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Another newbie but oldie

niko

Freshman Member
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Hi to everyone, first post on this MG board.
I found this place doing a google search.
I also have a 74 MGB I've owned since I purchased it new. But it;s just been parked for many, many years gathering dust.

I'm an old retired Aerospace missile engineer (50's to 80's).

This looks like a very interesting board but to be honest, I lost interest in MG's being old and maybe lazy too.
Al
 
Dust that car off, Niko!
You *can* "go home again" (at least as far as cars are concerned).
Welcome!
 
What he said!
yeahthat.gif
 
I want to start up my MGB engine that's not run in over 15 years. I worry about the gas and varnish in the system from gas aging. How does one clean out the tank and lines so as not to clog up the carb before running the engine? Is there a product to do this? Thanks.
 
There are probably products available, but here's what I'd do. Drain the tank, refill with fresh fuel (You could drop the tank and swish it out with fuel or one of the aforementioned products, but its probably not necessary). Disconnect the fuel line at the carb and route it into a good sized, clear bottle. Then run the fuel pump until fresh fuel runs into the bottle. Then you can check the bottle for signs of nasties to see if you need to do any further flushing.
Then clean out the fuel bowl and passages in the carb and your fuel system should be ready for initial fire-up.
 
If it has a fair amount of fuel in it, you are better off (stops rust).
Drain the tank, replace any inline fuel filter and clean the fuel strainer screen in the electric fuel pump. Put new gas in the tank and pump about a gallon through the lines (obviously, disconnect the fuel line from the carbs). I'd pull the tops of float bowls in the carbs and blow them out with compressed air too.
My Spridget sat for 13 years before I bought and that's basically all I had to do.
Worst case, you drop the fuel tank and have it dipped/cleaned...most radiator shops can do this.
 
And get that car back on the road niko. Forget about selling her!!!
 
Welcome to the Forum, from another mature 74 B owner /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cowboy.gif

There is nothing better to make us feel younger than to drive an old car out in the country...works for me anyhow /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Follow the link to the Autoist's webesite and look up the "Waking a Sleeping MGB" article Tony has written there before you decide it is too much work. He spells out step by step how to go about it and makes it easy to follow.

Good Luck and keep in touch...you know you really want to drive that car /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/driving.gif

Bruce /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif
 
Ya got to be kidding. I only wanted to wake her up, not rebuild everything from scratch. The only purpose I had was to demonstrate it runs for prospective buyers. I'll leave the restoration to you youngsters. Ha ha ha.

I hate to see what this guy does to wake up his wife, even if she slept 13 years. Replace all heart valves, replace a lung and clean all orfaces and replace both uppers and lowers. Ha ha.

I'll pass. I'm old ..... not stupid. If I try to wake up the car as shown in this paper (myself), someone would have a hard time waking me up on step 1 or 2.

I know, I know, take it to an MGB garage!
 
For those that wanted to see my 74 MGB pictures, check out the classified section of this forum. I got 30 hi rez pictures of it for d/l ing. I only gave it a damp rag dust off. It looks this good without body or vinal/rubber polish. I figured it out, I put it to sleep in 1996.

It's not totally restored but close enough to get oggled when I drove it prior to putting it to sleep. The Viper color is eye busting.

Al Niko
 
Anyone know the bolt size and type for re-mounting the MGB convertable top? I may have lost mine.
Thanks
 
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