Hi Larry,
MG is up to a quart of oil every tank full and compression is down to
110lbs. Unfortunately, I don't have an overdrive installed yet...so, having
to pay for the unit and the rebuild. Local San Diego shop (British Motors)
is rebuilding the engine and wants an additional $900 for a rebuilt
overdrive. Told the shop I would give them a decision on Monday.
During the engine rebuild, they're balancing the engine, swapping in a
little more aggressive cam, and possibly shaving the head/block a bit to get
the compression up to the 170lb range. I wanted to go w/ flat top pistons,
but they advise against it saying that compression above the 170lb range
significantly reduces engine life and performance gains would be minimal.
The B currently has an aluminum head which also reduces operating temps and
increases flow.
So, I'm not sure if the overdrive will really gain that much. Since the
engine is balanced, do you think it will significantly increase the engine
life? Driving highway speeds at a lower RPM might actually increase the
stress, especially on hills. It also would seem that the overdrive benefit
would come if the car was now consistently driven above the 5-6K RPM range.
I take it up to that as I'm shifting through the gears...but, otherwise the
B cruises in the 3500 (60) to 4500 (75) range.
Thoughts from you and the group appreciated.
Cheers,
Nick Coleman, San Diego CA
73B
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Larry Hoy [mailto:larryhoy@cwix.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, February 17, 1999 1:43 PM
> To: Nick Coleman
> Subject: RE: MGB Overdrive Search
>
>
> Can't help you with the So Calif shop but maybe this works. You
> can contact
> Paul Diershaw, his number is on my web site under British Cars /
> Vendors. He is
> in Denver Co. Good guy, excellent work. He is known around here as "Mr
> Overdrive". He did mine a couple of years ago for $250 labor,
> plus parts, I
> think parts were around $50.
>
> Larry Hoy, Denver CO USA
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