Hello All -
I just got myself another MGB a few days ago, a 1980 MGB LE (with overdrive!).
This car has apparently been sitting unused in a garage for quite some time,
based upon it's immaculate condition, and 71,000 original miles. Some advice
I got was to make sure there wasn't any gas leaking from the ZS carb because
of the extreme fire hazard posed by the catalytic converter.
It seems to generate a great deal of heat under the hood, and from the
exhaust. In fact, the muffler in the middle of the car causes the floor
behind the driver seat to get so hot that you can't touch it. Seems
like this is too hot, but I'm not sure since my other car only has the
muffler at the back of the car (yes it's loud, but temporary). I'm
guessing this is because it's running too rich? Or do others actually
run that hot?
I did some checking on the 'net, and found that it was fairly common to
see fuel leakage from a loose water choke. Sure enough, upon checking,
there was a slight leak. In fact, one of the three screws that attach it
to the carb was missing. I found the missing screw laying in the engine
compartment, and replaced it and tightened it down. Leak cured. That
converter has me more than a little worried, I will admit, especially
after reading that there have been many fires attributed to them,
I've learned a bit working on my other B, but when it
comes to carbs, I'm pretty uneducated. But I pulled the spark plugs
to inspect, and they are fairly black, pointing to a rich mixture as
I understand it. Since this is appears to be a fairly typical problem,
I found much info regarding the water choke, and it's contributing or
causing the richness problem.
I removed the water choke, disasembled, cleaned, etc., but the situation
is unchanged. My intention is to take the car to a mechanic who is very
familiar with ZS carbs and LBC's. However, it's an hour trip from here
and I was hoping to improve the situation so I could drive the car there.
Any suggestions, or should I just bite the bullet and have it towed or
get a Uhaul trailer?
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Marc Siegel, ABSnet Internet Services eMail: smarc@abs.net
Baltimore, MD http://www.abs.net voice: 410/361-8160
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