MG Sports Cars

Well, spent the weekend working on the car. My dad & brother-in-law helped -- fun time. Lot's of work - we were able to test fire it last night (ok, early this morning). Ran rough but it's not timed yet (didn't notice till last night there's no pointer on the Vintage Air front runner timing cover so I'll have to find TDC). Also, my water pump is leaking like a siv. Like the gasket isn't even there -- but it is. That'll be a pain but it was still a major milestone! At first it was way louder than I recalled - then realized there's a hole that goes to exhaust on the back of each head. Plugged them & it got queter ;).

Congratulations!!! Keep us posted...

Supper Rob, congrats, you’re way ahead of me. And thanks, not being a very knowledgeable Ford guy I didn’t know about the holes on the back of the heads. Do all Ford heads have them?

Not sure about all Fords or even all 302's but they're on the back of Ford's aluminum GT40 heads. They're 5/8" coarse thread. Apparently they make a plug that is then tapped (but not through) at 3/8" that you can use to mount a bracket if you need one back there. I just cut off some bolts to plug the holes for now.

On most Ford V8's from the 80's on the holes were for exhaust gas recerculation pipes.

Steve

Great news Rob, I will look forward to seeing you on the way to Indy. Let me know and we can meet up and drive together up I-65 to Indy. I think the holes were call "Thermactor Ports" for the air pump. I do not remember seeing any air pumps on the 5.0L Mustangs, everyone took them off. Keep pluggin!
SAFETY FASTER!

Quote:

.....Also, my water pump is leaking like a siv. Like the gasket isn't even there.....

Rob,
Ford water pumps are a PITA for leakage - I've had some issues in the past.
Two gaskets required (one for the backing plate) and use silicone gasket maker on all surfaces - try to let the silicone set up a bit before assembling the pump to the front cover. Tighten the bolts basically finger tight or < 5ft-lb until the silicone sets and then torque the bolts to spec.(15-21 ft-lb).
Glad you're making progress. Small setbacks (such as the leaky WP) are inevitable.

Just ask Steve Carrick. ;)

Good info, thanks Graham.

On a related topic (although maybe I should post this in it's own thread)... Anyone with a 302 & Autometer gauges? The oil pressure sender from Autometer is a can about 1 1/2" diameter & 2" long -- don't think it's going to fit without some sort of flex hose btwn it & the block. Autometer says their gauge will only work with their sender -- true? What's the solution?


I'm in Austin till Wed. Hope to be back at it Thursday evening.

Rob,
Your post was perfectly timed for me as the responses have addressed a few issues I was running into.

I didn't know about those holes either. On mine one of the holes has a brass bolt in it and the other had a broken off spark plug crammed in it.

A few days ago I pulled my engine out to paint it and assemble the front components. Changed it from two tone Chevy red/oily gunk to Ford blue this past weekend. After the paint dried I installed a new timing chain and gears and intended to install the timing cover and water pump. I'm changing from a V belt mechanical fuel pump timing cover and water pump setup to an Explorer/Mustang serpentine reverse flow. The ARP timing cover/water pump bolts I bought aren't suitable for a reverse flow setup. I spent a lot of time last night poking around on the internet looking for information on what bolts are needed and where to get them. Found two sources of info at Ford Bronco sites but not all the bolt lengths were listed so I went out and measured the depth of every hole in the timing cover / water pump assembly, measured the thread depth of every bolt hole, calculated the desired length of every bolt and found a web site that sells single stainless bolts. I'll order them today.

Then, just about in the nick of time, I learn this morning reading the posts that ford water pumps need sealant in addition to the gaskets. I wasn't going to use sealant but will now.

I'm using the same slave as you are. Do you have the part numbers for the pieces you used to adapt the MG hydraulic line to the slave?

Steve

Hey Steve,

I'm not a Ford expert by any stretch but I seem to recall a mismatch problem with timing covers and v belt vs serp belt waterpumps. I think it boils down to a separator plate difference but I'm not positive. I remember a water leak that rivaled a Vegas fountain on my old Austin shop truck.

Cheers
Fred

Fred,

You're correct, the serpentine reverse flow setup has no seperator plate between the timing cover and the water pump. The reverse timing cover also does not have a provison for a mechanical fuel pump.

Steve

Same info here; the short nose water pump from explorers, 5.0 t-birds, & 94/95 5.0 mustangs doesn't use the backing plate & the timing cover has a machined relief for the impeller which sticks out proud from the back of the pump.

Steve, for the clutch slave, made a plate that bolts to some existing holes on the tranny ribs & I used this push rod -- cut it down to fit. [www.speedwaymotors.com]. I plan to fill/bleed the clutch this weekend so I'll let you know how my set-up works. For connector pieces to adapt to the clutch line, I can't directly help you because I bent my own lines & don't recall what fitting is on the end of the stock line. The hole on the back of the slave takes a standard 3/8-24 inverted flare & you need the longer style flare nut for that. I made a short steel brake line (about 3" long) that goes in there & then used a 3/8-24 to AN3 adapter. From the adapter I used a stainless flex hose with AN3 fittings on both ends. The other end goes to another 3/8-24 to AN3 adapater that's held in place with a frame tab & it connects there to the hard line to the master. I'll try to take a couple of pics this weekend. You'd need to do something similar just using the right adapter for whatever the end of the MG hard line end is (probably either 3/8-24 inverted flare or bubble flare; someone here will know). Check this thread too as there's good info on the throw out bearing from Graham & others. [forum.britishv8.org]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/22/2010 01:18AM by rficalora.

More good news --- water pump isn't leaking after all. The clamp for the thermostat bypass hose wasn't tightened at the water pump end. Water was leaking from that & draining down so it looked like the bottom of the pump was leaking. Tightened that clamp & no more water leak.

Got the engine running pretty smooth but it pops through the carb every now & again. I'm assuming it's timing because it just occurred to me I only have about 6* initial timing right now -- I set it at 12, but forgot when I found TDC the edge of one of the timing cover bolts was lining up with the 6* mark on the balancer -- so when I timed it to 12* using that same bolt edge, I really only dialed in 6* of advance.

I also started installing my wiring harness today. That's a mess-o-wire!