[Mgs] A short tale of parts & service [Postscript]

Sun Oct 7 17:44:27 MDT 2018

Here’s what Joey at MoMa Instrument Repair had to suggest:

   "It means that the movement itself is deformed that is why it’s way out of calibration. Some of those we can repair by reshaping the movement carefully or just replace the movement. It’s not an easy fix at all. You can send it and it will all depend on the extent of the damage if we can repair or replace movement. Thanks Joey"

…which sounds kind of like what I was suggesting. Damn. The problem is, the car is undriveable with the gauge removed — it leaves an open passage to both coolant and oil. I’ve only had the car running for two weeks all year… kind of running out of nice weather… Grr.

I think I may try to buy a good one to swap in while having this one repaired, then sell one later.

--
Max Heim
'66 MGB

> On Oct 7, 2018, at 4:38 PM, Max Heim <mvheim at sonic.net> wrote:
> 
> How could the capsule get damaged?
> 
> I unscrewed it from the head, and gently pulled the tube out of the way. Then I replaced it after replacing the head.
> 
> Unfortunately, it never occurred to me to see what the gauge was reading while the head was off and the capsule was resting on the inner fender.
> 
> I’m not sure what the test would demonstrate. I already know it responds to temperature changes, so the capillary tube is not broken. The problem seems to be at the gauge end. I just can’t figure out what that would be.
> 
> I know there is a flattened tube rolled into a coil inside the gauge. Could it have unrolled beyond its intended limit during the overheating episode, and is now hung up on some protuberance inside the housing, preventing it from recoiling?
> 
> 
> --
> Max Heim
> mvheim at sonic.net <mailto:mvheim at sonic.net>
> 
> 
> 
>> On Oct 7, 2018, at 3:49 PM, B H <mgbobh at gmail.com <mailto:mgbobh at gmail.com>> wrote:
>> 
>>   Yours has the non-electric temp sender and gauge? 
>>   If it does, the gauge is moved by pressure of expanding ether in the little capsule that is screwed into the engine. If it reads 220 from the beginning, my guess is that the capsule got squeezed or the tube damaged during the R&R.
>>   Test by removing capsule from engine, and putting it into a pan of hot water. Check the temp with your hand-held thermometer.
>> Bob
>> 
>> 
>> On Sun, Oct 7, 2018 at 6:30 PM Max Heim via Mgs <mgs at autox.team.net <mailto:mgs at autox.team.net>> wrote:
>> I just got the engine back together, but now the temperature gauge is malfunctioning.
>> 
>> It seems to have got stuck at about 220. That’s what it was reading before I even tried to start the car. After warming up to operating temp (estimated, of course), the gauge had climbed into the oil pressure zone, reading at 85 psi. At this point my cheap temp gun had the thermostat housing at around 180.
>> 
>> Anyone seen this before? Any suggestions?
>> 
>> 
>> --
>> Max Heim
>> '66 MGB
>> 
>>> On Sep 26, 2018, at 9:11 AM, Max Heim via Mgs <mgs at autox.team.net <mailto:mgs at autox.team.net>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Actually, when we finally got to my house, we swapped the luggage into my 1967 Barracuda convertible and headed up the freeway to catch up with the Melee. Reached the first night’s stop in Red Bluff by 7pm.
>>> 
>>> Not the first participants to have to pull in a backup vehicle…
>>> 
>>> The plastic blade didn’t directly “puncture” the radiator, actually. But it was trapped inside the shroud, and wound up smashing several tubes right where they enter the top and bottom tanks (the blade being caught on the lip of the tank at each revolution, I think). I didn't even know that it had thrown a blade until I started disassembly — I was assuming the 50+ year old radiator had just suddenly developed a stress crack after being transferred from one body to another.
>>> 
>>> With 5 or 6 tubes mangled top and bottom, it lost coolant instantly, and the radiator shop said it was irreparable other than by completely recoring it.
>>> 
>>> --
>>> Max Heim
>>> '66 MGB
>>> 
>>>> On Sep 26, 2018, at 3:56 AM, Dan DiBiase <dan.dibiase at gmail.com <mailto:dan.dibiase at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> A bummer that you couldn't participate in the melee, Max, I bet you were disappointed. Good recovery by Moss, though. 
>>>> 
>>>> Just tells you how fast these things spin, for a plastic blade to puncture a metal radiator! 
>>>> 
>>>> Dan D
>>>> '76B, '65B
>>>> Central NJ USA
>>>> http://dandibiase.cbintouch.com/ <http://dandibiase.cbintouch.com/>
>>>> 
>>>> On Tue, Sep 25, 2018 at 11:36 PM Max Heim via Mgs <mgs at autox.team.net <mailto:mgs at autox.team.net>> wrote:
>>>> I haven’t said much on the list about my project. but I got my “new” 66 B roadster together in time for the start of the California Melee on Sept. 8. Unfortunately, a blade flew off the new Moss plastic fan within the first ten miles and punctured the radiator, so that was as far as it got — from the San Francisco Presidio to Marin Civic Center. 
>>>> 
>>>> I made the mistake of trying to get it to the next exit (it was a bad place to be on the shoulder, between the sound wall and 5 lanes of traffic doing 75+), which resulted in overheating and a blown head gasket. Total mileage to failure on this fan was 307 miles.
>>>> 
>>>> Subsequent examination of the stub revealed an air pocket in the plastic right at the center of the base of the blade. Moss accepted my photo of this as evidence of a manufacturing flaw. This model of fan was already out of production (and out of warranty) — I had purchased it as part of a large order back in 2015 when the car body was still in the paint shop.
>>>> 
>>>> But regardless, they decided to send me a new fan ("new model" nylon 7-blade fan) and a new aluminum radiator (the shop had told me mine was irreparable). I thought this was pretty decent of them.
>>>> 
>>>> I just picked up my head at the machine shop where they had skimmed the surface and cleaned up the valves. In the meantime I had inspected the lifters based on a tip from Dave at British Motorsports in Campbell and found a few of them were showing pitting. By replacing them now I can save the cam.
>>>> 
>>>> Now I just need to pick up the lifters and the gasket set and I should be able to have it back together this weekend.
>>>> 
>>>> A few tips based on my experience:
>>>> 
>>>> 1. Just shut it down. If I had stayed out on the freeway verge I would have saved the head gasket, and AAA would have picked me up in a timely manner. But since I had reported myself “safe” and off the highway, it took 4 hours to get a tow. 
>>>> 
>>>> 2. Check your lifters every so often. I had replaced the cam and lifters due to lifter spalling sometime between 1998 and 2010. The new lifters were just starting to pit in 2018.
>>>> 
>>>> 3. If you have a yellow plastic 7-bladed fan from Moss USA purchased prior to mid-2015, you may want to consider retiring it. I suppose if it hasn’t broken so far, it probably doesn’t have air bubbles in a critical location. But they had perhaps a dozen reported incidents. The current product being sold as part #434-332 is a different pattern by a different maker in a different material, so should not be a cause for worry.
>>>> 
>>>> Buy British, Buy Best!
>>>> 
>>>> --
>>>> Max Heim
>>>> '66 MGB
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>>>> 
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>>> 
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>>> 
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>> 
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>> 
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