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MG MG Y Type - Some Y's advice please

As the 'regulars' will know, I am a very new Y owner (July this year) having driven my Y about 150 miles. It had a problem consuming copious quantities of water, which may have been due to an incorrect head gasket fitted. Anyhow, in trying to solve this, the engine was stripped and pressure tested - all OK. However, the other problems found require a total engine rebuild:
It has never been converted to unleaded.
Valve seats are had it.
Camshaft and cam followers are worn.
2 con-rods need to be straightened.
Cylinders need a 30 thou bore - therefore new pistons etc.
Lip seal conversion to stop the oil leaks.
etc etc

In short, the cost of my new Y is going to nearly double to £11K and will be way above market value.

What to do?
Sell - declaring the problems, cut my losses and walk away?
Pay for a professional engine rebuild with warranty and grin and bare it - hoping my wife will one day talk to me again!

What next, the gear box? The dreaded half-shafts?

What say you?
Murray
Murray Grainger

You can keep costs down and rebuild it yourself (it's just an old engine - not that complicated) or take it to a local garage who may 'get it going' for you. It will never be as good as a full rebuild but if it runs OK that's fine - I rebuilt my engine 15 years ago at cost of parts only - I even used a second hand (but good) camshaft and rocker gear with new c/head insets and valves. I fitted a standard oil seal with some sealant and it still hardly leaks today. You can save money but you just have to take the chance over a fuly profesional rebuild or pay out huge costs. There are loads of things you can do to minimise costs with a Y such as searching out ads in the club magazines, local tradesmen etc. For instance my door bottoms were very rusty so I contacted a local small grit blaster who for £15 each stripped (mind you it was the 1980s) the doors of paint and rust and I brazed bits in and filled over it - not as good as a professional repair but much cheaper.It depends what you want for your car and how your finances are. I have had my car for 27 years so the cost has been spread out and I was not married for the first 6 years of ownership which helped too.. I can sympathise though.
D MULLEN

I agree with David.

However,
I can get your cam shaft reprofiled here in the US at a fraction of what it would cost in the UK - about $100 (£50) plus shipping both ways of course, which wouldnt be that much. LOL it would probably also be cheaper to get the bucket lifters here too! (Might even have a set of those kicking around).

I have two spare con-rods you can HAVE for the cost of shipping - they are straight and can come back with the reprofiled camshaft. You would simply then need shells to fit.

Certainly all the white metal bearings etc. I can kit marshall here for you - the crank, the cam etc.

Dont bother with the lip seal. When you send me your crank, also send me your End Cap (from the crank - you engineer will hand it to you as it is only a small piece) and I can have a new seal made - no machining of the engine required and easy to refit. I have done two of these now and am VERY pleased with them. They are individually made here in the US by a friend who is also an enthusiast. He took the idea to Moss Motors who have cribbed the design (and dont produce half the results) - I will look up the last price I paid and advise, but that lot can come back with the others too.

If the above comes to $1000 or £500 I would be surprised.

You would still have to get the bores done ... but only if there really is a significant side wall scoring and or wear lip at the top of the travel of the piston. You can feel this by sticking your finger in the piston and moving it up and down ad round the cylinder wall. If you can feel a bump it is worth having them honed. I would also be inclined to tell your engineer that when you come to do this test you will also be bringing along someone else to quote you for whether a rebore and reline is really necessary as it sounds to me like your guy is either useless (and will be subbing a lot of this out), incompetant at old engines and quoting, or just hosing you for a lot of money I am sorry to say.

Certainly do not pay without further correspondence with me off line if you like.

Paul

Paul Barrow

Murray

Seal cost $280 (£150). Shipping as I say can be easily covered in with everything else, but I would need your end cap for the maching side of this as they are individually made - this is where they score over the mass produced ones!

Paul
Paul Barrow

The problem is that back home in NZ I would have a garage and space and would possibly have a crack at it myself, but here in London we have a small apartment and no tools. Not ideal for rebuilding an engine.

Appreciate the feedback.
Murray
Murray

Don't bother with converting the cylinder head for now, the Y is so low tuned it probably doesn't get that hot - just use an addative. If you do decide to convert, South Wales Pistons will fit inserts and dress your valves and skim for £150, they even corrected a valve alignment problem at no extra cost. Loss of coolant may be due to a split in one of the hoses or the water pump gland, or a heater matrix if fitted - a radiator leak is obvious. The loss may be due to overheating so check mixture and ignition timing, failing that remove the rad and fill with lime de scaler then soak 12 hours rock it regularly, it will clean the tubes which back flowing fails to do - I did both my TF and my wife's 105e Anglia [which is running a 1500 engine on a rad only half the size of a Y Type]. finally dont get overwhelmed, certain things can be left for another time even if you need to carry a drip tray.
Bryan

Bryan is quite right, leave the unleading until you drop a valve or have a head issue. The Y will run OK.

As to space, yes, it is an important part of the deal and I judge that your partner may object to you using the sitting room floor (poor form indeed!!).

Email me off line with you home phone number and I will call another Y owner in London for you who will be able to talk to you about having a sensible garage look at your car and do the repairs for you. You can still ship the bits etc. to me here too, and we can do all that sort of cranky stuff and the new garage can stick it all back together again for you - at less than you have been quoted I am confident of this.

Drop me a line.

Paul
Paul Barrow

Murray

Here are your pistons @ +30.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220158634431&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:GB:1123

Paul
Paul Barrow

While I think about it Murray, Peter Edney found me a couple of usable socond hand camshaft's one for my TF and a TD for my YA, which should add some sparkle to my Y's performance. I think they were £60 each. Peter and George advertise in SF.
Bryan

This thread was discussed between 11/10/2007 and 13/10/2007

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