Buddy of mine in HS had a few of them… the distributor caps were made of paper mache I sweat… he used to keep 2-3 in the trunk as spares as they’d always crack on him
I am going out on a limb here, is that an MG? I used to own a Midget and a
Triumph Spitfire MK 3. The weakest point on both of those fuckers were
the dual SU carbs. If they got out of synch, they ran like shit! I went to
a dealer in San Berdoo for a part and chatted with a mechanic about the
problem. He suggested tuning them by ear using two equal length tubes.
Put one tube to each ear, and when they sound the same, they were
in tune. It takes just minutes to do it without a balance gauge!
The only other issue was the distributor points. I kept a spare set in the
car along with a girlfriends’ emery board and a screwdriver. In a pinch,
a driver’s license can be used to set the gap.
Once you got used to them the dual sidedrafts were easy to adjust using a tube to your ear to sync the sounds. Electrics were quirky, and yes the points were an issue. Once bought a Volvo P1800 and when I opened the hood, lo and behold, there were a pair of SUs stairing at me. Which was a good thing.
my “B” was a californicated car with an air pump. launched that sucker into the dumpster when it seized up and capped the ports. always something crapping out and when that didn’t happen you could hear it rust at night. always wanted to drop a ford 302 in it, but life happened.
Come on, minimal maintenance and they would run forever. I owned and worked on many MGs for years and was only left stranded once. Stupid thing vapor locked on me somehow. Waited just a bit and was on my way again.
I use the name of the Formula Ford I raced. It’s built by Charles Lucas. Brother of that Lucas.
I don’t know why but I have always had a soft spot in my head for English cars. All of them. I am trying to resist the urge right now to buy another MGB and restore it. Just built a 1600 square. ft. shop and the force is strong with that one.
I don’t know why but I have always had a soft spot in my head for English cars. All of them. I am trying to resist the urge right now to buy another MGB and restore it. Just built a 1600 square. ft. shop and the force is strong with that one.
They were Positive ground up until the early 70’s.
That fucked people up and more than a few batteries were blown up and electrical systems fried by people not knowing and trying to jump start them like any other car. You can make them Negative ground and I have done it to mine but then the electric tachometer doesn’t work. You can take those apart and swap a couple things in them but it is a huge PITA.
Back in the early ’90’s, a sister-in-law of mine bought a Miata, and one morning woke up to a dead battery.
She called her other brother-in-law to get a jump, and he told her he couldn’t do it, because “a big car can’t jump a little car”. So she called me and I got her going.
The same guy told my wife once that “engine oil has nothing to do with how hot an engine runs”.
Try a pre-80’s Fiat. Every wire in the car was red, built by Lucas. The Spyder did come with a Weber 3-barrel but it had a Lucas ignition so there were issues. There were only 4 threads holding a spark plug in the aluminium head. After a plug blew out it could be helicoiled once and there was a “size-up” plug that would also work. The correct fix was to take the head off and build up the inside then re-tap so you had at least 7 or 8 threads – this also increased the compression a little bit. Then you had the rubber bushings that would last about a year or 15k miles- whichever came first. Or the soft brass synchronizers in the transmission…
The Spitfire I rebuilt was a piece of cake compared to keeping a Fiat as a daily driver. The Spitfire did cure me of buying another British car for 35 years. That 2012 Mini CooperS was a bigger POS than the Spitfire and Fiat combined. No more Brit cars.
Oh, sorry. I thought you meant the Ford. My Ford decides to not start at random times. Traced it to an issue in the body controller/alarm – when it decides to shit the bed, the battery goes dead in two hours!
Hey Batman, take a wild guess which is the country of origin for the controller.
Buddy of mine in HS had a few of them… the distributor caps were made of paper mache I sweat… he used to keep 2-3 in the trunk as spares as they’d always crack on him
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I am going out on a limb here, is that an MG? I used to own a Midget and a
Triumph Spitfire MK 3. The weakest point on both of those fuckers were
the dual SU carbs. If they got out of synch, they ran like shit! I went to
a dealer in San Berdoo for a part and chatted with a mechanic about the
problem. He suggested tuning them by ear using two equal length tubes.
