Engine is running but...The clutch

I was turning the engine over by hand. I had taken off the valve cover and pulled the plugs then poured mystery oil in to help lube the insides. I had no idea the condition of the internal parts. I finally started the engine. While doing this I noticed the rear wheels were spinning a bit even though it was not in gear. I did some research and some poking around the transmission to discover I needed a clutch job. I'll admit that I was a bit intimidated by the whole process. I began removing all the parts I just put on. They do come off a lot quicker now that I've done it several times. I put all the parts neatly under my workbench out of harms way. I ended up buying a $140 engine hoist from Northern Tool. It set up easy and was easy to use.

I hooked up the hoist to the valve cover mounting bolts. I know it sounds flimsy but this is the preferred method. I then began removing the transmission mounts and the drive shaft. You can imagine the amount of grease and road grime around the mounts.

The engine mounts were next. I discovered the right mount was fried. It was completely separated from the rubber part. Now that all the bolts were out of the mounts, I began to ease the assembly out. The damn thing was getting caught up on something. It was the flange of the shaft coming out the rear of the transmission. I used a pry bar to ease it over the cross-member. Once again, I tried to ease it out. Caught again! I quickly figured out that me, the genius, forgot to remove the gearshift. It was amazing how quick the engine came out after I fixed the last problem. There it was, my engine dangling a few feet above the car. I maneuvered it out away from the car and set is on the floor. It was getting late, so I cleaned up and saved further disassembly for another day. I removed the transmission from the engine.

The silver is a result of elbow grease and Gunk degreaser

It was very clear to see my problem: The throw-out bearing had completely worn out and was just a hollowed out piece of steel. I then began the arduous task of cleaning the mess lying on my floor. It was completely covered with grease and other crap. The cross member was filled with rocks, dirt, and grease. I had to chisel is out and use the pressure washer to clean it up.

Notice the color and grime.

I used engine degreaser (4 times) to get the trans back to silver color. I screwed up while maneuvering the transmission. The speedometer housing broke off. I quickly found out that this piece was no longer manufactured. Luckily, a guy on ebay had the only one I've ever seen for sale. I bought it for $12 delivered. Next I began working on cleaning up the engine. I did the same deal with the degreaser and pressure washer. I also had to bring out the wire brush a couple of times.

Wow! you can actually see the nuts and bolts.

I removed the newly installed water pump and thermostat housing and put several coats of cast iron color high temp paint. I removed the spark plugs and cleaned them up. I had changed the regular champion plugs with put Bosch platinum plugs. They were filthy after the initial startup. I forgot to mention that while prepping to remove the engine, I drained the oil. It was pretty messed up. I further realized that also after I removed the oil filter to discover grit in the bottom of the housing. I decided I should remove the oil pan to clean out the sludge and ensure the oil pump screen wasn't clogged. I discovered, to my surprise, that the pan wasn't too bad. Maybe an eighth of an inch of sludge and not a thing clogging up the pickup screen. I cleaned the whole thing up and prepared it for paint. I found that Permatex gasket remover is great stuff. It saves a ton of time and wasted effort. I reinstalled the assembly fairly quickly. I removed all the mounting brackets and paint them the cast iron color. I originally paint the whole engine cast iron but thought the engine would look better the original color. Moss wants $15 plus shipping for a can of the original paint. This seemed a bit steep. I opted for Duplicolor's High Heat Red #1604. It is a darker red that is available most everywhere. I put 4-5 coats of paint on that entire engine - minus the valve cover. It looks much better since now I can paint the whole engine.

I then mounted the thermostat housing and the water pump. I hand painted the mounting bolts and nuts to match. The engine will look much cleaner by mounting only the brackets that will actually be used. Waiting for the clutch to come in from LBC Car Company. I ordered one on ebay but the guy took my money and didn't deliver. After a complaint through Paypal, I got my money back but no clutch. The local store's suppliers were out of stock unless you want to pay double for a top of the line clutch kit. LBC had a good price and I consider reliable. I also ordered the plunger rod that attached to the fork and actuated by the clutch slave cylinder because the original was ovaled out. During the big lull of the clutch issue, I did some further updating of the brakes. I stood there looking into the engine bay and realized that my original brake work was a bit sub-standard. I ordered repair kits and rebuilt the clutch master and slave cylinders. The master was leaking. I also re-plumbed the entire brake system. This gave me the opportunity to move the rear brake line closer to the firewall. I thought it looked funny before just sitting out there in mid air. I also redid the clutch line and the fuel line. It looks so much better. I just need to bleed both systems. I found that bleeding the clutch was a bitch. To this day I think I have some air in the system. I think I'll complete the seat and seatbelt installation before the clutch comes in. I decided to take half a day off this past Friday to catch up on some things at home. Lo and behold, the clutch was delivered. I slapped that thing on with no problem. The bearing was a different story. It just did not want to go on. I found out that the new bearings were a hair too big. So I pulled out the grinder and knocked off some thickness on the fork. It works fine now. Next came the task of joining the engine and trans.

