Lots of progress this weekend...

Hi all,

Finally made lots of progress on my MG this weekend...

Head and gasket removed,
Block and head cleaned and inspected then refitted with new gasket,
water pump replaced,
tensioner replaced,
new timing belt fitted,
all manifolds and starter refitted,
new plugs and leads fitted,
multiple attempts at bleeding the coolant - finally got there I think...
oil and filter change...

Only problem I encountered really was a split gasket on the cooling system, so I resorted to making my own from and old breakfast cereal box with a touch of high temp RTV and it worked a treat...

GREAT FUN TO DRIVE!!!

After bleeding the coolant I left the black shroud off under the bonnet and think I may have sucked a leaf or something into the blower as its started making a rattly ticking noise that wasn't there before - so that's something I need to look at now!

Also the throttle cable feels a bit juddery, almost like its gunked up - I plan to check the routing just to be sure its not kinked anywhere, but is it possible to just put a few drips of oil down the ends of the sleeve to lube it?

Finally, a massive thanks to everyone on the forum! without your help and all of the "how to" guides I'm sure this would have taken much longer!

Cheers

Andy

Good stuff. Always good ( if a little traumatic,) to fire an engine back up after major surgery. If you don't know already, the oil temperature gauge is the tool to prevent a recurrence of the head gasket failure. A light aircraft I use has a Rotax flat four and I don't taxy until there is temperature on the gauge. £18,000 for a new engine and a wish to avoid unscheduled landings are a good incentive to treat it well! The K series is similarly demanding; as long as you have oil temperature, you can use it properly. If not, stay below 3000 RPM. Enjoy!

Andy661 wrote:

Hi all,

Also the throttle cable feels a bit juddery, almost like its gunked up - I plan to check the routing just to be sure its not kinked anywhere, but is it possible to just put a few drips of oil down the ends of the sleeve to lube it?

Don't rush out and buy a new throttle cable, as I and others have done, only to find it makes no difference. Troubleshoot it thoroughly as it could be the throttle body or (more likely, I think) the pedal, especially the bushes. See this post.

Thanks guys...

Will have a play with the pedal tomorrow...

Minimax I know exactly what you mean... When I lived in Dubai I used to fly microlights (Aeroprakt A22's) with the ROTAX 912, great engine but not the most forgiving... always nice having that little black and yellow handle for the BRS though for comfort! :lol:

Rotaxes are great if looked after. A C42 of my acquaintance ran one as an ab initio trainer for over 7,000 hours. (only one in flight incident- my third flight in it. Split its radiator. Glide home from Whiteparish to Old Sarum. We were at 5,000 doing stalls when the temperature gauge told us not to.) 75 BHP per litre from an aero engine is pretty decent but I'm well off topic.
My project is awaiting time from me. I've just re oiled the air filter and will fit it back on Friday, A friend's wife is sewing Velcro to strong elastic to make the roof bow tensioner straps and the touch up paint is here. Removal of the gauges and the swap will happen on Boxing day, in order to keep me out of the way and then I need to soak all the necessary bolts for the displacers with loosenin juice as I have rivnuts on order for them.. I'm trying to source a set of displacers for refurb which will make this job easier.If those on my car are sound enough, I'll do the refurb on those and sell them on. The door handles have to come off to touch in behind them and one of the windows wants greasing so that should keep me in mischief for a few days, The float switch and pressure transducer are on their way for the HG protection system and I've printed off a full set of circuit diagrams . The software for the pressure alarm is forming in my head and I shall contrive to make the oil temperature warning lamp flash in order to draw attention to the fault condition without drilling any holes. (a couple of Schottky diodes will allow the oil temperature lamp to perform its usual function as well.) I need to source the hardtop Molex connector as well so I can connect up the HRW in the hood. Who knows. I might even find some time to drive it!

Old Sarum suggests you are pretty close to me...

I'm in Dorchester, Dorset but used to go gliding every weekend at Upavon...

Perhaps we have a chance to meetup someday... :woohoo:

I'm sure it will happen. I'm in Poole but flew out of a farm strip near Romsey and OS until it was closed.

I cured my stick throttle by cleaning out the gummed up throttle body.

The throttle cable has a PTFE lining , so oiling will possibly not help!! check the throttle body first.