In a message dated 6/21/04 5:33:18 AM, owner-mgs-digest@autox.team.net
writes:
> The Betson bolt worked great! I was able to install the new core plug in
> the
> back of the block with no trouble.
> (thank God for nimble fingers)
> Also, I've finnally solved my overheating problem. Sometimes the most
> troubling problems have the simplest solution. I had installed the wrong
> water pump pully. I used one from from a '78 B which is larger than the one
> from the '74. This caused the pump to turn too slow. After installing
the
> correct pully, the engine runs at 185F reguardless of speed or outside
temp.
> (it's been pushing 95F here for the past few days.
>
Friday I tried to install the Belknap "screw-expanding copper core plug" on
the side of my MGA race engine. First try, with raving optimism, I tried doing
it through the opening between the front and rear intake tubes (cross-flow
head). Couldn't manage to hold both the combination wrench on the plug and the
socket on the expanding screw at the same time.
Second try, removed the radiator to get at the alternator, then the
alternator to get at the intake manifold bolts, then the intake manifold and
carbs to
get at the side of the engine. That time I could get both wrench and socket
on,
but the plug turned out to be too soft for the 12-point combo-wrench to hold
it in place without twisting when I tightened the expanding screw. Gave up the
whole idea, went to O'Connor Classics in Santa Clara (Calif.) -- yes, we
still have a walk-in British sports car repair and parts shop here on the San
Francisco/San Jose peninsula; lucky, lucky us. -- and got a standard core plug
plus instructions on how to install it from JR, their wizard wrench.
Following his instructions, I cleaned the opening carefully, put a bead of
silicone around the edge of the opening, seated the core plug, then used a
hammer and drift (my old copper knock-off hammer and the piece of square stock
that
I also use to open the oil plug on my Austin-Healey tranny) to pound the plug
flat, starting on the outside edges and gradually working my way into the
center.
(I also installed a new Ron Davis aluminum MGA racing radiator ($616 -
rondavisradiators.com) at the same time,, hoping to solve the overheating
problem
that had blown the plug in the first place.)
Hoo, boy. Engine started and ran, and I was able to drive on and off my
trailer, and a half-mile each way from the trailer field to the show field to
display the MGA at the Palo Alto Concours on Sunday.
No leaks, no problems, much jubilation.
Cheers
Gary Anderson
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