Project 1974 MGB GT - The Mustard (Mit) Mobility Scooter - 6yrs ownership & the end is potentially nigh!

[captain_70s]

I found trying to get my twin SUs balanced on my 1850 was a right pain in the arse, never seemed to get the things just right.

I find a Colortune is fine for getting the car "in the ballpark" but I've always had to do further adjustments by ear after roadtesting.

[1970mgb]

I've never had much luck with a Colortune.

If you do use one, per John Twist, at least for typical American fuel, you should aim for a ruby red color and not for "bunsen blue" as the makers specify.

Speaking for myself, I've tried the Unisyn, but have had mixed luck. I find that it often ends up disrupting the flow through the carb. I just use a long piece of hose to listen instead.

I've also found the piston lift test to give good results, although ultimately both reading the plugs and road tuning allow me to get that last little bit out of the carbs.

[SiC]

The insulation material on the transmission tunnel under the carpet, if I understand correctly is asbestos based. It's been bugging me the whole time it's been there.

Is it actually asbestos?

What is the safest way to remove it? Remove carpets & seats, wet area down and maybe seal with duct tape? I rather not leave it in the car and as a car is a moving + bending object, it's not really being left undisturbed.

[LightBulbFun]

if its white asbestos I would not worry about it, from what I understand white asbestos is fine as long you dont go literally snorting the stuff with a rolled up five quid note

its the blue stuff that you really gotta watch out for

its a good thing your not a lighting collector, I could give myself mercury poisoning (I have a nice juicey mercury tilt switch) berylliosis (most 1940s fluorescent tubes use a phosphor powder containing beryllium) and asbestosis (my 1960s Mazda Neataline uses white asbestos to insulate its ballasting resistor) all in one go if I really wanted too LOL

 

I recommend watching this bigclive video if your worried about asbestos

 

[1970mgb]

I haven't seen a definitive confirmation, but it's PROBABLY asbestos and if it is, it is almost certainly chrysolite(i.e. the relatively benign kind).

If your transmission tunnel is flexing THAT much, you have other issues. Otherwise, as long as it's not friable and is covered by carpet, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. An hour on the road, especially in warmer weather, can REALLY make you appreciate having a nice layer of insulation around the transmission tunnel.

I'd venture to guess that your chances of getting cancer from exhaust fumes and gasoline vapor in an MGB are MUCH higher than those from a small small, stationary asbestos mat that is covered with carpet.

If you must remove it, after you peel back the carpet soak it with water and remove it in one piece, or as few pieces as possible. Go slowly and try to avoid tearing or otherwise damaging it. Immediately bag it in a heavy garbage bag and seal it up. Use a second bag if you want to be safe. I wouldn't have any reservations about landfilling it, but to be a good citizen it's probably a good idea to contact the nearest hazardous waste collection facility and ask if they will take it. If you do that, be sure it's clearly labeled and well sealed.

Removing it is likely to release more asbestos than it will release by remaining undisturbed for another 50 years.

[Zelandeth]

Don't worry about it unless you have to disturb it would be my vote.

Especially if you're likely to have as much of a hellish time getting rid of it as I did when I was trying to dispose of a tiny (less than 2" square) heat shield from an old radio a while back.  You'd have thought I had walked into the recycling centre with a vat leaking glowing radioactive waste.  That was after I'd phoned ahead to ensure they could take it too.  When after fifteen minutes of arguing they did take it, they chucked it straight in the non recyclable household waste skip...made me wonder why I even bothered to follow the rules.

[New POD]

Have you ever soldered Cooper pipes. 

The flux cleans up copper contacts quite well. 

[busmansholiday]

Leave it alone, and if I remember I'll have a look at my '73 GT when I get back to check what it's made of. If it is, paint it or use a water wood glue mix to seal it. Taking it off is more risky than leaving it and as Zel has said, correct disposal is a nightmare.

[loserone]

Another alternative, cover it in some thin rubber matting before putting the carpet back.  Glued down, that will provide additional insulation and more assurance that the asbestos isn't going to escape.

[SiC]

The insulation, whatever it is made from, is already breaking up at the back and also where the carpet rubs against it. I'd rather it out and gone to be honest. If it does get too hot around that area, replace it with a modern, safer equivalent. 

[Mally]

Pity it's not a Roadster, the rain would damp it down.

You worry about things unnecessarily.

[PhilA]

Flux cleans brass well but is quite corrosive and needs to be thoroughly cleaned off afterwards.

