Hey Mghamsail! I have a question. Im working on a 1956 MGA, this is my first restoration and I don't know too much about cars. I have the transmission out and Im wondering what that black thing is called that is cone shaped above the slave cylinder. Can you help me out?
That is a cover that Quantum Mechanics installed for me over the hole where the starter pinion engages the flywheel. Jack Horner of Bay State MGA Club emailed me that he has one of these and that it is rarely found. I think you can find more info on it at mgaguru.com. Unfortunately, I discovered that the one I had was too short (there is a longer version) and the starter pinion was jamming against it. Since I could no longer get at it easily after the gearbox and engine were installed, I had to remove my starter (easy) and get some cutting tools in there to cut a hole in the end of it to clear the starter pinion, took me several hours of tedious work. So trial fit the starter before putting the gearbox into the car or just omit the cover. BTW your car, the 1500, would have a lower starter mount position and I have no idea if that version of the gearbox used the cover.
I have recently discovered that the newer high torque gear reduction starters use a shorter gear driven by an integral solenoid to engage the flywheel and these would probably fit even wiht the small cover installed behind the flywheel. These starters are of course covered at Barney Gaylord's site: mgaguru.com
Hi Alex After receiving Maggie back from the body shop with a fantastic paint job, I successfully re-installed engine and gearbox and am now busy doing assembly. I have some videos but haven't organized them yet. Will upload more soon. Thanks for your interest.
I'm looking at a 60 MGA, and it has clutch problems. The guy told me it was burnt and frozen. The motor is painted nice like it was pulled, I have no idea why they didn't fix the clutch. Maby the disk is in backwards. My question is must I pull the motor to get at the clutch?
yes you will need to pull the engine to get at the clutch. you can separate the engine and gearbox bell housing in place and just pull the engine with clutch attached. but before you go that far, you can sometimes unstick a clutch disk by rocking the car while in gear. I don't think the clutch will bolt closed if the disk is in backwards but it could be stuck to the flywheel if unused for a long time, or the throwout bearing could be in pieces inside. checkout mgaguru.com for more info. you can also ask this question at mgexp.com and you'll get more advice than you'll ever need. good luck with it. Carl
@@mghamsail Thanks a lot man. I had a 59 in the 70s, a kind of rat rod, horsehair hanging out of the seats, but I loved that car. Now that I'm almost 70 I want another. I paid a $1000 bake then. I'm not looking for a show car, because I like to beat my cars.
Hi JJ I am aware of the reports from John Twist and I think possibly Barney Gaylord about this, but we also have a couple of my fellow members of Bay State MGA Club who are using this roller release bearing, In particular, Don Tremblay has had his for many successful years and added a comment about this to John Twist's video. ua-cam.com/video/4KIdkOWVcGg/v-deo.html I think the Chiocagoland video on engine replacement also shows the same bearing being used. My gearbox rebuilder Jon Esposito of Quantum Mechanics in CT also said it should be OK. Being no expert I can't say yet how long it will be ok. Tests so far feel fine (car on blocks so that wheels turn freely in neutral, then engage 4th gear and press down on clutch pedal, I can turn drive shaft by hand quite easily). I realize this test doesn't prove anything about longevity. So I'd like to know if you have any direct experience with this or are just relaying the conventional wisdom? Also given Don Tremblay's experience, I wonder if there might be some other cause for a roller release bearing failure, like a bad one to begin with. Thanks for your comment.
Here is a link to a lengthy discussion by a diverse group of mg users concerning the advantages and disadvantages of. original carbon vs roller release bearings in mg's. I chose roller bearing and jj lad thinks that is a big mistake.. You can hear reasoned opinion and actual experiences from users of both and decide for yourself: www.mgexp.com/phorum/read.php?1,3030901
7 years in and 5200 miles still going strong
Second driving season finished in November 2018 with 2000 miles on the roller release bearing, so far so good.
First driving season finished with 932 miles on the rebuild. The clutch with roller release bearing has been operating very smoothly.
