Things I’ve changed on the MG, 2002

  • 23 October 2002:
    My new minilite replica wheels arrived. Since they are of the 15” variety, they will not be shod with rubber until spring. Too bad, I can’t wait to see how they look once in place. In the mean time, they decorate the floor of my apartment.
  • 26 September 2002:
    Installed new (or rather rebuilt) front Armstrong lever shocks. I ordered them from World Wide Auto Parts of Madison, WI. WWAP has something of a reputation for quality, and the shocks I recieved go far to bolster it.
  • 14 September 2002:
    Rewired headlights to use relays. This should improve lighting, and as a bonus, the lights are now fused (high and low independently). I did this according to Daniel Stern’s instructions</a>.
  • 13 August 2002:
    Installed oil cooler, which won’t help with cooling, but will help maintain viscosity when warm.
  • 26 July 2002:
    Returned to Wholesale Radiator, installed a pepcock and changed the rad input to improve water flow characteristics. Still no major improvement in cooling, but I did discover that my electric fan cannot keep up with the engine at idle when the temp is above 90. This is bad. Suspect timing or vacuum leaks.
  • 24 July 2002:
    Purchased timing light and adjusted the way-off timing to something a bit more reasonable, attempting to get around this heating issue.
  • 8 June 2002:
    Installed new radiator hose, created channel for temperature sensor by carefully carving a chunk out of the old hose. Holds 14 lbs of pressure, the cap is rated at 7. This should be good. Reinstalled electric fan in new radiator core. Drove home, getting the car on the road for the first time since 27 May.
  • 6 June 2002:
    Installed new water pump and re-cored radiator. Discovered upper radiator hose is bad, and leaks around the temperature sensor for my electric fan.
  • 3 June 2002:
    Shipped radiator to Wholesale Radiator of Lewiston ID, where my radiator will be re-cored with a new 4-row core.
  • 30 May 2002:
    Removed radiator and water pump that blew up on 27 May. Busted at least one bolt that holds the pump to the block, so could not fit replacement pump.
  • 26 May 2002:
    Found source of major windscreen leak that the auto glass missed. Filled this with clear silicon sealant, leak is gone. I am much happier driving in the rain now that my leg will not be soaked.
  • 13 May 2002:
    Adjusted valves, which reduced the clatter coming from under the bonnet quite a bit.
  • 12 May 2002:
    Discovered cause of my oil leak to be the flexible line from the engine block to the body, which feeds the oil pressure gauge and anti-run on valve. I capped the block, so while I have no indication of oil pressure, at least I am not pushing oil out of a small hole at 50 psi.
  • 21 April 2002:
    Installed Euro-spec distributer from britteck. My points were bad, I had the distributor since January, it just needed to be done. All my missing power is back, and my idle jumped from about 200 rpm to 1500 rpm.
  • 19 April 2002:
    Installed suplimentary Electric cooling fan (for now). Later, I hope to remove the engine-driven fan and use the 10” Flex-a-lite as my only fan.
  • 31 March 2002:
    Switched from my winter Michelin Artic Alpin tyres to the Pirelli P4000 rubber I use during the summer.
  • 2 March 2002:
    Adjusted the rear brakes (my parking brake was not particularly effective), which required removing the adjuster and applying lots of heat to free it up. Brakes work very well now.
  • 26 January 2002:
    Replaced Mallory 29217 coil with a Lucas Sport coil. Removed the extra ballast resistor from the car as installed by the dpo, and bypassed the now unneeded ballast wire needed for the (long gone) stock coil.
  • 15 January 2002:
    Replaced started solenoid, the old one had a bad contact from the starter relay, and the brass pole that collects power from the alternator and battery was in pretty bad shape as well.