In less than two hours, but I think more than two gallons of sweat, I
replaced the head gasket. No apparant damage to the head. The bores and
pistons looked great. Spark plugs #2 and #3 had obviously gotten hot.
The car runs great, and, strangely, sounds better than before.
All in all, a good end to a great adventure. Except now I'm starting to
think once again, about giving it all up and moving to Europe to be a rally
driver... :)
I'm sure this head will eventually fail, but so what? It's off an engine
that I got for $500, along with: tranny, dif, complete suspension, gauges,
lights, etc off a wrecked car, and another MGB (needs a lot of work, really
a parts car)...This particular head came off a '75 B that had a catasrophic
meeting (head on) wit a Bronco. The engine was shoved back about three inches.
The fact that it wasn't totally whacked then is amazing. Oh yeah, safety fast.
The guy in the MG walked away. The guy in the Bronco had to be taken by
ambulance.
I think it took me longer to clean up the car and get all the mud off the
underside and suspension than it took me to replace the head gasket.
The old one was cooked between #2 and #3, and the passenger's side, right
by the #1 head nut in the tightening sequence (as told by the Haynes man)
I don't go halfway: this gasket I blew was a competition copper gasket.
And for all those of you who get queasy thinking about treating a sports
car this way, driving it through the woods and all...remember all those
parts *are* replaceable...
'sing blue silver'
keith 'what about pro-rally in a MGB V-8?' wheeler
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