My project MGB GT.

[Kentish]

Bugger!

I decided to go to my local Lucas for all the ognition parts but Lucas folded last year!

If I had known I'd have ordered them with the other bits from MGOC and saved the carriage

I checked with the local Euro Car Parts who list the MGB but they don't appear to agree that a 1969 MGB has a set of ignition points

[SB - Nigel]

Whoops

I assume you were something to do with Lucas because of one of your previous comments

For your first service MGOC do service kits tailored to your vehicle's requirements which are good value plus you don't forget anything I'd order the lot unless you've already got most of the stuff

Keep going and let us know how you get on (usually two paces forward and one backward if you're like the rest of us with classics)

[Kentish]

I had fun and games today with the new fuel pump.

Read about it here:-

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Moral of the story ......don't buy a cheap (£50) MGOC Spares Ecco pump!

[Robert060379]

Have you tried the MGB hive? 01945 700500 That's where I get all my bits (local-ish so it saves postage for me at least).

[Kentish]

Robert060379 said:

Have you tried the MGB hive? 01945 700500 That's where I get all my bits (local-ish so it saves postage for me at least).

Thanks Robert, yes I have tried them and to be fair most suppliers sell the same or very similar parts at similar prices.

I have returned the pump for refund and MGOC Spares were very good and even refunded my carriage.

They are sending me a replacement original spec SU pump and I decided that I'd renew all the fuel lines at the rear whilst I was doing the pump, so that's all on the way to me and will be fitted next weekend.

I do have some good news!

I inspected my wheel splines and they are not worn at all, the hubs are not bad either. The freeplay I could feel was actually what I had originally thought and is in fact the rear axle.

The question is will a recon diff at £210 cure this, or should I go for a whole recon rear axle (tube axle) at around £300 and maybe a new set of splined hubs?

I think for an extra £80 or so, a recon rear axle is the way to go.

What do you think?

[Kentish]

Kentish said:

I had fun and games today with the new fuel pump.

Read about it here:-

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Moral of the story ......don't buy a cheap (£50) MGOC Spares Ecco pump!

So, today it was both hands to the pump again

I received my replacement pump from MGOC Spares (a decent original SU pump this time) and I took the opportunity to order some new new fuel lines, one from the tank to the pump and one from the pump to the fuel line that leads to the engine bay.

I've only placed 3 orders with MGOC Spares so far and they've got it wrong 3 times!

They sent everything but didn't put the new fuel pipe from the tank to the pump in the parcel to me, despite me actually giving them all the part numbers. Can't anyone get anything right??

Anyway, I got the pump in and all new fittings and washers and the new piece of flexi pipe went in, the one that connects to the hard fuel line to the engine bay.

I fitted the vent pipes to the pump as these had been left off the old pump, cleaned the electrical terminals and did everything up nice and firmly, mounting the pump nice and securely in the bracket too.

All looked good; I backfilled the fuel line to prime the pump (in case it needed it) and that all looked good so I reconnected the fuel supply to the carbs and jumped in to fire her up.

A few turns on the starter and she sprang into life, ran for 3 mins and then spluttered to a halt.

I took off the hose at the carbs again & repeated the backfilling process and same again, ran for a few mins and stopped.

It was clearly using fuel in the fuel line and float chambers and then running dry.

I had already blown out all of the fuel lines with compressed air so I knew there were no blockages.

I began to suspect that there must be an issue with the fuel supply to the pump, could there be a pick up pipe inside the tank that has come off??

I decide to test for this by undoing the solid pipe from the tank (the one MGOC Spares neglected to send) and then fit some rubber fuel line over the end with a funnel connected at the other end - I then filled the funnel with fuel and looked for leaks before starting the car - well I didn't need to look far!

Fuel pee'd out everywhere from that pipe; it must have a crack in it and hence is sucking in air and no fuel.

Problem solved, unfortunately the sinlgle most important part is the one I don't have because they forgot it and I now have to wait until next week to hear that sweet little engine running again.

Oh well, at least I now know what the problem is - shame it has taken 3 weeks to sort it out though!

Thanks for all the help here and my thanks to Watford Classics who are sending me out a replacement for the broken fuel pipe. This is the second time I've ordered from them and they have been very good.

[Robert060379]

I DIY my fuel lines out of Stainless pipe from a local plumbing centre. Fit and forget.

[Kentish]

Robert060379 said:

I DIY my fuel lines out of Stainless pipe from a local plumbing centre. Fit and forget.

That's a good idea although I'd need to get a flaring tool and olives to fit this particular pipe and I'd have to solder on a banjo the other end - can you solder stainless steel though?

