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MG Midget and Sprite General - DAMN you blackhole midget, Damn you to hell...GEZ

God... Are you kidding ME !!!

I just broke my engine...

Perhaps I shoouldnt blame the car... After all I was doing (a heavy) 100+ miles per hour, the speedo only goes to 100 and I pegged that way back...Im Guessing maybe 120mph... about 45 sec. to a minute in all.

AC/DC Hells Bells" makes my left foot really adventurious... and it sounds great on the smartphone pumping thur the small and big amp and rockford fosgate speakers


BLOWN FREAKEN HEAD GASKET

Heres a photo at idle... you think thats BAD, YOU Should SEE the white smoke at around 4000 rpm... its a cloud

So i guess Ill order another new head gasket tomarrow and see if I can get it up and running agian next week before thanksgiving... unreal

What really sucks... I was just gloating to Rach and Bill young how I finally killed off all the grimlins and the car was running perfect...oh well back to the machine

Prop

Prop

whats bizzare... is it never even got hot

I warmed the engine up but couldnt get above 160 F most of the time, it was 140 to 150F for both the water and the oil most of the time and the oil pressure held a constant 75 psi

The gasket didnt blow till immediatly after my high speeed run, I was out of gear and coasting down to about 60mph to make a hard right turn ..i blipped the gas to 5000 rmp, hard tapped the brakes, dropped the the shifter into 2nd made the hard turn at 20 mph while on the gas to the max and all of a sudden the car stumbled and coughed a few times and then seemed to run on 2 cylinders... i looked at the A/F ratio gauges and it showed the rear carb as dead... I figured the G-force upset the float..or got some crud from the tank and babied it 1/8th mile to the shop and looked back in the mirror and saw a huge cloud of white smoke...and knew exactly what happened ... so I babied it the last 1/8th mile to the shop...

luckly no other noises, leaks, smells, ect.


prop
Prop


My guess is the engine got heated up during my fast run but unevenly, and may have unevenly cooled down and when I dropped the car into 2nd, there was to much hot /cold distortion and the sudden increase in engine pressure was enough to make the head or gasket slip

prop
Prop

Why not consider a solid copper head gasket?
darnoc31

oh dread.
Trevor Jessie

120mph? What revs were you pulling?

When I broke my crank at Spa-Francorchamps, I was doing just over 7500rpm in top - an estimated 118mph.
D O'Neill

In theory my car will hit 120 mph in 5th at 6000 rpms. In reality, it just doesn't have the power to reach that point. 105-110 is about all it can manage before it hit the aerodynamic wall. In 4th gear I'm at the end of my power band by the time I reach 105 mph.

Prop may have been too busy watching his 10 gauge console to really know how fast he was going. ;)
Trevor Jessie

The last i saw i was way over 7000 in 5th..but i wasnt looking at to much other then the road and how white my knuckles where on the steering wheel

I havent done anything that stupid in a long time

Prop
Prop

Prop if you have a 3.9 rear end, then 7000 in 5th is almost 140 mph. Is your clutch slipping?
Trevor Jessie

The advange i had was the interstate i was on a down hill elevation with the wind at my back ....i was at the top end and nothing left for the engine to give

LOL...trevor...

the only gauge i was watching was the speedo...even winking at the tech was a gut wrenching experiance of fear.

Prop
Prop

No the clutch is new

I have no idea what speed i was hitting...i was just fooling around at 80 to 90.. then decided to peg the 100 mile mark...then on a whim dcided to go all out with the down hill slant of the high way and got alot more out of it way beyound the 100 mark i dont know what he 100 mile mark rpm was... But at the top end with nothing left in the engine in 5th it was well over 7000 rpm..like maybe 7500.. i just wasnt watching gauges that close as i was my knuckles and the road


I did have the hard top on so that may have helped
Prop

Btw... I am running 145 tires at 30psi the speedo is orginal so not sure the accuracy...

on the tach it matches the tach on my timing gun tested to 5k rpm so i think that is with in a reasonable range of accurcy


Prop
Prop

Is there maybe, just maybe, a chance that the Black Hole Midget is sitting there saying-

Damn you Pro-bloodysillybugger-paper for treating me like this before I have had a few hundred miles to settle in???

As the others say, I doubt the speed simply becase the Midget is expected to "hit the wall" at speeds like that.

Face it Prop

Only a head gasket, only a dribble of smoke...

Only a short, easy job to fix.

And back on the road next weekend even if you have a week of "proper" work to do.

Cheer up, at least you did let baby have her head for a while.
Bill 1

Exactly bill,

Its just a head gasket...(fingers crossed)...so it wont take long to fix plus all the grimlins dead... It should be straight forward
The only thing thats got me concerned is what trevor was saying...because i know i was well past 100...but how much....i was orginally thinking no more then 120...but the rpms just dont match up

Anyway...at least ive got the time...i only got 2 days of work this week and nothing next week....so it should make thanksgiving

Prop
Prop

Sat nav

Mine reads two mph off at every speed and this compares to the cycle computer which tallys exactly with the reported speed on our local roadside speed nannies.

These damned things flash green numbers if you are "under" and red if "over" the legal limit

Mine is calculated against the circumferance of the rear tyre so ought to be ok

You should try a few calibration runs with a satnav to test the accuracy, you can't beat true knowlege

Anyway, sort it out tomorrow, please don't get bogged down overanalysing this little setback

A lovely car dressed in such a fine green needs to run
Bill 1

Prop
Don't forget to put up a photo of the blown gasket-please Willy
William Revit

"AC/DC Hells Bells" makes my left foot really adventurious"

Don't you work the clutch with your left foot? Or are your pedals backwards? Maybe thats the problem, pressing the clutch and accelarator at the same time ;-)

Malcolm
Malcolm Le Chevalier

Malcome...so thats my problem...LOL..great catch

Hey willy....i certianly will...im goinh to pull the head on tuesday...hopefully get started today

Prop
Prop

Prop - you have my e-mail by now!!!!

Teach ya to gloat at me :P!
rachmacb

Quote...

I havent done anything that stupid in a long time"

Is that a topic for debate Prop.... ;-)

Mark.
M T Boldry

Prop

I feel for you, having had a blown HG recently. I hope all goes well with the replacement. I have not got mine going properly still. Arrggggghhhhhhh (frustration)

Chris
Chris H (1970 Midget 1275)

Well wish me luck that its only a head gasket... Im off to pull the head...hope to have it off before lunch...sad news the new head gasket wont be delivered for another 6-7 days

Mark.... I have no idea what you could possiably referancing....hahahaha

Prop

Prop

Prop,

Can't you get hgs in the states? I'd order a spare if I were you.
Lawrence Slater

Hey lawerance

The usa is a big place... I used british parts north west... in seattle... there about 1500 miless from me, so it takes a solid week for parts to arrive... ive always liked these guys... and they really know the defination of customer service

i could get them faster but the shipping cost is double...so friday vs monday... its not worth the extra cost

but yes I did order an extra head gasket this time...so 2 BK450s on the way and some white ceramic brake pads

checkout my new thread concerning the photo of the blown head gasket... nasty... just jaw dropping.

Prop
Prop

I'd inspect the head very closely to see if there was a reason the gasket turned loose.
Trevor Jessie

Ive decided to take the head and head gasket to the machine shop and see if they have any insight

I didnt think this gasket was such a bigger issue... So ill take it moreseriously...

Thanks trevorr
Prop

This thread was discussed between 13/11/2011 and 16/11/2011

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