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Massive Vacuum Leak On 77 MG Midget... Part Needed

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maltbeverage

maltbeverage

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On my recently purchased 1977 mg midget, the part viewed below was rusted through and was full of little pin holes. Upon attempting to remove it, it literally broke in two pieces because it was all rust. I originally thought my carburetor was broken because the engine would not idle right after hours of tinkering with settings. After I removed that rusted out pipe and stared the car, I placed my fingers over the hole going into the intake manifold and stopped the leak, needless to say the car immediate began to idle perfectly. I don’t want to plug the hole up because I do not think it would be wise to drive without a vacuum advance. I’m wondering where I can get a replacement pipe, or how I can make one… I already tried hunting down some brass fittings thinking I could bend a pipe to the u shape and attach new hard ware but had no luck. I’m not sure if any one sells this because I could not find it on the moss website. I would appreciate any help.

77701-midgpart.jpg
 

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It's sorta hard to get a good look at the thing - eventhough you've done some neat Photoshopping to isolate the bugger -
Guys on this forum speak well of Tony Barnhill - He's got a neat website and possibly could help you with a used one -

https://www.theautoist.com

Or, you could Google new and used british car parts - You can probably find one somewhere, or as a last resort you could cruise the junkyards -

Looking at the photo it doesn't look that complicated - what kind of fittings are used to attach it at each end? - does the tubing go all the way or is the flexible looking tubing connect two short sections? By the looks of it there's gotta be a way to fabricate one.

Sorry I can't be of more help as both my lbcs are much older and have primitive engines with maybe 1 or two vacuum lines! However, there's lotsa knowledgeable people on this forum, you'll probably have ten accurate answers and more leads than you can shake a stick at within a day or so!!
 
I'm not very familiar with Midgets, but that looks like the pipe between the EGR valve and the intake manifold.

I doubt there would be any problems with plugging both ends off, maybe even a very slight improvment. Depending on regulations where you live, you may not be able to pass emissions inspection without it though.
 
The problem with plugging it as far as i know would be that i would not have a vaccum advance on my distributer. I've been told that can dammage my engine during long periods of high rpms (ie driving to work. It does go from the egr to the intake manifold. The intake manifold suckes air from the egr. Im going to to outside and play with it a little. Oh, and the nice part about mass, no emissions on old cars /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif.
 
I don't see how it would affect the vaccume advance at all. The only way they would possibly be connected is if the vaccume lines are connected together with a tee.
 
The line from the vaccume advance goes to a Tee that is connected to the egr and the carb. The car seems to run fine with the empty hole in the intake manifold plugged but I only drove it under 2.5 k rpm and only for about 5 minutes. I did idle for a good 15 minutes and seemed to be fine.
 
Re: Massive Vacuum Leak On 77 MG Midget... Part Ne

Is there any particular reason that it needs to be metal? Can you use a similar size rubber hose?
 
Re: Massive Vacuum Leak On 77 MG Midget... Part Ne

I could use a rubber hose... it just has to be able to widthstand the high heat. The only problem is finding a way to connect it. I tried to pick up some brass fittings that would adapt the screw hole to a hose at home depot but was unable to match the old connectors size. right now its just two threaded holes.
 
Re: Massive Vacuum Leak On 77 MG Midget... Part Ne

Can't re-use the old fittings? whenever I replace stuff like brake lines, etc. I put all the old fittings in a zip-lock "just in case" - does the tubing need to be flared? - Compression Ferrule? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
Re: Massive Vacuum Leak On 77 MG Midget... Part Ne

All The mounting hardware comes off the pipe, but only one side is still good. Otherwise I could have just replaced a new U shaped pipe.
 
Re: Massive Vacuum Leak On 77 MG Midget... Part Ne

Hi again,

After looking through the VB catalog I find the nut unions you need on page 73 of the current Sprite/Midget catalog - part # 18-040 - They must be gold plated uranium - they're $14.95 each - They don't list the entire hose/fitting assembly tho - just the nut/unions

In case you dont have a catalog from VB you can call 1-800-255-0088 or log on to their website and request a catalog or check stock status on the part

www.victoriabritish.com

Hope this helps

Bob M
 
Re: Massive Vacuum Leak On 77 MG Midget... Part Ne

Thanks. That is good to know. I shouold be getting the vb and the moss catolog in the mail next week. I also ordered a service manual for my car. That should be a slight help. In the mean time I managed to fabricate a plug for the hole out of sheet metal. I drove the car around the backroads for an hour and everything is running well. I think my fuel mixture is a little too high because I noticed that car had a little more pep then before. When I was pulling out of my street I gave it a little too much gas by accident and did a burn out and lost traction a bit. It was quite fun though I dont really like doing that in an old british car that has not had a full tune up yet. As always it was a pleasure to drive.
 
Re: Massive Vacuum Leak On 77 MG Midget... Part Ne

Tomorrow I'll look at my Midget stuff....email me off-bbs
 
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