Moss Motors, Ltd

my vacuum advance line is hanging loose. where is the fitting to attach it to the manifold?  i assume a rubber hose has disappeared.

my manual is on the way but i'm itching to get started.

thanks

I am more familiar with Spridgets (having two) but, it should connect from the dizzy to the carburetor, NOT the intake manifold.

Have you checked the catalogs for diagrams?

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On their death bed, nobody ever said, "Gee I wish I'd spent more time at work!"

'68 Sprite 1275
'76 Midget 1500

Davy is correct, there should be a spigot on the rear carburetor just behind the dash pot.  A flexible line goes from that to the ridged line going through the flame arrestor to the vacuum advance unit on the distributor.

 

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Cheers,
Dave
http://homepages.donobi.net/sufuelpumps/

thanks for the info.  i have one drawing that shows a  union for the advance/retard.  the tube with the flame arrestor was stuffed under the manifold in that general area.

my next issue is an overflowing fuel bowl.  my guess is a sticking needle valve.  is there a better way to route the overflow? the way it is set up now i can't see how any car wouldn't catch on fire.  should i extend the overflow lines to get them below any hot engine parts?

i also found the diaphragm in the pcv(i reckon that's what it is) has a small split. are replacement available or will i need to dig out some rubber and cut my own.

thanks for all of your help. i know these are silly questions.

david

dbcooper41,

Your car should be very similar to mine ('67 roadster). ddubois' description of the spigot behind the rear carb's dashpot is correct. I used a short length of narrow pipe to connect this with the metal line of the flame arrester assembly. The flame arrester should have a little bracket that ties it to the last but one exhaust manifild stud.

PCV diaphragms are available from our webhost's store.

My car did not have pipework fitted to the float chamber overflows when we got her. I should correct this. The Moss catalogue shows pipes, but they are listed as unavailable. I guess anything that carried overflows below exhaust level would help, but I wonder about problems with a syphon effect.

Cheers,

Ed

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I want my MGB

thanks for the help you guys.  i got the vacuum advance attached(not sure if it works but it is hooked up). i also got the overflowing carb straight. i blew out the float valves and lowered my fuel filter a bit. after i did the fuel filter didn't fill completely and it seems to me the pump is deadheaded if the float valves are closed.  won't the fuel line be vapor locked until the float drops? what am i missing here. i blew into the fuel line and it was closed off.  i was able to start the car with the choke out fully and after if heated up it ran fine with only a partial filter of fuel. i only got into second gear on my maiden voyage but it was running fine. will the filter fill eventually or should i expect to run dry at higher speeds.  with the filter disconnected(it is clean) the pump seems fine. it was ticking away the whole time. we'll see if it starts again this afternoon.

once i actually got it cranked it sounded pretty good. there a few noises that concern me and a weirdness with the starter.  i'm not sure if these are standard issues with these cars.

the starter acts like it almost disengages or deenergizes.  it seems to happen when the car almost, but not quite cranks. is this a function of the engine turning over and taking the load off of the starter? once i had the car starting on the first turn of the key i never experienced it again.

another issue is the tach not working.  i haven't stared diagnosing this yet. are there any common problem i should know about.

i guess i should start new threads for different problems. thanks again for all of your help in the past and future.

ps, watching the carb piston dancing definetly got me hooked.

Great progress!

It's quite common that the fuel filters do not fill completely, but it seems that this doesn't affect anything whatsoever - it's no barrier to fuel demand.

You can check easily whether the advance is working. Pop the cap off the distributor, and arrange some simple way to suck on the vacuum line with a clean piece of tube (disconnect temporarily from the carbs again to do this). When vacuum is present, you should be able to see the points move in the distributor, and return to the resting point when pressure is restored to ambient again. I assume you have the original 25D Lucas distributor in the car?

The tachometer might respond to tapping the glass, or the electronics may have suffered from age and given up. They can be repaired cheaply if you have a little experience with electronics (or know someone who does). First though, check that someone hasn't bypassed the wire that runs from the ignition switch, through the back of the instrument to the coil. That was one reason why my tach didn't (and couldn't) work!

