Doug,
The lever by your right knee controls the air intake vent that comes in from
the chromed vent in front of your windshield. Pushed all the way toward the
engine shuts off the flow of air to the vents on the dash and above your
feet. Pulled all the way toward you opens the vent all the way and the
center position closes off half of the air. The vents in the middle of your
dash can be moved to control where the air is directed. Hardly noticeable
when the top is down. If you're not getting any air, you might check inside
the chrome vent, it tends to fill with filled with leaves and such. The
gas smell is not "normal", but not unusual in this age car. If there are no
apparent leaks, it may be associated with the charcoal canister and it's
vent pipe. There is a pipe that leads from the canister, which is mounted
on the passenger side fire wall in the engine compartment, that goes to the
gas tank and it sometimes gets clogged with gunk (technical term). You
might try blowing it clear (the pipe not the canister). One of the other
connections goes to the carbs which is supposed to allow the carbs to burn
the vapors. Sometimes this can release fumes that you can smell if the
connections aren't tight. I hope it isn't your gas tank as someone else
suggested. I'm not sure of an easy way to check the top of the tank, maybe
someone else has an idea about that.
Good luck on your 73,
Dave 72B
-----Original Message-----
From: Cynthia_Cameron@icoc.org <Cynthia_Cameron@icoc.org>
To: mgs@autox.team.net <mgs@autox.team.net>
Date: Saturday, June 10, 2000 10:16 AM
Subject: Fuel and Lever Question
>
>Folks, let me first say I am very grateful to have found a bunch of people
>such as you. Your posts have already been tremendously helpful, and tho at
>this stage of the game this newbie 73 MGB owner may be more of a "taker"
>from the group, I fully intend to be a "giver" as soon as I can!
>
>Here's a couple of questions - please excuse the naivete.........
>
>1) Fuel smell while driving - frequent whiffs of gasoline. No apparent fuel
>leak - is this an anomaly of the SU carbs, or should I be worried about
>blowing up? (I hate it when that happens......). If this is not a common
>experience, then I guess I better spend some time figuring out quick what
>the problem is.
>
>2) Not having a manual (yet) I am trying to figure out what 2 things are in
>my cockpit. One is a 3-position lever near my right knee while driving - I
>am guessing it is a vent lever - but for the life of me cannot figure out
>which position does what. Any ideas?
>The second unknown is some kind of light fixture on my dash. It is in the
>top left corner; rectangular black frame with a red lens and a black
>knurled pushbutton of some sort. Don't have a clue as to what that is for.
>
>PS - thought you would appreciate this - last week, changing the oil for
>the first time; likely the first time in a LONG time. I cannot for the life
>of me get the upright oil filter off - it's rusted on. Ticked me off that
>of all things, an OIL FILTER was rusted on! Tried a screwdriver through the
>filter body, couldn't get the angle, etc. I finally put a tie-rod end
>separator (pickle fork) vertically down thru the cannister, and then used a
>pipe wrench to turn the arm of the pickle fork. The soft metal of the
>filter held enough to be able to get the darn thing off, with a lot of
>torque..........! After I calmed down, I had to laugh...............
>
>Thanks again! - Doug
>
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