In a message dated 9/14/00 8:57:47 AM Central Daylight Time, lundgren@byu.net
writes:
> After a 6 minute sprint (reving over 5000 in most gears) I can get a
> >decent weep happening, but then drive the car daily at street stresses
> >and not see any sign of it. This has been going on for two years.
>
I am new to the list a couple of weeks ago. I have not been around LBCs for
thirty years. Now we have had a 71 Midget in the family for a couple of
weeks. It sat a lot for the last twelve years, only 2500 miles in that time.
Naturally, I have fixed a lot of vacuum leaks, oil leaks, changed all fuel
lines, changed rear brake hose, bled brakes and clutch, etc, etc, etc. Sound
familiar?
The weep in the MGB head is exactly the kind of leak that has responded well
to sealers for me. I have had particularly good results with Bar's Leak
tablets. Have one diesel tractor engine in the family that developed a
small weep in the head at 1800 hours. It is still running on the same head
after two major overhauls at over 26,000 total hours on one Bar's Leak tablet
a year. You could buy a pretty good Midget parts cars for what a new head
for this would cost. I have a couple of late model detroit V6s that will not
hold a new intake manifold gasket without a liberal dose of Bar's Leak put in
by the dealer at warranty installation. Mechanic at the dealer said it is
used in small quantity in all new detroit engines to seal cooling systems and
should be readded to them when changing fluids. Manufacturers and Service
Writers at the dealerships do not like to admit they do it.
Is there anything different about the MG/Austin/Triumph/etc engines that
makes it impossible or unwise to use sealers in a non-race, relatively low
stressed, daily driver engine? Radiator design, heater ore design, pump
seals, etc. Sometime in the next few weeks, I will flush the cooling system,
check the water pump and change all the coolant hoses on the 71 Midget as
well as a couple other cars. I normally add a small amount of Bar's leak to
the other vehicles. Will this cause trouble with the Midget? Does anyone do
this with 70s Bs or Midgets?
TIA,
Alex H.
71 Midget
Tulsa, Oklahoma
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