Had a good couple of good sessions the last few weeks under the bonnet.
Things MG wise have taken a bit of a back seat, obviously.
Prior to the big decision I did manage to visit another MG part retailer "darn sarf" and bought some oil cooler pipes and petrol pipe unions ( might as well have been Onions......see later )
+ second hand heat shield for carbs.
Retailer- ere, this ull fit...... ( When asked if they have said heatshield)
Me - It looks a lot different... ?
Retailer - naw, they all fit, just slightly redesigned....
Me - how do you undo the oil cooler nut when its sheared on the cooler matrix thread ?
Retailer - Need a torch guv, an plenny of eat...
Me - Won't that melt the ( rubber) pipes ( within 1" of union )
Retailer - scuttles away to answer some unheard cry from out back
Retailer # 2 , That'll be £22.55 please
Anyways, that lot of bits stayed hidden in my desk drawer till wifey came to do the dreaded receipts and finances ( she now knows where to look to find the receipts..........my eyes !!!!)
Since all the ancillaries had been cleaned during summer, I had the relevant gaskets ( bought months ago from Mechspec via good ole E-bay) and now I had all the parts.....whopeee
So, fitted the gaskets x 4, spacer x 2, more gaskets under heatshield, heatshield ( after good cleanup with wire brush in drill) Bracket onto heatshield to hold carb throttle union, 3 lower springs and the two carbs. It took a bit of working out on how to fit the two mechanical linkages
and some flicking through the photos and books, but job done.
I should say at this point the previous "good session" I had fitted the inlet manifold, exhaust manifold + gasket, cleaned up the mounting studs and attached with liberal coatings of copper grease.
The fuel union recently purchased was crap. It fits between each carb. It looks good, being braided steel outer, with SS jubilee clips at each end but......................it was too short !!!!!
So I cleaned up the old one and re-used the existing springy clips.....they look as good as new.
This was the only ( union) thing I was sure would be O.K from " darn sarf" so an ONION would have been as good.
The heatshield did fit fine though, so the trip and cash was not wasted.
I still have to get another thermostat housing from the MG owners club as the last one purchased is still not the correct one.
What makes this difficult is I'm not trolling up and down this fair isle anymore so it will have to be good ole Mr Postman. And a top water hose is also required and an oil pressure pipe union (x2) which sheared on undoing.
The oil cooler and hoses are in place and finished, the fuel overflow pipes also.
So, soon I will be able to refit the fuel tank, re-connect electric sender unit, fill with lifefluids and try starting her up......................................................perhaps.
I'll have to give some time and effort in to what I think I might have forgot.
I have a feeling that I may have to re-fit the dashboard first which means connecting the heater vents which means fitting the heater which means re-furb to heater which means finding lost vent trim and so on.
Who said it was going to be easy.
At least i have ALL of next week off................more then, possibly.
Above are the Heatshields...........are they the same ? ( yes they both fit !!!)
