After two months working on other projects I finally had some time to spend on the GT. The car started easily but faltered and stalled out whenever I touched the accelerator. "Likely a carburetor problem" I thought. Good thing I checked because the carburetor was actually leaking fuel at the manifold gasket, a short drip away from what would become a very hot exhaust manifold.
With the 32/36 Weber coming off to replace the gasket, its a good time to look inside the float bowl and see what's up with the fuel starvation problem. Uh oh! That's rust in the bowl, even with a filter prior to the Weber. Its time to order a full rebuild kit and clean it out right. Its likely the jets and accelerator pump are full of this crud.
Lets drop the fuel tank to get to the source. How about the fuel itself? MGB fuel tanks are notorious for rusting from the inside out so its not surprising to find almost 1/4 cup of rust when draining the tank. This is not good news, but at least the source of the rust has been identified. Some tanks can still be restored at this point after a thorough cleaning.
The tank looks salvageable at first blush. There is rust on the top but no more than expected on a 34 year old car. Removal of some rust scale reveals the true state of the tank. Pinholes become evident at locations almost identical to the ones I found on my '80 MGB-LE two years ago. Just like that tank, this one is also rusting from the inside out. Its time for a new one! What started with a faltering carburetor is now a full run-through of the fuel system. Lets hope the fuel pump is in good shape.
Next up: Obtaining and prepping the new tank. Rebuilding the carburetor. Continuing my search for a replacement front wing to repair the accident damage, and looking into a new rim for the front driver's wheel (or maybe a set? :)
Lets drop the fuel tank to get to the source. How about the fuel itself? MGB fuel tanks are notorious for rusting from the inside out so its not surprising to find almost 1/4 cup of rust when draining the tank. This is not good news, but at least the source of the rust has been identified. Some tanks can still be restored at this point after a thorough cleaning.
The tank looks salvageable at first blush. There is rust on the top but no more than expected on a 34 year old car. Removal of some rust scale reveals the true state of the tank. Pinholes become evident at locations almost identical to the ones I found on my '80 MGB-LE two years ago. Just like that tank, this one is also rusting from the inside out. Its time for a new one! What started with a faltering carburetor is now a full run-through of the fuel system. Lets hope the fuel pump is in good shape.
Next up: Obtaining and prepping the new tank. Rebuilding the carburetor. Continuing my search for a replacement front wing to repair the accident damage, and looking into a new rim for the front driver's wheel (or maybe a set? :)