 

Get yourself a bottle of this, with the little needle top like in the picture. Takes only a tiny amount.

Switches, spade connectors, bullet connectors, fuses.. good for steel, aluminum, brass. Also acts as a lubricant and makes sticking connectors not jam up solid but slide on and clip onto place like they should. 

Made unreliable Lucas switches with that kinda springy resistive clunk into a positive click action. I never had any bad electrical connections on my cars after using it. Also excellent for printers, guitars (headphone jacks etc), radios etc etc.

 

Phil

[egg]

That looks good Phil, but about £25 on ebay, is that what it costs?

[PhilA]

Yeah, it's not cheap but that bottle will go a long way.

 

Phil

[SiC]

Been getting home late recently from work, so have done a few little jobs that I keep meaning to do.

 

Old fusebox

 

New fusebox. Plan to get some of that magic potion PhilA has suggested and give the spades a clean up.

 

Lights have always piss poor. Literally like candles on the front when on dipped. Like many cars of this era, the lights are switched through a switch and not a relay. I do have a relay kit I'll fit eventually but in the short term I decided to clean the switch.

 

Popped the switch out. Notice the horrible scotch lock. That I think is there to power the little map reading light on the passenger side.

 

There was this wire attached too. Not sure if the other end was connected to something before I pulled the switch out or if it's just left hanging in there. If it was connected to something, I have no idea what it was, as everything appears to work still! Either way, a wire like that on a live is asking for trouble.

 

How it should be wired

 

Pulled the switch apart. This is what it looked like inside. I think they use some sort of grafite grease or something to stop the copper (?) contacts corroding/oxidising. Probably should put something back on after really.

 

After cleaning. Notice the deep grooves in the contacts. I flip the contact slider around to get a bit more life out of it. Will worry about it again when it's 80yrs old!

 

Gave my gear selector shaft a good clean too.

 

Three bolts and a tug got it free.

 

Gave the ball section a good clean with a bit of 400grit.

 

Popped a new bush on. The old wasn't awful and I'll be keeping it in the spares box. However it did have a little bit of play it in. £3.90 for this tiny bit of nylon or whatever it's made out of.

 

Liberal amounts of grease were applied to the bottom half of the shaft. Then all reassembled.

 

Also checked the gearbox oil level while I was busy fiddling. Reading a little bit under max which is good. Definitely leaking a bit as it was max last year, but the fluid loss is minimal and I'm not concerned. Eventually I'll get around to swapping the oil out in it to some proper gear oil. Bought some at Moss a while back and it's been sitting on the shelf since. The guys at Moss reckons it really helped smoothen up the shifting a lot in their MGBs, makes the box a lot nicer to use and improves the speed of the overdrive kicking in.

 

Tbh the shifting in it presently requires quite a bit of man handling to get it in. Reverse is into second initially and then too hands to get it into reverse! Hopefully the greasing up will help. Clutch hydro fluid is quite dark so wondering if the master isn't that healthy either. Fluid was changed when I put a new slave and flexis on, so it's not that old. It does work though, so its a job that can definitely wait.

 

Colortune on its way, so hopefully I'll get it dialed in a bit more this weekend. Providing I get home at a sensible time tomorrow, I may go for another evening run.

 

 

[1970mgb]

Did you get two Colortunes?

I'm not a fan of them, but ideally you should use one in Cylinder 1 and one in Cylinder 4 rather than using a single one at a time. The reason for this is that even though the rear cylinders are MOSTLY influenced by the rear carb and the fronts MOSTLY by the front carb, there is still some "cross talk" between them.

If you must use it, I still suggest piston lifting to guide you as to which carb to tweak. Remember also to look for cherry red and not blue as the instructions say(as per Twist).

Mine sit next to my Unisyn in the bottom of my toolbox, as I find piston lift gets me to the same place as the Colortune, which is a good baseline that still has room for improvement with road tuning.

Also, before you do ANY tuning other than the bare basics needed to get it running, I suggest getting everything good and warm. By that I don't mean just idling it until warm, but rather take a 30 minute+ drive and try to spend a good amount of time at 3K+ rpms. A nice backroad cruise where you can sustain 50-60mph for a good little ways is ideal, plus a few WOT stints(and run it up to the redline if you can do so safely) . That will get everything-including your oil-up to temperature and let you get things dialed in better.

[SiC]

Just the one. I was going to get two, but I'll see how well I get on with it first. Many people successfully tune twin carbs with the one Colortune.

I've got the much superior STE Synchrometer. Less fiddling to use and barely any restriction on the airflow. 

