All right, here's my first 'please help me with my car' type
question. I know smog control devices are put in place to benefit the
environment, and I'm generally very in favor of that, but I am also aware
that my car's emissions, in its current state of tune, are probably not
much worse than if the smog control was not present. So, I'm curious, is
there any benefit to removing some of the smog control contraptions? I
don't live in or near California, nor any state that conducts annual
testing, wink wink, nudge nudge.
I've got a '72 MGB with HIF SU's, a gulp valve, air manifold, air
pump, a single carbon cannister, a gas tank vapor system, crankcase
breather, and oil separator.
The reason I'm concerned about it is that my 'B is running very
poorly (the carbs are synch'ed but the mixture isn't necessarily perfect
yet), and I'm pretty sure my rings or valves are in bad shape, maybe
both. However, my financial status is probably in worse shape, so I need
to make do for a while. Notice the edu in my address, it's not because
I'm a professor!
It's burning oil and fouls plugs fairly regularly. I can't get it
to run, much less idle, at anything below about 1000 rpm, which makes
timing difficult since my manual recommends doing it at 600 rpm. I'm just
wondering if removing some of the smog devices will let it run a
little better or be pointless (but also would like to know for future
reference when rebuild cash becomes something other than dream funds).
An older gent who used to own one talked to me a bit in a parking
lot the other day when I was changing the fouled out plugs. He pointed
at my air pump and said I ought to "remove that thing first of all," but
I'm not sure about that, nor exactly what to do about the lines running to
the air manifold and the intake manifold. Plug them? Connect them to one
another? Leave them open to the air? (Or don't full with them and be PC).
He also recommended running hotter plugs till I get the rings/valves
fixed. I've tried that, but they seem to foul just as easily (using the
same gap). Could I have a faulty coil to top it off? I really want to
put an electronic ignition system in, suspecting a poorly tuned
distributor is part of my problem, but I admit mechanical ignorance.
The SU's seem fine (except for the likelihood the mixture isn't
quite right...I do have a Colortune plug on the way). I took 'em apart
last month and put in new seals and new float jets (Grose jets).
Is there anything inexpensive I can do to improve the engine's
performance until I can afford ring and/or valve jobs? I'm inclined to
do these myself, but I really don't have parts money yet, and don't
expect to until spring or perhaps even summer. The 'B is the only
transport I've got besides a cycle, which doesn't do so well on icy roads
:(.
There's lots more I'd like to know about 'B's, my ailing one in
particular but I'd appreciate learning some of this greatly. I hope I'm not
opening a proverbial can of worms...
Thanks for wading through! BTW, is there a faq to this list?
-Scott Allen
js-allen@students.uiuc.edu
"At dawn we will face the greatest test of our resolve. But I
say this: though starving, hunger will not weaken us; though diseased,
illness will not cripple us, and though weary, exhaustion will not claim
us. We can fight knowing that all true Reiklanders will forevermore
honour our valiant gesture of defiance, even though our bodies be left to
feed the beasts of carrion.
Mind you...we could always surrender." -Rick Priestly's Siege
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