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MG MGB Technical - Need help diagnosing this one...

Driving at high speeds, approximately 70 MPH and higher, the car will begin to run as if on 3 cylinders. Loss of power, big change in exhaust sound (patter patter patter).

The strange part is that it only seems to happen at night. I presume this is due to the cooler air temperature even though the nighttime temps have still been warm, around 75-80F. Daytime temps, when it does not happen, are 85-100F.

I checked the fuel pump for delivery, seems to be working properly. A tune-up didn't help either. I happens randomly. Letting off the gas or pressing harder seems to make no difference. If I simply wait, the car will eventually kick back in and run normally for a bit, then repeat. If I slow down, it will not happen again.

My three areas of concern are these... first the distributor is pretty old. Can this be a cause? It doesn't seem to be badly worn but I'm no expert of such things. Second, the camshaft was reground during an engine rebuild 11K miles ago. I've heard a reground camshaft can wear quickly. Could this be a cause since it happens only at higher RPMs? Last worry is the head seeping. I retorqued it a while back but it didn't seem to make a difference. If anything the problem is getting worse with time.

Any suggestions or opinions?
Steve Simmons

Steve--70 with o/d is not so much a high speed issue...perhaps. And it's intermittant which I think eliminates worn distributor, cams and head seepage. They all seem like constants to me. In either case, my car did a similar thing and finally broke down at the Nationals...the night before the show. (Yes, there was a brief moment of panic!)

The issue was loose, arcing LT wire on the coil.

HTH

Paul



Paul Hanley

Steve. It sounds like your last statement sums the situation up--the head weeping. This could cause all of the problems you describe if your weeping is caused by a cracked cylinder head. Since re-tightening the head did not cure the problem, I would pull the head and have it inspected for cracks. (Either have it magnetically inspected or see my website for the do it yourself dye-penetrant procedure.)

Since you have some concerns about your camshaft, if you have a dial indicator or a pair of dial calipers, you can measure the valve lift or pushrod lift at each valve/pushrod after your remove the rocker arm cover and before removing the cylinder head. This will provide the information you will need to either set your fears to rest or to do a more indepth inspection.

Sorry to bring bad news, but your problem is exactly what I would expect with a coolant leak shorting out one of the spark plugs and the cylinder head heats up. Les
Les Bengtson

The car does not have overdrive so I'm definately revving high. I haven't noticed any oil in the coolant or vice-versa. That was one of the first things I checked. The strange thing is how it doesn't happen in hot weather. Despite the air temperature though, the engine holds the same temperature of around 190F. Sometimes it gets to 200F during hot temps. I'm really hoping to avoid pulling apart a good engine with so few miles on it. Anyhone other than Mr. Bad News Les wanna give some ideas? Hehe! :p
Steve Simmons

Steve You say this problem only happens at night, could it be only when the lights are on? Maybe excess current draw or a weak coil or even a bad connection requiring all the power it can get and when you pull the lights on there is not enough left to power the ignition
DENIS

That's a darn good tootin' thought. Hadn't considered it. Seems like it should happen anyway since the lights don't take up THAT much current, you think?
Steve Simmons

Well, I was checking headlights, but: MGmidget 10.2V, MGB 9.6V, MGB 10.2V, TR6 11.2V. Checked under load at the lamps. Make up some extension wires and Hook a voltmeter from the switch side of the coil to ground and read the voltage to the coil while driving. You could easily have similar or worse readings. Standard lights draw 2x5 amps for the headlamps and 2 to 4 amps for all the little lights. The dynamo puts out 20-22amps max if all is very well, but it's voltage that kills spark. It could also be causing fuel deficiency! Not to mention crummy lights.
FRM
http://www.usachoice.net/gofanu
FR Millmore

Did you check/renew the earth-wire of the groundplate to distributorhousing lately? It also can be a cause for irregular faults.
Willem van der Veer

I have had this kind of thing when the main battery cable was loose where it attaches to the starter motor....a tighten of the nut and all was fine.......fwiw.
Chris Cooper

Steve ,

Dennis put his finger on the point : at night only!
Looks like a current mis feed problem , really.
Please keep us informed.
kind regards.
Renou

This is a real teaser but don't pull the engine apart whatever you do not at least until everything has been eliminated. Do you get the same problem during the day if you drive with the lights on. I wonder what the voltage at the pump is and if it can keep up with delivery at speed if the voltage is low. Th pump earth is notorious for failing and is in the group of black wires in the boot at the rear of the back panel. Check this out carefully and also the feed to make sure that you get the voltage as high as possible at the pump. A direct feed to the coil is also a good idea but one at a time so that you can identify the problem
Iain MacKintosh

