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MG MGA - Test run

I will soon have the motor and gearbox joined and sat in the frame. I would like to test run the motor. I have no body on so no clutch hydraulics. I would not connect the prop shaft. I have no mechanical tach so would engage a gear and use the speedo drive. My question is, that until the clutch plate has been released once, the shaft might not be "exactly" in line and could there be a risk of loading up the first motion shaft bearing or the spigot bush? There is about 1/16 of lateral motion at the tip of the first motion shaft.
Art Pearse

Why can't you use the clutch by operating the lever by hand? You may have to use a piece of pipe over the lever to increase the leverage.
I do not think that there would be a problem in starting it without using the clutch to center the disc. If the clutch plate is on the spline and the first motion shaft is in the flywheel bush it would be OK.

Mick
M F Anderson

Hi Art. The nose of the input shaft rests in the bronze bushing inside the crankshaft. The clutch disc rides on the splines of the input shaft, so everything is essentially self centering. There shouldnt be an issue with test running the engine with the clutch hydraulics not in place. The tailshaft of the transmission will spin, unless the transmission is in neutral, but if the driveshaft isnt connected, the car isnt going anywhere! If your fuel pump isnt in, you can manually fill the float bowls with fuel, and run the engine that way. The float bowl lids dont have to be on, and that allows gas to be poured in while the engine is running. Dont smoke or create any sparks if you are doing this, and have a fire extinguisher handy just in case. I test ran my engine this way many years ago, and it worked fine. Best of luck, please let us know how the engine runs! PS, make sure your distributor innt out 180 degrees! This is quite common.
Glenn Hedrich

Art, I always run the motor as Glenn describes, but to be safer, I suggest you hang a can of petrol, higher than the carbs, and connect with a plastic hose.
Barry.
Barry Gannon

I must comment: The thought of running the engine with the float lids off makes my hair stand up!! Don't risk your life or your project by taking short cuts like that! Igniting one half cup of gasoline from even 10 feet away can burn you badly and set fire to anything within 10 to 15 feet around it. You will eventually have to connect the fuel system; tank, pump, lines (even a temporary cowl line) etc so set that up first and be done with it.

SAFETY FAST!!

Russ
Russ Carnes

I won't comment on the safety issue, just engine health. If it is a brand new engine rebuild, running the engine for such a relatively short time may do more harm than good, especially if future engine runs and proper running in are months away. Surely you run the risk of washing off all the assembly lube. When you next start up a few months away you will run metal to metal and all that rebuild will be laid to waste.

My thoughts

Steve
Steve Gyles

This thread was discussed between 11/05/2010 and 26/05/2010

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