Hey all,
Managed to spend a few hours today getting truely filthy under the car -
removed xmember, propshaft, exhaust system etc etc in preparation to pull
the motor which I'm *finally* ready to do. Have necessary equipment now
incl. hoist, engine stand etc.
A couple of things I've noticed is how incredibly heavy the std exhaust
manifold is, not to mention the exhaust system itself. I'll be replacing the
manifold, with a tubular type, and a straight through exhaust system and
single rear muffler (curr. have the std two box system (very damaged front
pipe) at the moment). I think I'll go for a light guage stainless steel for
the straight through section. Removing/Replacing this stuff should save
quite a bit of weight which can only help matters.
Yes of course, I have a question! :) For a long time I have noticed a real
nice big clunk when reversing from standstill or going forward from
standstill. Worse reversing. Well I've located the source of the problem and
I'm wondering what I should do about it and actually where the problem is.
Where the propshaft uj joins the diff, there is considerable play in the
diff end - around 1/2 - 3/4". Is there supposed to be free play? If so how
much? I wouldn't imagine anywhere near this amount. The clunk was very loud
and seemed to be getting worse. The UJ's are perfect, the play is in the
diff end.
What should I do? :) There appears to be a large nut that I could take out.
Will this tell me much? What is behind this nut? <G> I don't see the point
of doing a nice rebuild etc just to be clunking down the road etc! Oh yes, I
notice this clunk when coming off acceleration too. It's really annoying.
Unfortunately, now most everything is off the car, I'm very tempted to
replace the absolutely stuffed wiring harness and all the fuel and brake
lines. I have a dual line system but only a single master cylinder (couldn't
get the dual cylinders when I converted my car to RHD) so there's a hell of
a lot of wasted, bent to buggery etc tubing. A real mess. I don't think I wa
nt to try to rewire the car, I know absolutely nothing about electrics, I
might actually pay someone to do this. I don't fancy frayed wires etc in a
car I'll be using for racing. Then there's the new fuel tank.. god.. does it
ever end???
A thought for the day: Isn't it funny how you forget all the annoying
things your MG does when you don't drive it for a while? It gains this
mystical 'MGness' which you pine for, and somehow you manage to forget all
the things that make you scream about it when you need it for some sane
exercise like driving in rush hour traffic, 100+ degrees, shirt stuck to the
back of the seat, expletives filling your brain! <G> I also think if you
have an MG that doesn't have a clunk *somewhere* then it's not a real MG!
<G> Actually, the A doesn't clunk. Hmmm!! Maybe thats why it blew it's head
gasket, it wanted to clunk, but couldn't, so it rebelled and blew the head
gasket instead.
Cheers,
Neil - MG Phsycologist for a day. ;)
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