Hey Mghamsail! I have a question. Im working on a 1956 MGA, this is my first restoration and I don't know too much about cars. I have the transmission out and Im wondering what that black thing is called that is cone shaped above the slave cylinder. Can you help me out?
That is a cover that Quantum Mechanics installed for me over the hole where the starter pinion engages the flywheel. Jack Horner of Bay State MGA Club emailed me that he has one of these and that it is rarely found. I think you can find more info on it at mgaguru.com. Unfortunately, I discovered that the one I had was too short (there is a longer version) and the starter pinion was jamming against it. Since I could no longer get at it easily after the gearbox and engine were installed, I had to remove my starter (easy) and get some cutting tools in there to cut a hole in the end of it to clear the starter pinion, took me several hours of tedious work. So trial fit the starter before putting the gearbox into the car or just omit the cover.
BTW your car, the 1500, would have a lower starter mount position and I have no idea if that version of the gearbox used the cover.
I have recently discovered that the newer high torque gear reduction starters use a shorter gear driven by an integral solenoid to engage the flywheel and these would probably fit even wiht the small cover installed behind the flywheel. These starters are of course covered at Barney Gaylord's site: mgaguru.com
hi mate any updates ? hope the car is going well...
Hi Alex After receiving Maggie back from the body shop with a fantastic paint job, I successfully re-installed engine and gearbox and am now busy doing assembly. I have some videos but haven't organized them yet. Will upload more soon. Thanks for your interest.
I'm looking at a 60 MGA, and it has clutch problems. The guy told me it was burnt and frozen. The motor is painted nice like it was pulled, I have no idea why they didn't fix the clutch. Maby the disk is in backwards. My question is must I pull the motor to get at the clutch?
yes you will need to pull the engine to get at the clutch. you can separate the engine and gearbox bell housing in place and just pull the engine with clutch attached. but before you go that far, you can sometimes unstick a clutch disk by rocking the car while in gear. I don't think the clutch will bolt closed if the disk is in backwards but it could be stuck to the flywheel if unused for a long time, or the throwout bearing could be in pieces inside. checkout mgaguru.com for more info. you can also ask this question at mgexp.com and you'll get more advice than you'll ever need. good luck with it. Carl
@@mghamsail Thanks a lot man. I had a 59 in the 70s, a kind of rat rod, horsehair hanging out of the seats, but I loved that car. Now that I'm almost 70 I want another. I paid a $1000 bake then. I'm not looking for a show car, because I like to beat my cars.
ua-cam.com/video/4KIdkOWVcGg/v-deo.html
The roller bearing will fail prematurely as it doesn't move perfectly linearly.
Hi JJ I am aware of the reports from John Twist and I think possibly Barney Gaylord about this, but we also have a couple of my fellow members of Bay State MGA Club who are using this roller release bearing, In particular, Don Tremblay has had his for many successful years and added a comment about this to John Twist's video.
ua-cam.com/video/4KIdkOWVcGg/v-deo.html
I think the Chiocagoland video on engine replacement also shows the same bearing being used. My gearbox rebuilder Jon Esposito of Quantum Mechanics in CT also said it should be OK.
Being no expert I can't say yet how long it will be ok. Tests so far feel fine (car on blocks so that wheels turn freely in neutral, then engage 4th gear and press down on clutch pedal, I can turn drive shaft by hand quite easily). I realize this test doesn't prove anything about longevity.
So I'd like to know if you have any direct experience with this or are just relaying the conventional wisdom?
Also given Don Tremblay's experience, I wonder if there might be some other cause for a roller release bearing failure, like a bad one to begin with.
Thanks for your comment.
mghamsail ....you're setting yourself up for failure.
Here is a link to a lengthy discussion by a diverse group of mg users concerning the advantages and disadvantages of. original carbon vs roller release bearings in mg's. I chose roller bearing and jj lad thinks that is a big mistake.. You can hear reasoned opinion and actual experiences from users of both and decide for yourself:
www.mgexp.com/phorum/read.php?1,3030901
@@jjlad5037 What is your experience with this bearing.
@@carlogic1960 ...Every single one of them failed in this type of application where the bearing travel was on a radius.