John, congratulations on your purchase! The '77 B is
appartently the most popular car on this list, and
about the most popular in general. I have the sales
litature for my '77 B, which states that it is the
most popular selling sports car in America. Imagine
that!
Now on to offer my opinion as to your question of
rebuild v. repairing the gaskets. It depends upon the
depth of your pockets.
Yes, the leaks are likely from the side covers,
perhaps together with the rocker cover. If all you
have to spend is the $40 or so in parts that fix will
take, then by all means go for it. However with 90K +
on the car, as well as 22+ years, you are putting off
the inevidable...
I prefer the term of 'renewing' rather than rebuilding
for what I would suggest your doing at this time. If
you are capable of doing thw work yourself, the parts
alone are not too bad for replacing all gaskets,
seals, rings, and bearings. I did my own (120K)over
last winter, and was amazed at the new power and
performance I obtained. Everything seems to work
better and I easily passed emissions. You can also
save money by buying several items at once.
As for the Weber conversion, I am happy with mine.
--- "John R. Boehmke" <mtbills@mcn.net> wrote:
> I recently purchased my first MG, a 1977 MGB. The
> body is good, but the
> engine may need a little work. It starts hard when
> it's cold (choke?), has
> a pretty good oil leak on the left side, has
> 120-130psi compression, and
> has 92,000 miles on it. Does it sound like a rebuild
> is in order? Could the
> oil leak be from the side covers, or the head
> gasket? (It's not from the
> valve cover) Would a Weber downdraft be a preferable
> carb to the stock Z-S?
> As you can tell, I'm full of questions about my MG,
> so any help would be
> appreciated. I love the way it drives and I'm
> looking forward to many fun
> miles.
>
> John
>
> 77MGB
>
=====
Terry O'Brien, RDU/NC/USA
-'77 MG B (daily driver)
-'82 Dodge Ram 50
-'90+ various boring things
-other people's British problems
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