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MG MGB Technical - Getting started, 1965 MGB GT

Greetings!
Parked in my garage right now is my father's wedding using wedding cars tunbridge wells present to my mother, back in 1965: a British Racing Green MGB GT that has been in the family since new.

It has been cosmetically restored, and is in "daily driver+" condition. However, I believe all the suspension and most of the brakes are original, and the engine has not been loved in many years.

When we can keep a battery charged, it runs well enough for trips out to the shops, etc.

It has come to be in my garage because the rest of the family is fed up with it, and not mechanically inclined. I, however, do all my own work on my motorcycles (currently a 1985 BMW R100rs), and feel that working on the MG is probably not outside my skill range.

I have just been to Amazon, and purchased all the MG-related service books I could find (4 of them), and they will be arriving next week.

However, I was wondering if there is anything anyone can offer for suggestions as where to start, how to go about getting a working MG working better, common problems that people face, and how to avoid them, etc, etc, etc.

As I only intend to work on this one vehicle, any info specificially targeted at this model would be most welcome!

Thank you for your time and attention! I look forward to becoming an active member of this board.

- Christian Jacobsen
Seattle, WA
CJ Jacobsen

Where to start?

Of all the books you got two will be of most use. The SU manual and the Workshop Manual by Bentley Publishing. The rest are nice but not nearly as comprehensive and occasionally flat out wrong.
Chilton is worthless.

Wash it, love it, do underneath and in the engine bay. Pay attention to breaks in the paint, undercoating, and seals (replace or coat as necessary). Bubbles in the paint mean rust and some bodywork will be necessary (always larger tahn it appears).
Poke a stiff wire into every drain hole on the underside and flush them out... bottoms of doors too. Give the "bulb" at the end of the fresh air drain a good squeeze and clear it out too (under heater, above or next to bell-housing).
There are seals on the splash panels behind the front wheels. The panel is held by chassis bolts and screws and can be removed (but often the bolts are seized, use good liquid wrench or something). The seal is attached to the panel with split rivets and should be renewed. Clean all the junk out from behind the front "wing" until you can get clear water out the drain hole.
Lift the carpet and see if the drain plugs are there. If so, fine, just remember them if you get water in the cockpit. Beneath each plug (or hole) is a little splash panel. Clear these with wire or knife so your cockpit can drain. Often they get sealed by undercoating or bashed closed by road debris.

#1 cause of electrical problems... Poor connections at ground(s), battery, fuse-box or starter solenoid.
#2 cause of electrical problems... connector tubes for bullet connectors in the harness (fat rubber plug-thingys) Break these connections and reinstall with a little dielectric grease (spark plug boot grease).

Give the car a mechanical once-over at least annually. Grease the zerks, adjust the rear brakes, inspect the brake lines, inspect and lube the hand-brake mechanism and cable, flush a little brake fluid out (at least two reservoir volumes), flush a little clutch fluid out (one reservoir volume), check the front bearings for "slop," inspect the steering rack boots and tie-rod end grommets, check for slack in the driveshaft, check the specific gravity of the coolant, look for leaks of anything, anywhere. Perform a tune-up.

In fact, whenever you can (and at least every 5000 mi or annually) do a tune-up. The process allows you to see most of the car and inspect it in addition to getting it in peak condition.

#1 cause of a poor running engine... improper setting in valves, ignition or carbs... do a tune-up.
#2 cause of a poor running engine... vaccum leak (very commonly on SU carbs at the throttle shaft -but not always-)

Since it is "fresh" in your hands, I'd change out all the fluids, Coolant, engine oil and filter, Transmission oil, Differential oil.

Listen to the car as you drive. They have lots of noises. Most are normal but some are not. Ask questions!!!!!

Weakness: Transmission lay-shaft/gear/bearings.
They are over-stressed and tend to wear "fast." It is suggested (and I do it) to "pre-emptively" replace the layshaft periodically (50k mi or every 10yr). If you note galling or pitting of the shaft when you take it out you may be in for a new (rebuilt) tranny soon. The process is described in the Moss Motors catalog and (I think) at their web-site. Undoubtedly, other on-line resources can give a step-by-step as well.

Weakness: Early 3-main engines tend to eat the bearings faster than the later 5-main (duh). Often a "pre-emptive" freshening is a good idea (bearings and rings) along with a head re-build to no-lead specs.
If the oil pressure at idle when hot is low (under 10 psi) it is time. Others will have an opinion on this too!

Clutch covers tend to "relax" over time, even if it is rarely driven. If the clutch is the original expect to have to replace it soon.

Drive it!!!!

Mike!
mike!

