Hello all.
Lots of questions to at which I can throw my opinion and see if it sticks.
If I could only buy one welder, I would buy a wire feed welder. If you can
afford it, but one with gas since it will handle thinner materials. Also,
a good one could be use as a straight arc welder also and then you could
use Eastwood's spot weld adapter. I tried using one of those once but
didn't like the results. I have laid many a bead with a wire feed and it
really is easy to use. Remember, you are spending big bucks on fixing this
car so if you can swing a better welder go for it. Sometimes you can pick
up used industrial grade welders at machinery brokers and they may be a
good deal.
For MGA sill replacement, Green's restoration book has the best information
that I have seen so far that is A specific. I think a person would still
need a more generic body work manual however. I think Porter puts out "How
to Restore Your British Car." Has anyone read this? Porter's other books
(DIY B, Spitfire) do a good job of explaining the basics of sill
replacement.
My MGB had lost its boot lock cylinder at some point in its life. Although
there was nothing directly behind where the lock was, there was a lever
below the lock opening that you could get to be reaching a screwdriver or
you little finger (be carful, don't get trapped for eternity) through the
lock hole. Then push backward or pull forward on that lever- I don't
remember which way. Viola! the trunk opens.
Loosing # 3 piston under power leaving an oily plug sounds like one of
three things to me. You could have holed (is this a word) a piston due to
detonation or a lean mixture or you could have dropped a valve or you could
have broken a ring. Do a compression check. In any case you are probably
looking at major repairs.
My MGB always ran rich at low RPM. If I leaned it out until it ran cleanly
low, it was too lean on top. I blamed it on worn throttle shafts although
something else broke before I chased it down and I ended up selling it as a
basket to pay college tuition.
My wife made the mistake of putting earings down on her Christmas list one
week after I got the Triple C catolog. Of course you can't spend that
little on a mail order so I got a set of SU tools too.
Regards
Bill Eastman
61 MGA
|