Ottawa MG Club

The following information was published in the North American Classic MG
Magazine in Issue Number 32. 2008, in the Letters and News section. It is of interest
to all MG Owners.
Norm Peacey
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New â€� Castrol Oil for “Classic Cars” – with more Zinc
I contacted Castrol concerning their new motor oil for “Classic Cars” with

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Why is there an inverse relationship between the anxiety that you develop before a big trip and the amount of time that you have to prepare your car before that very trip!? As you know Jordan and I were planning the run to Stowe for the British Invasion, but my GT heads were in the shop for a complete valve refit. Wouldn’t ya know that sourcing those darn valves would take us all the way back to good ol’ Clive Wheatley in the UK. Jordan made the phone call to Clive, while I phoned around the US. I was able to source some new valves in New Jersey but they took over 10 days to arrive! Clive’s parts arrived in 3 days!

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Well, I have discovered where that tick-tick sound was coming from. It was of course in the lifters but it had me confused for a moment as I was sure that I had a pinhole leak in my exhaust manifold. I was able to isolate the majority of the noise to one particular cylinder by removing the spark plug leads one at a time (#1 cylinder was the culprit). I was actually able to see exhaust gases coming up through the lifter guide…that’s how far they had gone awry. So off came the carburretors, intake and exhaust manifolds, rocker shafts and finally the heads (bought a new torque wrench as a gift to myself). I could “wiggle” several of the lifters even while still under spring tension…but when the boys at Engines Extra stripped everything down and cleaned up the heads you would not believe the shape of the lifters and guides. The guides were oblong and the lifters had been worn down to 3/4 of their normal diameter. It’s amazing that the car pulled as strongly as it did for so long…and it is amazing that within one week I was able to hear such a difference as it finally fell apart. A few more days until I get the refurbished heads back (actually doing two sets as I now have a spare block that I am rebuilding…thanks to J.Jones Enterprises) … then once I get everything all re-installed I’ll have a few days of run in before heading down to Stowe for the British Invasion. Can’t wait!! Wish me luck!!

I have always been bothered by the “tick, tick” noise of engine lifters ever since my ‘72 240z had an incurable case of the ticks. Now I have an MGB with a factory V8 (Oh-oh says Tim “the Tool Man” Taylor!) and that nasty tick/tick sound again. But wait the V8 has hydraulic lifters how can this be possible. Well, last winter I replaced the cam, the lifters and rods and used all the proper cam lube and stuff…and I still have the noise. Maybe it isn’t the lifters! Could it be the lower end? I’ve never tackled the bottom side of an engine before so a bit of trepidation was holding me back…even with having the engine out twice last winter I refused to flip it and look at the bottom end. I think that fear plays a large part into many of our stalled plans for our little cars. But that ticking noise has has pushed me over the edge!!

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