I hope one of the books you bought was Porter's DIY Guide to Restoration--preferably an older edition. With that, a Bentley's Workshop manual and a Haynes, you should be ready to do it. I don't know to what depth you intend to restore this really good model year GT, so I really can't tell you where to start. I'd say, drive it a while and get a feel for it. When your books arrive, you can start with the ignition, new points, plugs, wires, etc, set the valvesclearances and finally adjust and balance the carbs. With those items done, you will get a good picture of what you need to do to mechanically restore the car. By that I mean brakes, driveline suspension and electricals. We all have opinions on every subject, and we'll contradict each other frequently on this BBS. What works for one person, doesn't always fit another guy's methods. When I did my MGA--I did all the mechanical and electric stuff first. Then drove it about a year to work out any bugs. Only then did I address the bodywork. I felt that the less I had to do to the car once all the new shine was installed, the less chance I'd have to screw up the new paintwork. That's my way...now someone else will tell you theirs, and it won't be wrong either. All you'll have to do is sort it all out.
R. L Carleen

Wow! Quick, responsive, and comprehensive!

This bbs is going to be a great resource, I can tell.

I had pretty much decided that I needed to do the "top" of the engine (points, plugs, wires, etc) and get it running so that I can get it out and figure out the priorities for the rest of it. I'm glad to hear that someone else agrees with me! I know the brakes are going to be first once it is running, but after that it could be suspension, clutch, or... ;-)

I am fortunate that the body is in really amazing condition. There are no dents through the paint, and no rust in the body work. There are, of course, a few door dings here and there and a ding or two in the chrome bumpers, but again, nothing that exposes unprotected metal.

The first order of business will be to get the electrical sorted out so that the battery doesn't drain out again over the weekend. It was fine last time it was driven (a year ago), but now the battery gets completely sapped in a weekend.

So. Thanks for the help, and I will keep you informed on the progress!

- Christian
Seattle, WA
CJ Jacobsen

http://www.mgbexperience.com

You will find this website to be a wealth of knowledge on MGB's. I would look into a British Car club in your area. I know not which Washington you are talking about but there are British Car Clubs in both areas.
Carl W French

Christian - Contact and join the MG Car Club Northwest Centre that is based in Seattle <http://www.mgccnwc.com/>, join the club and get to some of the meetings. There are a large number of people who can be of assistance to you in the club. For more practical help, there are several shops in Seattle, Lynnwood and Tacoma that can be of assistance to you including Autosport Seattle 206-621-1940, Performance Motors in Lynnwood 425-775-5670 and Brooklands British in Tacoma 253-684-2033. For generator and starter problems there is Romaine Electric in Seattle 206-583-8600. For parts, Brooklands British in Tacoma 253-684-2033, O'Connor Classic Autos in Santa Clara, CA 888-346-3647 (Discount on Moss Motors parts), Shadetree Motors in Pleasanton, CA 925-846-1309 (also gives discount on Moss Motors parts and free shipping on orders over $100) and Northwest Imports in Portland, OR 503-245-3806 (next day delivery on orders received by noon).

I will second Mike's recommendations, particularly regarding the electrics. Some work on those right off the bat will save you endless amount of frustrations later. Regarding the bullet connectors, contact British Wiring <http://www.britishwiring.com/> for all the bits and pieces you will need to renew them. About all you will need is the sleeves, then wire brush the bullets, smear them with some dielectric grease, plug them into the new sleeves and smear some of the dielectric grease into the openings to keep moisture out. As for ground points, rework each and every one of them. See my article on ground point preparation at: http://www.omgtr.ca/technical/General%20Technical/grounding.htm
Other articles that may be of help to you are:
Brake light relays at: http://www.omgtr.ca/technical/brakelightrelay/brakelightrelay.htm
Fan belt tension (this was written for the T series cars but is applicable to MGAs and MGBs with generators): http://www.omgtr.ca/technical/tdtf_fan_belt/loosen_up.htm
Shock absorber fluid at: http://www.omgtr.ca/technical/ShockAbsorberFluid/shockabsorberfluid.htm
SU fuel pumps at:http://www.custompistols.com/cars/articles/dd_su_fuel_pumps_101.htm

I live over in Bremerton, so if you have any questions that need a quick answer, just give me a call at 360-479-0462 after 9:00 AM and I will answer them if I can or direct you to someone who can.
Welcome to the fraternity - Dave
David DuBois

If your car still has the dual 6V batteries, chances are good that the only gremlin in your electrical system may be over the hill batteries. When my '64's batteries got old, you'd only have 5 or 6 hours of life after a run. I strongly suggest that you consider converting to a single 12v battery and be sure to mind your polarity. My '64 was positive ground, and I don't know the year that they changed over, but it was probably at the same time they went to the alternator.
R. L Carleen

Christian...

Join a local MG Club.

Join the North American MGB Register

( see www.namgbr.org )

The local club that David mentions ( MG Car Club Northwest Centre ) is hosting is MG '05 for NAMGBR on July 6 through 9!! I will be there.

Best wishes..

rick ingram
1978 MGB
1969 MGC
1974.5 MGB/GT V8 conversion
Saint Joseph, IL

rick ingram

This thread was discussed between 05/08/2004 and 06/08/2004

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