My car, the 1964 MGB, has been running without trouble for
about a year. I then decided to drive it to the bicycle shop
to buy two new tyres for my much neglected bicycle. Hmmm,
come to think of it that neglect probably started about 10
years ago on the day I bought my 1968 MGBGT...
In any case, on the way to the bicycle shop, I noticed at each
stop sign & stop light that there was a faint smell of steam.
I also noticed that when I pulled away from the stop there was
a small puddle of water on the road where I had been stopped.
At first I thought this was merely liquid from the overflow tube
as I had recently topped up the radiator. But, after these new
behaviours persisted, I kept a watchful eye on the temperature
gauge and coasted my way to the now very close bicycle shop.
Once parked, I popped the bonnet and found a constant dribble
of water conimg from the area of the water pump. Great. It
was a Saturday morning, and no local parts place stocking early
MGB water pumps would be open until ~tuesday. I decided that
I might need that bicycle up and running sooner than thought
so I went ahead and bought the necessary tyres, inner tubes
and even had the bicycle wheels trued.
Then, I remembered that I had an new early MGB water pump in
my parts box. That pump was purchased as a defensive measure
for a disconcerting rattling comming from the water pump area
that later turned out to be worn rubber grommets used to hold
the fan to the pulley and water pump. Even more incredible,
I even had the correct gasket in my "small MGB parts" drawer.
I bummed a gallon container from a deli nearby the bicycle shop
and water enough to fill the radiator. I drove very carefully
home, shutting off the engine at red stop lights and I stopped
at the half way point to top up the radiator.
Once home, I set about replacing the water pump. About three
hours later, voila. The new water pump was installed.
On an early MGB, I found that removal of the radiator requires
removal of the surround panel as well since the radiator filler
neck extends into the engine compartment.
While I had the radiator out I was able to clean out the
carcasses of several thousand flys by water blasting the
radiator vanes. This time of year is terrible for bugs on
the Dumbarton bridge across the southern parts of SF Bay.
I'm convinced that the MGB was jealous at the thought of me
working on the bicycle.
...robert
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