MG Midget Forum

Good morning! I test ran the Midget yesterday and put about 40 miles on it. It ran flawlessly which was a reward for all of the work I've done on it since the beginning of March. It took awhile to de-carbon the engine from steady carb adjustments while it idled through a full tank in my garage but once it was put through its paces, it ran great.

Since the Midget and the noises it makes are new to me, I was wondering how much valve clatter is normal? Keep in mind that I adjusted the valve lash to 0.012 during the service work I've done on it. It just seemed to me that it was a little extra noisy after it was warmed up.

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1972 MG Midget MKIII "The VB Weller"
55,400 Miles
Watkins Glen, NY

'Normal' is considerably louder than a modern car, as there is no sound deadening at all and you are much closer to the source of the noise in a Midget. I would re-check your valve clearances - I use 0.012" too - and adjust if necessary.

If the settings are correct and there is nothing sounding really worrying, that is what normal for your engine sounds like.

Thanks. I figured that I'm probably the first person in 30 years to put 40 miles on it on an open roadway at highway speeds. Probably had a lot of carbon build up that when burned off, could affect the valve lash. Maybe I'll just check them again to be sure.

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1972 MG Midget MKIII "The VB Weller"
55,400 Miles
Watkins Glen, NY

40 miles at highway speeds means your little car is in full recovery mode after her long sleep. Very well done and I bet you are delighted with your progress.

Seriously, ear plugs are a good idea on long drives. If nothing else they obscure worrying new noises.

I'm ecstatic! Shocking amount of pep in that little engine. A little sluggish on the long hill climbs but on the open flat road, it hits 70mph with little struggle. of course, it sounds like it's going to blow up at 4,000 rpm so I was cruising at 55 mph for the most part.

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1972 MG Midget MKIII "The VB Weller"
55,400 Miles
Watkins Glen, NY

IMO the Midget is happy at 45-55, maybe 60, by the time you're up to 70 things start to get painful, and 75 is hurting a lot :-)

Excellent work getting your car back on the road!

Thank you! It definitely feels great and am looking forward for the first good weather of the season in NY State.

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1972 MG Midget MKIII "The VB Weller"
55,400 Miles
Watkins Glen, NY

Have you changed the oil, and are you using 20W-50?

Re #5, great that you discovered what a great little engine is in your car. By the time it was productionised as a 1275cc it had been developed from an asthmatic 803cc, but with a great bottom end, into something rather special.

In the hands of companies like Cooper, Healey, BMC, Downton and Speedwell it became a giant killer, in Formula Junior, endurance racing and international rallying, in cars such as the Sprite, Midget and the fabulous Mini. Whilst material specs may have been lowered to the reduce cost, many of the tuning innovations made it into production.

This is my car out on a run called 'Drive it Day' on Sunday. Each has 1275cc A-Series, with the Mini being one of the last 750 made and its engine is an A+ with fuel injection and electronic engine management as standard.

I did change the oil and am using a conventional 20-50w.

I'm finding that that's the joy of driving the Midget. Lightweight car with a tiny engine doing surprisingly big engine things. When I bought it, it was setup for manifold vac. I drilled a port at the carb and set it up with a vac cannister made for that year according to the Lucas charts. At the end of the season, I may send the distributor to Jeff S for a recurve and would be interested to find out how much more it can squeeze out of the engine.

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1972 MG Midget MKIII "The VB Weller"
55,400 Miles
Watkins Glen, NY

A very helpful reference book is written by David Vizard, called Tuning the A-Series Engine, and it goes through the whole thing from air filter to exhaust system and includes forced induction.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024-04-23 08:37 AM by ACW270.

Reference noted. Thanks!

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1972 MG Midget MKIII "The VB Weller"
55,400 Miles
Watkins Glen, NY

When Little Red and I hit the back roads, earbuds with 50-60s Rock-N-Roll is a must! Enjoy the ride!!

Scott,

If you are truly concerned about the amount of valve train noise, you may want to post a video of the engine running so people can chime in with more accurate opinions of what's normal and what seems excessive.

And I respectfully disagree with the recommendation of wearing ear protection while driving. I much prefer to hear noises, both old and new, at the onset. If something has gone wrong with the vehicle I want to know about it quickly. I also prefer to hear emergency vehicle sirens before they're too close, or car horns before it's too late.

As soon as I figure out how to properly attach a video, I will do that. Truth is, I've now had it out 3 or 4 times this week and I think I'm making a bigger deal out of it than it should be. I think I was used to a nice "quiet" engine in the garage while tuning and once it was warmed up was surprised at the chatter. I had a 2006 Mini Cooper and remember that it was kind of noisy too, not that it's the same engine but just something to note.

I will also respectfully disagree with the folks recommending ear plugs or at least in my case. I haven't thought that the car noise has been terribly excessive overall. Certainly loud enough where you really can't hear an amplified stereo all that well but I don't feel it's that bad. The PO did put sound dampening carpet underlayment throughout the vehicle but I also have a Monza style tailpipe fitted so, there's lots to listen to! I was in my friend's '79 which just has standard thin carpeting and it sounds like a rattly tin can.

I've also made some noise reduction efforts. I received exhaust hanger parts from Moss and have been working to anchor everything the way it should be to prevent the header from slapping against the unibody. I also noticed that the driver's fender section was rattling against the engine compartment with every bump. I work in public works so an old hydrant cap rubber seal was just the ticket to take up the gap. Now on to replace that clinkety clankety wire wheel hub extension.

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1972 MG Midget MKIII "The VB Weller"
55,400 Miles
Watkins Glen, NY



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024-04-25 08:55 AM by scotty1998.