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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - LCB Exhaust on a 1275 Sprite

Hello, everybody. I apologise if this has been covered in the archive, but I thought I would gather some opinions, if you'd like to share some, as technology/best practice moves on and I get confused easily (!): the exhaust on my Sprite, which had been blowing, is now disintegrating. It has been patched by previous owners, and then by me, so I think the time has come to let some mothballs out of my wallet and actually replace rather than patch. I like the idea of an LCB exhaust, from both a power and exhaust note point of view, but what system would you recommend? I'm still very much a learner at the oily bits and the internet, as ever, offers as much confusion as information to those with shaky knowledge, and I don't yet have a regular specialist having recently relocated (I'm not in Buckinghamshire, any more, but can't figure out how to remove it from my BBS user ID!). I would like to spend up to £100, I guess I'm going to have to spend up to £200, but I fear I might end up spending up to £300... so I don't want to do the wrong thing. So what LCB system would people recommend? And should I mate this to an RC40 backbox, as others on here seem to have done? I'm only looking at fast road use, maybe the odd hillclimb. I'm by no means an expert... all advice gratefully received! Thank you, Piers.
PG Colver

The LCB manifold that most people recommend is the Maniflow...and I just happen to have a new, unused one for sale ;o)

dave(at)o138(dot)freeserve(dot)co(dot)uk
Dave O'Neill 2

Get a Maniflow, absolutely no question about it in my mind. They are a fantastic design.
Rich Amos (1330cc Blaze Red '72)

Piers, buy Dave's manifold soon or I might have to!

I am using a "generic" Peco type LCB

It is a piece of rubbish, the jig in which it was assembled before welding seems to have been made by a blind drunken octopus with all the metalworking skills of a non-metalworking thing.

The ports do not line up at all and the centre branch needed to be nudged sideways almost 3/8" to get it onto the manifold studs and this was THE BEST ONE in the storeroom at the shop with the least wrong with it!*

Where it turns to travel under the floor of the car it actually just points at the road somewhere under the passenger seat which meant I had to bung the local blacksmith a fiver to heat it and get it roughly parallel to the ground in roughly the right direction.

But there is an upside, having the LCB lets my engine breathe far more easily. Ideally you will tie it to a stainless steel system and yes the RC40 is a popular setup around here

I am using a MGOC stainless system because it only cost me about £55, but the options are many. Next time around I would probably use RC40 myself

*picture=1000 words (really)


Bill

I have a maniflow LCB and an RC40 single back box and it is tons better that my previous standard set up.
One of the main differences is that at high revs on long journeys although the noise is now deeper, I don't have ringinging in my ears anymore that my old system used to bring on.
Same old Gary

I second (or is it 3rd/4th now) Maniflow and RC40 back box (i've got mine from Minispares). You'll find a noticeable improvement in torque over 3K rpm.

When installed, keep you eye on the mixture; you may have to richen up a flat (on both carbs) to compensate for additonal flow.

A
Anthony

Can I also suggest that you give CamCote a call and get it ceramic coated on the inside and outside; does wonders for the under bonnet temps!
Toby Anscombe

Just put a Maniflow manifold and Maniflow single box exhaust system. Superb fit and sounds good. Highly recommended!

Matt
Matt

Here it is in all its glory...


Dave O'Neill 2

ooh!

swoon!

etcetera...



:-)
Bill

1275 RWa.
I agree with the maniflow lcb vote.

Would have been easier to fit mine had i done so before putting the engine in, only a bit of metal bashing required where it passes through the frame en route to below floor.

I got them to do a one very heavy box across the back system as it helps to tuck it up out of the way. It sounds good and i think it will be O.K on runs - very noisy exhausts i find tiring after a while.
That is not to say they shouldn't have a nice roar through the gears !!

R.
richard boobier

PG Colver,

Take Tobys advice, I highly recommend it, if you go cheap on anything else, make sure you get it ceraimic coated,,,absolutly essintial....you dont, make sure you keep a heavy wool blanket behind the seat for those days when the outside temp is 85 degrees or hotter so you can cover up your body from the 300 degree BBQ machine thats sitting just inches away in front of your steering wheel.


the heat that comes out of a header compared to an old cast iron manifold is night aand day.


prop
Prop

If it's a standard engine then don't go too large on the bore. I had a 1 & 5/8" system on my 1275 and it sounded lovely. it was a Moss mild steel manifold and s/s one box exhaust. Was about £200 in total I think.

I don't see why you need to ceramic coat it, for a standard engine I don't see why it's worth it. Make sure you have a good carb heatshield to prevent fuel vapourisation. Ceramic coating isn't cheap either, £70 + VAT + carriage for the manifold alone.

Matt
Tarquin

go with Maniflow as the others say; cheapest source is Dave O's or if you want a reasonably-priced retailer then talk to Kim at Magic midget, he will match a system to your car state of tune and intended use
http://www.magicmidget.co.uk/
David Smith(davidDOTsmithATstonesDOTcom

I may be wrong here, but when I got my Maniflow I interpreted their information that the genuine LCB manifold is better suited to the smaller A series engines, and not the 1275. The Maniflow manifold that they recommended for the 1275 is a 3 into 2 into one design, not their LCB version. But it looks fairly similar and I think most would call it an LCB system.

Guy
Guy Weller

If you have a reasonable spec engine then go for the LCB II manifold and the reverse megaphone center section; will do wonders for the bottom end.

