[Mg-t] TD Abandoned in Dodge City

[JohnD]

Ive gotten several emails asking what happened to my TD in Dodge City
during the Rallye to Reno.  The motor Manley Ford built ran like gangbusters
all day long for 4 days, the last of which was 12 hours at 4000-4500 RPM
with air temp at 106 deg. F.  The car never exceeded 85 deg. C. water
temperature and the B&G rear seal he put in deported itself exceptionally.
Unfortunately, the last few very hot hours before Dodge City took  its toll
on the coil and then the SU fuel pump and then I developed an intermittent
miss under load. After many hours in the parking lot of the Dodge House
Hotel trying to diagnose that, and having checked or replaced EVERYTHING
electrical, the TD rewarded me just before midnight with a metallic valve
train sound that had not been there all day. Conferring with several others,
and in view of the rally departure time just a few hours away, I decided to
not risk pushing on over the Rockies and across the desert with that sound,
and left the car in Dodge, completing the rally riding with others.



So: good news/bad news. The TD came back to Michigan on a trailer. The
metallic sopund?... a misaligned rocker cover touching one of the valve
keepers. After checking for a broken valve spring and adjusting the valve
lash in Dodge City, the cover got replaced a bit cock-eyed and tightened
down.  [Pause while I put a screwdriver through my left eye].  Good news: it
was not a sticking tappet or push rod or valve guide. The motor ran great.
Bad news: I still have the Dodge City miss and that will need to get
sorted out. In the mean time, I have a Spridget race motor to assemble for
MG Vintage Racers East Coast Focus Event at Lime Rock. Life remains an
adventure!



John Deikis

Chelsea, MI