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MG MGA - Early B-Series 1500

I was just browsing through Ebay and spotted an early B-Series 1500 engine. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MG-ZA-ZB-MGA-Engine-Standard-1489cc_W0QQitemZ230165999002QQihZ013QQcategoryZ27380QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

Interesting position for the dipstick. Never seen it there before. Also a pipe that goes from the bottom of the engine near the starter motor to the front of the cylinder head.

Can anyone tell me more about the pipe?

Steve
Steve Gyles

I think it is a typical Z-Magnette engine with the sump deep at front and shallow at back. The extra pipe on the right side nay be a heater return pipe, just sitting on top of the starter motor, not part of the engine. You might expect this to be the 68 HP engine with the early weaker porting in the cylinder head.
Barney Gaylord

I have just had an email from the seller. As Barney suggests, the forward dipstick position is standard on the Magnette. Apparently the pipe I referred to is an oil pipe.

As the pipe bypasses the filter I can only assume that it is a scavenge pipe to the sump. I will ask the seller.

Steve
Steve Gyles

Th oil pipe is the same of MGA and ZA/B - if you have an oil cooler fitted then the pipe is removed and the cooler plumbing installed instead
Dan Smithers

Dan

Are you talking about the same pipe (see image)? I have not got it on my surplus 1500, nor 1800 and I do not run an oil cooler.

Steve


Steve Gyles

Are you sure its a pipe and not a rather rusty starting handle?

Malcolm
Malcolm Asquith

Malcolm

I can only go on what the seller told me in an email. I have asked him for clarification.

Steve

Steve Gyles

good eye malcolm
WYATT WOLCOTT

Oh, that pipe. I only saw the one I understood.
It looks like the top end connects to the coolant system, but I can't think why.

Perhaps it's a mayonnaise maker ;=0
Dan Smithers

I think I have the answer. I have just received my copy of this month's MGCC Safety Fast magazine. There is an article in it all about the MG Z-Magnette. All the cars were fitted with the 1489cc B-Series engine. To quote the article:

"Early cars had a bypass oil flow system which only filtered part of the oil drawn from the sump."

From my picture above this would suggest that oil to the valve gear was fed with the unfiltered oil.

Steve
Steve Gyles

No. Malcolm is correct, it's a starting handle.

This is not an early engine with the bypass only oil filter; those have no external pipes save the gauge line.
The big pipe from the back of the block to the filter housing is the only externally visible sign of the change to full-flow filtration. There are further internal changes, viz. the adaptor where the big pipe goes into the block, and the bolt that retains the filter case.

FRM
FR Millmore

FRM

Many thanks. I take your word for it.

I specifically aked the seller what the 'pipe' was and he said it was an oil pipe. No mention of it being a starter handle. However, he did not say whether the ends were attached to anything!

Looking at the picture, in my opinion, it has too much of a radius to be a starting handle. On a Magnette, even assuming the engine sits higher than in an MGA, it looks as if a 'swinger' would end up with grazed knuckles from striking the ground.

Steve
Steve Gyles

Steve-
There IS an oil pipe in the picture, but it's the same one most B series have, from the block main oil gallery to the filter case. There is also the starting handle, lying behind the generator & dizzy, which has one end up by the T/stat housing, and the other back by the dizzy. The two get visually confused.

Keep in mind that if you ask about an oil pipe, the guy is going to tell you about an oil pipe. Also, the starting handle may have walked off since the picture was taken, so an observer looking at the engine now would only see the actual pipe.

Tip: copy the image to a photoprogram, and blow it up & adjust the lighting - I've found it much easier to sort out stuff from pictures since I started doing this! (especially since many photos are way dark on my monitor)

FRM
FR Millmore

FRM

We are talking about the same 'pipe'. I have indicated it in the image in my third post.

I am happy with your explanation on the early B-Series oil system. What I do disagree with is the starting handle theory, at least not a Magnette starting handle.

It is all out of proportion. If you do some representative measurements against your own engine block you will see that the main shaft is 12 inches long. This compares to the 25 inches of the MGA starter handle shaft. Surely, the Magnette engine is not that close to the front bumper (overrider)?

Steve
Steve Gyles

It is a short shank starting handle for a Magnette. The engine does sit much closer to the front bumper in a Magnette than it does in an MGA. This is why the oil pan is deep at front and shallow at rear. The engine rear plate is very close to the front suspension cross member, and most of the engine is ahead of the front axle spindles in the Magnette.
Barney Gaylord

This thread was discussed between 02/09/2007 and 11/09/2007

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