Put one tube to each ear, and when they sound the same, they were
in tune. It takes just minutes to do it without a balance gauge!
The only other issue was the distributor points. I kept a spare set in the
car along with a girlfriends’ emery board and a screwdriver. In a pinch,
a driver’s license can be used to set the gap.
LikeLike
Once you got used to them the dual sidedrafts were easy to adjust using a tube to your ear to sync the sounds. Electrics were quirky, and yes the points were an issue. Once bought a Volvo P1800 and when I opened the hood, lo and behold, there were a pair of SUs stairing at me. Which was a good thing.
LikeLike
my “B” was a californicated car with an air pump. launched that sucker into the dumpster when it seized up and capped the ports. always something crapping out and when that didn’t happen you could hear it rust at night. always wanted to drop a ford 302 in it, but life happened.
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No worries. Just toss it in the back of that Super Duty.
Problem solved.
Leigh
Whitehall, NY
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Come on, minimal maintenance and they would run forever. I owned and worked on many MGs for years and was only left stranded once. Stupid thing vapor locked on me somehow. Waited just a bit and was on my way again.
I use the name of the Formula Ford I raced. It’s built by Charles Lucas. Brother of that Lucas.
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Obviously the one I own was previously owned by Satan’s brother.
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I don’t know why but I have always had a soft spot in my head for English cars. All of them. I am trying to resist the urge right now to buy another MGB and restore it. Just built a 1600 square. ft. shop and the force is strong with that one.
LikeLike
I don’t know why but I have always had a soft spot in my head for English cars. All of them. I am trying to resist the urge right now to buy another MGB and restore it. Just built a 1600 square. ft. shop and the force is strong with that one.
LikeLike
Bri’ish cars are like hitting your thumb with a hammer; when you stop/sell them, it feels so goood.
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Oops.
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Were they the damn things negative ground?I
I never was much into cars, I did boats & girls.
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Not negative, I mean positive ground. It’s been a long week.
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They were Positive ground up until the early 70’s.
That fucked people up and more than a few batteries were blown up and electrical systems fried by people not knowing and trying to jump start them like any other car. You can make them Negative ground and I have done it to mine but then the electric tachometer doesn’t work. You can take those apart and swap a couple things in them but it is a huge PITA.
LikeLike
Back in the early ’90’s, a sister-in-law of mine bought a Miata, and one morning woke up to a dead battery.
She called her other brother-in-law to get a jump, and he told her he couldn’t do it, because “a big car can’t jump a little car”. So she called me and I got her going.
The same guy told my wife once that “engine oil has nothing to do with how hot an engine runs”.
LikeLike
Try a pre-80’s Fiat. Every wire in the car was red, built by Lucas. The Spyder did come with a Weber 3-barrel but it had a Lucas ignition so there were issues. There were only 4 threads holding a spark plug in the aluminium head. After a plug blew out it could be helicoiled once and there was a “size-up” plug that would also work. The correct fix was to take the head off and build up the inside then re-tap so you had at least 7 or 8 threads – this also increased the compression a little bit. Then you had the rubber bushings that would last about a year or 15k miles- whichever came first. Or the soft brass synchronizers in the transmission…
The Spitfire I rebuilt was a piece of cake compared to keeping a Fiat as a daily driver. The Spitfire did cure me of buying another British car for 35 years. That 2012 Mini CooperS was a bigger POS than the Spitfire and Fiat combined. No more Brit cars.
LikeLike
If you aren’t a mechanic when you buy an English car, you will be when you finally sell it.
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Oh, sorry. I thought you meant the Ford. My Ford decides to not start at random times. Traced it to an issue in the body controller/alarm – when it decides to shit the bed, the battery goes dead in two hours!
Hey Batman, take a wild guess which is the country of origin for the controller.
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Partially off topic, Phil, found a tractor for you.
chuckling
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Can I get a YEEEE HAWWWWW!!!!!?
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