[Robert060379]

Kentish said:

Robert060379 said:

I DIY my fuel lines out of Stainless pipe from a local plumbing centre. Fit and forget.

That's a good idea although I'd need to get a flaring tool and olives to fit this particular pipe and I'd have to solder on a banjo the other end - can you solder stainless steel though?

The pluming centre sell those as well.

[Kentish]

I fitted a new fuel line, new pump and all new connections yesterday.

The pipe was about £7 and I just had to shape it, there was quite a tight bend required as it went into the pump and on bending it the pipe collapsed a bit as they do without the use of pipe bender.

Not a big issue as I put the collapsed pipe in the bench vice and squeezed the sides back out to open it up but still retain the bend.

I got the car back on the ground and had to turn it over for ages but it eventually ran fine.

I then went out for a 50 mile run

All was OK for a while but it was a pain to get started again and on the run it cut out a few times.
I then realised that it's a worn ignition switch and does not maintain a circuit consistently on the part of the switch where you turn the car over and where the key springs back in the running position.
Now I know of the fault I can jiggle the switch back and the car runs fine.

I've decided to order a new switch and barrel as they are inexpensive and to rule out any ignition system issues I'm fitting a magnetic ignition pick up and all new ignition parts (plugs, silicone leads, coil, cap, rotor).

Now that is sorted I need to concentrate on the brakes!

On the run I noticed that if I braked firmly the front wheels locked up and the car nose dives, indicating that all the braking is at the front.

Is this quite normal for a B?

[Robert060379]

Perfectly normal and a very good sign that there's nothing wrong with the Master. I run drilled and grooved standard disks (MGB Hive £50ish) with four pot (Westfield) Hi Spec calipers and red stuff pads. The original calipers can handle most situations on the road but the four pots use less fluid and give the car more rear bias (ideal for going sideways).

[Kentish]

Robert060379 said:

Perfectly normal and a very good sign that there's nothing wrong with the Master. I run drilled and grooved standard disks (MGB Hive £50ish) with four pot (Westfield) Hi Spec calipers and red stuff pads. The original calipers can handle most situations on the road but the four pots use less fluid and give the car more rear bias (ideal for going sideways).

Lovely, thanks for the tip!

The bite is quite poor on the brakes, only really working well with a very heavy push, so new discs and pads are on the cards. I know they are non-servo'd but they should be better than they are.

I think I will also replace the rear wheel cylinders as one had a small leak but has stopped with use. I may also replace the solid brake pipes front to rear as they look ancient and are probably steel!

I'll check on the price of the master cylinder and the reservoir assembly as I may replace those too and be confident that I have the brakes in tip top condition.

I have the magnetic igntion coming and I have all the replacement ignition parts (cap, rotor, leads and sports coil).

Once this is all done I will look into whether the carbs are in good order, they seem OK - the return springs may require replacement but that is all.

I should then run and stop OK

The back axle and hubs will be the next job - still not sure which way to go on those but it's going to be a rolling resto and plenty of time to decide!

[Kentish]

BTW.

I ordered all the last lot of items from MGB Hive and they were excellent, arrived all correct the next day (just the one item on back order).

I'll be ordering from them again!

[Robert060379]

MG B rear cylindars are the same as the Reliant Scimitar and a lot of the Scimitar V8 conversions use Capri ones due to the longer travel. The narrower Capri cylindars apply more drum pressure for the same amount of pedal pressure. I don't know if this would work on the B, my standard set up is fine for the road, my track day B has a Granada Cosworth diff, IRS (Independent Rear Suspension for the un-initiated) and disks.

[Kentish]

Thanks for the tip Robert, I'll look into the possibility of fiting the capri cylinders to get more brake pressure at the rear.

I took the car out today and tested the brakes, there is pretty much no braking at the rear and the front braking isn't even at speed and the car snakes around. The most alarming part is when the front left locks up with the resulting screech of tyre and tyre smoke - at least it was for the cyclist who was wobbling around in front of me

The good news is that I have the car running perfectly now!

I discovered last weekend that the ignition switch was dodgy and was not making contact when turned over to the momentary start position and also in the running position it became clear that the switch was intermittent.

So, I received my new ignition switch from MGB Hive; took the old one out and the connections were entirely different!

Not too much of an issue as I marked up the original connections and the individual leads (no muti-plugs in those days) and then tested the old switch to see what connected to what. I then did the same on the replacement switch and the job was done!

The car was less difficult to start than before but clearly the problem wasn't just the switch.

I had also bought a new set of plugs, leads, cap, rotor, sports coil and a fan belt.

