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MG TD TF 1500 - Engine test for the gearheads

Brought home a 53 TD that hasn't been run in ten years. Put a socket on the front pulley and turned it over but would stop in both direction, removed valve cover, stuck valves. Removed head, had to beat out one valve, replaced it with a spare.
Note that the head was full of bird seed and rust in the two intake ports the valves were stuck in. Replaced the head gasket and head, set valve clearence to .012. Changed the oil, primed the pump, 45 psi oil pressure at cranking speed. Installed new SU electronic pump, flushed out the gas line. The tank had been cleaned when parked and is OK. Lit up the engine, rust and mouse nest are blown out the exhaust. The jet packings are leaking in one carb, put a new gasket set into both. Throttle shafts are worn but engine fires up without leaks and runs smooth at idle. The problem: upon acceleration the engine bogs down and spit gas back out the carbs. Changed the carbs with tested, freshly built carbs from my 52, same symtoms. Timing has been checked new ignition wires installed, new plugs, changed the worn out distributor advance springs. No changed but it looks better.

I've since solved the problem. but I've never had this happen before. Here's your turn to give your opinion. I will give the answer later because this is important for any one who owns a car to know.

Just so you know, it was parked ten years ago when it failed NJ emissions

I'll be waiting for the right answer.

Good luck,
Ron
Ron Boisvert

Seaweed,
I'm going to follow this one closely, as a friend has an "B" with a similar sort of problem,,,
BBTS 2005 SPW
Steve Wincze

I should also add that all cylinders are running 120-125 lbs compression
Ron Boisvert

Partially blocked exhaust?

Matthew
Matthew Magilton

Matt,

I drop the exhaust and ran it straight, more power than expected. I suspect that there is many more mouse nest still in the exhaust. I've never had this problem before and finaly realized that because I have good compression that and the timing is dead on that it could only be back pressure in the exhaust causing the gas to be spit out of the carbs and bog down when the engine is accelerated.

I only want to know where you were this morning when I realized my problem? I will be removing the mufler in the morning and cleaning it out.

Regards,
Ron
Ron Boisvert

Ron,

You're not alone. In the winter, the area around the head and exhaust system draws all sorts of critters, after the car has been running.

A friend down the road found a mouse nest in the turbo housing of his Volvo. That cost him $2,400!

Any car standing 10 years would have immediatly drawn my suspicion.

However I must admit, I would never have dreamed that a critter would have gone all the way into the muffler.

Interesting, though!

Gord Clark
Rockburn, Qué.
Gordon A. Clark

Gentlemen - I could be worse. Consider the following:
A BRITISH BIKE STORY

"In retrospect, lighting the match was a mistake. But I was only trying to retrieve my son's rat for him," Dick Stone told doctors at the hospital. "My son left the cage door open allowing the rat to escape to the garage," he explained. "As usual, the rat looked for a hiding place, and found it in the tail pipe of my motorcycle. I tried to tempt him out with food on a string, but he would not come out, so I peered into the pipe and struck a match, thinking the light may attract him."

At a hushed press conference a hospital spokesman described what happened next. "The flame ignited a pocket of residual gas and the flame shot out the pipe, igniting Mr. Stone's moustache. It also set fire to the rat's fur, which in turn ignited another larger pocket of gas further up the pipe. This propelled the unfortunate creature out the pipe like a flaming cannonball."

In addition to the burns, Mr. Stone suffered a broken nose from the impact of the rat. His son was grounded for six weeks.
David DuBois

Gordon,

I knew the mice had gone from the tailpipe all the way into the head "Note that the head was full of bird seed " and upon lighting up the engine it did blow some mouse nest out the tailpipe, must have been just enough for the engine to run. What I didn't realize is that there is probably a fat Chipmunk in the mufler holding his own. Unfortunately for who ever lives there now, today is moving day!

Dave,

I will be putting heat to the muffler pipes to take them apart. In the past I've only had one explode and split the muffler from end to end. Perhaps I should face the tailpipe towards an unfriendly nieghbors house, just in case someone is launch out??
Ron Boisvert

This brings back memories of the 70's and early catalytic converters that would plug.
George Butz

I have a shop crane which is made from 3" square angle steel. The other day I noticed some movement at the open end of the base piece and just caught site of a chipmunk's head peeping out.

I reversed the airflow on my shop vac to blow and applied the tube to the open end of the base piece. The chipmunk was ejected at a very high velocity from the other end with a surprised look on its face, crashed backwards into the garage's wall, span round, shook itself, gave me a dirty look and scurried off.

