I drove my MGA today

abowie · Post by **abowie** » Sat Feb 13, 2016 7:19 am

Over the last 6 months or so I have been rebuilding an MGA.

I drove it for the first time today.

It's actually not too bad. For one thing there's a lot more leg room than my 3.8.

http://www.mgexp.com/phorum/read.php?2, ... sg-3107246

cactusman · Post by **cactusman** » Sat Feb 13, 2016 7:48 am

Good for you. Never driven an MGA but my MGB has bigger footwells than my 3.8....bet your 3.8 is faster though :D

abowie · Post by **abowie** » Sat Feb 13, 2016 8:11 am

Yes, the MGA is no rocket..

cactusman · Post by **cactusman** » Sat Feb 13, 2016 8:19 am

Gorgeous car though....bet the weather is Australia is better then here....

andrewh · Post by **andrewh** » Sat Feb 13, 2016 9:05 am

I have a TD which has longer footwells than an E type, but is almost as challenging to get into! I like MGs and would love to restore a B for my daughters to enjoy, but don't have enough time in the day. Enjoy your MGA

malcolm · Post by **malcolm** » Sat Feb 13, 2016 10:24 am

I love the look of the MGA. I had an MG Magnette ZB, a saloon with the same engine as the MGA (except for smaller carbs and a different manifold) I fitted the bigger MGA 1600's carbs and manifolds. Helped a bit, but still not the quickest Bunny in the field.
Is yours the 1500 or the 1600?
Got a picture?

christopher storey · Post by **christopher storey** » Sat Feb 13, 2016 12:40 pm

Lovely car, and now much sought after here in UK. But, when I looked at a Twin cam about 2 years ago, I found the door pillars very intrusive at my age. Sad!

Moeregaard · Post by **Moeregaard** » Sat Feb 13, 2016 1:28 pm

The MGA is a nice car--slow, but nice. A '62 1600 Mk II was my daily driver in the early 1980s. As a college student, I didn't have a "pot to p*ss in or a window to throw it out of" so the simplicity and cheap maintenance had a lot of appeal--even if I did have to wrap my books and papers in plastic bags on rainy days. It never let me down in the six years I owned it. Much of the slowness seems to come from the poorly spaced gearing more than anything else.

What really transforms the car is the installation of the five-main 1800cc lump from the MGB. We did this with another MGA and it was a major improvement, not to mention a very simple swap and much easier than fitting something Japanese. If I were to do this again, a warmed-over 1800 and five-speed gearbox would be first on the list.

abowie · Post by **abowie** » Sat Feb 13, 2016 9:27 pm

malcolm wrote: Got a picture?

There are lots more pics in the thread on the MG site

http://www.mgexp.com/phorum/read.php?2, ... sg-3107246

Still fiddling with front wiring so no grille yet.

abowie · Post by **abowie** » Sat Feb 13, 2016 9:32 pm

malcolm wrote: Is yours the 1500 or the 1600?
Got a picture?

1600 bored out to 1650cc, early MGB head with a good porting job. Will hopefully go OK once I get it tuned properly.

abowie · Post by **abowie** » Sat Feb 13, 2016 9:33 pm

cactusman wrote:Gorgeous car though....bet the weather is Australia is better then here....

High temp has been 28*C all week...

abowie · Post by **abowie** » Tue Feb 16, 2016 6:56 am

What a great little car!

Characteristically unable to restrain myself I have built a moderately "worked" engine. Initial road tests were disappointing..

Standard carb settings have been lean. Today I installed rich needles and some heavier carb piston springs to richen things up.

WHAT FUN! It's like a little go-kart! Put your foot down and it tries to rev to kingdom come. Not fast, but sticks to the road like glue and sounds like an angry dwarf!

abowie · Post by **abowie** » Fri Feb 19, 2016 6:27 am

I thought I should let you all know that I adjusted the MGA tappets today.

I am quite experienced with doing E Type engine heads. I can usually have one perfect within an hour.

The MGA took me 90 seconds. Giggle.

christopher storey · Post by **christopher storey** » Fri Feb 19, 2016 7:45 am

If you can check and adjust 1 tappet every 11.25 seconds you're either a genius or you have a very slow watch :D :D

abowie · Post by **abowie** » Fri Feb 19, 2016 8:51 am

You can do 2 at a time and you use the starter to advance the engine.

It really does take that little time!

christopher storey · Post by **christopher storey** » Fri Feb 19, 2016 5:36 pm

Ah, but being a nitpicker I would say that you are not getting each tappet on the back of the cam if you use the starter . Bearing in mind how tappety B series engines can be, I regard accuracy as being rather important

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I drove my MGA today

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