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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - exhast, carb and archive questions
Hi, I'm new here and find it great fun reading the comments. 3 questions, #1- If I get headers do I need to get a bigger muffler to realize the benefits? I have a 1275 with the older single muffler. #2 what is the best carburetor upgrade, bang for the buck, or is it even worth it? #3 Is there archives of these discussions? as they seem current but disappearing fast. OK one more #4 I sometimes see parts and such on eBay that the seller is not willing to ship from the UK to Canada. Is there some service over there I could employ to do this shipping for me so I could bid and buy these parts? Thanx a 73 RWA and it's real and it's awesome, I remember back in highschool, looking at this car in the showroom back in 73, wondering if the RWA was any good and then driving away in my 64 or what ever it was. |
Greg Ustina |
1. yes, an RC40 backbox will work well 2. d'you want better performance or economy? Carb on its own does little; a weber with a flowed big-valve head and a different cam can give up to 50% more power. A single HIF44 can give more miles or more power depending on the spec of the other parts. 3. you need to join as a member (free registration) to see and search the archives. 4. not that I'm aware of; many ebayers are lazy and won't ship abroad, airmail post has a limit of 2kg too. Above that it gets silly expensive. But it's always worth asking the seller. |
David Smith |
For shipping, you could try www.parcels2go.com they collect for you and courier using fedex for North America. Their minimum charge for USA/Canada is �18.03 but that would be for 1Kg probably! I've used them a couple of times for shipping, once to Portugal and once in the UK to collect something for me, no problems and a good price, but transatlantic has got to be a whole different ball game. |
Graham P 1330 Frogeye |
Thanks very much, the answers are suprisingly helpful for me. ho ho ho ... |
Greg Ustina |
"A single HIF44 can give more miles or more power depending on the spec of the other parts." A HS6 will do too. Basicly the same carb but older thus simpler. And the HIF44 and HS6 can be more economic AND producting more power. Especially the pick up when you depress the throttle can be quicker. Above 4500 RPM according to Vizard its advisable to throw in some serious money for a Weber. Speaking of Webers a DCOE40 will do but the DCOE45 is more comon. Bas |
Bas Timmermans |
Can I be the first to say 'David Vizard'. His book 'Tuning the A-Series Engine' will answer all your questions and many you haven't even thought of yet!! It can get a bit technical, but if you're interested in getting more out of your engine, get yourself a copy from the library or EBay... |
MarkH |
And spend a winter of reading and dreaming:-) |
Bas Timmermans |
The book is in the mail and I'm looking forward to it, plus another similar one coming out next month. What I'm thinking of doing is, #1 11/16 Farb #2 mintex pads #3 headers and muffler ( which really hurts because it just had a new exhaust right before I bought it ) #4 5 speed trans (because the motor is stock but it's sure tight, not that long since a great rebuild) Plus Leather Integra seats I'm going to look at tomorrow, a gas pedal out of a 1500 and control cable run through a Teflon coated bicycle cable shroud. I heard there is a kit coming out for implanting a Toyota motor. I had an MR2 and that's a nice motor but hard for me to work on. ( even my mechanic said he had to buy a special tool to adjust the valves and then after half an hour threw the tool away and went back to dickin around with a screwdriver ) And The MR2, voted by Playboy magazine as one of the most fun cars ever built or something, and amazing to drive but a stock 1275 midget in a bumpy corner is something else altogether, almost like a horse on a ice rink. Incredible fun. Still I want to put a couple bucks into it. Somebody has to save the economy. And if I do go for the Toyota motor later I can sell this set up to somebody with a Mk I or something. Dream dream dream, it is scary how much money I'd like to put into it. I'm leaning towards the alloy head and that side draft webber that looks so kool and ... Thanks agian Greg |
Greg Ustina |
New exhaust just before you bought the car? THATS GREAT! sell it on ebay to recoup the losses you'll make on the performance exhaust. let me say from expirience that after putting in a 1.5" diameter ceramic coated maniflow exhaust system with an LCB maniflow ceramic coated manifold, it offered a noticible reduction in underhood temperature, and a noticeable increase in power. Its a glass pack and its quiet inside the cabin but it sounds great. With th cearbs I would think hard about how you drive. Most of street driving occurs in the 2000-4500 rpm range. It may not be often that you'll take it to 5000 rpm and beyond. In my expirience the powerband with a stock cam and stock carb set up is somewhere around 2500 or 3000-4500 with a noticable drop in power by 5000. One of the big things that will give you more hp is improving flow in and out of the engine. The header and exhaust system will give the most immediate benefit, but for the carbs to make much of a difference, you're probibly looking at some work on the cylindar head, say having larger valves installed port polish etc. Then you could look at twin HS4 and cam set up. I have the 5 speed from rivergate restoration products installed in my car. I love it. I get 45 mpg cruising at 55mph and its much easier on the engine. The speedo drive never quits like it does with the stock unit, and since I have installed it someone has even found a way to adapt the reverse light switch to work. Ask rivergate about that. It was tough to shoehrn it in place but the only complaint I have besides that is, that the non rebuilt unit I bought on ebay, has worn sincroes in second gear after 10000 miles of "spirited" driving -seth |
S.A. Jones |
Seth, ...... I have the 5 speed from rivergate restoration products installed in my car. I love it. I get 45 mpg cruising at 55mph and its much easier on the engine. The speedo drive never quits like it does with the stock unit, and since I have installed it someone has even found a way to adapt the reverse light switch to work. Ask rivergate about that. It was tough to shoehrn it in place but the only complaint I have besides that is, that the non rebuilt unit I bought on ebay, has worn sincroes in second gear after 10000 miles of "spirited" driving ...... I also run the Rivergate and find that perhaps it has put demands on the engine which it did not come from the factory prepared for (see my thread). I am looking to rebuild in a manner that will improve performance in 5th, especially in the 65mph to 75mph. A couple of other things... I find that second gear syncro in the Datsun transmission has a very short life. I assume this is due to the shorter throw on the Midget shift lever. I imagine we crush into second while in the B210, the long stick gave things some time for gears to reach their natural speeds before the syncro demanded engagement. I have rebuilt the Datsun transmission a couple of times in an effort to achieve proper 2nd gear syncro life to no avail. Make sure that your speedo reduction is correct and that your odometer gears are proper. I spent quite a bit of time calibrating the odometer and speedometer and finally got it right. The car was delivered in 1971 with the odometer reading about 15% high. If I recall correctly, the right odometer gear is the green one. Rivergate�s reduction unit was actually quite close for speed. Now that it is spot on, my fuel economy coasting down hills and driving conservatively on the highway dropped to about 34 MPG. So I had been fooling myself all of those years with 42 MPG results. Would appreciate any upgrades you would recommend for upcoming engine rebuild that would boost torque in that 3,200 RPM to 3,700 RPM range that is the Rivergate sweet spot. Exhaust and larger valves sound like good options. Glenn |
glenn Mallory |
This thread was discussed between 21/09/2008 and 28/09/2008
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