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1500 rebuild

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maddy

Senior Member
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It was suggested that I post this here since engines are similar. So here goes…

I'm going to pull the 79' 1500 engine soon and need good instructions on rebuilding it. Haynes doesn't quite cut it. I have rebuilt a couple of engines years back, Chevy and Ford, but never an MG. I’m looking for tolerances, specs, torques, procedures and the like.
What about “pinning the thrust washers”?
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
:thankyousign:
 
I bought a Bentley manual for my 1980 Spitfire, which has a good engine building section. I noticed the quality of the book itself and the contents are not as good as the manuals for older cars.

I also have a Haynes manual, which seemed adequate to me.

Pinning the thrust washers means you drill a small hole through the washer and drive in a brass pin to hold it in place. On the 1500, there is only one-half of a washer that fits into the block. There is no bottom half in the main bearing cap. It fits on the rear main bearing. Racers don't do this because they are constantly pulling the pan and changing all the bearings out. If you pin the washers, you can't easily change them out without disassembling the engine to remove the crank.

There is an upgraded thrust washer for TR6s that should be able to be used for Spitfires (I think...maybe). And then some folks have fashioned a full thrust washer, but that calls for good machine shop work (=$$$).
 
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