I see that Scott Fischer has finished his engine rebuild, and that's
prompted me to post a little update about my rebuild ('79 MGB). As
you may recall, this all started when I was wandering across a
cornfield and I heard a ghostly voice whisper:
"If you rebuild it, it will run..."
The final major step of preparation - buying a second car to drive
during the rebuild - was completed about a week ago when I bought a
friend's 1981 Toyota Corolla for $800. Quite a change from the MGB -
a purring quiet Japanese motor (with 100K on it, no less) - and a
tendency to sway through turns and bounce the back end around a bit.
I think it needs new rear shocks. Did I mention it is painted BRG? :-)
The rebuild is happening at the Auto Hobby Shop at the Los Angeles Air
Force base. The Shop has about 30 bays, four lifts, a complete paint
shop, air compressors, part washers, a steam cleaner, a tool crib,
workbenches, creepers, jacks, and so on. All of which is available to
service personnel and selected others for $5/day or $90/month. It's
amazing how much more fun it is to work on a car under professional
conditions.
As for the work itself... About 10 hours of work has the engine just
about out of the car. I still need to break the prop shaft, lower the
transmission and pull the engine, but all the ancillary components
have been removed. There were a few surprises. The brake servo
vacumn line was in bad condition, and may be partially to blame for
mushy brakes. A small vacumn T had broken since the last time I had
the hood open. The clutch slave cylinder hose is becoming cracked and
old, and I may replace it, though I'm not keen on dealing with yet
another hydraulic system.
The inside of the air duct/air filter assembly was oily. Any ideas on
how that occurred? Might it be indicative of a failed EGR or gulp
valve? (No PCV valve on late model MGBs.) I hadn't planned on
replacing either valve, but if this indicates a problem obviously I
will.
-- Scott Turner
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