Progress?

Well I've been struggling on with the MGB. Spent a fortune on parts and its been like Christmas with all the packages arriving here. Still, here is a summary of progress to date:

Rear brakes and hub oil seals. I tackled these exactly as described in the Dr-Doolin.com excellent YouTube video. No pics here because he says it all and my experience differed only marginally as my car has alloy not wire wheels.

I found the brake shoes were virtually new both sides but the N/S rear hub seal was clearly leaking and as a result hub and shoes were very oily. I replaced the oil seal and shoes this side giving everything a good clean. I do have the parts for the O/S but as the shoes were new and seal not leaking I left these for the time being.

I had the exhaust (and the duff mountings) replaced with a new mild steel system (can't afford stainless at present). Vast improvement in both sound and exhaust fumes in the car.

I took my first tenuous steps in carburettor tuning. I had filthy black plugs and colortune confirmed its running really rich. New air filters surprisingly gave a vast improvement and mixture adjustment with filters on also gave a smoother (not smooth) idle.  Finally I attempted balancing, and things are definitely better! I will detail all these procedures later as I plan a carb rebuild anyway. One problem I have though is that when the motor is warm the idle doesn't return to normal but sticks around 2k. The motor will also increase in speed on its own!

Checking various forums shows similar problems are common... The most common cause being  a stuck cable. This isn't the cause in my case (and I'm not sure I believe it when it was identified in some if the documented cases either!). Anyway in my case the effect occurs even if I don't touch the pedal, and when it does both carb throttle levers are solid on their stops. Pressing here doesn't lower idle speed again and blipping the throttle, either by hand directly on the lever or at the pedal, doesn't help either. In order to slow them down the simplest way is to put a hand over the carb air intakes. I have also backed the fast idle screws right off and loosened the spindle clamp bolts as well as all cable connections and it still happens!! This all sounds like an air leak to me but I can't find one. Possibilities include a leaking gasket somewhere or maybe the poppet valves on the butterflies introduced in the Hif4 carb. I understand these are designed to admit air and prevent over-richness when the throttle is snapped shut. However they apparently can stick open  if their springs are weak (which may happen if they get hot). I understand now (too late) that replacing the butterflies with HS4 solid plates is considered preferable. I did seek advice from Burlen Fuels SU shop and was advised to stick to the originals... Seems not to be the best advice and perhaps driven more by the need to empty the stock room... Or maybe that's just my cynicism!! Anyway new valves can't hurt. I am planning a carb rebuild and I have the major rebuild kit and a few extra gaskets to refit everything in case of air leaks so I will describe this later.

I have installed a battery clamp and de-rusted the carrier... Both of which were pigs of jobs as access is really bad... My back may never be the same again! Still, at least replacing the clutch pedal return spring was easy.

I have also started to recondition the two spare stub axles I bought but that really does need a separate post!