Moss Motors, Ltd

motorbill,

so I should use the aviation cement on the rear engine plate side of the gasket and not on the enginge block side?

should I use a sealant on the rear oil seal?

My gaskets should be here about 2:00 est today, I should be able to finish putting this thing back together today.

thanks,

joel

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1976 MGB with a 1977 engine

On the rear plate you should use the Aviation Style on all sides of all components, and don't be shy. Get everything super clean, and pay special attention to the area that encircles the open face of the camshaft bore. The back of the block is a machined surface and the rear plate, being a precision heavy piece, constitutes the same.

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Motorbill
From Lola to Land Rover, If it's British and has wheels, it's likely I've bloodied me knuckles thereupon

motorbill,

thanks, but you still didn't answer the question of the rear oil crankshaft seal.  

I hope I'm not being a pain, I just want to do this right the FIRST time.  

With all of this sealant and cement, It's a wonder why there is even a gasket is the first place...lol

thanks again,

joel

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1976 MGB with a 1977 engine

Sorry, no sealant is used on the oil seal. In fact, it's a bad idea. The sealant against the rubber acts as a lubricant, and will let the seal squirm around.

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Motorbill
From Lola to Land Rover, If it's British and has wheels, it's likely I've bloodied me knuckles thereupon

thanks again, motorbill, I will update later on my progress.  

right now, i am still waiting on UPS to deliver my gaskets.

joel

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1976 MGB with a 1977 engine

update,

got most of the engine put back together today...still have to put the exhaust manifold back on tomorow.  My father-in-law is coming of\ver next thursday to help me put the engine back in the car.  so the rest of this week, I am making sure that everything is clean and ready.  

I looked for the dipstick to check the transmition fluid in the gearbox and could not find one, I found what looks like where it should be with just a plastic cap in place of the dip stick.  I stuck a small dianeter wire in the hole and seems that if this is the right place to check the fluid, IT NEEDS SOME!  So, is there any speacial type of trans. fluid that I should put in there?  I found in the MOSS catalog some trans. gear oil  75W90  and MT-90, but I want to just go to my local auto parts store to get some...any recomendations?

 

Oh yeah, I decided not to paint the engine just yet...I know you are probably thinking that I am crazy, now is the perfect time to do it...But, I want to just get this engine back in and get this car road worthy before I start detailing anything.  Pulling the engine was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be, so I will not mind doing it again sometime.  I'll make that a winter project, I think I can find a heated garage that I can borrow one winter to take care of that.  

joel

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1976 MGB with a 1977 engine

Hi Fireman,

Glad to hear you are making progress.

About the gearbox, if there's no dipstick, look for a filler plug on the side of the 'box, and fill untill this level is reached. The plastic cap sounds like it might just be a breather plug.

Use engine oil, 20W50, not "gear oil" As for the amount, I think the correct quantities of oil are stated in Haynes. Drain all the old stuff and treat it to a new fill.

Cheers,

Ed

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I want my MGB

ed,

engine oil in the transmition?!  somehow, this doesn't seem right to me.   20W50 is the same oil I have been putting in the engine too.  I will look for the filler plug.  If I'm looking at the book correctly, I need 16 pints which is equvilent to 3.5 quarts.

joel

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1976 MGB with a 1977 engine

20W50 is exactly right. Do NOT use gear oil. The tolerances in this gearbox were designed for the lighter oil, which doesn't impart so much drag. If you have a manual, look it up. If you don't, you really need to get one.

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Motorbill
From Lola to Land Rover, If it's British and has wheels, it's likely I've bloodied me knuckles thereupon

ok, i got the engine back in, about 8 hours in 3 days time.  wasn't too bad.  could have done it quicker, but my father-in-law blew a head gasket on his car and couldn't help me all day, so I only got about 2 hours of help from him that day.  

tried to start it up last night, a little sluggish trying to turn over the first few times, I expected that since the fluids needed to work their way though the lines and such.  then it fired up, I got excited and it stalled.  only ran for about 30 seconds.  tried to start it agian a few times, just didn't want to turn over.  then just a click.  try it again...just a click.   gave up for the night, it was getting late.

this morning, just a click.  it was coming from the solenoid/starter.  tried to hotwire it at the solenoid...click.  then, all of a sudden things start turning...the starter and the flywheel, but they don't sound like the gears are meshing together right, kind of grinding.

