1953 MGTD

[draker]

Is that you wayno?






I know its not.. but I saw it the other day in traffic. You can see in the pic... it smoked bad.. Burning oil for sure.

[wayno]

Is that you wayno?






I know its not.. but I saw it the other day in traffic. You can see in the pic... it smoked bad.. Burning oil for sure.

That's an earlier MGTD than mine, it has the square taillights while mine have the round taillights.
That one also has the wind deflectors on the sides of the windshield, and a big driverside mirror like what I need, but it's cool to see one of them out and about.

[wayno]

Well I bought another MG engine, this one was supposedly rebuilt 5000 miles ago, the guy selling it was converting over to a CB1000 fuel injected engine, going from 65hp to 170hp is likely going to be nice for him, he also was talking about turbocharging it to bump it up to 225hp, and he had the hardware there to do it, it was a widebody MG Midget, I never seen one of them before, forgot to take a photo.


It's a single SU version, I need to lay it over on its side and put a new oil pan gasket(got it with engine), then mount it up on the engine test stand, put all the fluids in it and see if it will fire up, I still have other stuff to do though, I didn't get the electronic ignition brain or coil with it, although he said he was going to look for it, but I can remove the setup on the other engine and put it on this engine, if it sounds good, this engine will go into the MGTD and the other one will be a backup.
I was told the tranny that came with it was gone thru at the same time as the engine, but who really knows, but I did go get this from the guy at his house, so I know where he lives, and I did check the end play on this one, it felt fine compared to the other engine missing it's thrust washers.
I will have to go to Parkrose hardware for the oil pan bolts, he could only find 4 of them, I also need gear oil for the tranny.

[wayno]

I started this engine today, it doesn't run as good as the first engine, but I suspect that it is the difference between an old SU and a new Weber carb, it doesn't idle as good as the Weber, but otherwise it sounds good.
All the photos are of the engine running.



It has plenty of oil pressure(60psi when started up), the photo below is of it warmed up at an idle, I am not sure if the temp gauge works right though, it was in the white(hot) the whole time, but it didn't seem hot to me, I could put my hand of the radiator without burning myself.

I ran it for over an hour, it vibrated quite a but, and I am thinking that it might have a lumpy cam in it, it just didn't want to idle smoothly, but it still would idle at quite a low RPM, just not smoothly, and it readily revved up.
I did put a fan on it later in the day, it had the electric fan running, but I put the stock fan on it trying to lower the temp on the temp gauge, but it really didn't change it at all.

I believe I will have to change the water pump out on this engine, when I first added water, it was leaking around the shaft or vent hole, but after it warmed up it quit leaking.

[DRIVEN]

I never did like the way those Strombergs ran. My brother's Volvo had dual Strombergs on it when he got it and we never could get it to run right -- or smooth. Slapped some swap meet SUs on it and it was night and day better.

[wayno]

I never did like the way those Strombergs ran. My brother's Volvo had dual Strombergs on it when he got it and we never could get it to run right -- or smooth. Slapped some swap meet SUs on it and it was night and day better.

I have lots of SUs around here, but they are jetted for a dual setup, so each one is made for about a 1000cc, this engine is a 1500cc, so I don't believe it will work right unless it is re-jetted.
It seems to run good except when it comes to the idle. maybe it has something to do with that coolant activated automatic choke on the side of the carb, I thought it was a fuel regulator, but one of the guys on the MG forum informed me different, after it warmed up is when the idle got weird, but when I first started it I was worried about other things than the idle, so maybe it was fine when it was cold.

I wonder if that other outlet above where the fuel line is connected is the vent for the bowl, I will ask on the MG forum.
Well it runs, and had no weird sounds when started.
Every time I set one of these engines up on the test stand I get it 180 out or even worse, but I am able to get it right within 3 trys.

[DRIVEN]

I wonder if a single SU from a 240Z would be jetted close enough to run okay?

[wayno]

I wonder if a single SU from a 240Z would be jetted close enough to run okay?

Maybe when the automatic choke is connected to a water source it will idle properly, it was chugging like my 2.3cc engine in the work truck if I forget and leave the the choke on after it is warmed up.
Not sure what I am going to do today, maybe clean up a little around here.

[izzo]

Haha yeah, thats def a water choke man. Those things are funky. Never ran one myself. Never plan on it either. Always get the electric or manual ones. I seen those water chokes on a lot of one manufacture of car, but i can't remember what.

[wayno]

Well I got some stuff done/finished on this today, I have been working on the tunnel all this week when I had time, my problem has been that I didn't have enough room between the tunnel and the brake pedal to press on the gas pedal, and when I did get my foot past the brake pedal I could not lift my foot off the pedal without the brake pedal inhibiting me lifting my foot, this was not good, so I decided to do something about it.
I reshaped the tunnel the best I could, I also removed a big pad on the brake pedal itself, now my foot has the room it needs.


Here is the passenger side, less room there now, but all my passenger needs is enough room to press on the floor boards with their feet as hard as needed when in fear for their life.

I also figured out that if I removed the spacer between the front SU airfilter housing and the carb face that the filter housing would fit on the front SU and only rub on the hood side sheet metal without smashing it.


The white bar had to be re-positioned because it went right in front of the front SU face, now it is above the airfilters, it's likely not as good of a place to connect it, but it is better than not having it there at all.
I also put a MG Midget muffler on the car, but have not driven it yet to decide if installing it was a waste of my time.