I fitted all of these and tidied up some of the wiring as I went along (mainly for the coil). When I fitted the new cap and rotor I noticed the old rotor was very different to the new one and a fair bit shorter!

With all the new parts installed I fired her up and she started instantly!
No more cranking over and over and over to get the car to start.
The real test would be how it starts when hot as that was the worst time before fitting the new parts.

I went out for a run on some fast roads and the B pulled really strongly and could easily and quickly reach speeds above 70, the overdrive worked perfectly too.

What a difference!

After getting back home I left the car for an hour and then went out and started it and it now runs immediately on turning the key, starting first time every time.

I was rather pleased with my 2 hours worth of efforts

More work to come next weekend, plus I'll take a few pics of what I've been doing.

Edited by Kentish on Sunday 12th July 23:36

[SB - Nigel]

As they are now available for 1275 Spridgets (weren't when I bought ignitor head of course!!)

I've just swapped from an ignitor head in existing (possibly worn) dissy which had new, rotor, cap, leads and coil

to 1-2-3 full electronic dissy big improvement well worth the money

[Kentish]

SB - Nigel said:

As they are now available for 1275 Spridgets (weren't when I bought ignitor head of course!!)

I've just swapped from an ignitor head in existing (possibly worn) dissy which had new, rotor, cap, leads and coil

to 1-2-3 full electronic dissy big improvement well worth the money

Hi Nigel;

I've heard they are good but quite expensive, so I have decided to go for a magnetic pick up type to replace the points and these work well and are only £45.

[SB - Nigel]

Kentish said:

Hi Nigel;

I've heard they are good but quite expensive,

£249 without vac advance, £283 with

Kentish said:

so I have decided to go for a magnetic pick up type to replace the points and these work well and are only £45.

That's very good but it's perhaps only a part solution it depends how good your dissy is

I put an Aldon igniter head in mine, to good results, about 18 months ago because I couldn't get the 1-2-3 electronic dissy for my Spridget at that time, the Aldon cost me £85

I've just fitted the 1-2-3 that cost me £283 worth every penny for the improvement and peace of mind as my previous dissy was probably over 35 years old and done, well that's it I don't know how many miles

£45 you could write off or sell it s/h

BTW anyone want Aldon igniter head, still under warranty

[Kentish]

Hi Nigel;

The magnetic pick up type I have opted for isn't too expensive if it is no good but they are apparently excellent and they also negate any wear issues with the dissy. Although, I appear to have a later 45D4 dissy fitted to my car and on checking it out it has no excessive movement of the shaft so is in good condition, quite clean inside too and looks like it may have been replaced not too many years/miles ago.

I've started pricing up the brake parts, not too bad for standard bits - there's the other thread about that so I won't go into detail here.

I'm quite pleased with how the car starts now, brilliantly in fact, hot or cold!
It runs and goes well too, there is some pre-ignition so think the timing needs checking and it's running slightly rich so a tune up of the carbs is probably required.

I'm quite happy with progress so far though and the car is getting quite useable.

[Kentish]

I had a bit of car day yesterday (saturday) and I decided to fit my ebay burr walnut dash kit.

Easier said than done

I had to take half the dash apart to fit it

I now need two new heater control switch knobs as I could not get the little bleeders off without the aide of my dremel

I'm fairly happy with it considering it was only about £45 delivered but it is only a cover up for the tired looking hammerited dash beneath it; in a year or two I will fit a new dash but it's not a priority. I'll take some pics during the week and post up.

Whilst fiting the dash kit I had to remove the choke cable completely and when I put it back it would not operate again without jamming so I went and got a replacment one and fitted and that now all works fine, I took the opportunity to adjust the choke idle on the twin SU's as well and also the idle speed once warm as tickover was a bit high.

After that I did and oil and filter change which didn't go too well as my strap wrench broke

So I had to do my old trick of hammering a screw driver through the filter to use as a handle to undo it; I could only do up the replacement hand tight but it seems fine and doesn't leak.

I took the B out for a spin today and it went like a dream. Just the clonking hubs and poor brakes are now an issue and I'll be saving over the next couple of months to deal with them.

I've discovered a few things about the car too; It has a tube rear axle but it has half shafts and hubs suited to wire wheels so the wires with splined hubs were probably fitted from new. The rear suspension has been converted to telescopic dampers and I have a bump stop rubber missing one side.

I've also discovered that I have a later engine in my car, with the later distributor and the spin on type oil filter. I also have MGB GT V8 seats fitted.

That's pretty much it for this weekend; I will now be using the car a little during the week to see what the B is like in daily use.