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MGB Idaho motors

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Oh how could I forget. Im all done trying to figure out why my gauges work then dont or dot at all. All done fiddling on the side of the road with electrical problems. Any one who knows lbcs and my car knows I have more gremlins then most. Advancedautowire harness is on the way. Im a wee bit nervous. Expect some electrical questions coming your way.
Then the side Note of the china freight parking lot sale this weekend. No more tractors for moving the motor around. Got a shop crane and a stand to open her up on to. As well as some odds and ends to organize the tools a bit.
 
I believe the spring/sleeve piece is the anti-rattle device for the shifter. If you remove one of those large nuts on the side of the shifter housing on top of the transmission, you find it goes in there. (not sure which one though).
 
Thank you ill take a peak in the next couple days.
 
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newest updates. The clutch looks like a lot less wear then i thought. So Im happy. No point putting it back in though. I don't have much of a desire to open this up again in the near future. I have heard there is another clutch plate that is a bit more robust for a different car that plugs right in, i just cant remember what it was. Has any one done this, and is it worth it?
The next picture was the worst bearing I saw. Not surprising for the beatings I put it through on top of the other owners who evidently did not treat it right either.
Lat picture is the block al loaded up to go to the machine shop. Should be done early next week! There is a chance it will be put together by next weekend.
 
Will said:
Got a shop crane and a stand to open her up on to. As well as some odds and ends to organize the tools a bit.
Click to expand...

Being organized with the tools is a BIG deal, Will. Being able to reach for something and have it right where you expect it to be is a good thing. At the end of each session, clean all the tools and set them in whatever "place" they belong. The various "organizer" do-dads on the market make it easy.

There's not a lot to worry over as far as MGB wiring is concerned. Yours is a "newer" (post-'67) car, so you have a few more wires to deal with. Ask away, we're here to help as much as possible.
 
On a job site its best to give your self the last 15 min of any one job designated for nothing more then "clean up"
I wouldn't put a shovel away with concrete on it, picking up a wrench with road grime for use on a new "needs assembly" box of crap would drive me up the wall.
I cant put a bolt back in my car with out running the threads for no other reason then the thought of it will haunt me every time I think about the car. Including when I sleep. That would cause me to sleep fitfully, I dont want to lose sleep over a dirty bolt. Laugh if you want... but I will.
On a whole different tangent- I have ordered and paid for a whole harness set up from advancedautowire. I dont remember the what day just long enough ago to get worried over the fact I have heard nothing from the company yet to tell me they are working on my order. Nor have I had any response to my attempts to contact their service department. Has any one ordered from them recently?
 
I've not worked with advancedautowire, but have generally heard good things about them. Hopefully it's just summer and they're a bit slow.

Let us know how the rewire goes. It's a project I want to tackle on Millie in a year or two.
 
Well perhaps they saw my question because my wife got a call saying it will be here by the fourth. :encouragement: iv only heard good things thats why when it came to wiring I looked no where else. Hopefully you will see it first hand by sept. We want to visit some friends in Vagas and attend the 50th anniversary of the Sandow for our one year anniversary
 
Got a call from the machine shop. He wanted me to come down for some bad news. The head has a bunch of small cracks around it so im starting to look at options.
 
The machine shop seems to have the attitude that springs, valves, guides, pistons and such are 40 years old and should just be replaced. Is that a rational thought or should I try and clean anything off to reuse. It might be worth while to just bolt on an aluminum head complete if thats really the case.
WIth that in mind I have heard the cross flow are a bit finicky though worth the performance. Outside of the carb(s) being on the other side and therefore being in the way of the dizzy and dipstick how would it be any different then getting a non cross flow head. I have an eye on a cross flow "alloy" head for 500 bucks. Originally sold by "peter in oregon" Thats the extent of my knowledge. I was just hoping for some voices of experience.

Oh doc- I ment to get back to you about the specific weber I have. Some how in my great tare down I places the top of my carb separate from the bottom. The bottom I can find, the top is mia at the moment. Here I thought I was being very organized...:wall:
Out side of your ram air intake it looks identical. Im sure I just haven't been able to adjust the details of the guts to keep it from driping. Always seemed to have "something" with a higher priority. :smile:
 
I wouldn't bother with the aluminum crossflow head -- it's not generally worth the effort. If your head isn't cracked, just go ahead and rebuild it and you'll be in good shape for driving.

If the bits are in good shape, no reason not to reuse them. I'm certainly no expert, but I'm sure that some of those pieces won't be in spec anymore, and it's false economy to not replace them while you're in there.
 
The head is beyond repair. Thats the only reason Im looking at another head. It seems I can get a magna fluxed bare head for 2 to 3 hundred then put things back off my old head, find a rebuilt iron head for north of 800, or a bolt n play aluminum head for 1000 plus. Thats where Im sitting. I finally got our Daily sorted out so its back to plinking away on the mg
 
When it comes down to it, Its all around the same price. Is i couple hundred worth bigger valves? Has any one done bigger valves here and wouldn't mid sharing their thoughts?
 
Cross flow heads are not plug and play! There are other changes that have to be done to set one up. A set of Weber side drafts complete the picture. $$$$. Stock exhaust manifold or headers? Oil passages correct? Aluminum heads warp very easy if they have been overheated, use caution in that area. Unless you want to race the car, I'd look for a good used stock head, even if you wanted a race setup, I'd still use a stock head reworked. Also, it's a proven fact that no gain is achieved by changing the cast exhaust manifold to a header. The original MGB exhaust manifold was beautifully done for exhaust flow and it's quieter. JMHO. PJ
 
Im not looking to compete at all. I would love to put good used or stock parts on. There are so few to find in my area. The junk yards only laughed when I asked about any MG. My late model intake exhaust manifold is cracked down the exhaust side. When I went looking for and early model one I learned about the scarcity of them out here in south eastern Idaho. Looking around on the craigs list I found a guy about 6 hrs away with an "alloy" cross flow head (hence my questions about it) and another with a after market one made for the B from suzuki. Has any one heard of those?
Unless I find a local used early manifold I think a header will be the cheapest option. Im putting the parts order for new pistons, thrust washers and all bearings in tomorrow sometime so the shop can finish the work. Im getting real excited. We decided on shallow dish to bum the compression up just a bit. 30 over pistons. Min and rod were only 10 over.

If any one has a lead on a used stock head that is in great shape or an early manifold I'm all ears!:cheerful:
 
Will, I understand your situation. If you install a header, carefully check the thickness of the flange that bolts up to the head compared to the intake flange, as they are usually thinner than the intake manifold. If it's thinner, modify the washers by making one side thicker, usually by welding half of a flat washer to one side of the original washer, to level the washer when installed. Otherwise, the original washer will not set properly and leakage can occur. Also, if the header is a used one, check to see if the flanges are even with each other with a straight edge. They have a tendency to warp sometimes over time. Just a little tip. PJ
 
Thanks for the info:encouragement: My car used to leak so bad i would stink like burned gas any time I started it. Hoping to make this a bit more "refined" this time around.
 
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