Regarding Neil's free play and clunk. Don't overlook simple things like
rear shock mounting bolts. The free play itself is frequently worn thrust
washers - and replacing them is one of the few possible DIY repairs on a
tube-type rear end. No you don't have to remove that nut on the diff drive
flange.
Regarding that big nut... I've tried to loosen one of those - on my
growling '76 B. I bolted a piece of angle-iron to the flange which would
rest against a battery box to keep the flange from turning while I turned
the nut. Huh! Air wrench didn't budge it and when I put the 1/2" socket
drive on it, all the angle-iron did was to lift the car off the suspension!
I finally swapped out the diff with a '76 parts car. The replacement
does not audibly growl at any speed even though I drive with the top up
most of the time. I have a hardtop for it but have never tried it. (Yeah,
I know, that's a different thread.) Am I in for a surprise? My GT didn't
growl either when last I had it on the road.
Now if Neil is going to race, I can understand the search for a more
efficient exhaust header - and I understand there are some out there. For
street use though, that cast iron manifold is pretty efficient. One of my
Bs came with a header and "one-box" system. After awhile the noise got on
my nerves, so I replaced the exhaust system with totally stock components.
Guess what - the stock system was louder - and <<faster>>, Go figure...
Wiring - it's all color-coded. ' Guess I recall there are a few places
where the colors change passing through a bullet connector, but the Haynes
diagrams indicate that. Don't be intimidated - it's complex but
straightforward. ' Suggest you xerox the wiring diagram, enlarging it as
much as possible, and pin it to a wall in your shop.
Neil - take heart - it may not ever end, but it does reach a sort of
entropy. Everything it needs and all the little annoyances have their
compensations. Yeah, my shirt sticks to the seat in hot weather, but I
don't have worry about that growl our Cherokee's AC compressor is making.
Nor do I worry about depreciation. There is nothing, absolutely nothing,
that can go wrong with these cars that is not worth fixing. I have used Bs
as daily transportation for 15 years. Not once in those 15 years have I
missed or been late for work due to my MGB.
Final thought on clunking - MGs don't necessarily want to clunk - but they
do need to leak. You fix one leak and the car will find someplace else to
do so. I got the engine on my '73 to the point where it didn't leak
anything (let's say I got lucky) - and then the rain water started
dripping off the underside of the dash.
My $0.02-worth... Cheers,
Allen Bachelder
'67 B, '73 B, '73 B GT, '76 B,
an interminable '65 resto project, and...
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