 Cheers,

Ed

 

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I want my MGB

Ed is correct, the filter will not fill completely and is not a problem.  When I put a filter on my fuel pump test stand, it would fill completely only after many hours of constant pumping.

 The over flow tubes should be routed over to the engine block toward the forward end and down through a clip secured to the mechanical fuel pump blanking plate and on down below the level of the top of the sump.  As to the question if they will form a syphon , the answer is no, there is an air gap above the normal level of fuel in the float bowls.

 "the starter acts like it almost disengages or deenergizes.  it seems to happen when the car almost, but not quite cranks. is this a function of the engine turning over and taking the load off of the starter? once i had the car starting on the first turn of the key i never experienced it again."

To an extent, this is normal, any time the load is removed from the starter drive gear, it will pull back away from the ring gear.  If the timing is not correct, this situation will be worse.  Check that you don't have too much advance cranked in on the ignition.

 

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Cheers,
Dave
http://homepages.donobi.net/sufuelpumps/

I was about to try answering a couple of your questions but Dave beat me to it. That's good since he probably gave you better answers than I would have anyway.

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

when i got back to the car yesterday she started right up with just a touch of choke. the starter "issue" sounds exactly like what you describe with it pulling back from the ring gear.

i also confirmed the vacuum advance is working, now that it is hooked up.

unfortunately a new opportunity arose(can you tell i work in the corporate world? no problems, only issues and opportunities).

i was warming her up to attack the tach situation when i noticed smoke rising from the engine.  fortunately i was watching the oil pressure and  shut her down immediatley.  the pressure never dropped below about 55lbs and i only lost about 1 cup of oil. 

it appears that my oil seperator has seperated itself from the crankcase. i think that was the noise that was bothering me the other night. the sound was consistent with a chunk of metal that size vibrating against the block. everything was too hot for me to do much feeling around blindly so i called it a day.

my next step will be a parts order for a new pcv diaphragm and accompanying hoses.  i'm also gonna soak and clean the oil seperator element. i might as well do a complete clean up of the pcv system while i'm at it.and since it appears i need to remove radiator hoses to reattached the seperator i might as well replace those. and so it begins!

i am anticipating the mounting bolts have fallen out so can anyone tell me what are the correct bolts for attaching the oil seperator? and do you think i'll be able to do the work without removing the carbs, heat shield , etc. it starts so nicely now i hate to mess with them if i can avoid it.

thanks, you have all been a great help!

david

 

My car, a 1975 MG midget, also dose not have the advance hooked up. The carb (which I just rebuilt) appears to have no provision for a vacuum advance. I have another Stromburg from another car that has a fitting on the back of it but mine dosen't. Am i just out of luck, or is there another way to do it? I would put the other carb on but i would have to buy a rebuild kit and finish rebuilding it. I am pretty sure at this point that this motor is from a Spitfire origionally.

I have a 76 Midget and I am ashamed to say that I don't know the answer right off the top of my head. I'll check my car and get back to you this weekend.

I seem to remember having this conversation on this forum before. I may be wrong, but I think, for this car, there is a port on the intake manifold, NOT the carb. But then again, I could be wrong. I will check and get back to you though.

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On their death bed, nobody ever said, "Gee I wish I'd spent more time at work!"

'68 Sprite 1275
'76 Midget 1500

Ok..I just checked..and THANK YOU! I found that my vacuum advance tube was disconnected!

Under the carb, engine side - front, there is a port. There should be a short, rubber, right angle hose there that connects to a metal pipe (about 1/8" diameter). That pipe runs to the bottom of one of the two flame arresters mounted toward the front of the engine. The top side of the arrester has a hose that runs to the distributor body, top-engine side.

I hopes this helps...it helped ME!

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On their death bed, nobody ever said, "Gee I wish I'd spent more time at work!"

'68 Sprite 1275
'76 Midget 1500