[Mg-t] trouble starting

[Lawrie Alexander]

Bob,

I believe they are .225" thick. I know they work on a TC with an original 
air cleaner as I fitted a set to mine and have no interference between the 
plenum and the bonnet side panel. Also, no more hot-start problems .....

Cheers,

Lawrie
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "BOB GRUNAU" <grunau.garage at sympatico.ca>
To: "Lawrie Alexander" <lawrie at britcars.com>; "rgmorse" 
<rgmorse at mzaconsulting.com>
Cc: <mg-t at autox.team.net>
Sent: Monday, July 18, 2011 7:27 AM
Subject: RE: [Mg-t] trouble starting


> Hi Lawrie, how thick are the 1 1/4" bore plastic spacers and can they be
> fitted onto a TC with the original air cleaner?
> Thanks, Bob Grunau, Canada
>
> Roger,
> A check for $35, payable to Brian Sonner, mailed to 2700 Sleepy Hollow
> Court, Placerville, CA 95667-4222 will cover the cost of a pair of 
> spacers,
> 4 gaskets and postage. You will need to buy 4 metric studs, 10mm x 1.5 
> pitch
> x 1-1/2" long and 4 nuts for the studs from your local auto parts store,
> then you are good to go.
>
> We had actually tried a heat shield and wrapping the float bowls with
> insulating material but found no relief from the hot-start problem till we
> used the spacers. Apparently, it's the heat being transmitted directly 
> from
> the hot engine into the carb bodies via the contact between the manifold 
> and
> the carb flanges that causes the excessive heating of the fuel.
> Thanks!  Lawrie
>
> Hi Lawrie,
> How does one go about getting a set of spacers?  They are a terrific
> idea.  That along with the B&G heat shield should pretty much do the
> job.  Roger
> Oliver,
>
> The new fuels which have ethanol in them vaporize more easily than gas
> used to. The heat of the engine is transmitted via the manifold studs
> directly into the carburetors so you end up trying to re-start the
> engine with fuel that's not mixing with the air the way it should. This
> problem has affected lots of folks in recent years.
>
> The cure I've found is to insulate the carbs from the manifold with
> spacers like the TF, MGA, MGB, etc. used. If you have 1-12" carbs you
> can use TF spacers and studs to replace the TD bolts (and new gaskets,
> of course). If you have 1-1/4" carbs, I have a local supplier of the
> correct size spacers which we had made up to solve this very problem on
> TCs and TDs. They're not cheap ($30 a pair, as they were custom-made in
> a small run) and you still need to buy 4 gaskets and studs and nuts, but
> they really do eliminate the problem.
>
> Lawrie
> greetings from Dallas, where on a good evening the temperature drops
> to almost 80. we were out in the car, about twilight.  almost an hour 
> later
> weather.com says the ambient temperature is 90 we drove the car for about
> 10 - 15 minutes, then parked for about 10 -
> 15 minutes.  it would not start, although it seemed to catch for maybe one
> cycle or less.
> fortunately, we were parked on a hill, and I was able to push start it. 
> it
> was very jerky for about 20 seconds, then ran just fine for the 15
> minute drive home. vapor lock?