As the weather is still improving slowly I continue to fix little problems
on the MGA. One of my headlights could be rotated by hand in it's mount
plus the trim ring was crooked so I took it apart. The sealed beam unit
has a lot of room in the bracket and the PO had shimmed the bulb by putting
foam weatherstrip behind it. My car has the "3 adjuster" headlight units.
Do these take a different headlight? I noticed that VB (the catolog
closest to me when I discovered the problem) that they also sell "2
adjuster" assemblies and parts although they are expensive. Any input /
suggestions / experiences / warnings on what I should do would be
appreciated. For now I am going to put it back together with the rubber
shims.
I pulled the spark plugs yesterday. They are now a beautiful golden brown
compared to sooty black before I fixed the rear carb's jet problem. It
still acts rich at idle but in mid range I think it is about right since it
won't accelerate cleanly when dead cold without the mixture enrichment
partly out. There is not hint of oil fouling and after 100+ miles the oil
is still full and clean as a whistle.
I ran the car on the freeway a bit. There was a discussion a while back
about cruising speeds. My speedometer is slightly optimistic but I would
estimate that the car cruises well at around 60 mph. Above this speed the
cockpit buffeting increases because (I am guessing) either the flow over
the windscreen changes from laminar to turbulent or the "shock wave" from
the front of the car has finally gotten long enough to reach the driver.
>From an engine standpoint, the car sounds OK up to about 4500 rpm (70-75
mph I would guess since I was keeping up with traffic). Above this it
starts to feel a little frantic but not terrible.
After the freeway run my oil was warm and the idle oil pressure fell to
about 10 psi at idle. The car runs so well that I don't want to tear it
down but I don't want to fry the crank either. I am seriously thinking
about just throwing in a set of bearings. I know that it is the wrong
thing to do but I can't afford a rebuild right now.
My driveway is fairly steep and, upon backing out in the morning, my car
deposits a fair amount of oil on the driveway. It seems that the oil is
pooling in the bell housing and drains when the car is tilted. It doesn't
leak a lot of oil when sitting but the drips on the driveway are driving me
crazy. Anyone got a suggestion to fix this? Also, the car is still full
at the crank case so I am thinking that the leak is from the tranny front
seal. Can this be? The tranny shouldn't be running any pressure.
Finally, I mentioned that my speedometer is optomistic. I seem to remember
that my MGB and Sp**ire speedo's read high also. I read / heard / dreampt
of somewhere that there is now a federal standard for speedometer accuracy
and that Mazda, when building the Miata, puposely calibrates the
speedometer on the high side to enhance the car's "sporty feel." More
proof that the Miata is just an LBC wannabe copying things that the British
had done 30 years before!
Regards
Bill Eastman
61 MGA one headlight short of a full load.
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