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MG TD TF 1500 - 370-270 Screen, fuel filter needed or not?

I know there are hundreds of posts in the archives about fuel filters pro and con and I don't want to start a few hundred more. I simply want to know if a 370-270 is used in all carbs or just some (like the piston spring, et al)? I don't believe I have them installed and I'm rebuilding the float chamber and ordered them just in case. Problem is getting the lines off the banjo is a good cause of me breaking my flat chamber lid. I can see that happening and don't want to go there! I know the pump has it's own filter above this point so it seems redundant to have one in the banjo as well, no?

Put em in or leave em out, that is the question?

Thanks,
Ed
efh Haskell

I think all had originally. I think you are right that the pump filter should be good enough. If you are not having problems with the float needles sticking most likely no grit/gunk is getting through to them. I have found getting the banjos to not leak after removal to be a big pain. George
George Butz

efh, as you have ordered them use them. The filter in the SU pump is not very coarse. It is to catch some big flakes of rust or pebbles or? This works out good for the electric pump as if that coarse screen filled up with enough crud it would hinder pumping and burn up the coil/magnet of pump.

The screens for the carbs are finer mesh. If you ever notice crud particles of (likely) rust bits down at the bottom of the float bowls, that is the time to check those finer filters. If the bottom of float bowl keeps spic and span clean, you do not need to check them.

Why is fuel leaking at banjo fittings? Are you heating the copper washer in there to cherry red, then letting it cool and re-using it or getting a new one for each take apart? The cherry red works fine as long as no deep grooves in it. Use a regular propane torch or a gas oventop flame.
R Owen

Ed - If your fuel tank is clean, there should not be any debris to cause problem. If the tank has not been completely cleaned internally, you could go without the filters. That said, if the tank is clean internally, then what ever filters are used in the system should last a lifetime. Cheers - Dave
DW DuBois

Good idea to check bottom of float bowls for rust/debris, if clean likely no need and vice-versa. The banjo washers for the fuel lines are fiber washers, not copper. George
George Butz

Sorry, you right on the fiber washers under the banjo on top of float bowl. With fiber (gasket-paper type material)you only re-use if they are still new, and not rock hard. My dad used to smear some dressing (non hardening) on them when new just to keep them supple longer. Smear on and then wipe most all off, as some absorbs and helps keep them fresh. Hylomar I think.

The above post on red hot is a good trick for copper washers re-use.
T Grey

This sounds like one that I've see, and written about, in the past. The banjo bolt goes through two washers. One of them is directly against the float bowl. No problems there. It's the outer one that is the issue. Some of the banjos are recessed where the banjo bolt goes through them. Often, the o.d. of the fiber washer is slightly larger than the i.d. of the recess. As a result the washer does not fully seat into the recess. Tightening the banjo bolt will not stop the leakage. There are proper-size washers available, but they're hard to come by. If you have to, file/sand the o.d. of the washers so that they fit into the recess. The leaks will disappear. Bud
Bud Krueger

I found that filing smooth, then polishing the washers and the banjo bolts until they are mirror faces is the best way to stop leaks.
Geoffrey M Baker

Bud, the one against the float bowl (bottom banjo) is a fiber washer. No problem there, as you say. The upper banjo uses an aluminum washer between the bolt head and top of banjo. Sometimes I forget that one is even there, as it has sorta stuck pretty well onto the head (underside of course) of the bolt.
T Grey

Maybe we're not on the same page. The only aluminum washer in that system is the one that's under the nut that connects the overflow pipe to the top of the float chamber lid. I thought that we were talking about the components that connect the fuel line to the back of the float chamber lid. That's where the fiber washer issue comes into play. Bud
Bud Krueger

Both banjo bolts- one to the overflow pipes w/ one aluminum and one fiber, fuel line ones are fiber and Bud is right about the washers- many have been wrong size over the years.
George Butz

This thread was discussed between 10/06/2016 and 12/06/2016

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