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MG MGA - Wish me luck...

I will be spending all day Saturday, with an mg specialist, replacing my tired 1600 engine, flywheel, clutch and exhaust with a rebuilt 1600 engine(with ported head), lightened flywheel, MGB clutch and stainless exhaust. Never done this sort of thing before. He'll be doing most of the work, but I hope to get my hands dirty, turn a wrench or two and learn alot in the process.

Regards,
M.D.
'57 Coupe
M. D.

Well best of luck to You but if he's really a spécialist there should not be any problem. Working side by side of an experienced Mechanich is always to me a great pleasure as i learned each time a little more. This weekend i might be able to ride for the first time my Coupe after close to 3 years of restoration, cant wait !!!

Cheers,

Jean Marc

60 Coupe
Jean Marc

M. D. you are in for a great experience. You're lucky that he's willing to work with you and show you things. The old joke for most mechanics is that the labor rate goes up if you watch, even higher if you help. ;-)
Bill Young

Bill: Fortunately, the total cost was negotiated up front, but I suppose he saves time and expense by having me help. That's ok with me - I will appreciate the learning experience.

Jean Marc: congratulations and enjoy your weekend ride.

Regards,
M.D.
'57 Coupe
M. D.

M D as a mechanic/garage owner I offer my commiserations to your mechanic friend, no offence to you! I hope you learn alot and enjoy the experience, keep him fueled with coffee/tea, pick up the dropped tools etc, he'll probably mutter alot and growl once or twice, but I assure you, this is normal. Don't fall for old apprentice practical jokes, left handed screw drivers sparks for the plugs sent to the stores for a long weight etc etc
Terry Drinkwater

There is an old joke around repair shops.
Labor Rate $40/hour
If you watch $45/hour
If you help $50/hour

Good luck, there's not much more rewarding than a job well done and a successful test ride.
Pete W.

The sign on my front counter
$75 hour
if you watch
$120
if you help
$140
if you worked on it first
$160
all but line one are a joke but like any good joke there is just enough truth to make it funny. Especialy if you worked on it first be honest it will save me time and you money because the "iron dont lie"
R J Brown

Well, the kids got sick Friday night and my wife was not feeling too well either, so I had to reschedule the engine replacement till next weekend. Frustrating...

Regards,
M.D.
'57 Coupe
M. D.

We completed most of the engine replacement yesterday. All that's left is to install the valve cover and the SS exhaust and double check the timing. It was great fun, and I learned alot about my car in the process. For example, my generator is an "older" type, probably from a T series car; and my air cleaners were old Healy-type with wire mesh filters; and my flywheel was an MGB-type, so it was already lightened. Also learned that my cluch and throwout bearing were near the end of their lives.

The old engine came out very easily. It was much more difficult getting the new engine to mate with the transmission - that took a fair amount of persuasion.

Fired up the new engine for a few seconds, without the new exhaust installed, and it had quite a bark. Oil pressure shot right up to 80 PSI.

I'm looking forward to test driving the car tomorrow and breaking in the engine over the next few months. Mechanic thinks I should see 10-20hp increase at the rear wheels.

Regards,
M.D.
'57 Coupe
M. D.

Picked-up the car last night. Wow. A big improvement in responsiveness and power. This new head was ported and shaved, the rods were lightened and an Elgin 269 degree cam installed. Compression is close to 10:1. I tried to stay under 2500 rpms on the trip home, so I'm sure I will see greater improvements as the break-in period continues.

We went with a hotter thermostat to help with performance. Car now runs steady at 190 instead of 160-170. However, that mere 20-30 degree increase is brutally noticeable in the cabin. Before last night, I never experienced that hot-transmission tunnel problem that so many MGA owners complain about. Now, I am a member of the club.

The Falcon stainless steel exhaust looks good and sounds good. Upon removal of the old exhaust, I found many pinholes all along the upper surface of the pipe and, particularly, the muffler. That explains the exhaust smell that I would notice in the cabin and my wife's complaints that I smelled like exhaust after driving the A. Now, the smell is gone and the ride is quieter.

One issue I noticed is frequent graunch shifting into first gear at a full stop. This happened only occasionally in the past, and I would have expected less with a new clutch and bearing. Can anyone explain this?

Regards,
M.D.
'57 Coupe

M. D.

I can explain the "OCCASIONAL GRAUNCH" going into 1ST GEAR, and it is "FAIRLY NORMAL"! 1ST on the the MGA (and PRE-1969 MGB) is due to the fact that it is a "SPUR GEAR" (STRAIGHT-CUT GEAR) and NOT a "HELICAL CUT GEAR" and 1ST also is NOT "SYNCHROMESHED" like 2ND, 3RD, & 4TH! Of course as you break off pieces of 1ST the gear gets EVEN NOISIER! On the plus side, a "SPUR GEAR" has 4-5% LESS FRICTION than a "HELICAL CUT", which is why the old "COMPETITION CLOSE-RATIO GEAR*ET" contained ALL "SPUR GEARS". To downshift into 1ST WHILE STILL MOVING you have to learn to "DOUBLE-CLUTCH" or "DOUBLE DE-CLUTCH" as they say in th U.K. It should be easy to shift into 1ST while at rest, unless the clutch isn't fully disengaging when pushed in.
wattswh1

This thread was discussed between 13/07/2005 and 27/07/2005

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