No this is not an article about neat cars, but things that we might consider inspecting on our collector car cooling systems. These will minimize any problems in this area during the hot summer driving season. What I am going to do is to take a look at the individual components of the cooling system with regards to their inspection areas.

Radiator - This part of the system is often overlooked until there is a visible problem such as apeak. First the radiator core needs to be cleaned on the outside. Insects, leaves, etc. will greatly effect the efficiency of the radiator. Second, make sure that there is nothing blocking air flow to the front side of the radiator. Remember, plaques, badges and novelty license plates may be fun, but they can all block air flow. It ls also a great idea to flush the cooling system with a cleaner annually to eliminate corrosion and internal contamination. They are very detrimental to the heat (transferability) of the radiator and internal engine water passages. Radiator caps don't go on forever. They should be replaced after several years to make sure that they continue to seal and function properly.

Cooling Fans - Look at the blades to make sure they are not cracked or loose on the hub. If you haven't seen what happens when a fan breaks, you don't want to. It Isn't a pretty sight!

Hoses & Belts - lf they haven't been changed for awhile (5 years is maximum), it is about time. If you aren't going to change them, tighten all the hose clamps and re-tension the belt(s).

Thermostat - There isn't really much to do, unless you want to change to 160^o for summer use from your old weather thermostat. Many cars will run hotter without a thermostat installed because the coolant moves too fast through the radiator and doesn't have enough time to transfer the heat away from the coolant. You might want to check with other people with the same type of car you have, for their experience before running without a thermostat. Just a note about thermostat rating: A 160^ostart to open at 160^oF and gives full flow at 180^oF. This 20^oF rule generally applies to all thermostats. Incidentally, 180^o coolant temperature is great for an older engine to operate efficiently.

Waterpump - Depending on the car you have, make sure that it is lubricated properly and that the mounting bolts are tight. Wiggle the shaft both up/down and in/out. If there is movement you may want to replace the pump. This is generally a sign of major wear. Feel for dampness around the shaft seals, which is a sign of deterioration. This generally calls for pump replacement

Coolant - This is one of the most controversial subjects among hobbyists, as a lot of our cars were designed to run on only water with an alcohol based anti-freeze solution. As we know, water at atmospheric pressure boils at 212^oF. When this happens, coolant boils out and our cars run hot. New cars run a mix of 50% coolant (ethylene glycol or propylene glycol to 50% water). They do this for two main reasons:

1 . Boiling point - 50/50 mixture boils at 227^oF instead of 212^oF.
2. Contains Corrosion inhibitors plus lubricates the water pump.

Let me deal with each one of these areas separately.

Boiling Point - Naturally the higher the boiling point. the better for our cars. True? Yes, but the higher concentration there is of anti-freeze the poorer the heat transfer of the coolant solution. A 30% anti-freeze mix is about 20% less efficient in heat transfer. Any efficiency loss greater than this in newer cars is okay because of the system design improvements but 20% is maximum in our older systems. A pressurized cooling system will drastically raise the boiling point like a pressure cooker about 2^o per pound of pressure. (a car with a 15 PSI system using a 50/50 mix will boil at 265^o F). While we are talking about coolant concentration benefits. let's mention freeze protection. A 50% solution freezes at -34^o and a 30% solution at about 0 which is more than adequate for our area (Georgia, USA)

Corrosion Inhibitors - A car cooling system is a battery, which by definition is two dissimilar metals suspended in acid. Just think of the types of metal the coolant comes in contact with and the coolant itself becomes more acidic with time. To prove this to yourself, take digital voltmeter and test the system the following way: Take the positive lead and put it in radiator without letting it touch anything but the liquid. Touch the other lead to the battery.
0.2 volts ....is great,
0.4 volts....is serviceable
and 0.6 volts... the solution is acidic and needs attention.
The corrosion inhibitors keep this electrolysis/corrosion from occurring, which prolongs the life of the system. Anti-freeze also contains foam suppressors to minimize the creation of foam that inhibits heat transfer capacity of the coolant solution.
So, I guess the bottom line is that a 30% coolant to water (distilled water preferfed), is the best all around solution we can use in our cars.
There are some other things that you may want to consider in your cooling system tune-up:

Fan shroud- The best thing you can add, most heating problems are caused by incorrect air flow control.

