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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Update on Uprated air cleaner

Hi lads
a while back posted I posted on increasing airflow through a standard 1500 air cleaner by increasing the inlet tubes to 50mm. It works, especially at 4000 rpm up to the red line. using standard paper elements as well.
Cheers Rod
R W Bowers

Some time back on the MGA thread there was much interesting discussion on the use of stub stacks within the SU airfilter to increase and smooth out airflow. This led to a chap designing and developing and ultimately selling a stub stack for use on 1.5in SU's.
They were tested both on road and rolling road showing an increase in both BHP and torque. Improved driveability was also suggested.
Alan
Alan Anstead

Do you think a similar modification (by cutting off some of narrower pipework to increase the diameter) on the standard 'saucepan' air cleaners on an A series would have equivalent effects?
Jeremy Tickle

Hi Jeremy
does the air cleaner suck hot from the engine bay? If yes you may get an improvement by getting some clean cool air from the front of the car. Remember that 1500's, especially in hotter climes, suffer from overheating. Removing obstructions to airflow must surely be beneficial. In short I reckon yes it will help.
cheers
PS here's another look at the mod


R W Bowers

Hi Rod,
yes it does but the A series air cleaners are like two saucepans joined together but with their handles pointing in opposite directions if you see what I mean (haven't any photos on this laptop!), so both air intakes are in the engine bay but facing opposite directions. I may have to ask Santa for a K&N filter or scour ebay for a s/h one!
Jeremy Tickle

Found one!


Jeremy Tickle

Jeremy,
I might have s/h K&N filter(s) for sale later, before Xmas

if you use them with the stubs stacks then you'll probably need different carb needles too
Nigel Atkins

Thanks Nigel,
be grateful if you can let me know if/when you want to sell them as I may be interested.
Do they look like this?



Jeremy Tickle

one of them might do but second (or third) hand

whichever I'll post up here first as I did with my cooling fan

I've got to be honest I won't remember who was interested and if I remember Jeremy I won't the surname

things are in a state of flux at the moment, until next week I won't know if I'm on my a*se or my elbow so can't plan beyond then
Nigel Atkins

Have you seen this?

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C494177

Rob
Rob aka MG Moneypit

that's a truer representation of the colour of the filter when it's been used and the fact the element doesn't fully extend to the end of the back and face plates

I'm glad I added zinc plated dome nuts to mine as that's how I remember them being years ago and for once my memory seems right

just noticed the price on the filter there, very good

but not all LCBs are equal with some being much better than others
Nigel Atkins

Jeremy,
I'd grab that at £40!! - http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C494177

the cleaner and oil kit is only about £10 and you'd probably get four clean and re-oils out of it

Nigel Atkins

link to colour web page with clearer instructions -
http://www.knfilters.co.uk/clningins.aspx?pkid=1631106&rw=5

below instruction sheet in box


Nigel Atkins

Thanks Rob and Nigel, much appreciated and it's in Ormskirk which is only 8 miles away; I'll contact the seller and see if it's still for sale.
Jeremy Tickle

A while back I posted my remote filter and airbox set-up for my 1500 - if anyone's interested I'll bump the thread.
Nick Nakorn

Careful, Jeremy,
that is not the correct filter for the covers. It looks dodgy to me.
You might regret it...
have another look.
Dave
Dave Brown

Thanks Dave,
should the filter extend to the edges of the covers or is there something else amiss?
Jeremy
Jeremy Tickle

Did you buy it Jeremy?
Lawrence Slater

No Lawrence I haven't. I need to find out if it's possible or cost effective to buy the correct filter before proceeding.
Jeremy Tickle

Jeremy,
my filters are for a 1275 if you've got a 1500 they won't fit nor will the one in the advert

if you wanted to add your 'Vehicle profile' with a photo for viewing it might help to cut down (a little, perhaps) on mistakes like this

if you do just click on any 'View vehicle profile' link and scroll to the very bottom of the page it tells you how to
Nigel Atkins

Nigel,
I know they are and mine is a 1275 as well. Don't know why my vehicle profile went awol, hopefully it should be restored now.
Jeremy
Jeremy Tickle

You've had that a long time Jeremy. I bought my Sprite in '77.

Also, yours looks like it sits higher than my '73 rwa midget, and I thought that sat high. Not that it makes it handle badly though.
Lawrence Slater

Lawrence,
It was my then girlfriend, now wife's, car originally although she's given it to me to play with now...
The photo was taken just after it was finally finished (2008)and the springs hadn't settled. It sits a bit lower now and is a lot less clean too! I should really put a more recent photo up.
You've had yours a while too - 37 years!
Jeremy
Jeremy Tickle

Yup. I bought my Sprite (from a breakers yard) to run into the ground for 6 months. Little did I suspect that I'd have it all this time later. :)

Was your gf the first owner then? Cool.
Lawrence Slater

Unfortunately not, she was the second owner; she bought from another young woman whose boyfriend assured me the clutch was adjustable (was very green in those days) as the pedal only bit high up and I'm still a little bit annoyed, grrrh!
Six months eh - time flies! :)
Jeremy Tickle

It certainly does. -- Except when you're older, and under the bloody thing fixing it. LOL. Then it seems to drag on and on and on and on -----------------

Fortunately though, that's not so often. :).
Lawrence Slater

....especially when it's something like bleeding a clutch slave cylinder...
When underneath I tend to lie on an old sleeping bag, handy if the need for a quick nap is called for!
Jeremy Tickle

Funny you should mention the clutch slave Jeremy.

