get that done over the next couple of days and then I'll leave things under the bonnet alone. Oh and I fitted new wipers yesterday. An annoying job cause I got the wrong size first. But its done now so Im happy. The car drove into work (or rather I drove the car into work!) this morning without a hitch. With the clock, Im going to have a look in a few autojumbles and see if I can pick up one there. I just thought Id put it out there on the offchance that somebody has a spare one. Next jobs on the list are to take care of a little bit of surface rust in the engine bay, replace the clutch slave cylinder, fit my intermittent wiper kit, sort out my drivers door lock which wont work from the outside, fit the K&N air filters whenever they arrive, replace a blown reverse light bulb, change the gearbox oil again and this time clean the overdrive filter, and see if I can tidy up the engine bay cause it looks a mess at the moment. All the paint that was on the engine is gone and its just rusty now. Oh and I need to go back to the tyre place and get them to rebalance my wheels cause they still wobble at 70mph and its annoying.
Ross Kelly

Ross,
The early MGB dual gauge is water temperature and oil pressure. (not dual temperature) This can be fitted to the later cars and it will leave you a spare dashboard position to fit an oil temp gauge, if you feel you need one.
The existing feed to the oil pressure gauge will be fine, but the water temperature section of the dual gauge is mechanical , and will require you to run the pipe to the front of the engine. Remove the electrical sender unit and replace with the new pipe and sender.

Jim
J Robinson

Ah to hell with that. It is already looking like more hassle than its worth. I'd sooner sacrifice my clock, put the oil pressure gauge there and put an aftermarket oil temperature gauge in where the presssure gauge used to be.

Having an oil temperature gauge in the bottom of the sump doesnt strike me as being a great idea. The oil in the bottom of the sump with be cooler than whats circulating around the top of the engine and its susceptible to becoming more innacurate due to oil sludge in the bottom of the sump clogging it up. Where's the oil pressure sender? If I was fitting a temperature sender I'd either fit it there along with the pressure sender using a Y-piece or fit it down where the feed to the oil cooler is.
Ross Kelly

Johnny Flynn, when I rang him to see if he had a clock said the reason the clocks are so expensive is because time is money! lol. He doesn't have one though.

Theyre the least important gauge on the dash and yet one of the most expensive. I'll continue the hunt anyway.
Ross Kelly

Ross, if you have wire wheels the wobble may be caused by a wheel out of true.
John H

No they're minilites.
Ross Kelly

The carbs are interconnected, so if you did get the front one spot-on, when you altered the rear carb that would have upset the front slightly. You have to tweak each in turn, zeroing in on getting them both spot-on, should only take 2 or 3 iterations. When I tried a Colortune years ago on a single carb I couldn't get on with it, I seemed to have to make a large adjustment on the carb to get a visible change. I've used the lifting pins ever since, a fraction of a turn is enough to make an audible difference.
Paul Hunt2

Well I used both together. I think my mistake before was relying on the colortune alone and it didnt fair out well so I went with the lifting pins as well. The car runs well now so Im going to leave it be and see in a week or so how the plugs look and how the fuel consumption is. If all is well there then I'll be happy.
Ross Kelly

Oh and by the way I got a clock. Derry O'Keefe in Cork had one. He's the same guy I got my new carbs from. €10. Cant complain! If its anything like the delivery I got from him before it will be here tomorrow, along with an indicator relay cause mine is lazy and I know its going to fail sooner or later.
Ross Kelly

Ross- I wanted a more intimate connection between the H2O temp and the reporting gauge, so went with the combo unit, this allowing a 2 & 1/8" hole for me, first for an ammeter, then an AFR wideband from Innovate. All gauge bezels on the 76-80 replacement dashboard were roughed up, powder coated buff black, then polished on the high point of the bezel to provide that preferred stock look all round. Good Luck, VEM
vem myers

This thread was discussed on 30/04/2008

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