Steve,
I had a similar problem with a 74 B several years ago. It turned out to be a bad plug wire. It only happened at higher speeds and would often correct itself after some time. To address your problem I'd start with a thorough ignition tune up: plugs, points, condensor, cap, rotor, coil and wires. You certainly have nothing to lose unless you've just recently done a tune up. You could do one at a time if you wanted to identify the specific problem. Also, the next time it happens turn off your lights (if its safe to do so) and see if the problem resolves.
Bill
Bill Boorse

The air is damper at night, even in SoCal. Why not start it up, pop the hood and see if anything is sparkling in there? I had similar things happen on a roadrunner I once owned--turned out to be the coil...but it could have been the dist, a wilre or anything else. Another thought, burned points will work OK with full electrics available, but with diminished current, will cause you to miss. Intermittent fuel blockage / flow is also a possibility as it only occutrs at highest demand.
R. L Carleen

Steve,
connect a voltmeter (analog variety preferred) as FR says and watch your voltage as you drive day and night. As correctly mentioned, voltage variance will make a big difference in coil output, more so than current. If your voltage drops significantly when the headlamps are on AND DOES NOT RETURN TO CHARGING VOLTAGE, then you may have a voltage regulation/charging/battery problem causing spark generation problems.

Otherwise, I would look for a bad low or high tension wire, wire connection, frayed wires (especially at terminal connectors). Or I would check if your head's seepage has spilled onto your dizzy or dizzy cap. It could even be that a carbon track in the cap arcs out when humidity changes with temp drops.
Bob Muenchausen

All great suggestions, thanks. Iain, I had the same thought last night about driving with the lights on durin gthe daytime. I plan to test that today. I'll keep you all posted!

On another note, the car has been running poorly lately and is getting worse. It is even starting to die at idle when hot, which it has never done. Time for a tune-up at least I think.
Steve Simmons

In my book ignition is always the place to start. Steve doesn't mention the year but if the car has a tachometer instead of a rev counter (64 on) and this starts flickering as the misfire occurs then it is an ignition LT problem that includes the feed to the coil, the coil itself, the connection to the points, the points, or the distributor ground wire. However a regular misfire that seems like just one cylinder, or where the tach is still steady, is more indicative of a plug, plug lead, or possibly cap or rotor or fuel. It's a bit difficult to do an HT test at 70mph and higher unless your timing light has leads long enough to reach from under the bonnet into the cabin, so a fuel delivery test would be the next thing - at least one Imperial pint per minute from a pipe removed from the carb. Coil +ve voltage will depend on whether it is a chrom bumper or a rubber. Chrome should have system voltage on the coil +ve at all times i.e. a minimum of 12.8v and usually 14 point something volts. A rubber will be switching between 12v and 6v according to the duty cycle of the points, and could be different again for 45DE4 and 45DM4 ignition systems. the important thing is that it shouldn't change much if at all when the misfire starts. You may get a bit of feedback into the coil +ve if there is an HT misfire but that should only make a very small change. If you get a big change in reading when the misfire starts then that does indicate an LT problem. I would have said that the balance of probabilities was that a weep was more likely to be a problem in higher daytime temperatures than cooler nightime, or at least show itself during warm-up in the day. What happens if you run with lights during the day?
Paul Hunt

I would agree with everyone above that ignition is
the most likely culprit.

However, I had a case of firing on three cylinders
on cold mornings that wasn't cured by new
ignition components. I decided it was a sticking
valve. I tried some Marvel Mystery oil which
solved the problem. The valve guide can get
gummed up with carbon deposits -- apparently
Marvel Myst. oil dissolves these.
Ronald

Ok, let's play a game. It's called "Guess what happened today".

1. Decided to check the engine out before driving to work.

2. Noticed reddish powder and water stains all over the engine bay.

3. Checked the oil level with the oil / coolant dipstick.

3. Drove the wife's car to work. :(

I blame Les. :p
Steve Simmons

Easy to solve mate your problems so close you cant even see it ITS YOUR WIFE she wants the MG she sneaks out at night when your in mg dreamland opens the bonnet throws one of her cooking spices (Paprika does the job) a quick glass of water to follow and hey presto you drive the Ford escort and she is sporting it up in your little lady
Good Luck
Richard H
UK
Richard H

I knew it! :) Actually she has a MGA. I'm the one that has to sneak her car out.

