Red free

Fit the Third

So now I'm under and I've checked that power is getting to the pump (it would help if I set the universal meter correctly before probing), and I need to remove it.

A rather surprising piece of tubing is brushing my face as I work — it isn't attached at this end, is it a venting tube? Just hanging down?

I disconnect and get the pump off and go back to the diagrams in the Parts Catalogue (Moss) and look at the owner's maintenance manual, too. There are really good instructions there, and the parts are just discernible in the pictures. I need to take it apart.

This is nasty, since I don't have any gaskets or other replaceable parts, I have to be careful. But, hey ho, nothing ventured, and I can always buy another one if this one is damaged by my fumblings.

Inside the diaphragm is clean and sweet, the seals are re-usable, the springs are good and the points — uh oh the points are black.

Some paraffin later, and some ginger repositioning and I'm ready to try again.

Reassembly is a little awkward — I have to squeeze the five silicone plastic 'figure-of-eight rings' that centre the solenoid into their groove and then adjust the solenoid 'throw' by screwing it in and out. Unfortunately, this requires holding onto the diaphragm itself and turning. Not something I want to do with a lot of force. But the rings in place make this hard, so I remove them again (prise them out) and with just three of them in place I can turn it. When it seems about right (pressing in and out against the spring shows when this is) I align to the nearest set of holes to fix this setting and reseal the pump chamber. Tricky stuff.

I now reassemble the electrical end (don't ask) and notice that there are two venting tubes on the pump. One from the solenoid housing and one from the points end. Quick glance back to the parts manual: aha! there is supposed to be tubing from here to... where?

That tube — where did it go? After some scrabbling I find there is a T-piece, the two aligned ends of which simply open into the well of the boot. Actually there are two of them! Are these the places that the vent tubes should be connected to? Yes! I see in the parts catalogue that this is right! But the tubing I have doesn't fit on the vents (it is too big) so I suspect that this pump is not original. At some point in the future I'll get some more tubing and refit the T-pieces. For now they are removed.

Much later I read, in a book about restoration of Midgets and Sprites, that these are vents which were fitted to the earlier MkIII models. It's nice to have confirmation of one's guesses.

Now to try the pump again — it is a little awkward refitting the pump, there isn't a lot of room to tighten the connections — and I'm just a tad apprehensive when reconnecting the battery.

All is well; the reassuring 'clicking' sound is back. How could I have forgotten it? And Red starts first time.

Now all I have to do is start researching and fixing the rough running!

Red too

Fit the second

After the fuel was obtained and I could actually get some into the tank, I tried to start him again, but Red [my MG Migdet MkIII — see my previous blog] still refused to fire.

Still no fuel at the carburettor.

Now many of my friends and colleagues will not be surprised to know that while I am at work I am not always concentrating on "matters at hand". I often think about other things and Red figured a few times. Sometimes, I had glanced at the manuals in passing.

When I bought Red I was bequeathed a few manuals and books that have proved to be of immense use. They include:

• Haynes Workshop manual
• Owners manual (not for my model, but still handy)
• (old) Parts catalogue

and I browsed through them for hints. It was in Haynes manual that I noticed that this model has an electric fuel pump (later models had a mechanical one), and it slowly dawned on me that if this was the case, I should have been able to hear the pump when I switched on the ignition. Since Red had been with us only a few short weeks, I couldn't remember this noise, it certainly wasn't 'clicking' now. So the fuel pump was implicated.

First problem — where is it? It turns out this requires a closer look at the manuals. Haynes proved surprisingly unhelpful here: it gives a photo of the offending, but a mere word or two about where it is! The other stuff, including the parts catalogue (amazing how much you can learn from an exploded diagram if it includes everything), was more helpful. It was underneath; next to the Petrol tank. I got to it.

This sounds easier than it was, since I didn't have any ramps or stands, and getting under with only a jack or two is not recommended.

I therefore bought (second hand) a couple of ramps. This took another few days, and also some trouble getting the car up on a ramp! I couldn't push it, it wouldn't drive up and so I had to jack it up and put the ramp under. This involved a few bricks and two jacks. [I wonder if Anne will let me dig an inspection pit?]

Red

Fit the first
In my profile I mention a MG Midget MkIII. I acquired it last year and when I bought it it was in reasonable condition, and working (with an MOT!). This is a speculative purchase for me (spurred on by Anne, who thought that it might be fun — she knows me too well) and I don't have the tools or experience really. But half the fun of ownership is to gain the tools and experience. She tells me.

The first order of the day was to decide what to call it/him/her. My daughters decided it was male, although every other car I have owned (or my father has owned) has been female, so we wanted a suitable nom de la rue.

To cut a long story short, Jen wanted to call him Red Rum — the paintwork (such as it is) is Red, Tartan Red I think — but I thought that was demeaning since it implies it is only one horse-power. So in the end we shortened it to Red. I bought a Black n' Red workshop notebook, and ink-blackened the Black n' on the cover, so it reads (in red insert on a black background) appropriately, and was smug.

However, soon after we garaged him and I got a new battery (the old one loses charge quite quickly) Red failed to start. There was no trouble turning the engine over, so the new battery is OK — just no inclination to fire at all. We go into detective mode.

Aside: While fitting the new battery I banged my head so often on the bonnet, which is heavy and back-hinged with the battery right up against the back of the dash, that I removed it. It now stands against the wall at the back of the garage.

First, electrics: the spark was fine (this is so tricky to do on your own). Check.

Second, fuel: I took the fuel lead off the carburettor, switched on and turned the engine — no fuel. Aha! Have I run out? [It might true: the fuel gauge was one of the things marked dodgy when I got him, so looking at it was not obviously helpful.] From what I could tell by rocking him, and listening for sloshing at the filler, we might be very low.

Red had been lovingly managed by his previous owner, and amongst other things had been converted to run on unleaded petrol. My other car (no name, notice) is a diesel, so I do not have a ready supply of fuel in the garage: I had to get some. Also a can. Also a funnel. This took a few days.