After finishing the rebuild on the Midget engine 2 weeks ago, last Saturday
I got round to changing the oil & filter after running 700 miles, because
later on in the day, I was entered in a road rally around the northern
corner of New Jersey.
On the way up, I started revving the engine to 4000 and then to 5000,
but I was disappointed with the performance of the engine,
considering that I had installed some go-faster goodies. I also noticed
that fuel economy over the previous 2 weeksd dropped to 23 mpg (which
is annoying only having a 7 gallon tank ). Anyway as the day progresses, my
navigator and myself were discussing the situation and we came
to the conclussion that the exhsuat is possibly restricting the engine -
however as an experiment, we decided to take the air filter off and
see it made any differeence.
WOW - what a difference - all of a sudden the engine started coming alive
and the engine seemed to rev much easier. So the moral of this little
tale is check your air cleaner frequently and change it if in doubt.
Some posted yesterday that they know of a source which sells adjustable
upper arms for Midgets. The name and address were a little bit vague so
I would appreciate if they would post their full address or tel number.
My next comment is going to annoy a lot of people I know but it is something
that has been nagging me for over a year now :
On Saturday we drove through Princeton (where the Triunph show was being held)
and on the way to the start of the rally we saw numerous Triumphs going the
oppsoite way (on the way to the show I assume). Every time we saw another
British car we cordially waved and flashed our lights. Every car returned
our gestures except ALL TR6 owners. We passed TR4's, Spitfires, Healeys and
several TR6's and none of the TR6 drivers even acknowledged our presence.
On the way to work I see a TR6 almost every day and I always used to
wave but never got a response. 2 Other friends on mine (who drive Bugeyes)
have also noticed this phenomenon. Last week I even had a Lotus Esprit Turbo
flash his lights at me (which really caught me off guard with surprise).
In general though, I would say it is rare to have a TR6 driver wave back.
So what is it about TR6 drivers ? why do they seem to look down on MG's ?
Is it just me or has anybody else noticed this ?
Gerry.
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