Whilst my Sprite has gone T9 with a concentric slave and an easily accesible nipple, my Midget is standard.

I was forced to reintroduce myself to the bleeding slave recently, after renovating and refitting the pedal box.

I bled the thing, and almost bled myself in the process. lol.
Lawrence Slater

Lucky you Lawrence!
Thanks to your tip and photos and Dave and Guy's IIRC, I made a remote bleed nipple assembly and guess what? Since making it the clutch has behaved impeccably.
They are frustraing little blighters aren't they!
Jeremy Tickle

Remote clutch bleed
Alan


Alan Anstead

Well worth the effort Alan. I might do the Midget for future comfort.

BTW. I really like the thread drift on the head gasket failing thread. ;).

Not that the drift in this thread, is anything to be ashamed of. LOL.
Lawrence Slater

Drift - what drift !
That's a very neat and professional piece of work Alan.
See you can get a ready made one if you have a Spitfire (sorry to mention the marque whose name we must not say...) and live in the US
http://tinyurl.com/nhmdmtc
Comes at a price though.
Jeremy Tickle

It just coincided with a friend and I upgrading his Frogeye's remote bleed to this Goodridge item from Rally Design as he was having trouble with the bleed nipple sealing on the one we fitted ages ago made from Sprite parts.
Lawrence. They apparently have enough bits in stock to make five more. 40cm long and £20.
Alan
www.masckent.org



Alan Anstead

Cheers Alan.

As an aside, does it solve the problem of air trapped at the rear of the slave? Or do you still need to push the rod in, if bleeding from dry? I'm guessing the air can still get trapped at the rear.
Lawrence Slater

Lawrence
I have never suffered from trapped wind as manyy seem to do on this thread.
Does the head of fluid in the remote pipe prevent the blockage? I dont know. Do I not get problems because I use silicon fluid? Again I do not know.
John & I bled his system the old fashioned way with
him playing with the nipple and me on the pedals. Done first time!

As an aside several Spridgeteers are going this Thursday evening, from about 1700hrs, to the Chatham car show in the retail outlet car park nr Medway Tunnel. Come and join us?
Alan
Alan Anstead

Didn't know Chatam had a car show. I'll see what my schedule is. What time does it finish?
Lawrence Slater

Last month I left about 2130 going on 2200hrs but many remained.
Alan
Alan Anstead

This started off about air cleaners etc.My final comment FWIW, your still sucking hot air from the engine bay with K&N, also there has been lots of previous discussion about the effectiveness (or lack of it)of these filters
Cheers
Rod
R W Bowers

Rod,

Unless you route an external air scoop to the filters, your still sucking hot air from the engine bay irrespective of the brand/type of filter.

What don't you like about K&Ns?
Lawrence Slater

Gday Lawrence
On the 1500 two such tubes do route air from said front of vehicle. The whole point of the upgrade was to increase the size of these tubes by 50%, which I have done. The results are tangible:
Immediate increase in power across the range especially from 4-5500.
throttle response is faster
better fuel mileage
engine is running cooler

I don't have anything against K&N's as such just think they're expensive and over rated. A study exists which shows them in a bad light against standard OEM filters, I'll try and find the link if anyone is interested.
Cheers
Rod
R W Bowers

Rod, I think your solution is really excellent and looks like it could have been stock. A very nicely done and worthwhile modification. I have one large cold-air feed instead of two small ones.
Nick Nakorn

I didn't know the 1500 had scoops that drew in clean air. Worth adapting for the 1275 saucepans then?
Lawrence Slater

Rod,
before buying some K&Nss I'd be interested in the link you mention.
Thanks

Jeremy Tickle

Hi Jeremy, took some time to find but try this:
http://www.nicoclub.com/archives/kn-vs-oem-filter.html
seems to be well researched.n HTH
Cheers
Rod
R W Bowers

Thanks for that Rod. I agree that the extra flow is often simply not required. But for me the attraction of an after-market filter is the ability to site it where you want. The advantages are a cooler air charge (only a slight advantage sometimes but worth having for hot engine bays)and, most importantly, a much lower pressure drop due to the effective plenum between filter and the mouth of the carb and plenty of space around the carb for the fitting of unrestricted stub-stacks or ram-pipes. In other words, the flow into the carbs is much improved with a remote filter because it is remote, not because it's construction allows more air through it. Also, modern car design is all computer-aided and thus airflow through a OEM case can be maximised for the available space. Our Midgets seem to have had no air-flow design in or around the engine bay or through the filter cases - indeed, the standard cases are often so constricted that the filter material is.... immaterial.... Your excellent large bore inlets are one way of improving and lessening pressure-drop inside the case and so the improvement you've noticed illustrates the point.
Nick Nakorn

This thread was discussed between 25/08/2014 and 03/09/2014

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

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