Well, last time I checked the oil there was no coolant in it so it must have been only leaking slightly before now and finally given up on life. I will be pulling the head tonight so be prepared for a flood of questions over the next couple weeks. The engine only has 11K on it but still, this may be an opportunity to pull the whole thing, install the OD transmission I have sitting on the floor and maybe bore out the engine. My wife says if I don't buy a MGC then I can get a supercharger. Hmmm... :D
Steve Simmons

I dream of a wife wth a MGA
Richard H
Richard H

To bad you didn't put any money down on this one les!
Really glad we were able to learn the ending of this saga. Very good job Les
Kevin Pearce

Indeed. But if it makes Willam feel better I vote him for runner-up. The ground wire on the distributor is ready to come apart. You get the booby prize! (hope that isn't an offensive term in other countries!)
Steve Simmons

Steve. You are perfectly correct--it is all my fault. Mea Culpa Maxima.

All the others were quite correct--the ignition system is the first place that one directs the novice when they have a problem such as you described.

My feeling, for better or worse, is that you are beyond the novice stage, would have checked out the common causes of your problem, and only posted because you could not find the root of the problem after checking for the more common causes.

It may appear that I was correct in my analysis. Most sorry about that. Les
Les Bengtson

Very, strange things are happening over here. This morning when I pulled out the dipstick (the thing on the car, not me) it was swirly nasty gooey boogery-looking. Tonight it looked fine. When I checked it this morning I had just added oil, perhaps it had something to do with that somehow? Pulled the valve cover, oil looks thin, but it's pretty warm here. No swirls or bubbles. Drained the radiator - no oil I can see in it. Obviously I need to drain the oil but both of my drain pans are full (curses, you lazy bum!) so it will have to wait until tomorrow.

I did, however, create a new leak in the bottom of the radiator trying to get the blasted drain cock to open and then broke the thermostat housing trying to get the bloody thing off. Someone seems to have welded it in place. Well, not really, just trying to blame someone other than me for breaking it, but it was extremely difficult to remove.

The coolant is really red and there's chunky red clay-like stuff stuck in the drain cock. There's a bit of wetness around the air filter gasket as well but it may have been sucking coolant fumes from the radiator overflow since the hose seems to have fallen off. Oh, noticed my front carb leaked, rather quickly, most of the oil from the dashpot. That would probably explain the rough / weak idle.

I'll update if I find anything in the oil. If I don't, then I'm afraid to pull the head for fear of wasting my time and money.
Steve Simmons

Steve,
Sorry to hear this story!
The water can settle out of the oil after a while (like a day), and the new oil will sit on top and remove the ugly stuff as you pull the stick.
For all practical purposes, there is no way that oil can get in the radiator, so that's no surprise.
The Tstat hsg would not be stuck unless it was leaking into the stud holes, nor if the studs had been coated with antiseize when assembled. The drain tap likewise.
The coolant should not be red, especially at 11K. You do have antifreeze in it? Plain water will do it, or if combustion gases have been getting in for a while, but you should have noticed it before now. Even a lot of gas contamination won't do this in a short time with AF in the system. I am assuming that the block was cleaned at rebuild, and that 11K represents something less than 10 years hence!
If there is water in the oil, and you are using AF, and given the longterm indications of leakage, you should very carefully check engine bearings. AF eats hell out of the bearings through corrosion and they may fail catastrophically in a short time.
Good luck!
FRM
http://www.usachoice.net/gofanu
FR Millmore

I use a 50 / 50 mix of coolant and distilled water. At one point early on I used a "environment friendly" coolant that was red in color but it ate through the "environment friendly" bottle and leaked everywhere. I drained it out of the car and refilled with normal coolant and have done one or two coolant changes since then so I doubt there is any red coolant still in the system.

I've put up a few photos I took while working on the car tonight. They are here:

http://www.lbcnuts.com/engine
Steve Simmons

Hmmm, the booby prize. Anything to do with "the fallen Madonna wiz ze big boobies"?
Willem van der Veer

Steve,

Is that a crack through the thread section of number three plug? Just below where the thread starts beneath the plug body.
Regards
Roger
Roger Taylor

No, it's just a very small imperfection in the threads made worse by the lighting. I just went out and looked and it's nothing.

