MG needs help.....

Well, I have to admit it. The smog requirements of CA may finally have gotten me......

My MG won't pass smog. After 100 hrs in the shop, a replaced (everything), it turns out that my Carb is dead.

So, I'm looking for suggestions, help, or a buyer.

Suggestions: what can I do to get this thing to pass?

Help: I need to find a new, or used, or somthing that will replace a Stromberg 175 CD 2 carb.

Buyer: This the last resort. If I can't fix the MG, I have to sell her. The sad thing is this: the car is cherry. Great body, great paint, great tires, good interior, all original.

Don't want to sell, but may have to.

Thoughts?
S-

I think there is someone on the board that rebuilds the ZS.....or you could go with the FI that Moss carries($$$). If you need any ZS parts I have the one off my 79 that you can have for shipping.

I would make sure that the choke is operating correctly....that seems to be the worst offender on the older cars.

That and post this on the regular MGB forum, you will get more hits there.

Ask Jimmy Hilton

For long term emmisions compliance I'd recommend biting the bullet and getting the Moss fuel injections kit to replace the Stromberg. It's CARB approved and should get you through inspections for years to come while giving you good performance in daily driving. http://www.mossmotors.com/Shop/ViewProducts.aspx?PlateIndexID=51706

Weber makes a carb to replace yours. No manifold change required. A guy at the Hiawassee, GA show had one on his car. Don't know about emission though. He said to check Webercarburatorsdirect, I think.

Steve

You don't often see someone asking a question with such an obvious answer.

You say you already know what is wrong with the car - the carb won't get it through emissions. Solution - replace or recondition the carb.

Any competent shop can recondition it - it may need new shafts and rebushing. Some of the suggested substitutes may or may not address emmissions.

BTW, if your diagnosis about the carb being at fault wasn't made by someone that knows about such things, I'd get it to a shop that does know - I see far too many problems (usually ignition) blamed on innocent carbs.

I agree its really easy to tune the carbs too rich(did it with my B in New Jersey turned out I had them set too rich), You might drop the dollars on a color tune or find a shop that knows Carbs(most don't these days especially in CA) Also make sure the Dwell is set right. You could probably pick up a serviceable carb off ebay for under $100 and the rebuild kits are cheap, just look for one with nice tight shafts. Make sure you get new needle, jet or valve(cant recall what the Strombergs have on them) There is no reason to sell the car, it just needs a little knowing TLC and it will be fine(especially if it was passing before.

Out of curiosity was a new cat one of the items that was changed?

Also there is a kit available to mount a fuel injector in your Stromberg if you want an easy route to EFI.

Jim

Jim Blackwood Wrote:

Mmmmm....maybe. Since the fuel delivery would be entirely independent of airflow, to a large degree the leaks can be tuned out as long as it will idle down. Transition during throttle movements could get a little tricky if there's a lot of slop, but the accel trim should cover it up pretty well. Plus, it'll certainly handle passing the e-check.

Jim

Steve,

I understand your smog pain as until last year I was using my 76B as daily commuter driving from Vacaville down to SFO. Years ago at the Dixon car show during a tech session, Norm Nock from British Car Specialist in Stockton said that the problem with the ZS carbs was that everyone always replaced the needle but never the needle seat and that over time the seat would become oblong. At that point passing smog would be impossible. As I was unable to pass smog at that time, I dutifully pulled the carb from my car, yep he was right, the needle seat was oblonged as were 4 or 5 more carbs I had in my junk box. I brought the carb body to Norm and had him press a new seat into the body (something I wasn't comfortable with). Of course when I got the body back I completely renewed all the parts to include the choke assembly. I passed smog with flying colors after that. Every two years before smog I would replace the needle and rubber diaphram. No issues for the last 8 years. As for the throttle shafts, its my understanding unlike the SU the ZS shafts rarely need replacing for wear. The only other smog issues I ever had was with a vaccum hose being collasped inside.

As for my 76B, I was approached by a movie production company in the parking lot at the 2006 Dixon car show and a deal was stuck. The car can be seen in the movie Sherman's Way (so far, no release date) or at their web site www.shermansway.com. NO, mines not the pristine wired wheel beauty ( it was a 30-40,000 mile a year driver ), mines the beat up work horse. LOL

Larry Pitts
71 MGBGT V6 project
60 Bugeye project

Hey Larry!

Believe it or not, the "pristine wire wheel beauty" on the website is indeed your old car! After putting it through the wringer during the film shoot, I fell in love with the little car, kept it and fixed it up. It's now on our poster (http://imdb.com/title/tt0834541/) and in the promo trailer (http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=19608988).

We just recently finished the film and are looking for a distributor. When we DO premiere the film, I hope to get all the MGB owners in SoCal to show up in their MGB's for free admission!

Anyway, I love your car and am taking good car of it. Thanks for your contribution to the film.

Craig Saavedra
Director
SHERMAN'S WAY

Still no luck getting it smog'd......

I guess its time to sell.

Anyone intersted?

Please, PM me.

Get the carb fixed. Like pointed out someone here close by should be able to help. Have you tried local MG / british car clubs. May get help there with repair or parts. Moss Motors has a forum also. Only reason mention you being in California and they are also maybe able to help. Also University motors use to exchange/rebuild program for carbs/trans etc. Like already said shafts are probably worn and rebuild rebuilding. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5GveCj3Hck I found this video may help.