Again, ceramic coating will add another £100 on top but will stop any heat soak that you might get.
Toby Anscombe

If your car is low, ask for a competition manifold. It fits closer to the floor pan. I cannot get mine off with the head on. Am I the only one? I agree with Toby, go for the latest one with the reverse cone and larger diameter middle pipe. The reports glow.
Shawn

Fascinating opinions:

Prop, in Missouri, in the warmer parts of the US,
sez go fer the ceramic coating.

Tarquin, in the frozen wastes of West Yorks, does
not see the need.

Can you see the pattern?? I have worn a sweater
during the summer in Holmfirth. Never in Missouri.

chuck

c c

Although bear in mind I will be ceramic coating the manifolds of the V8...
Tarquin

Has anybody tried this product for DIY ceramic coating,,,seems popular...

http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/products/ProductDetail.asp?cls=MSPORT&pcode=NIM1706

this site has a similar product, but cant remember its name....but still a great site to look at...


http://www.caswellplating.com/index.html


prop
Prop

here is the same thing as Cermakrome(ceramic coating) but from casswell plating



http://www.caswellplating.com/powder/ceramics.html.


prop
Prop

Maniflow.

Fin!
Nick





....er. What does LCB mean ?
Arthur

Arthur,

Long Centre Branch
David Billington

Arthur,
For a few more details...
The 5-port head, as used on many MGs, has both cylinder 2 and 3 going out through the middle pipe of the three on the header ("siamesed"). Someone a long time ago discovered that by keeping that centre pipe separate from the others for a greater distance and joining the pipes from cylinders 1 and 4 together sooner, a better balance of pressures can be achieved (or some such effect). Anyway, the LCB header is generally considered to be the best design for siamesed ports like the A-Series engine uses.

The 1500 Triumph engine, OTOH, benefits nicely from the 4-2-1 design which blends the 4 pipes into 2 pipes and then the 2 pipes into 1 pipe. I imagine the 8-port head of the 1500 was one of the factors leading to the decision to "federalize" the 1500 rather than the 1275 in the mid-70's.
David "a little exhausted" Lieb
David Lieb



Both Davids, thanks very much for the info. Mine's a LCB. Pardon my ignorance.
Arthur

Hello again, everybody. Sorry to start a thread then disappear: my wife's just come out of hospital so I lost a few days looking after her, the kids, the in-laws who moved in to 'help'... but it's all a bit calmer now so back to the important stuff: Spridget exhausts.

Thank you so much for all the various tips. Sounds like I'm now in the market for a Maniflow LCB and an RC40 back box.

Dave: I admire a well-timed piece of marketing, I will email you shortly, assuming Bill hasn't beaten me to the draw...

Prop: Thank you for the helpful advice, but please call me Piers; I feel like the headmaster or something with BBS labelling me 'PG Colver'! I don't remember registering in detail but I don't know why I come up with that label. I'm just a rookie here, after all, and with all the knowledge you so freely share I should at least have you call me by my first name!

All of you: thank you again for the clear and helpful advice, much appreciated, I hope to put it into effect on the car before 24th May!

Piers
PG Colver

PG clover = Piers

No problem, piers. You might go back to the reg. page when you have a chance and change your name to Piers....good luck and keep us posted, I hope the misuse is doing well and up and about....was her alinment serious ?

prop
Prop

Clover?
Misuse?
Alinment?

Rearrange these words to make a well-known phrase or saying....
Steve Clark

I think the registration page is just taking time to update, I told it I am no longer in Buckinghamshire a couple of weeks ago.

Not serious any more, Prop, thank you for asking. She travelled to the US Monday before last on business, I picked her up from the airport using airport transfers tunbridge wells on her arrival back in the UK on the Thursday and within two hours she had been struck down by a mystery bug, struggling to breathe. I took her to the doctor and he sent us straight to hospital, as she was visibly worsening, telling me not to stop in at home to tell the kids we were going. A seven-seater Chrysler never covered 40 miles on country lanes quite that rapidly... She was released from hospital a week later, the end of this week just gone. Turns out she was very unlucky, picking up a virus that wiped out her immune system and then a nasty infection that took advantage of that to lay her low, presented as a nasty chest infection with a heavy fever etc. Apparently European antibiotics aren't that effective on US bugs and vice versa - wouldn't you think that someone would sort that out? - so that and the fact it was two bugs at once had the doctors foxed for a while. Not fun as Claire was on oxygen and unable to walk while they scratched their heads. Anyway, sorry, probably more detail than you were after but yes, she's back home now and just very tired with a very sore throat. Bad luck, particularly as she was in a good hotel in New York, on business, eating in decent restaurants. Hardly risky foreign travel, from a health point of view!

Fortunately now the Sprite's ailments are all I have to worry about. Thank you for your interest.
PG Colver

You would be surprised, this time of year I try to avoid populated areas, just alot of stuff going around....Ill whizz in the parking lot before I use a public restroom, basically hand washing every 20 minunte is how I stay healthy, and avoid hand shacking as much as possiable. one of the problems we have with illiness is it comes across the boarder real bad due to illegals from the south of the boarder....which restraunts and hotels are a common place for illeagles to work....so might have done better looking for a antibotic more compatable with mexico flus would have been a better option...there is a town about 40 miles down the road thats heavly illeagle mexican/old farmers with a carrgile trukey processing plant, and illness is just running rampent over there, had to shut the factory down for 1 out of there 3 shift over the past week and brought in a med. team to get all the illeagles healthy agian.
so I know what your talking about.

prop
Prop

This thread was discussed between 14/03/2008 and 17/03/2008

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

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