Perhaps if you applied the shop vac in it's sucking mode to the end of the tailpipe, span the engine with plugs out and throttle wide this might help to remove obstructions in the exhaust.
G.E. Love

Moving day is going well, surprisingly everything unbolts without breaking. Little nervous putting flames so close to the floorboards and gas line, not as dumb now as when I was 15 and touch a gas tank out of a car. With the muffler disconnected, there was no light to be see. shook it a few time, great rattle. Then I notice a small nest at the tailpipe end. I have a long spring gripper, they type you use to pick up fallen nuts & bolts in hard to get to areas. Piece by piece I pulled the nest out until I had about a half gallon of nest. Rinsed out the muffler with the hose and even more washed out. Time to put it back together and enjoy it.



Ron Boisvert

Ron;
I too had the same problem. I purchased a 1979 midget that had been on the back porch for 8 years. Cleaned and checked everything and started the engine. Ran fine. Then the garage started to fill with white smoke. I knew that I had a bad engine,. Next day I started the engine and it ran fine for five minutes then white smoke again. This was when I found the 1200 RPM was the max in neutral with the throttle wide open. I disconnected exhaust and everything was fine, I could not clean the rear muffler as it was completely jammed solid.
One muffler later and all is fine.
Sandy Sanders
Hudson Florida
conrad sanders

Yessirs...guessed this one right off!
Recently got our TR7 back after a 2 year stay with 2 mechanics. Catalytic converter (or should I say "catatonic converter") was full of "Lil' Bites Dawg Food" ...nothing quite like the smell of fresh roasted dawg food on a warm spring day! Lucky for us the exhaust pipe had "split" just ahead of it so the car ran ok to get it home (about 36 miles) ... I was following the "Wedge Pilot" and she did not smell to good!
Cheers,
David 55 TF1500 #7427
David Sheward

David, you have a TR7 that runs? Wow! The former local import shop (now the guy just builds very fast Rx-7s and race motors) refused to work in them. By the time the owner drove the car home, something else would always break and they would blame the shop!
George Butz

George,
Yup...gotta "hole in my head" as well!
Sent you the story & a pic off line!
David
David Sheward

Hey... be nice... it came this close (put your thumb and forefinger about an 1/8th of an inch apart) to being an MG instead of a Triumph!!!!!
gordon lawson - TD 27667

Gordon,
You sure your not thinking of an Austin? Nothing on that !@#$%^& 1/2 a rover V8 (@45 degree angle) even closly resembels an M.G. engine! I took Georges comment as a true complement. Try calling any engine repair shop, after the words "hi, I have a Triumph TR7" hit your stop watch, time the laughter and the strange breathing before you hear the words, "you poor dumb bastard" this normally proceeds "click....buzzzz, if you'd like to make a call, please hang up and dial again". Tempted to sell it to the next yougen' that ask "is that the nue Miata?"
I believe the TR7 was the "UK Prototype" for thier version of the Vega over here. A bio-degradeable auto. This one is quite solid and everything works on it, (no doubt because the orginal owner spent years locating the water pump...but never figured out how to install it!
Cheers,
David 55 TF1500 #7427
David Sheward

Yes, a friend has a 7 and wouldn't join the club until he bought an 8... was afraid he would get thrown out ...??? (of course he put a 3.8 V6 in it).
Anyway... i read some article or another that the 7 was scheduled to be the new MG... will have to research that article.
gordon lawson - TD 27667

I did not know that!
David Sheward

I pack a stainles steel pot scrubber up the tailpipe for the winter. If you forget to remove it (how could that happen? you're asking) the exhaust will still escape through the mesh.
When I was a kid I worked for an old mechanic who told me, 'I've forgotten more than you'll ever know'. He had me work on a Chevy V-8 that had a clogged exhaust system, but it took him two weeks to find the problem!
S.R. Barrow

FWIW: http://www.austin-rover.co.uk/tr7storyf.htm tells the tale of the TR7 with some MG references AND features a nice period advert with a girl in a skimpy bikini
Willem van der Veer

Reminds me of a friend who had a wildfire approaching his house. He was ready for this, he had a pump at the nearby river connected to a roof sprinkler system so he raced down to the pump to get it started. He's heaving and heaving on the rope pull, nothing! Checks fuel, OK, checks air cleaner, OK, checks fuel filter, OK. It wasn't untill the fire passed that he realised that wasps had built a mud nest in the exhaust. The house survived.
Matthew Magilton

This thread was discussed between 04/06/2005 and 09/06/2005

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