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Yo Nick-
Them's some seriously fugly carbs!!! I'm surprised it ran at all... Good move to clean 'em up and rebuild.

I did a carb overhaul on an MG for a "friend of a friend" one time, and there was so much dirt in the float chambers that I told the owner his car was now named "Aggie". When he asked why, I told him it was in honor of all the "agriculture" I had cleaned out of the carbs!!!

I wish ya continued good luck, and keep us posted!

JDK

I took the donor out for its last drive, then parked it in the garage and started taking it all apart. Engine is out, which feels like the biggest step, except maybe the dash. Or the electrics. I took pictures of stuff I might not recognize when it comes time to put it all back together, and labelled all the wires. All the nuts and bolts came off without a struggle, even the exhaust, although an amazing number of bolts were missing, which actually made things go a little faster. Best thing is, I now have an engine and trans that I can just plug into the Locost, and know it'll work.



Needs a little cleaning first, though.

That was an excellent move. It seems like a disproportionate number of builds that start with an engine rebuild end up never being finished. Having one more thing crossed off of the list never hurts.

And some more painting! Orange cyl head and red valve cover?

Good work though, you gots the powertrain practically ready to install. Well done!

Don't forget to change the oil in that transmission. MGBs were supposed to run 30 wt motor oil in the trans. Mine did fine for a decade or more on Redline "MTL" after I switched to that instead of 30wt. Main thing is don't think "thicker is better" and put 90 wt or something in there, it'll greatly increase shifting effort.

I can't quite tell in the picture what size the oil filter is, but that "upside down" oil filter mount will accept the same filter as a Ford V8, such as a Fram PH8A. That's a bit larger than the stock filter. It's been so long since I used the stock one, I don't recall the number.

Somebody stop me! I'll ramble on about MGBs until everybody else leaves the room...
Hey! Where'd everybody go?!?!? HELLLLOOOO?????

JD Kemp

At least it wasn't left with ethanol, I've found carbs with almost no gunk but corroded beyond repair.

The oil filter is a Mobil One M1-204. Not sure what else it fits, but I seem to recall something about a Jeep Cherokee and a Dodge Caravan, so maybe Chrysler products. There's a long list of oil filters on MGE that'll fit the inverted mount. I figured I couldn't go wrong with a Mobil One product.

I drained all the fluids out of the engine and trans. What came out of the trans had that distinctive odor or hypoid oil, but didn't look too thick, so hard to say. I'd forgotten that I used to put regular engine oil in the trans. I'm glad to hear the MTL works, I probably wouldn't have thought to use anything else.

Painting the engine is on the list, but everything is on hold until I strip the donor and get the chassis out of the garage. Space is at a huge premium right now, and I'm starting to get overrun with M.G. parts. Some are quietly finding their way into the house for temporary storage, but there's a limit to how much of that I can get away with.

Hi Nick- That triggered some long dormant brain cells! The "stock" filter for an MGB is the same one that went on the ol' Dodge slant-six. It's the "smaller" of the two, compared to the filter off the Ford. I don't know that Mobil One that you listed, but I agree, it would be a good quality filter. All the racers used to use the larger filter to get a bit more oil in the system. Probably not an issue for a Locost...

JDK

I have no idea what fits what, BUT I discovered that virtually every oil filter stocked at the local Advance Auto has the thread diameter and series stamped on the bottom. Not really obvious, it usually goes all the way around the base. Anyway, it seems the vast majority of them are still 3/4-16. Once you determine your thread size it is happy hunting until you find the filter with your desired dimensions and required seal diameter. But once again, that is usually pretty easy as the seal boss is usually 3/8" or so wide. Gives you a big range of filter to choose from.

Bill

I dropped the M.G. engine and trans into the mock-up frame to see how everything would fit. Almost nothing did. The frame was built using all book measurements, and it's obvious now that the steel frame won't be. First problem was the transmission tunnel, which was okay on the passenger side but not on the driver's side, because the turret is offset from the centerline of the output shaft. Next problem was the R-tube, which was at the exact same height as the oil filter and distributor and wanted to run right through them. And then the center H-tubes were too close together, but I knew that already. What I didn't realize is that the passenger's side needs to move farther outboard than the driver's side in order to clear the slave cylinder.





Fortunately the mock-up frame is made of wood and is easily modifed. I knocked out a transmission tunnel tube to clear the offset turret, and moved the R-tube three inches back to clear the filter and distributor. Unfortunately I couldn't easily chop out the center H-tubes, but I was able to get the distance between the engine backplate and the lower firewall down to 4-1/2" with the current H-tube spacing, and could easily get it below 4" with another inch of clearance on either side. At 4-1/2", the transmission turret doesn't quite reach past the front transmission tunnel crosstube. At 3-1/2" it should clear with half an inch to spare.





It's great having the mock-up frame, although it's starting to take quite a beating from all the test fitting.

That is what I call light weight. What is holding the other side ? More spray cans ?

Nope, four strands of spider web from the ceiling...

I see one can that look like a WD-40 can over on the far side.

BTW, for future builders reading this..... This is what happens when you don't have your drivetrain ready for fitting before you build the frame. Sorry Nick

Luckily, that's not my frame. At least not the actual one. I built that one about 5 years ago and it only weighs about 10 pounds, hence the lightweight jack stands. I knew Brakleen had all kinds of uses, but this was a new one.

Dismantling of the donor is taking a lot longer than I expected, mostly I think because I've been spending a lot of time cleaning and refurbishing the pieces that come off the car. Apparently I don't like having a lot of crusty parts sitting around the garage.



I cleaned up the engine and transmission quite a bit, but it still needs paint. I think I'll just paint the head black and call it done. The dipstick also needs to be repainted the correct shade of M.G. red. I made some more changes to my mock-up frame and got the engine and transmission to fit with room to spare. I also trial-fit a lot of other donor parts on the mock-up frame, and I'm starting to get a pretty good idea now of where everything is going to go. Very encouraging.



The biggest job in the whole dismantling process has got to be the wiring harness. Luckily, this is one of the great things about my donor. Except for the mess under the dash, it's a really simple harness. This is everything except a small harness (8 wires) that runs to the back of the car, for the lights. I labeled everything, but it's so simple I almost didn't need to. Except for that mess under the dash.



I got some new shelves for all my new Locost parts. As stuff gets cleaned up, it goes on the shelf. I'm hoping this makes the build process a lot faster, and a little bit cleaner. But probably not.

I think you are doing it the right way. I can't stand working with crusty, greasy parts. Especially if I have to handle it more than once. Which is always the case since you generally have to take thing off the donor then later, put it back on the locost (at least once if not a dozen times.

Great progress.