MG Sports Cars

I don't recall if it was above here or in the email thread, but I recall seeing that with the PCV replaced with a breather, they didn't need to add any oil on the leg from Jim's to where it is now.

PJ,
I meant you didn't stand a chance with the ign because we didn't know that there would be no 12 volts when in the run position without the engine cranking. Max did not know either.
We added no oil from Jim's to here (520 miles). That problem is fixed.
I will check the fuel pump wiring when it is on the lift.
I also hope to get the wheel balance checked as it has a lot steering wheel shake at speed.

Steve

Quote:

We added no oil from Jim's to here (520 miles). That problem is fixed.

Awesome!

I think that some of the steering wheel shake is wear in the steering rack. My dad had a shake in the steering on his '63 B that we couldn't get rid of until he bought a new rack & pinion unit.

I was thinking the shake was in the column. I have a spare column or two and at least one steering rack that I think came from a CB car. If any of that would be helpful - even for parts, let me know.

Some steering shake can be eliminated by tightening up the rack ends (spherical ends of the tie rods) - not a difficult process but can be a little awkward if done in situ.
One of the tests I use for a loose tie rod ball end condition is to thump the outside of tire with your fist (directly in line with the outer tie rod end) and if there is an audible clunk, then the rack end needs tightening.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/20/2012 05:46PM by ex-tyke.

Update:
Ran until the gas gauge read about 1/4. That is when sitting still. Put 10.2 gal in. Gauge really is fairly accurate. If the needle would just stay still you could read it while moving. It had 155.7 mile on that tank.
Cig lighter circuit blew at Jim's. I have been using my jumper battery to run the GPS. I put a circuit breaker in it today. It will reset when is shorts again.
May have fixed the gas sloshing out. It did not lose any after filling today, but I didn't push it hard.
Next is the shimmy and shake. Will try rebalancing the tires. Then look at the rack.
Trans: Must double clutch to get from 4 to 3 now. Not hard, but sometimes a not convenient

Steve.

Update:
Adjusted the clutch up from the floor a little. No joy on the 4/3 shift.
Greased the car while in the air.
A little play in the rack.

Will try the wheel balance on Tuesday.

Steve

Busy guy, getting a lot done. Let's all raise a glass in a toast to Steve.

Here! Here!! For he's a jolly good fella!!!

Great going, Steve! I take it you are enjoying retirement? ;)

Not sure what the deal is on the gas gauge. It worked fine way back when I had it. I ran the car down to the fumes (10 miles with it on E) driving home from WV. The gauge worked smoothly all the way to E. When I finally found a gas station, I put more gas in than I thought it should hold (13.2 gallons). A reputable Shell station in case anyone is thinking gas pump issue.

Carl,
I agree about the gas gauge. I have put 12.2 gal in when I had it before.
Will run it down and see. Plan to carry extra gas with at the time.

Steve

The dashboard gage has no damping. So when the float moves it does too. There is a lot of slosh in the tank. Imagine a cork floating in a five gallon bucket half full sitting in the passenger's seat. That is what you are seeing. The only way to fix it is to damp the movement of the gage (by filling it with mineral oil...doubt we can do this), damp the sender (by increasing resistance at the pivot...impractical and unreliable), or by damping the signal electrically. We tried this last solution and it did help some. It is documented in this thread. It was removed during troubleshooting of potentially related electrical issues and never reinstalled. If there is a large can capacitor with a twisted wire pair in the spares, that is the kit.

Jim

My experience with the gauge during my short time behind the wheel (Muskegon, MI to Champaign, IL during the Power Tour) was that the gauge was NOT reliable at all.

I saw no smooth movement towards the "E"...a 3/4 tank indication meant that I had about 1/2 tank...I started looking for a gas station when the needle hit 1/4, knowing that the end was near.

The voltmeter, the oil psi, and air suspension psi gauge were the only gauges that I trusted.

The speedo, the tach, odometer, and the fuel gauge were all FUBAR.

I used my GPS for my speed indicator and odometer.

I pretty much agree. The speedo was reading 2/3 scale, and the tach was totally unusable except to show the engine was running. Maybe we should just stick a stock fuel gage back in it until we can come up with something better, and since the speedo sender used the cable hole, just find a stock T5 driven gear, plug that in and hook it up to a stock speedometer head.

A stock tach can be modified to read 8 cylinders I think. For the other gages maybe we can find something that matches reasonably close eventually.

Jim

Speedo should be easy to calibrate - I fould a place that deals (or dealt) with Stuart Warner gauges here in Houston when I had the car. They didn't have a spare key but offerred to let me borrow one. Unfortunately I got caught up messing with the starter & didn't get that taken care of. I'd think coming up with someone with a key near where the car is wouldn't be too difficult -- although may not be the highest priority either.

I think we have the calibration switch. I will look for it and then pull the dash and install it.

steve

Update:
Wheel balance: Left front was way out of balance and right front was a little out. Corrected both.
Rear were spot on. One center cap broke up when we removed it, I will try to glue it back together.
The front end shake is much reduced, not gone but reduced. Now you can really feel the drive line shake. I starts about 75 and is really bad at 85. Should I try raising or lowing the rear of the car? This is not in my area of knowledge.

Gas gauge: I ran the car till the gauge was bouncing of E and put in 11.5 gal. It does move too much, but is fairly accurate.

Next is the speedo.

Steve

Drive line as in pinion angle being off? If so the goal is parallel but on different planes. So if transmission angles down @ n° the diff should also. If the trans tail and diff flange are at the same height then offset would need to be left/right. Not sure how this was planned for when setting the driveline so don't know if you can shim the diff mount to adjust angle or if there's some other way.

Hey all:

First off, Big Thanks to Steve for tackling the tasks! And great Job by everyone involved with the PCV fix! Indeed, a collective sigh of relief. :-)

Some random thoughts, otherwise...

a) RE: coil. Are we now carrying a spare relay (Dan Masters?)? I'm wondering if the death of the coil might have fried the points on the ignition relay and it'll soon be on it's way out as well... :-/
b) Vibration. Steering rack? Driveshaft? Did we ever get that Toe Out condition in the rear fixed?
c) Rear Diff. Unless someone else wants to beat me to this, I probably should volunteer to come up with this (seeing as how The Circus has numerous parts Jags lying about.) Dan/Jim: what year ranges of Jag will provide an appropriate donor? (And is the V-12 an option? MUCH lower ratio!)
d) I agree those gauges have outworn their welcome. Time is also worth money and we've spent Hundreds of dollars in man-hours by now @#$%& with them. (pardon my American Swear).
e) Thinking ahead: Bill-- do we try to de-cam the motor when it comes out for the inevitable tranny swap?

M

Max,
Vibration now seems to be mostly from the drive line. I will look at the drive shaft angles, but what about the drive axles?
We narrowed the rear end, could the drive axles be the problem?
The engine does not have to come out for a trans swap. the present trans will last for years, just double clutch the 4/3 shift or plan around it.
Someone please tell me if we are going to replace the gauges soon. If I pull the dash to fix the speedo and then the gauges get replaced soon you will be on the receiving end of my wrath. I hate working with dashes.

Steve