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Update--1st MGB, 1st Ride, 1st Trouble
Everyone,
About 4 weeks ago I posted a query regarding my first LBC and the fact that I didn't get home without it dying. I found this forum and posted a message and got a lot of good solid advice-- some of which is still being implemented. I thought I would give everyone an update. The good news is I got from point A to point B today. Yeah! If you recall the car died on its maiden trip, losing power and seemed to be running on a couple of cylinders. The front plugs looked wet. Got lots of suggestions and even thought it was better but then the header pipe really went south too and the engine was only running on maybe 2 cylinders (bad off). So I towed it to a sports car garage as I am a total newbie. The mechanic noticed that the intake manifold was a bit thinner than the exhaust manifold (about 1/8"). So when the bolts were tightened it bent the stud bolts and the intake was probably taking in some air. He got that fixed and the header pipe fixed. Set the carbs to baseline and he took it for a test ride. It acted up on him once and cleared itself and since we both had no really idea how much it was run before I purchased it he thought it might have been some junk that just past through as it did not reoccur. He wasn't all that happy with it at that point but since he had to be out of town for 5 days to go to school he thought it was good enough for me to be test pilot. Picked it up that evening and never made it home. Very disappointing after waiting 30 years to get my first one and never having a successful point A-B run. Seemed like it just lost power again. Again it occurred about the time you would need to push the choke off. But this time it didn't seem to be running on just a couple of cylinders-- just like someone turned the car off. Towed it back to the garage rather than to my house. He was dismayed to see it back at the shop after his return. After querying me, he began the troubleshooting and he may have may solved this. I've heard the saying that on LBC its 95% electrical and 5% fuel (is that so?). Well you will have to decide which it is here. Seems the wiring to the fuel pump was bad. Would work fine, jiggle lose after running (particularly when it got hot) and then would break connection cut-off the fuel pump. Looked like some how several wires were cut just as the harness approached the fuse box including the one to the fuel pump. In addition to the fuel pump juice, the brake lights, side lights, and backup light did not work either. Don't know how they got cut. Moreover something ran hot in the fuse box as the bottom fuse holder looked a bit melted. A new fuse box was then installed. Wiring for the brake lights repaired but I will be the one trying to check out the other circuits. Looks like I will become an electrician as the mechanic notice lots of things that were weird little things regarding the wiring. But its running well now. The mechanic gave it a good run before giving it back to be sure it would get me home. In fact he guarenteed that the car would get me home (but not if it were the fault of an idiot driver-- that may include me). He was right. In fact my wife had her first ride in it tonight. Now that I have a car in the garage to serve as a model, I think the manuals will be easier to understand too..
I would like some advice though. Even though the header pipe is fixed and it is much quieter we still get a quite a bit of exhaust smell into the car. Any ideas where to look and how to look?
Got all winter to learn more about how the car is put together. Have learned some things about the history of the car (and its future) from the mechanic already (there is something that I would definitely like to take car of first-- some idiot took a shortcut when redoing the clutch-- didn't pull the engine, rather cut the cross member to get to it; I will need to find a welder to fix that; otherwise the body is in pretty good shape). The other thing is there is a new dashboard front in it. The PPO replaced all gauges except the oil pressure gauge and the heater/defrost blower controls--- go figure! I would like to get a oil pressure gauge in there next.
The list is long-----
Now that the car is running and I can put some miles on it, the weather is turning cold and wet. My luck. Hopefully there will be one or two nice travel days (last weekend was superb-- but that was LAST weekend).
Well thanks for all the advice. I will be soliciting for more for sure.
Cheers everyone,
Phil
Everyone,
About 4 weeks ago I posted a query regarding my first LBC and the fact that I didn't get home without it dying. I found this forum and posted a message and got a lot of good solid advice-- some of which is still being implemented. I thought I would give everyone an update. The good news is I got from point A to point B today. Yeah! If you recall the car died on its maiden trip, losing power and seemed to be running on a couple of cylinders. The front plugs looked wet. Got lots of suggestions and even thought it was better but then the header pipe really went south too and the engine was only running on maybe 2 cylinders (bad off). So I towed it to a sports car garage as I am a total newbie. The mechanic noticed that the intake manifold was a bit thinner than the exhaust manifold (about 1/8"). So when the bolts were tightened it bent the stud bolts and the intake was probably taking in some air. He got that fixed and the header pipe fixed. Set the carbs to baseline and he took it for a test ride. It acted up on him once and cleared itself and since we both had no really idea how much it was run before I purchased it he thought it might have been some junk that just past through as it did not reoccur. He wasn't all that happy with it at that point but since he had to be out of town for 5 days to go to school he thought it was good enough for me to be test pilot. Picked it up that evening and never made it home. Very disappointing after waiting 30 years to get my first one and never having a successful point A-B run. Seemed like it just lost power again. Again it occurred about the time you would need to push the choke off. But this time it didn't seem to be running on just a couple of cylinders-- just like someone turned the car off. Towed it back to the garage rather than to my house. He was dismayed to see it back at the shop after his return. After querying me, he began the troubleshooting and he may have may solved this. I've heard the saying that on LBC its 95% electrical and 5% fuel (is that so?). Well you will have to decide which it is here. Seems the wiring to the fuel pump was bad. Would work fine, jiggle lose after running (particularly when it got hot) and then would break connection cut-off the fuel pump. Looked like some how several wires were cut just as the harness approached the fuse box including the one to the fuel pump. In addition to the fuel pump juice, the brake lights, side lights, and backup light did not work either. Don't know how they got cut. Moreover something ran hot in the fuse box as the bottom fuse holder looked a bit melted. A new fuse box was then installed. Wiring for the brake lights repaired but I will be the one trying to check out the other circuits. Looks like I will become an electrician as the mechanic notice lots of things that were weird little things regarding the wiring. But its running well now. The mechanic gave it a good run before giving it back to be sure it would get me home. In fact he guarenteed that the car would get me home (but not if it were the fault of an idiot driver-- that may include me). He was right. In fact my wife had her first ride in it tonight. Now that I have a car in the garage to serve as a model, I think the manuals will be easier to understand too..
I would like some advice though. Even though the header pipe is fixed and it is much quieter we still get a quite a bit of exhaust smell into the car. Any ideas where to look and how to look?
Got all winter to learn more about how the car is put together. Have learned some things about the history of the car (and its future) from the mechanic already (there is something that I would definitely like to take car of first-- some idiot took a shortcut when redoing the clutch-- didn't pull the engine, rather cut the cross member to get to it; I will need to find a welder to fix that; otherwise the body is in pretty good shape). The other thing is there is a new dashboard front in it. The PPO replaced all gauges except the oil pressure gauge and the heater/defrost blower controls--- go figure! I would like to get a oil pressure gauge in there next.
The list is long-----
Now that the car is running and I can put some miles on it, the weather is turning cold and wet. My luck. Hopefully there will be one or two nice travel days (last weekend was superb-- but that was LAST weekend).
Well thanks for all the advice. I will be soliciting for more for sure.
Cheers everyone,
Phil
