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MG MGA - Best value for money modification?

Here is my entry for the best value for money modification to an A.

To increase the boot (trunk) opening height by about 4" (lessens the chance of banging your head) take an M8 nut and screw it on to the taper on the end of the boot prop by hand (better and cheaper than Barney's mod if I do say so myself http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/body/bd114.htm - it leaces about 3/4" of prop protruding through the locating lug). For concours you simply unscrew the nut and put in your pocket.

Are there any better value for money mods out there?

(As you can see it is pretty quiet in Australia on Good Friday! - I know, I should be out in the A in this weather - sunny, 20 deg C - but have the seats, tail shaft etc out putting in the 3 point seat belt anchorages.)

Happy MotorinG All,
Mike '60 roadster
Mike Ellsmore

Mike, thanks for the tip. Can you convert the M8 to inch size for us Yanks? ;-) I'll probably leave the nut attached, I doubt if the concours judges will notice after they see my 6 cylinder engine. LOL
Bill Young

Good on ya, Mike. -- I just tried it, and it works great. I also added your note and a picture to my web page. The equivelant inch size for the hex nut is 5/16" (fine or coarse thread works as well).
Barney Gaylord

Choice of 2 mods to master cylinder to prevent the brake circuit return hole getting blocked by either swollen piston cups or badly manufactured piston cups that have too long a 'skirts'. The result is no more binding brakes.

1. If you have a lathe, shave a few thou off the front face of the piston (the end that has the primary cup washer against it).

or

2. Make a thicker gasket for the front plate and enlargen the hole so that the piston can travel further back.

Steve

Steve Gyles

Best value for money??
Take your wife ( or significant other ) out for a nice lunch. Keeps her out of the garage, and away from all those greats deals on E Bay you could just not pass up on!
Mitch Smith

Mitch
Throw in theater tickets and you could probably score 2 or maybe 3 uninterupted weekends in the garage. "We Will Rock You" a play based on the music of Queen currently playing in Toronto was great. Add to that the complete revaming of our daughter's bathroom and I figure I'm good for a while. My next ploy is to send her out of town to a spa. Don't know if that would be considered best value for the money but she comes back happy and I stay greasy for the duration. WIN WIN
Kris
Kris Sorensen

Does anyone still have the problem with the master cylinder "too long seals"? I thought that was a 15 or 20 year ago issue with replacement rubber cups, but long since banished.
Barney Gaylord

You could well be right Barney. These were modifications passed on to me with the reasons given. I shortened the piston in my lathe and have never had any problems with the covering of the return hole. Judging by the number of threads that still come up on the topic there must still be problems with the MC. Whether they are the result of swollen cups or something else I do not have a clue.

Steve
Steve Gyles

Thanks Barney, I feel like I have been knighted getting a mention on your site.

Mike
Mike Ellsmore

I was tired of having to break my back ,while fitting the MC in my Coupe. So to make it easier I removed the banjo bolt and adaptor for the clutch side of the MC.I made a bracket that attaches to the driver front bolt holding the rubber pedal cover. This bracket has a hole in it large enough for the clutch slave cylinder rubber hose mounting to pass thru. I then used a clutch hose,instaed of the metal line , directly from the MC banjo bolt hole down the side of the MC and thru the bracket hole where it now attaches to the steel clutch line. Makes removal and installation of the MC so much easier. Not that I remove it every week.Gordon
Gordon Harrison

Hi Folks. The best value for money modification I did on my MGA was to install a transistorized fuel pump. I had no end of trouble with the stock SU pump, despite having rebuilt it. The SU pump left me stranded more than once, and on numerous other occasions, I had to beat it within an inch of it's worthless life with a hammer in order to get it pumping enough to limp home. After all the tows, beatings and aggravation, the transistorized fuel pump was like release from hell! After 20 plus years of use, that old transistorized pump is still working flewlessly, and doesnt skip a beat. It owes me absolutely nothing! Im sure there are people that swear by SU fuel pumps. I swear AT them. lol Just my 2 cents worth, Glenn
Glenn

Lightened flywheel or MGB flywheel. Transforms the engine response at much lower cost than any other engine mod available. Works on any MGA.

While you are at it, modify the flywheel pins for a B clutch. You will need a gearbox front cover and fork from an early B too, but these plus the B clutch will cost less than the A clutch, and it's a stronger and smoother operator.

For sheer fun, add a Supercharger. It will work in adding grins on any engine, and less work than a fast head. Adding a fast head to the mix just makes the grins wider. SC, head and flywheel leads to Nirvana!

Not in the same bracket (pun intended) as Mike's 5/16 nut I know, but.....
dominic clancy

I hope this does'nt count as to radical,but putting a 5 main B engine into my 1500 A. The A crank was broken. I had the parts already,but even so the B parts are'nt that expensive if you go good used.
wc wolcott

THANKS GLEN FOR NOT GIVEN US A POEM ABOUT YOUR FUEL PUMP. THANK GOODNESS WINTER IS ABOUT OVER AND WE HAVE BEEN SPARED!!!!

p.S. I AGREE WITH DOMINIC. THE MGA WILL GO

ZZZZZZZZZZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
JEFF BECKER

Best value for money mod? How about the child-proof door opening mechanism (also good for anti-theft). Remove the front end of the pull-cable from its holder and tape it down to the bottom of the door. It is more difficult to open the door but certainly makes people scratch thier heads!!

A couple of weeks ago I explained that my car had keyless entry just like a modern car and indeed did not even have door handles on the outside. Everyone thought I must be driving the latest in Cal-style lowrider customization. When I mentioned that the car was almost 50 years old and came like that from the factory they where even more impressed. When they saw it they then could see there was a gap between perception and reality!!

Neil
Neil Purves

Hey Glenn, much as I agree that a transistorized fuel pump will last longer than an original Lucas pump with points, remember that when it DOES fail, you can beat on it all you want, but it won't make it start pumping again - unlike the pump it replaced :-)

Might make you feel better, I suppose, but it won't get you home!
Bill Spohn

I use this little aftermarket fuel pump: http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/accessories/at112a.htm
Nice and quiet, the first one ran 85,000 miles before it got a little weak on fuel flow, but it never quit pumping. The second one is at 97,000+ miles and still going strong. A spare is almost small enough to put in your pocket, although you probably never need a spare. They have a friendly failure mode, so you might drive home to change it. Otherwise they are available at any auto parts store, and relatively cheap too.

One nice point about any electronic fuel pump, you can park it over winter and it still works in the spring, true zero maintenance. Bad point is, the electronic driven version of the stock style reciprocating pump might leave you stranded on the road if it fails (and all electronic parts are somewhat likely to fail eventually).
Barney Gaylord

Hey Barney, that's really cool routing the fuel through the wing mirror and doubling it up as an aerial! Where can I buy one?

Lol

Steve
Steve Gyles

Careful Jeff, It's still cold in Ontario Canada, I'm frustrated that I can't drive my MGA yet, and there is still plenty of time to write you a nice poem.....C'mon Jeff, why dont you just admit that deep down, you LIKE my poems......lOl, Glenn
Glenn

I think that Barney meant to use the URL http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/fuel/fp201.htm

HTH

Larry
58 A
Larry Hallanger

Yeah Larry, that's the link. I guess my copy and paste did the paste without the copy. Well, it was past midnight after a serious club natter 'n' noggin here.
Barney Gaylord

Barney

The problem with computers is that THEY DO EXACTLY what you tell them, not what you thought you told them. 8^)

Larry
Larry Hallanger

This thread was discussed between 06/04/2007 and 11/04/2007

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