Willam, what's this about big boobies? Are they blue-footed?
Steve Simmons

That is ugly! Something is badly amiss with the chemistry here, either the "coolant" is actually a violent oxidiser, or there is a lot of combustion gas leakage into the cooling system. The "EF" coolant sounds like fun, but what are you using now? Normal ethylene glycol AF or some goofy California stuff?
11K miles since when?
The freeze plug situation is absurd. What, 2 fell out and what's left are leaking and badly corroded? Head gasket leaking battery acid by the look.
Poor running caused by wet cap, wires, ingestion of large quantities of whatever the hell is in the rad, and probably blown gaskets/cracked head.
You might put it back together, fill it with water, open block and rad drains, put a hose in and start it with water flow balanced to keep it full while running. Get it clean. Put Tide in it, refill & run, dump it, repeat clear flush till clean. No engine should ever look like this! This appears to be acid enough to eat the castings from the inside out. Even more likely to have eaten bearings if it got in the oil. Pour the oil into a glass bottle and let sit, see if water settles in the bottom.
Do any of your other cars show red death in the system?
FRM
http://www.usachoice.net/gofanu
FR Millmore

Can't tell from the photos but I'm woundering if you painted any other internal parts of the engine before assembly as is shown on the head. PAINT HAS NO PLACE INSIDE AN ENGINE, big no no in my book.
Kevin Pearce

First thing I need to clear up... I didn't paint that head, the mechanic did and I wasn't too happy about it when I took off the valve cover! I won't say who it was but he is a very well-respected and experienced mechanic in these parts. Never had this kind of trouble from him before. All I can guess is that he had one of his apprentices assemble my engine.

FR, I only used the EF coolant once. Since then I've used standard high-quality coolant and at one point straight distilled water with Water Wetter mixed in. The stains from the head gasket leaking used to be MUCH worse. I painted over the old stains after returquing the head to see if it happened again. That was only 3,000 miles ago. The 11,000 miles are since the engine was completely rebuilt.

I disassembled the engine myself, had the block hot-tanked, painted the block and oil pan, and delivered all the parts to my [former] mechanic to finish the job for me (lack of time to do it myself).

I was tempted to not pull the head since I can't find any trace of coolant in the drained oil but you guys have me scared sh*tless now! I may pull this engine out of the car and re-rebuild it. :(
Steve Simmons

The only reason I brought up the paint thing is because you should not be having problems at 11,000 miles on a rebuild. That is unless your racing it. Just looking for possible reasons for your woes. I almost lost my engine in our Toyota because the Synthetic Oil had crystallized and plugged up many oil passages in the head. I was told that Toyota painted the inside of the oil pans and that was the reason oil crystallized. ??? Sorry if I upset you, I know you don't need any more grief at this point.

Kevin
Kevin Pearce

Steve,
How many years or whatever was the rebuild? A bunch of "racer" types paint inside to "assist oil drain back" - poppycock if you ask me and a disaster if not stuck. If stuck well, no trouble and Jaguar engines were formerly painted inside.
I suggest you put it back together, clean the cooling system as I suggested, and fire it up. Plain water is OK for short test drives or a week or so. See if it acts like a blown gasket, see if there are bubbles in the rad, get a shop to put a pressure gauge on the rad and see if pressure builds when you open the throttles quickly. An exhaust sniffer can be used to detect hydrocarbons in the cooling system. Put fresh oil in if all appears OK, but after a few hundred miles, send an oil sample for analysis. Parts store should be able to help, most oil companies do it if you are using their oil, sometimes for free. They will tell you if there is any AF in the oil.
How about your other cars?
FRM
http://www.usachoice.net/gofanu
FR Millmore

Kevin, you didn't upset me at all! I just wanted to make sure noone thought I would do something dumb like paint a head without masking it first! :)

FR, the engine was rebuilt about 6 or 7 years ago. After 2-3K miles over a year or two, it sat unused for a couple years. For the past 2 or 3 years it has been driven regularily again, and for the past 7 months or so it's been my daily driver. I installed the magnetic drain plug two oil changes ago. I've never seen this much gunk on it. There were tiny amounts of metal once though.

As for the other cars, they are all fine! :) Coolant clear, no gunk on the drain plug. Heck, even the XPAG with 77K on it over 51 years runs perfectly!
Steve Simmons

I think this is an exceptionally good (and appropriate) time to swap over to a V8. Eliminate all your leaking dashpot problems and all that other stuff too! ;-)

Justin
Justin

Sure, gimme another B and I'll do it to that one! :P
Steve Simmons

I bought a rolling RB shell in Chatsworth for $300.00 a few years ago. I'm sure you can find one too!

They're an absolute blast!
Justin

Steva,

I always think it's very brave to show such pictures on the internet before a forum of experts (some more than others). Good quality though!

