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73 Midget, getting it running after sitting for 10 years

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J

Justin Bowen

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Just like the subject says... I got a 73 Midget from my Grandma. It's been sitting for 10 years. The original idea was to put a different motor in it (4age, 12a, something like that), but I've decided I'd like to get it running with the original motor before I do anything like that.

So far I've not done much... the car rolls, transmission shifts into all gears, brake and clutch pedal have good pressure.

Last night I took the spark plugs out and dropped some oil in each of the cylinders. I then cranked the motor over 5-10 times by hand. I was happy to see it wasn't seized and it felt nice when I was spinning it. That's all I've done, aside from removing the air pump and all associated hoses. After I replace the dry-rotted hoses under the hood and change the oil and coolant I won't be far from putting a battery in it, crossing my fingers, and trying to start it.

My main concern is the gas. There is gas in the tank. What should I do about this? Would it be sufficient to just siphon it all out and fill it with new gas, or should I consider removing the tank to clean it or replace it?

Sorry if I'm rambling, but this my first post so that's probably expected. Thanks for any info or advice you can give me on my project.

Justin
 
Justin;
Congratulations on your new car! I am surprised the gas is still liquid after all those years. I would remove the fuel tank, drain and check for varnish (dried gas). Varnish will cause no ends of trouble later as it softens in fresh fuel and gets pumped thru the system, usually wreaking havoc by plugging filters, needle/seats in carbs etc. Take a good close look at all the flexible rubber lines in the brake and clutch system. They may hold pressure, but if dried and cracked, could fail unexpectedly with catastrophic results. Replacement should be on your to do soon list. Also visually check all the steel brake lines for corrosion. Same danger as flex lines.
Check fuel lines for same problem.
Change oil in engine , transmission also( use motor oil, I run 20-50w in my 76MGB). Once running, give it a tuneup and enjoy!
There is a set of points in the back of the fuel pump that will eventually need replacing. if the fuel pump does not click when you turn the key on, tap the fuel pump with a screwdriver handle. If it starts clicking great. If not, a pump rebuild or replacement is in order.

Pete H.
 
welvome to the forum Justin. Lots of good stuff here.
As to your question, Tony Barnhill with be thru shortly. he has a great site and a list on how to wake a sleeping mg. Hey wait i found it
https://www.theautoist.com/awakening_a_sleeping_b.htm check it out
Mark
 
Justin...welcome & congrats on your new car...drop that gas tank, drain it, get it boiled...clean out lines, rebuild carbs....wait: follow my checklist & she'll fire up & be a happy camper!
 
Yes, Welcome...you will find lots of help here...and a little amusement mixed in. I can't add anything other that to second (third?) the previous advice to look at tony' site and print out the info there...keep on the bonnet of your car and have fun!

Bruce
 
Thanks for the advice guys!

Well I've done a little more work on the car. And by "work", I mean I've started to rip things out of it.

I pulled the hood, then the battery, and most of the heater box. I say most because the rear-most panel is held by screws that I'll need to drill out. The heater core is fed coolant via a nipple in the lower radiator hose and a port near the #4 cylinder on the block. That port has a dial on it, which I assume adjusts the rate of flow through the heater core. I'm ditching the heater - can I block off this port?

I think I'm going to try pulling the fuel line off the carb and giving the fuel pump power, see if I can pump the fuel out of the tank. I'm not looking forward to dropping the tank, so I won't until I am sure I need to.

That raises another question... how do I know if this car is positive or negative earth? I guess when I give 12v to the fuel pump I'll be able to tell real quick when it starts pumping backwards, but I was kind of curious in the meanwhile.

Thanks.. I hope to get back to work on the car later this or next week.

Justin
 
Oh yeah, and Tony.. thanks for the checklist. It doesn't really suit my style of half-assing things, but I'll keep it around for reference
smile.gif
 
Justin, if you do things "half assed" just don't become a DPO! Remember we really don't own these cars, we are just their care-taker for a little while!
 
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Justin Bowen:
That port has a dial on it, which I assume adjusts the rate of flow through the heater core. I'm ditching the heater - can I block off this port?

That raises another question... how do I know if this car is positive or negative earth? I guess when I give 12v to the fuel pump I'll be able to tell real quick when it starts pumping backwards, but I was kind of curious in the meanwhile.
Justin<hr></blockquote>

The dial on the port is just a shutoff valve handle. Turn it off or remove the valve & replace it with a suitable plug. Or connect a hose from the valve to the lower radiator hose to bypass the heater.

Assuming that the battery is or was in the car, if the battery Pos. (larger post) is connected to ground the car is pos. ground & vs.

Some fuel pumps have a diode inside & are polarity sensitive. If you connect the pump backward It will blow the diode but continue to pump in the right direction. The pump won't last very long without the diode however.
D

[ 10-07-2003: Message edited by: Dave Russell ]</p>
 
Justin, "D" is for "Dumb"! Don't ask what "DFPO" is for! I didn't mean to offend, it's easier and often cheaper to do it right the first time.
 
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by John Moore:
Justin, "D" is for "Dumb"! Don't ask what "DFPO" is for! I didn't mean to offend, it's easier and often cheaper to do it right the first time.<hr></blockquote>

I'm not offended by any of that, and I can infer what the "F" means. "Funny" right?
wink.gif


I do things right, but I don't strive for perfection in this type of project. I guess that's why Tony's write-up seemed a little too thorough to me.
 
Justin,

From the pic it appears that the black wire is grounded to the firewall. "IF" the black wire is connected to the - (negative) battery terminal, the car is negative ground. The red wire probably goes to the starter solenoid.

Since the car was designed to have the heater valve shut off in hot weather, it will do no harm to just block off the port.
D
PS - It looks like the black wire is on the drivers side. Is this a RHD car?
 
Justin it should be neg earth. The shift from positive earth to negative earth was back somewhere in the mid sixties. I had a '68 Sprite and it was Neg earth or ground.
According to my Moss catalog, the "B" changed to negative ground in 1968 so I assume the Sprite/Midget was around the same time.
 
You need to at least drain the gas. If you look on the bottom of the gas tank you will see a drain plug. I would take the filler neck off in the trunk and look inside the gas tank for evidence of rust as well.
 
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Dave Russell:

PS - It looks like the black wire is on the drivers side. Is this a RHD car?<hr></blockquote>

I meant black on the driver's side. My mistake.
 
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by John Moore:
Justin, if you do things "half assed" just don't become a DPO! Remember we really don't own these cars, we are just their care-taker for a little while!<hr></blockquote>

What is "DPO"? I can guess the "Previous Owner" part but what's the D?

Anyway, I say I half-ass things but I really don't. I guess I'm just not as thorough as Tony.
 
Thanks for the tip on the fuel pump, Dave. I'll figure out the positive/negative ground thing before I play with the fuel pump.

See the battery here. I've put up newer pictures since then but this is the only one with a clear shot of the battery. Notice the red wire is running to some sort of voltage regulator. The passenger side (black) wire runs to the firewall.

Is this enough evidence to tell me the car is negative earth?

As for the heater port, if I block it off vs. running a line to the lower radiator hose, will this result in cooling problems? I'd rather just make a block off plate and run a normal lower radiator hose (without that silly T in it), out of simplicity more than anything else.

Justin
 
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