The reason that the intake hose is important for cooling an MG is that, if
it is missing, cool air can bypass the radiator throught the hole.
Flush the system. Make sure your fan clutch works if your car is so
equipped.
I don't remember MGB's having a radiator fan shroud. A shroud would help
cooling at idle. I know someone makes a shroud for an A, I would think
that someone would make one for the B.
I have had better luck advancing the timing to cool an engine rather than
retarding it.
The kingpin clearances quoted for the Midget sound just fine to me. A
bronze bushing can run fairly low clearance as long as they don't get too
hot (like exhaust valves). I would expect that anything under .01 would be
acceptable before you notice a problem. Maybe Kirk could fill in the
blanks since he still works with this stuff but there are recomended
clearances for "running fits." These clearances are specified as so many
thousandths clearance per inch of diameter. If my Machinery's Handbook
were handy, I would be tempted to look it up.
I would not use anything but studs designed for heads or bearings in an
engine. The torque settings specified are unique for the material strength
of the stud. Changing to a different stud material would result in too
much or too little stretch in the stud. Too much stretch could fatique the
stud leading to plastic deformation or failure. Too little stretch could
effect the ability of the stud to clamp over the wide range of temperatures
an engine sees. I would guess that stainless steel studs would be weaker
than standard engine studs. Using weaker studs would not be a good idea.
Notice that when you buy non-stock competition studs, they come with their
own, higher torque recommendations. This is to assure propper stud
stretch.
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