Check lgnition Timing and Air Fuel Mixture - Lean mixtures and retarded ignition timing will also cause an engine to run hot.

Additives - Water pump lube and corrosion inhibitors can hurt. I think the jury is still out on the super cooling additives. If you have any hard proof let me know.

I hope all this helps?
You and your car have a real *cool* summer.

You can contact Steve in the States on 770-578-0251
The South Eastern MG T Register can be contacted on 770-938-2675 (Len Thomas)

Would you like to have that Easybleed you might have seen in the DIY catalogues? Do you have trouble in justifying $40 for it, and then waiting a week to receive it in the mail?
Me too!

I copied the design using things readily available at the hardware, grocery, and auto parts stores. I spent only a few dollars ( less than seven dollars in cash and two hours in assembly)

For those not familiar with the Easybleed, it's an apparatus designed to make bleeding brakes a one-person task. It uses air pressure from your spare tire to pressurize the fluid reservoir. Air, water, and old fluid in your brake system are automatically purged when you open a bleed nipple. There's no need for an assistant to sit in the cockpit and pump the brake pedal.

I've heard comments on problems with the real Easybleed. It comes with a collection of caps to fit most any reservoir, but it seems the caps usually don't fit tightly enough, so they tend to pop themselves off. My design doesn't have that problem, since you'll be using an actual cap from your reservoir.

• Extra cap for brake fluid reservoir (or clutch fluid reservoir).

  Don't plan on using the one in service on the car, since you're going to need to punch a hole in it.

  (I got lucky. Both the brake and clutch reservoir on my 77 B use the same cap, and I had an extra sitting around.)

• Clear vinyl tubing, two feet (you may want yours to be longer), $.78

  I used 1/2-inch OD, 5/16-inch ID because it had to fit the hole I'd already punched in the reservoir cap in an aborted design. You can get away with tubing much smaller than that. Something like 3/16-inch will work peachy.

• Rubber grommets,
  Two, $.70 The grommets should fit tightly around whatever size tubing you're using.
• Tire valve stem
  Rubber, two-pack for $1.99, but you'll only need one
• Bottle or jar of some sort
  A mayonnaise jar or screw-top mason jar will seal very well and hold a good amount of pressure, but handling glass is risky when you might have brake fluid on your hands. Plus you'd have to finish the mayonnaise first.
  A one-quart Rubbermaid screw-top drink bottle will seal well and won't break if dropped, but will balloon a bit under pressure. A bottle like this cost me $1.99. The lid already had one hole, presumably for drinking, that fit my tubing nicely.
• Bicycle pump
  I saw no compelling reason to use a spare tire to pressurize the system when I could pressurize it directly.
  
• Using an air compressor is not recommended!
  The tube and catch reservoir you usually use to bleed brakes. I use a length of small-diameter clear vinyl tubing and a peanut butter jar.

• Cut a hole in the bottle lid so that you can press the valve stem in from the bottom. Cut another hole in the lid to fit the grommet tightly, and an identical hole in the reservoir cap(s). Make sure these holes are no larger than necessary, since the system needs to be airtight.
• Press the valve stem and grommet into their holes in the bottle lid, and press the other grommet into the hole in the reservoir cap.
• Press the tubing into the grommets in the bottle lid and cap. A little soapy water will help them slide in easily. You want one end of the tube to reach the bottom of the bottle, and the other end to barely dip into the fluid in your reservoir. The idea here is that the fluid being flushed from your hydraulics will be automatically replenished from the bottle.
• Wash everything out and let it all dry thoroughly. You don't want to introduce any metal/plastic shavings or water into your hydraulics.