[wayno]

Well I got up this morning and went to a all British swap meet, was hoping to find a MGTD wheel(steel wheel), but there were none to be had there, they had a lot of spoke/wire type for sale, but I will never put that type of money into this car.
I came home after a couple hours and stopped at the nursery and bought all my tomato plants I wanted and planted them along with one cucumber hill, then I went to the auto parts store and bought enough foam for the air filter elements and installed them, then I re-routed the hose going from the back of the head to the intake manifold so it will not have a chance of hitting any of the front pulleys, then I mowed the lawn and called it a day.
I think the next thing I need to do is re-wire the car, I made my own harness the first time, it has a lot to be desired.
The alt was working, but now it is not working, I looked at it and am baffled about what I have done, I think that I need to start over on the wiring, I need to make it much simpler, then add the bells and whistles later.
I also need to add a return line to the fuel system, right now I have it in a loop, the fuel comes from the tank to a filter, then it goes past a tee to the fuel pump, then it goes to the carb, just past the carb is the fuel pressure regulator, then the return line goes back to between the fuel filter and pump via that tee, basically a loop, in theory the fuel could get hotter and hotter till it vapor locks, I need to put that returned fuel back into the tank, I have a drain plug that I can use for the return, I just need to get motivated on that, I think the wiring should come first.

[izzo]

Would it be easier to just get a painless or other type kit? Idk what all you plan on putting into the car, but they seem decently priced for a smaller harness. Seems like it would be the way to go if you're going to rewire it. A lot less likely to have something not work, or work then not like the alternator.

[wayno]

Would it be easier to just get a painless or other type kit? Idk what all you plan on putting into the car, but they seem decently priced for a smaller harness. Seems like it would be the way to go if you're going to rewire it. A lot less likely to have something not work, or work then not like the alternator.

I thought about that, I also have a 210 wiring harness in the shed, but I was saving that for if I put an A15 in a Datsun L320 PU, I did this wire job back in 2008/2009 before I knew much about wiring, I just copied a wiring diagram for a 1980 B210 wire for wire, it may be that the alt. just got tired, the light always came on slightly but went out when the engine was revved, now it's just on all the time.
I will think about it for a while.

I really need to decide if I am going to bring the U320 to Canby this year again, I have done nothing to the car since getting it ready for Blue Lake last year other than having the carb rebuilt.

[wayno]

Well I was fighting the issue of my brake pedal/tunnel clearance as I could not get my foot between the two of them to press on the gas pedal, I did the best I could do with the tunnel, then I removed the rubber pad and that helped a lot, but on the MG forum someone suggested that the brake pedal pad was not stock, so I asked if it was supposed to be like the clutch pedal oval size, and the response was yes, so I started hunting thru all my parts for the stock brake pedal pad, I could not find it, so I got this idea that maybe I could cut the piece of metal on it the shape I needed, this is what I had with the rubber piece.

This is what I had with the rubber piece removed, it was a lot better, I could get my foot thru the opening to press the gas pedal.

This is what I found behind the piece of metal that was screwed onto the pedal, it was already there, it just had that stupid piece of metal screwed to it.

So I went thru my rubber kit and found the rubber brake pedal pad, now I am awesome, lots of room for my foot to press on the gas pedal.

I am good to go on the pedal issues for now, I can move on to other things, if I had known that the pedal was that small, I would never have spent so much time on the tunnel, but now it is real roomy, so I guess it worked out for the best.

[510freak]

Way more room there now

[wayno]

So I drove it around today for a half hour or so, the pedals are not an issue anymore.
I also cleaned up the wiring some this morning, the alternator doesn't work, and I am confused about a wire, there is a what I thought was a ground wire on the distributor, when I wired this car I followed a wiring diagram, so why is there a wire going from the positive side of the coil to that what I thought was a ground connection, it has a what looks like a condenser between the coil and the ground, and the car runs fine with it connected, but why is it needed?
Here is the ground connection I spoke of.

Here is the condenser looking thing,

it connects to the positive side of the coil.

I have searched for a 1980 210/310 wiring diagram and have been unable to find one which baffles me, I get 521, 1200, and 620 diagrams, but nothing for the 210/310, I will keep looking for one big enough to read.

[wayno]

OK, can a couple of you guys look at this wiring diagram and tell me what you think, it is very confusing, according to this 1980 210 wiring diagram the positive side of the coil has no power source, so look at the diagram and tell me what you see, and if you get it, explain it to me please.
http://www.datsunforum.com/Datsun_Wirin ... m_1980.pdf

[DRIVEN]

The Black and white wire is the power feed from the ignition switch. Goes in to the distributor, then through the noise suppressor (condenser) and then to the + side of the coil.

[wayno]

The Black and white wire is the power feed from the ignition switch. Goes in to the distributor, then through the noise suppressor (condenser) and then to the + side of the coil.

I went and looked at other years of wiring diagrams, the 1982 wiring diagram makes a lot more sense, it is wired exactly the way mine is set up, so maybe that is what year I wired this car from, as that 1980 diagram makes no sense, I have never seen a matchbox distributor that didn't have two wires that went directly from the coil to the distributor, but that is what that 1980 wiring diagram says, it must not be a matchbox in that diagram.
Here is the 1982 wiring diagram.
http://www.datsunforum.com/Datsun_Wirin ... m_1982.pdf

[wayno]

I put another alternator from an engine I have around here on the car, and all is well now, the light went out right away and the amp gauge reads a little on the "+" side now instead of on the minus side like it has been showing.
It's time to fix something else now.