Engine General

With modern cars having engine computers to do all the tricky stuff, the operation of the choke is something that many new owners of classics are not familiar with.  Under use of the choke will [...]

If you have a problem with carburettors touching/denting the bonnet,or engine mounts breaking under competition use then read on … On our Midgets we have put a restraint on the engine mount [...]

If your engine won’t start easily when hot, and has good fuel delivery and good spark, it may be because heat soak is making the fuel expand and rise enough to dribble out the jet and flood [...]

If your engine has been running fine and suddenly dies and will not fire at all while cranking on the starter, check: Fuel – assuming you have some in the tank! Remove a fuel line from one [...]

Both A series (except the 1275) and B series engines had cover plates on the side of the block providing easy access to the cam followers.   On the 1275 (except the early Cooper S blocks) the [...]

Excessive tappet noise is an indication that something needs attending to.   Even the B series engine, renowned for tappet noise, is quite quiet in the valve gear with newly reground cam and [...]

It is often difficult to determine whether valve seat inserts have been fitted before, when viewed only from the chamber, – the original machining usually left a pattern which is not to [...]

I often get asked what is the best way to deal with this. The options are: Additives added to the tank when you top-up with fuel In-line tin-based canisters Stainless valve seat inserts. [...]

An engine freshen-up is a term that means different things to different people. In the context of the following I have taken it to be replacing the rings and bearing shells and attending to other [...]

There are two faults which show up in the breather systems of Midgets and MGBs which cause dramatic oil consumption and lots of blue smoke, even with a reconditioned engine.  Quite a number of [...]

MGA, MGB 3 main bearing, and MGB 5 main bearing engines all had different water pumps.  MGB 5 bearing engines also had two types of water pump, differing in their length. When ordering [...]

All 1800cc heads have the number 18 embossed on the top of the head next to the rear stud (on the spark plug side of it). 1600 heads have a 16, most (all?) 1500 heads had nothing there. On the [...]