• Top up your reservoir with fresh brake fluid, and fill the bottle about halfway.
• Screw the lid tightly onto the bottle, and screw the reservoir cap tightly onto the reservoir.
• Find a convenient spot in your engine bay to perch the bottle. If your tubing is long enough you can put it on the ground, but I preferred to have the bottle higher than the reservoir so a siphoning effect would not work against me when it came time to depressurize everything.
• Attach the bicycle pump to the valve stem on the bottle and give it a few pumps. Fluid should start up the tube to the reservoir. If not, you've got a leak somewhere that needs to be fixed before it will work.

Once it's all hooked up and pressurized (not excessively; you don't want to blow a seal somewhere) you're ready to start bleeding.
The brakes, that is. Not yourself.

The bleeding procedure is identical to the way you'd normally do it, except nobody has to pump the brake pedal.

• Start with the wheel that has the longest line to the reservoir.
• Attach a short length of small-diameter clear tubing to the bleed nipple and put the other end into the catch reservoir.
• I like to put a vertical loop in this tube so that the fluid has to run upwards from the nipple--easy to tell when all air is out of the system, and further minimizes the risk that air will not get reintroduced.
• Loosen the bleed nipple. Air in the line will be purged, followed by fluid.
• As you don't have a lot of pressure (probably only 7-10 psi), and there's a lot of plumbing to the rear brakes, you may need to do a little conventional pedal-stomping to get things started. Don't worry about getting an assistant. The pressurized system should prevent air from getting reintroduced at the wheel.
• Things should flow freely for the front.
• When you see clean airless fluid come out tighten the bleed nipple and move to the next wheel
• Keep an eye on the fluid in the bottle. When it runs out, depressurize the bottle at the valve stem and refill.
• When you're done, remove the pump and depressurize at the valve stem.

That's it!
Your own Easybleed clone at less than one-fourth the price of the real thing.

In a recent exchange of emails after he had read my advice on preparing your MG for the British winter (What's winter? he asked), I asked Daniel what precautions he took to protect his car from the Californian heat......

Good question. Heat is a major problem here. The worst of it is from May through Oct although it has been know to hover in the 80s (F) for a week or more in Jan.

What this means for my day to day driver (75 Midget 1500) is a therm controlled oil cooler. Makes a big difference when I'm stuck in traffic on the way home in 90+ degree heat. Oil changes must be kept up or else. I feel that running a stright pipe to an oil cooler does more harm than good for most cars.

Also, one must keep the car covered all of the time. Heat and solor UV seems to eat up MGs. The driver must carry and drink a lot of water to counter the effects of the hot sun, hot wind & hot car.

I have also added several layers of padding under my carpets to keep the engine and pipe heat out of the cockpit.

So far I have been lucky, 186,000 miles on the orginal engine and I have never had the top off! Friends tell me I should rebuild it, but so far all seems well so why mess with it!

We do see cold weather from time to time. I have in fact seen ice on my windscreen (cold enough for me, thanks)! If one wishes a quick drive to the east (about two hours) will bring you all the ice and snow that one could ever want, thanks. For the most part we load up the family van (Voyager) for that trip. Its warm, allways runs...

Any way thanks for the quick come back. It's allways nice to hear from other MG owners

Regards
Daniel

Thankyou Daniel for taking time to write to us

At the head of my list for ANY car, but especially one that's been around for many years: find and clean the drain holes on the underside of the doors and the corresponding drains on the underside of the body.

Sadly I have seen too many auto's with "car cancer" rusting through the bottoms of the doors. And many "mechanics" I have spoken to don't even know that drain holes exist !
It should be a capital offense to let an MGB rust away !

I recently picked up this qip after being caught in a downpour with a wayward wiper:

If one wiper is behaving erratically, improvise by turning the coiled rack through 180 degrees and/or turning the gear around by 180 degrees. This allows a better 'bite' between the two. If this gearing is beyond this and you're stuck - a gear and shaft from a mini will do temporarily.

Also, if the gearing jams - disconnect the wiper motor electrical connections immediately. With the ignition on, the motor will still try to park the wipers even if they are switched off.

