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MG Midget and Sprite General - mg midget 1500 manifold gasket

Due to an air leak i need to replace the manifold gasket on my 1500 midget

. Anybody any tips on replacing them ?

Ive got some blue hylomar .Is it best to coat the gasket both side with the hylomar before reasembly ?

thanks
D Stratton

Personally, I've never used any sealant on a manifold gasket.
Dave O'Neill2

nor me, and of course neither did the factory!
David Smith

Place I took the midget for a tune up a couple of years back commented that sealant could be a bad idea because when it squidges out it could either partially block the inlet or the excess could get injested. So probably not a good idea to use.

Not done the job myself but think you need to tighten from the inside out and then in small increments to keep the pressure even.
Others will know more!

-Craig
C Robertson

The new gasket should be all you need. If you have an air leak not cured by a new gasket, then examine the surfaces of the manifold and head to find out why.

Blue Hylomar isn't the worst thing you could use, and will work for a while. But eventually if you don't fix the why, you'll get another air leak.
Lawrence Slater

Hylomar/well seal etc is really for water gaskets...

I would avoid using anything on an exhaust gasket... the surface should be flat enough to seal with a gasket.

Hylomar would just burn and smell horrible
C L Carter

Having had a 1500 manifold gasket burn through once, I can comment!

The blow happened at the bottom of the center branch of the exhaust manifold, and while I had things apart I thought to check the alignment of the manifold mounting faces with a straight-edge. Turned out the faces weren't lined up... with an edge placed across all three, there was a gap at the center branch, preventing that face from sealing tightly. So I bolted the intake/exhaust manifolds together and took both to a local engine shop and had the faces planed. That, plus a new gasket with NO sealant, has worked fine for several years now.

Best of luck,

-:G:-
Gryf Ketcherside

If you don't want to have the faces machined, you can do what the TR6 folks recommend and use two manifold gaskets. The engines are very similar in design.

Lee Fox

Thanks for your answers guys
D Stratton

This thread was discussed between 07/01/2012 and 21/01/2012

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