[Spridgets] Warning!! LBC content!! Hit Delete Now!!

Jim Johnson bmwwxman at gmail.com
Sun Nov 18 16:50:16 MST 2007


Got the engine and tranny out of the car today. Tomorrow I will have
the tranny and back plate off. Still no sign of my little piece of
metal that fell down into the top end. From here I start by taking off
the pan and look for the bit there. If no success there I will pull
the push rods using a very strong magnet on them in hopes of pulling
the metal bit up with a push rod. After that, I guess the head has to
come off in case it fell down through an open valve.

When I drained the tranny oil, it looked awfully gray and there was a
pretty good wad of gray metallic mud on the magnetic drain plug. Guess
my ribcase may be the next problem though it seemed fine when in use.
All gears worked fine and it wasn't terribly noisy. I've got a used
gearbox from a 70 Midget but have no idea what condition it is in. If
I open the inspection cover on it, what should I look for to see if it
is in decent shape?

The other thing I need to cure is the bad oil leak from the engine.
It didn't leak just driving around town short distances and lower
RPMs, but out on the highway, with sustained higher RPMs, it leaked
like a sieve!  It got 30 miles to the quart! From the looks of it,
that leak appears to be coming from the back plate/oil pump can area.
Any secrets for how to seal this area off other than just a ton of RTV
and new gaskets?

Any input gratefully received......
-- 
Cheers!!
Jim - 68 Midget in Dodge City
Don't miss "50 Years of Spridgets" at Lake of the Ozarks, June 26-29, 2008!!
For info and registration... <http://www.Sprite-MidgetClub.org>


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