Clean all electrical contacts the day you buy the car. It beats cleaning them one at a time as you have problems with them.

• Grease the front suspension every 1000 miles or sooner !! It will last almost indefinately that way
  
• Change your engine oil every 2500 ( ditto the above - mine did 110K miles before a re-bore, which it didn't really need ... )
  
• Fit a K&N filter , and an RC40 exhaust - another 5 bhp for very little effort, and better fuel consumption ( need to change needles/spring in carb too )
  
• Fit a larger anti-roll bar ( I fitted an 11/16th on mine 1275, and the improvement was so big I nearly cried with joy ! )
  
• Don't bother with an unleaded head ( in the UK at least), it's not worth the money and super-unleaded is evil stuff
  
• Waxoyl and more waxoyl
  
• Remove the felt pad at the bottom of the doors ( inside ) - it soaks up water and causes rust to break out ( the door won't clang when shut since the waxoyl will deaden it anyway )
  
• Read Vizard on tuning the A-Series ( then follow up and make yours really go ! )
  
• Fit 155 tyres or bigger ( does anyone really still fit 145s ?! )
  
• Fit an anti-roll cage - yes I did roll my first Midget, and survive ...
  
• Take carpets up occasionally to make sure that water isn't collecting
  
• If your brake adjusters are beginning to round off at the spanner end, change them now, before they freeze in. It's very easy to wind them out i.e. towards the outside of the car, and renew using copperslip
  
• Carry a short bar to 'tap' the fuel pump when they become temporarily forgetful

An important thing to remember for anyone who is rebuilding a BMC "B" series engine ( MGA, MGB ). When I rebuilt my 1622cc MGA engine, I decided to install the late "bucket style" tappets and longer pushrods from the late MGB engines. These have less mass than the early pedestal style tappets. When I tried to adjust the valves, I had the adjusters screwed all the way down to get the right clearance, so far that there was no room left for the locknut! After some frantic searching, I found that the threaded valve adjuster slugs on the 18V engine are about 3/16" longer than the ones on all the earlier engines. This is enough to allow the proper adjustment of the valves and still leave room for the locknut. The late adjuster slugs can be identified by the lack of an oil groove, the earlier slugs have an oil groove.

Mid 1970s through early 1980s Honda Civics and Accords ( maybe Honda Ballade and Triumph Acclaim? ) have a neat little rubber boot that covers their rear drum brake adjuster screws. This boot fits perfectly over the MGB rear brake adjuster, and prevents dirt and rust from forming. They have the added advantage of being easily removable for those Concours events! Check your breakers yards ( not your neighbor's Honda at midnight! ).

For all of you with MGs that have pressure type brake light switches ( MGA's and MGBs/Midgets with single circuit brakes ) - DO NOT use silicone ( DOT 5 ) brake fluid in these systems, unless you want to replace your brake light switch every three months or so. Although none of the recent debates on silicone fluid seem to mention this, I have had three brake light switches fail on two different cars, both using silicone fluid. Others on the Internet have noticed this also. It appears that the silicone fluid acts as an insulator and prevents the switches from making contact.

The solution? Stick with DOT 4 fluid and change it yearly, or put in a mechanical type switch on the brake pedal.

Fit an oil cooler, engine gets too hot under restricted space in engine bay.

Extends life of engine.

1. Have money to spend on repairs
2. Have patience when trying to do your own repairs
3. Get good manuals and read
4. Have a passion for MGB's otherwise you will sell yours
5. Girl's and kids like B's
6. Don't expect tremendous gas mileage
7. Get to know a good mechanic
8. Get a copy of Victoria British Ltd. to order parts and accessories
9. Keep it in your garage, top down..ready to go
10. Keep it running and on the road to keep the tradition going

I converted my MGB Roadster(rubber bumper) in 1981, and it has been in regular use over the past 16 years. I'd stress several points. In my experience, the weak points are
a).... oil
b).... cooling, incl electric fans
c)..... electrics