So, I took the starter out and took the solenoid off.  The solenoid was not positioned correctly inside the starter.  I put it back together properly and tried to bench test it... nothing.  I can't seem to get anything to happen with it.  so I wired it up under the car to the pruper wireing without accually installing the starter and tried to hotwire it again...nothing.  it won't even click now.  I have another starter which I know is also a good one...nothing.  

my battery is fully charged, connected properly, the grounding strap is connected to the gearbox mounting braket...I amd a little dumbfounded.  I have a good positive and negative connection at the starter beacuse I once accitentally touched the pos. and neg. wire together and got a good spark.

where do I go from here?  I haven't even bothered bleeding my clutch yet, figured, what good is the clutch if the engine doesn't start.

 

correction, the clicking is not comming from the solenoid...I'm pretty sure it is the coil or the distributor.  I can't turn the key and put my ear under the bonnet at the same time, and right now, I have no helper.

 

joel

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1976 MGB with a 1977 engine

i'm not getting a spark from the coil.  will this mean that my coil is bad?  test lamp lights up on pos. term.  when connected to the neg. term. and i crank on the engine, i get no light at all on the test lamp.  though if the ignition is on and I play with the wire on the neg. terminal, i will get sparks there.

 

joel

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1976 MGB with a 1977 engine

using my test lamp, i have power at the pos. term. of the soleniod.  if i crank the ignition, the white/brown wire that comes off the soleniod to the fuse box lights steady.  the white/green wire off the solenoid to the coil does not light at any time.  so it seems that i am not getting power to the coil.  I have tried to hook a wire from the fuse box to the pos. side of the coil, but i still get the same problem...just a click when I crank the ignition.  I still can't seem to pinpiont where the click is coming from.  seems like the distributor, but I had disconected the 3 wires from the distrubutor AND all the wires from the coil and i still got the clicking.  I am sure that the clicking is not from the starter/soleniod.  i don't know where else it could be coming from.  i know i have had this problem in the past and the problem was electrical, i have traced and traced and can only figure that my soleniod went bad.  is it posible that I burned it up while triing to start the engine?  this is really bothering me, i'm not sure what else it could be...

joel

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1976 MGB with a 1977 engine

The clicking is most likely from the ignition or starter relay, which may or may not be bad. How's the health of your battery?

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Motorbill
From Lola to Land Rover, If it's British and has wheels, it's likely I've bloodied me knuckles thereupon

my battey seems to have a good charge on it.  with my volt meter set at 200 (the lowest setting)  it reads 1.1 - 1.2  which should be 11 -12 volts.  i also have a charger/jumper hooked up to it to be sure i don't drain it from repetitious cranking on the engine trying to start it.

joel

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1976 MGB with a 1977 engine

11-12 volts is really on the weak side. But trying to measure a 12 volt battery on a 200 volt scale if probably not going to be very acurate. You can get a relatively cheap voltmeter with a 25 volt scale and get much better measurements. It might save you from buying a battery you don't need. If the battery really is that low then it could well be the problem but you can't be sure with your meter. Anyway, if the battery is not the problem then it almost has to be either the solenoid or the starter relay or a bad connection or ground related to one or the other. I don't know whether your car has the relay but since motorbill mentioned it then I assume it does. That "clicking" nearly always means a low voltage or current in the starter circuitry.

Make sure your battery cables are clean and check the ground wires and straps for crud or corrosion.

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Bayless
Never express yourself more clearly than you can think
'48 Prefect
'67 Sprite (project)