The fuel delivery system was shot. I replaced the tank, sending unit, and fuel pump. I’m using a Carter fuel pump from O’Reilly’s. It works just fine. I originally wanted to keep the car as stock as possible, but the HS4’s were annoying. I tried to rebuild them, but they still didn’t work very well. I was looking for a downdraft carb solution. A guy on ebay was selling a manufacturers rebuilt carb for a Vega that was a Holley 5200 series that is also a copy of the Weber DGV. When it arrived, the number of vacuum ports confounded me so I left it alone and bought a very used Weber DGAV with a manifold. I cleaned it up real good by sandblasting the intake manifold and giving the carb a good soaking and a rebuild kit. I got everything back together and cranked her up. I was just happy to here it run. The Weber was sticking and I noticed the 36 side of the carb never opened up. The car ran rough but I attribute that to the built up carbon and junk in the engine. The smoke eventually went away but the car was still a bit rough. I took the Weber back off and reamed out the butterfly rod openings and spun the rods on some fine sand paper. All the butterflies now worked smoothly. Now the problem was the float level. I just couldn’t get it right. First it would flood then after adjustment, it would starve. I decided to cut my frustration and buy a new DGV. Thank God! I installed it and all was right in the world. I just had to adjust the idle and that was it. I spent some time fabricating the throttle cable setup. I ended up getting a fancy setup from Pep Boys with chrome and steel braided throttle cable. It looks and works well. I used the original choke cable.

Getting started with a bit a everything

I started taking things off the B and labled them. It was getting a little daunting when you see the rust under the seats and the wheel wells. I ordered the replacement panels from Proper MG. It only took 8 weeks to get here. I was not impressed. During the wait, I worked on a bunch of other stuff. The wheel and tires were a mess as you can imagine. I bought a cheepo sand blaster from Northern tool. I sand blasted the wire wheels to bare metal and put 5 coats of wheel silver with 3 coats of clear. I bought new inner tubes and along with the nice set of Dominator II touring tires from Discount Tire and they look great! The Dominator II seemed to be the best tire for the price ($54 each) I cut out what I could and welded new panels on. Banged out some dents and smoothed over with fiberglass and such. The engine condition was unknown. I removed the spark plugs and poured Mystery Oil in them. I turned the engine by hand every now and then. It seemed to loosen up after a while. I removed the radiator and flushed the heck out of it. I replaced the water pump, hoses, and fittings. I flushed, reversed flushed, flushed, and reversed flushed the engine block until nothing came out but clear water. I didn’t bother too much with the heater since I live in San Antonio. I bypassed the heater core directly to the heater valve. I had to replace most all brake components, lines and hoses and master cylinder. The clutch cylinder and slave were frozen by dried brake fluid. I cleaned them out real well and replaced all the seals with kits from Victoria British. The fuel delivery system was shot. I replaced everything from the tank to carbs. I’m using a Carter fuel pump from O’Reilly’s. I originally wanted to keep the car as stock as possible, but the SU’s were annoying.

Oh my Gawd!!

I'd classify it is a borderline basket case. The car was original and it showed it. The upholstery, carpet and panels were shot; missing the speedometer, and broken seatbelts. The exterior was faded (go figure) with various scratches, a few good dents, and rust from the front wheel to the rear wheel. I didn't have any a clue if the engine or transmission worked. The guy I bought it from was the origianl owner. Anyways, I have an adventure ahead of me. I'm going to start by taking a bunch of pictures and writing a list of things I will need. Next I will begin disassembly. Check out the engine compartment before -

A Basketcase...

March of 2005 I bought this 1969 MGB that lay dormant in a storage unit since 1985 in Houston, Texas. I drove down with a tow dolly from my home in San Antonio to pick it up. I picked it up when it was dark so I didn't get a good look at it. But hey, for $500, what can I complain about. I got it home late Saturday night and began work on it Sunday morning. This is just an example of what I have to work with -