The basic installation has been extremely reliable, but from experience I'd stress.........
1. It is essential to use stainless steel braided oil hoses and route them very carefully. Secure them properly, and avoid any chafing.
2. Route water hoses very carefully, again to avoid chafing and flexing. Dont compromise anywhere. replace regularly. The radiator and overflow tank must be in perfect condition, and the heater matrix too.
3. Always carry a spare water pump; these can fail suddenly and without warning.
4. DO use an engine tie bar. I have had no problems with manifold damage, but excessive engine movement can damage oil and water pipes.
5. I have an oil temperature and a water temperature gauge. Make sure these work reliably. You will need them!
6. The electric fans must work 100%, and the wiring must be carried out to the highest standards. If these fail when the car is stationary, the system will boil in a very few minutes (always in a traffic jam).
7. Use a stainless steel exhaust

Note: The following article was first printed in April 1992, and recently reprinted in the April 1997 issue of mgTalk, the article contains some useful information on the proper lubrication schedule for your T-Series MG.

At the tech Session last month, it became apparent that not everyone was completing a systematic program of lubrication. In some cases, this was the apparent result of benign neglect. In others, it is apparently due to lack of knowledge of what lubricant to use and where to use them. The following is a step by step discussion in which I hope I have included all appropriate items. The change time intervals are taken from the The MG Midget ( Series TD) Drivers Handbook

As discussed in previous articles, engine oil should be changed every 3000 mile or six months whichever comes first. The oil filter should also be changed at this interval. Recommended oil for the Southeastern climate is Castrol GTX 20w50 multigrade

The gearbox oil should be checked each 1000 miles and topped up to the "High" mark. It should be drained and refilled every 6000 miles. The recommended gearbox lubricant is an extreme pressue "EP" gear oil of 90 weight such as Castrol Hypoy C Gear Oil (SAE 80W90)

The rear axle lubricant should be checked every 1000 miles, also changed every 6000 miles, with the same oil as the gearbox. It should be filled to the level of the square-headed filler plug on the right front of the differential housing, just behind the rear universal joint. When changing the oil, be sure to clean the hollow center of the drain plug before it is replaced and tightened. ( Be sure to check this plug for tightness. A lost plug can spell disaster!!! )

The sterring rack also uses the 90 weight hypoy gear oil. A "grease" fitting is located in the front center of the rack housing. Use a handgun to apply ten strokes every 3000 miles. Don't overfill or the rackboots will leak or blow out.

The following items should be greased with a high quality lithium based grease. If the intervals are followed, several strokes of a hand gun should be sufficient:

Drive Shaft- Univeral Joints (2)....1000 miles
             Sliding Joint (front)..1000 miles
King Pins-   upper and lower........500 miles
Tie Rod Ends- (2)...................500 miles
Hand brake cable....................1000 miles
Brake/Clutch shaft (LHD Models).....500 miles

The front hubs and water pump use a "heavy" bearing grease. The grease available today requires little maintainance. However the recommended interval for the wheel bearings is 6000 miles, whereas the water pump require two strokes with a grease gun every 1000 miles

On TD's, the air cleaner sould recieve the same service interval as the engine oil, every 3000 miles. The filter element should be removed and cleaned in kerosene (or mineral spirits); then drained and dried. All sludge should be removed from the outer filter container; then wiped clean and refilled with engine oil (20W50) to the level indicated. Every 3000 miles the distributor cam lobes should be lightly smeared with a small ammount of lithium chassis grease. At the same interval, the generator should be lubricated with the same grease. To accomplish this, unsrew the lubricator screw at the rear of the generator, lift out the spring and pad, half fill with grease. Then replace the spring and pad, and screw the lubricator back into place.

Every 1000 miles a 20 weight, non detergent oil should be used to "top up" the carburetor damper.

At 3000 mile intervals, this same oil should be used to lubricate the distributor cam bearing, the cetrifugal advance weights, and the post on which the contact points pivot. In each case only a few drops are needed and care should be taken to avoid oil on, or in close proximity to the point contacts. ===========