[1970mgb]

Well, if you must use it, just remember-drive first, then tune.

I promise it won't self-destruct from being a bit rich or whatever other problems ill it.

Also, I've lost track of whether or not you've fitted the electronic distributor, but remember that tuning always goes engine(valves, etc), ignition(plugs, wires, points, timing) and THEN carbs once you're sure everything else is correct.

[SiC]

Not done a Colortune yet, but I thought I'd pull the plugs and see were I was at. My inexpert eyes say these don't look too bad. Cleaned them up the other day and I've been for two (shortish) runs since. So don't expect them super nice. I've leaned up the back carb (plugs 3 and 4) just a smidgen too. 

Apart from the idle dropping down to 600-700rpm when sat at the lights for 30 seconds or so (revving clears it), she's seems much happier. The best she's ran since I can remember.

I've tempted fate now haven't I?!

Plug 1

Plug 2

Plug 3

Plug 4

[timolloyd]

Only one way to find out!

[1970mgb]

Back off the rear carb a few flats. I'd also advance the timing a tiny bit, as ideally you want the light/soot transition to be right at the bend in the ground strap(advancing tends to move it toward the plug body, retarding toward the tip).

Bear in mind also that the plugs only reflect the LAST state of the engine-if the engine idles a bit before being shut off, you're getting an idle reading and not a reading of what was happening when you were driving. When trying to nail things down, I've been known to shut off the engine and coast into a parking lot to stop and pull the plugs.

Also, there again, even if you ARE taking an idle reading, just take the thing out and flog it before you do...

[SiC]

Took some pictures. Shame about the moderns in the way.

I still don't fully trust it

I'm hoping fresh, quality oil will help this. However as I've said in a previous post, even if the engine blows now, I don't really care anymore. I'll just park it up in the garage until the 1100 is finished and then pull the engine for a rebuild/replacement.

Idle

3000rpm

Fuel gauge has packed up. DMM says it's this. Crappy repro parts. 

Fitted this from the 1100. Slightly different style but insides should be the same.

Gauge now reads but only just over half a tank. Either an awful lot leaked out when stood up the top or it's wrong. Could be either, especially as the pump fittings leaked when I got her back out.

[SiC]

Backs look to me still a tad rich, but I think I'll leave it alone for now. Idle still drops a bit when sat idling at lights. Revving clears it out.

Probably a good run to clear the cobwebs out could maybe help too.

Plug 1

Plug 2

Plug 3

Plug 4

[dozeydustman]

Plugs don't look too bad - yes a little on the strong side but certainly not fully coked up so I don't think the mixture is too far out. A few good blezzes about in it will clear a lot of the crap out of the system. Where you did naff all miles in it last year it probably didn't spend much time off of choke hence the black outers of the plugs - the centre electrode & insulator aren't too far off the perfect 'biscuit' colour.

Oil pressure - you've really nothing to worry about, gauge shows a healthy enough pressure for a well used but not shagged engine to me. 20-50psi hot idling oil pressure is normal for a B-series. 0-10psi indicates a worn out engine with fresh oil.

[1970mgb]

If you advanced the timing at my suggestion in my last post, which it looks like you did from the plugs, I'd now suggest retarding it 1-2º. You're close, though, especially once you get the rear leaned out.

[SiC]

Timing is untouched. In fact the only difference between those two sets of plug pictures is a 7 miles drive with me thrashing it around locally.

Remember however I still have the cheap/crappy repro distributor on there. Still need to sort either getting the electronic one having its rubbish immobiliser function removed or get the original rebuilt. However the cheapy works, so a Low priority in changing it. Much higher priority right now is getting the car used. 

[1970mgb]

I'd agree-just getting out and driving it is the best thing.

In the mean time-especially since you have a spare-send your original to the Distributor Doctor and have him rebuild as a 40897.

[Dick Longbridge]

Love the photo of the GT with the church in the background, but definitely needs a revisit when the moderns aren’t around. 

Hope you’re driving it this weekend.

[stripped fred]

I think SIC prefers tinkering to driving. I suppose that is part of the fun of an old car.

[captain_70s]

I could never turn my Dolly accurately on the plugs due to the amount of burnt oil on them... BL life at it's finest.

The stash of tools in the boot isn't all that dissimilar to what I used to cart around in the 1300 when it was the daily. Don't bother taking tools in the Acclaim really as it so infrequently needs anything doing to it... Hopefully you'll be able to get some use out of the GT now the weather is looking a bit nicer.