MG-Cars.net

Welcome to our resource for MG Car Information.

Recommendations

Parts

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 - Mertyl's mended

Hello all. Well, it's took longer than anticipated, but Mertyl is back up and running. It was soooo good being back behind the wheel, although i haven't been brave enough to go any distance as yet. Many thanks to all who proffered advice, i couldn't have managed without it. I'll keep you updated as to how things pan out.


D J P Hewett

Great to hear - what sorted her in the end? Did you get an electric fan too?
rachmacb

Hi rachmab. Where do i start. Well, new head set, new thermostat, new expansion tank cap, new oil, new water and lots of new sundry items but most of all, lots of swearing ;) . No, i haven't as yet got an electric fan but that is high on the list of priorities. Did the uploaded photo come out ok?
D J P Hewett

Yes to the photo

Well - that should cover most things - and, your swearing vocab WILL increase over time ... :)
rachmacb

Now use her as much as you can to iron out wrinkles with you and the car

(Hope you've got some antifreeze in that water even for summer use)

I put an electric fan on my 1275 last Otcober, paid an extra £60 over the Kenlowe kit for the Revotec kit

Not sure if the Revotec ofan unit is better than the Kenlowe fan unit but the in-line thermo-switch (fits in cut top hose) I do like

My mate has the Revotec fan thermo-switch kit, £59, teamed up with a Kenlowe fan unit and brackets (price ?) on his Rover P5B and is very happy with it

He also taught me a lesson - when fitting the Revotec switch unit make sure the switch cover sits at the top otherwise when it gets hot the black plastic plug cover falls out and can be lost - just for once I learnt from some else's mistake :)

Nigel Atkins

The other (cheaper!) option is to go to your local scrapyard and see what's available there ... ;) At the end of the day - a fan is a fan is a fan if you're just using it for general use (on a 1500 at least!)
rachmacb

I fitted an £8 scrappie Pug 205 fan in front of the radiator - fairly minor bodywork mods to do that - I'll find some photos if you're interested. There's someone on Ebay selling the in-line thermo switches at around 30 quid.

But I'm a cheapskate.
MarkH1

nothing wrong with going cheap I just value reliability very highly as I've had two life times of things failing
Nigel Atkins

Hi all. Yep, leccy fan is definitely on the list of " to do's". Glad to see i'm not the only budget midget driver.
D J P Hewett

I used Vauxhall Cavalier fan in mine... several million reps' cars show its reliability...

A
Anthony Cutler

Think very carefully before removing the original fan! Long before the electric fan kicks in you may find that when stationary the underbonnet temperatures can soar causing the carburetor float bowls to overflow. This problem can then snowball with poor running due to a week mixture which then heats up the manifold even more making the problem worse. If you are having overheating problems you should be able to sort them by ensuring the original system is working as it should. You can also fit an additional fan if you then feel the need

Good luck and enjoy that car!!!

Carl
C Bintcliffe

Carl -
I (IMO) disagree and agree

the thermo switches on these electric units have a very wide range of adjustment and can be set for what's required so no need to boil your bowls

plus when the car is staionary the electric fan is going at full whack but and engine driven fan will be turning slowly which is the dead opposite to what you want

also the engine driven fan turns when the engine is cold when it is not wanted where as the thermo controlled electric fan only comes on when required same way as the water thermostat

I don't believe in electric fans as back up, if you use the electric fan instead then you know it's working because it has to work most of the time you're in the car so you are doing continuos testing of it working

I don't personally like back up overiding switches either, you trust this type of system in all modern cars and you have the theremos switch for back up anyway just by setting it lower if/when required

my electric fan is wired directly (with a fuse) to my battery and obviously runs after the car has been turned off (something a engine driven fan can't do) I don't worry about the battery as I always have a good battery fitted (this one was on the car when I bought it three years ago) and I've got an uprated alternator

I do agree that if everything is sorted cooling wise then you could certainly run on the original set up but not as comfortably now with our road congestion as in the 1960s and 70s

Anthony
- I'm sure the Calvalier fans were very reliable in their day but it's already done its life work and Calvaliers haven't been made for many years so it's a risk many can get away with but not no-luck me, my HG would just smirk as I fitted the Calalier fan
Nigel Atkins

This thread was discussed between 23/07/2010 and 26/07/2010

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

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