Friday afternoon the sun was out (rare for Minnesota this year) and the
snow was gone. I had a ton of work to do so like any model employee, I
took half a day vacation and got the MGA running.
I have rebuilt the distributor and generator this winter. I hooked the
battery charger up and cranked the engine (ignition off) in 15 second
bursts until oil pressure showed. I then turned on the key and waited for
the float bowls to fill. Choke out and contact! After 2 or 3 more 15
second cranking episodes, there was fire in the hole. Unhook the battery
charger. The only timing performed upon replacement of the dizzy was
turning so that the solid vacuum line attached so it was running a bit
rough. After about a minute, I left it on fast idle, loosened the dizzy,
and started cranking in advance. I added advance, shut off the car, and
restarted to check for starter kickback. After about the third iteration I
had the rare opportunity to sample first hand the strength of my coil as I
grasped the dizzy to turn it. It was running pretty good- idling faster
than last year- so I called it close enough until I can run it hard warm
and check for detonation.
The generator also seemed to be working fine. I checked the output at fast
idle and it was around 14-15 volts. Much quieter than before the bearing
replacement also.
I took it out for a 20 minute drive to get everything warm. On the
freeway, a gentleman in a newer Merc SL gave me a big smile and wave. Back
home I did a quick compression check. I wanted to do this before I pulled
the engine for the clutch replacement just to make sure that the engine was
OK. Dry readings were 120-135 psi and oiled readings were 130-145 psi so I
would say that the valves are fine and the rings are tired but OK. Any
thoughts? I may just throw a set of standard rings in it while it is out
but we will see. The clutch actually worked pretty well but I know it will
be worse once it warms up outside.
Saturday was the local club's museum tour which Simon has already
described. There were four MG's there, two of which were driven by list
members. Four list members that I know of attended the affair. The A
floated a bit on the road even with two people aboard so I expect that the
right front shock has leaked down again but other than that it drove
perfectly. Even all of the electricals survived the winter!
All in all not bad for the middle of February. Oh well, gotta run- the sun
is out again!
Regards,
Bill Eastman
61 MGA very, very happy to be on the road!
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