Clear Out – Rebuilding the Carburettors of the 1959 MGA Twin-Cam

Picture of By Craig Ranson
By Craig Ranson

Managing Director – Bridge Classic Cars

The 1959 MGA Twin-Cam that is currently in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop in our Pettistree, Suffolk HQ isn’t running quite right. So, our incredible team of in-house technicians have been working on the beautiful light blue sports car.

Jon, one of our in-house restoration technicians, has been working on the car along with our other John (workshop Manager). During the inspection and assessment of the car, John noted that there was a misfire when the engine was under load. It was time to look into the issue.

Jon, as a matter course, decided to check the carburettors on the MGA. These aren’t the easiest to get out of a Twin-Cam due to the two large banks on the cylinder heads. Finally, Jon managed to release the set of carburettors from the engine bay and get them onto the workbench. After carefully pulling the units apart, he found quite a few valves and galleys to be full of sediment and sludge. So, with new rebuild kits in hand, Jon began the process of carefully clearing and cleaning each of the carburettors ready to put them back together and back on the car.

Once he had cleared out any form of dirt or sediment from every part of the carburettors, Jon put them back together on the bench. With these carburettors, there is a very specific way of putting them back onto the car. The top bolts for the carbs to fix to the manifold have to be put in off the car or else it is a nightmare to get them in the designated holes. Once the top bolts were in place with their nuts in place behind the flange on the manifold, Jon could use the inspection cover in the front wheel well to get the bottom bolts onto the carburettors.

Now that the units are back on the car, it can be roadtested by John, our workshop manager, to see if the misfire has been cured.

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