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MG TD TF 1500 - The TD is almost there now

Hello friends,
it seems that all my worries about the TD are getting close to the end. When I was photographing beach volleyball in Kristiansand, the workshop discovered that the car was giving too high voltage out, more like 17. They adjusted that.
I still have the problems starting the car when it is warm. "We" agree now that it is because the carboretors get very hot, and the petrol evaporites. So today I ordered a heat shield from Brown and Gammons. And, I shall have an extra fan mounted in front of the radiator. Now many people tell me that they had to do this to get the car run properly!
Beside this, I have also ordered electronic ignition system.
And one more thing. I called the petrol companies. They told me that they put methane in the 95 octane in the south-east of Norway (where I live) but not in the west or north. They do not add any in their higher octane petrols. I will start using Shells 99 octane now.
And it is still time to take a trip to the fjords of the west coast!
Raymond Wardenaer

Good luck, Raymond...hope this is the end of your problems.
Gene Gillam

Raymond,
Here I go again! Check the archives for "vapor-lock" as well as "jet-hot" .
I, as well as some others here, have had good results with the Jet-hot treatment on exhaust manifold.
The secret here is getting the inside of the manifold slippery so hot exhaust leaves faster with less heat transfer. (Not just a ceramic coating on the outside for "looks")
Check out:

http://www.ttalk.info/picture_this.htm#JetHot coated manifold

For what it is worth the heatshield did very little to help on my car when I tried it.
Dissclaimer: If there is one thing I have learned in 10+ years of reading these post it would be that what works for one does not always work for otheres!

Till you do get it sorted out here is a little trick I used after being towed home a few times.
Purchase some of the little "snap-cold" packets they sell at drug stores. Wrapping these around the carbs will bring the temp down quickly. IMHO: I prefer this method over draining gas using the tickler pins on the carbs when the engine is hot.
I still carry some in my car, but haven't needed them for many years.

One other thing that I feel made a big differance on my car: Repalcing the black rubber fuel lines it had on it with correct braided ones.
David Sheward

Dave,
I never heard of this menthod'!!!!
"......draining gas using the tickler pins on the carbs when the engine is hot. "

Sounds like a good time to check the fire extinguisher!!!!!!!


SPW
STEVE WINCZE

David, I just wonder how I can have my exhaust manifold treated as you suggest when I live in Oslo, Norway.
The first thing a specialist did when I got the car was to replace the braided fuel line with a black one. Reason: easier to discover a leak.
Raymond Wardenaer

Steve,
Exactly! But I see it here quite often as a way to overcome vapor-lock issues. The main problem (as I see it) is that so many of these cars have had the overflow pipes shortened and/or routed incorectly that doing this could drain gas directly onto the hot exhaust pipe. Mine was this way for a few years before I corrected it. In fact, I think this was recently suguested to Raymond a short time ago.

Raymond,
Understand that you are "across the pond" and that is why I mentioned that JH treats the "inside" of the manifold. Not sure who might be doing a process simular over there. Look around on the JH website and you will see what I mean about the advantages. My best guess for over there would be seek out some folks in racing circles. This has been a standard pratice for years in racing comunities.

I won't pretend to know the "sure-cure" for V-L issues with these cars...only that I fought the battle 10 years ago! I got a lot of advise, mostly from this site. The problem is I was so frustrated I tried everything suguested at nearly the same time.
Something fixed it ...but I honestly can't say what did the most to correct the problem. Going to braided fuel lines was one of the suguestions I got from this BBS. As I recall the explanation being they actually delivered more reflection of engine heat and in turn cooler fuel delivery / less transfer of heat. I do believe braided was standard from factory. IMHO: Abingdon did very little to these cars that would add to the cost without good reason for doing so!

Hopefully someone with far more experance and knowledge will chime in on this.
David Sheward

I still have vapour lock/boiling the bowls empty, and always have, but it doesn't bother me....I either start the car within 5 minutes of shutting off on a hot day, or I leave it 15 minutes.... I know that it will happen only around 8 minutes or so......
The cool down trick does help....a friend with an XK120 (they had the worst problems with this) once used a couple few ice cubes and we just cooled down the bowls.... started right up...

(I use the choke and it starts, sputters a few times and runs fine)
gblawson(gordon- TD27667)

The cool down trick was inspired by my dad.
He hated driving in parades.
Used to wrap the carbs with dry ice in burlap sacks.
Also use to put dry ice inside the footwells, in pans to keep us cool.
David Sheward

I remember that as a kid, my brother had a can on his car, there was a coiled fuel line in it, Just prior to racing, he would fill the can with dry ice. Theory was that by cooling the gas you got more molecules in the engine and therefor more HP It also kept the fuel from boiling.

Bruce Cunha


The Jet-Hot exhaust manifold coating isn't a complete fix.

I had mine coated with their "best" treatment a couple of years ago. I talked with the guys and mentioned my issue and they (and I) came to the same conclusion regarding which coating to get.

It does help quite a bit over the non-coated manifold, and I don't seem to have issues while driving anymore, however on hot days (>80F) it can still have issues re-starting after stopping the car for ~10 minutes.

And, I really don't see where a coating would help when the engine bay is soaking from the engine heat with no active cooling (engine off). It's just thermal transfer at that point, from the engine to the carbs. I can see an electric fan which continues after stopping as fixing the problem for good though.
Scott Linn

Thank you all for your support here!
I have talked to some long-time TD-owners here, and they are certain that this hot petrol problem will be solved by the combination of heat-shield and an extra fan. And that fan will be started manually.
Otherwise, the car runs beautifully now. It is really nice to have a great car again :-)



Raymond Wardenaer

This thread was discussed between 18/08/2011 and 19/08/2011

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