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MG TD TF 1500 - Back from a bit of motoring

Lazarus was back in the garage about 8:30 last night, 7/14. Went out at 5 am on 7/9. Drove from Plymouth MA to Cleveland OH by way of the GOF at Strasburg PA with a stop at State College PA to reintroduce Lazarus to his owner from 1959, Bob Baldwin. Covered 1,715 miles. Took two days to get to Cleveland, but drove home yesterday in one shot, covering 705 miles. Used 68 gallons of 87 octane petrol for an average of 25.2 mpg. By far, most of the driving was on Interstate highways (84, 81, 80) at speeds of about 60-65 mph (3500-4000 rpm). The 4.3 gears are the best thing since sliced bread. Granted, Lazarus' engine has a bit more pizzazz than most, but I had no problems with the hills of PA.
Almost had to cancel the trip due to last minute problems with my Phil Marino-modified water pump. Bottom line is that it cost me two hours of machinist's time to replace the bearings and seal after having to destroy the impeller to get the pump apart. Had the pump/radiator and bonnet back in place at 9:30 pm on 7/8. Had to start the car with the hand crank Friday morning but decided to go anyway (the battery did charge eventually). Only problem on the trip was a flat tire after a bunch of miles on very rough pavement in PA. Drove the last 75 miles to Cleveland on my 25 year old spare. Tube was scuffed up and leaking, second time for that tire. I bought a new tire and have gone tubeless.
All of the outbound driving was with the top down and tonneau cover over passenger side. Yesterday was a very wet one and I drove all the way back with the top up. Now it's time to go to the garage, take a look at the plugs and give Lazarus a bath. I'm starting to think about next year's trip to drive US1 from Canada to Key West.
Thanks for your good wishes. Bud
Bud Krueger

... sounds great Bud. Well done!

How was GOF 76?

If you still serious about a Canada to Key West run next year, why not start here in Montréal. We'd love to give you a good send-off with a breakfast of smoked meat and eggs, and a poutine to top it all off!

And on your way through Florida, Sandy Sanders and ex-Québecer, can serve you some 'oreilles du cris' and maple syrup.

Gord Clark
Rockburn, Qué.
Gordon A. Clark

Well done, Bud. And you didn't even need a spare rear axle/bearing assembly!!!
Jim Merz

Glad you had a good trip. Some have said that the adversities, last minute fixes and break downs on a trip are opportunities for some of their more memorable stories.

Re "engine has a bit more pizzazz"

What engine modifications have you done?

Regards,
Dennis
D F Sexton

Jim,

Speaking of spare axles, I have located a source of the new tapered half-shafts at £75 each. As well, these will require machining the hub at around $75 (each).

These are available from Mad Metrics in the UK. They can also supply standard half-shafts at £25 each.

In both cases, steel used is EN24T 60-ton tensile.

Gord Clark
Rockburn, Qué.
Gordon A. Clark

Gordan, thanks for the invite but that's a bit of a stretch for the starting point. But then again, my stomach may get the best of me. I didn't attend the GOF, I never do. I just stopped by to legally satisfy my insurance requirement that the trip was 'a club event'.

Jim, believe it or not, I came home with a spare half shaft. Seems that Bob Baldwin had it left over from his last TD.

Dennis, the 'pizzazz' is from increasing the displacement to 1308 ccs via .060" overbore in conjunction with having had .100" removed from the head. Compression ratio is just over 9.0:1. The engine is a late '53 (#28839) and I had the valves brought up to TF specs by Lawrie Alexander of British Sportscar Center in California. He also matched the head and manifolds. It seems to breath quite well. I've also installed a pertronix ignition with a Lucas Sport Coil. I now have about 4,000 miles on the engine since rebuilding it. The trip was done with the oil pressure at about 65-70 psi and the coolant at about 75-80C. I'll get rid of the gearbox rattle for next year.

Gordan (again): after my experience with the water pump I think I'll take a pass on any other components that require the modification of standard components. Why install a half shaft that can only be used with a modified hub?
Bud Krueger

Bud, thanks for the information on the modifcations. Sounds like a very balanced setup. I have been weighing changing to a 4.3 but have been concerned about how the car would handle the hills.
What compression test readings do you get with this combination?
Thanks again and regards,
Dennis
D F Sexton

Dennis, I get compression test readings of about 155 psi across all four. I should have mentioned that I had the engine balanced before I assembled it and that I use NGK BP6ES plugs at .030" with the timing set to give me 30 degrees advance at 3,000 rpm. Looks as if I may have used half a quart of oil in the 1700 miles and the plugs have that lovely shade of tan with a bit of carbon on the lowest thread.
Bud Krueger

This thread was discussed between 15/07/2004 and 16/07/2004

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