That with the big boobies came from a british comedy series "Allo, Allo" its about the French resitance and Germans in 2th WW and "ze accent" is German. But this technical board is no place for such nonsense, sorry for that!

I would try to clean up also and eliminate all other causes first. Freezeplugs shouldn't leak on a rebuilt engine, etc.?

Best of luck, Willem
Willem van der Veer

The B series engines were nearly all painted inside - all the pressed steel parts were painted with a laquer or black paint and the block and head were painted red/green/black depending on year.

The laquer is very tough and unaffected by oil, other than going a reddish colour with age.

The paints seem to have a very high solids content and are applied thinly - in my experience only a wire brush in an angle grinder will shift this stuff.



Chris at Octarine Services

Not much doubt that it's the head gasket. With that degree of leakage you should be able to see where the garket has blown. You won't always get water in the oil when the gasket goes and I've not seen this happen very often but when you do the oil changes into a sort of emulsion and is easily spotted. What caused this ? maybe the head wasn't machined during the rebuild, perhaps the thermostat stuck but I would have thought you would have seen the temp gauge rise as you would if any of the passages / rad etc were restricted. From what I can see in the photos start off by having the head skimmed, a minimum off only, check the top of the block for any damage or markings and then refit the head using a good quality gasket - dry, no sealant (Payen etc)torquing it down say 20, 40, 50lbs/ft. Fill the system with clean water and run it for a few days until you get confidence that there is no longer a problem. I think that your system has certainly been pressurised resulting in leaks everywhere including the core plugs which you will have to replace. Make sure that you fit a new 10lbs radiator cap before putting the car back into service.
Iain MacKintosh

Willam, brave indeed but it was that or guess! I don't even raise the hood of my car when people ask because it looks so bad from coolant damage. Sad, sad state it is. :(

Thanks guys. Chris, the paint on this engine is Moss brand. When the first freeze plug blew it discolored badly. The head gasket leaking left very light-colored stains as well. Pissed me off, really!

Iain, I do know the block was skimmed a few thousandths during the rebuild but I doubt the head was touched. I worry about skimming anything now that the block has already been done. Anyone know an easy way to determine compression ratio? With the block skimmed I wonder if I can put a Supercharger on this engine if I wanted to?

Maybe I should have started a new thread with this question?
Steve Simmons

Steve, I had problems with external and
internal head leakage on my B that finally
were resolved by replacing the head itself.
The head was crack-free, but the casting was
apparently porous according to the machine shop.

As Les suggested, have a machine shop magnaflux the
head. But you might consider a new head anyway.
If you get the County-brand cast iron one check
it carefully before installation -- my first
County head was poor quality as described above.
Aluminum might be the way to go, but check the
archives for lots of pros and cons. Make sure
to use the Payen head gasket.
Ronald

I revert back to my V8 comment...
Justin

Hey, V8's have problems too!
Steve Simmons

Yeah...
How do I transfer all this torque to the ground?

How do I not get mugged for toasting the kids in their rice rockets at the stoplight?

How do I choose: Rover V8 or Ford 302

Single exhaust or duals?

Them some serious problems that MUST be resolved before starting the conversion. ;-)
Justin

Dont forget "How do I keep these purists from kicking me in the kneecaps?"

I am slowly leaning towards rebuilding the entire engine with a Moss Supercharger. Perhaps a rebuild is overkill but I'm freaked out by what I've found so far inside this engine.


http://www.lbcnuts.com/engine
Steve Simmons

Wait a minute, you're worried about the purists, and in the same post you talk about putting on a supercharger?

I think I missed that factory option....
Justin

Didn't say I was worried about the purists, just that owning a V8 makes them want to kick you in the kneecaps.
Steve Simmons

Steve,
I would not feel comfortable with that engine given the head gasket and swarf on the magnetic drain plug. I would want to check all of the bearings and the cam and lifters. Justin has issues.. Nothing wrong with a V8 conversion in a RB car LOL.. Then again with enough time and money, even the handeling and other issues can be sorted. Your car as I remember is a 64 and has been in the family for a long time. A V8 conversion is not one in your year that could easily be converted back. A supercharger while certainly not stock can be removed and revert back to stock with no problems. Get Peter Burgess's book on how to power tune MGB 4 cylinder engines. It will explain compression ratios etc. Basically an early 18GB engine with a stock head will be about 9 to 1. Any overboring will increase the compression ratio. An aluminum head with the later 18V chamber will again raise the compression ratio. A supercharger will be happier with a ratio not more than 9 to 1, 8 to 1 perhaps better. As an example, My 18GB .060 HC pistons and aluminum head with later big valve chamber gave a ratio of 11.65 to 1. Way to high for pump gas in CA. I had to open up the chambers to get things back to 9.75 to 1. Biggest issues with supercharging are the lower end and the head gasket. If either are weak you will see trouble again.

HTH

Ron
RJS Smith

You have it right. THe car is a '65 built in '64, 5-main 1800. I have considered building a powerful NA engine but Supercharging seems the more simple and proven solution, thanks to the Moss kit.

Sounds like I may have issues with the Supercharger though since it's an early engine and the block has been skimmed a couple / few thousandths (forgot exactly how much). I was thinking of a +040 overbore and a Burgess Supercharger head.
Steve Simmons

Steve,
You may remember the A coupe when you stopped over. My son has decided he likes the newest addition, a TR3A.. Long story. The A is going to go. Over in the corner on a stand was the engine, 67 18GB 0.060 over HC pistons, Piper 285 & lifters. Flat side 18V crank & rods. Balanced. Ported & polished large valve aluminum head. Mallory dual point. Weber DCOE with Canon long runner manifold or HS6 without manifold. Headers etc. Contact me offline if you want a NA Hot Rod motor.

Ron
Ron Smith

Steve, if the block has been "decked" by a few thou then presumably that was to correct a surface defect and only a few thou have been removed which is virtually insignificant. It's not usual for a block to warp normally the head is the one to cause trouble and it looks like yours has not been skimmed. That being the case I would take a minimum amount off and put it all back together making sure that I had a good engine before proceeding with any uprating. As the block has been decked and in any event, remove all the studs to ensure that you can clean the surface of the block adequately. At the same time make absolutely sure that there is a small chamfer on each hole otherwise the head may be prevented from seating properly. Acquire or borrow a hand brace with a rosebud bit in it and just give it a couple of turns on each stud tapping to enusure that there is a chamfer but dont forget to blow away any swarf before assembly.

When it's all up and running again a pressure hot wash will make short work of your engine bay
Iain MacKintosh

It was skimmed by a previous mechanic to raise the compression slightly, but I seem to remember it was only a few thousandths.
Steve Simmons

Rosebud bit, excellent, I'll add that to my list! We silly Yanks call it a countersink bit, but we have no imagination!

Trailing this thread leads me to the conclusion that a decent freshening of the engine is in order at the very least. If you are seriously contemplating a supercharger you want to have some nice fresh bearings in there as well as KNOW that there are no issues. All that stuff on the drain plug AFTER 11,000 miles is no joke! Normal wear will produce some bits of babbit, bronze and copper in the oil but Iron or Steel means something is amiss!

I've seen nasty red deposits like that in B engines before but I was the lucky successor and dis-assembling them so I haven't a clue as to why it would happen, except that it wasn't flushed enough after being "tanked" or nasty local swamp water in the system.

Either way, porous head or cracked, OK bearings or toast, I would not do less than a complete tear-down on this pup.

Insofar as paint inside the engine is concerned... I've never had an issue and those 1,500 Hp drag race monsters as well as all the circle track crowd do it so what could possibly be the problem??? If your engine parts aren't clean enough to eat off of before you assemble they have no business being assembled much less painted!

Mike!
mike!

Steve,

Don Zarco suggested to me that, originality aside, you might consider renewing the factory oil cooler hoses. He says he can see they've never been changed by the large, crimped ends on the fittings. (NLA for many, many years)

Paul Hanley

I do plan to replace those with stainless when I tear this thing apart. Very interesting that they are originals though. I had no idea they were that old! Still in perfect shape, really. Anyone want them when I'm done?
Steve Simmons

Nothing to add to this except to comment that my currently-being-reconstructed 1965 also has original oil cooler hoses. I didn't know until I read this thread, they look good so I was just going to leave them.

I think I may now have a set of originals available too if anyone is interested!
The Wiz

I didn't know you had a 64. I wouldn't have stressed the issue of a V8 had I known. As much as I enjoy the power, I DO have respect for the early cars. I suppose if you don't want to cut (which you probably shouldn't with that vintage of car) then supercharging is the way to go.

Forgive me Ron if your comment about my having issues raises my eyebrow a bit. I think my only issue at this point is not having known the age of his car.

Good luck sorting this all out!
Justin
Justin

This thread was discussed between 03/09/2004 and 08/09/2004

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