Nigel the 1977 MGB Duplex Timing chain installation

[@gfurstnsu]

This is job I’ve been thinking of doing. I had ordered all the parts a few years ago and I notice that I do not have the newer tensioner. I will order that now. Thanks of r covering the over tightening of the cover too. I was not aware of the timing change between the single and double timing chaining chains. Very complete coverage too. Thanks very much. My car, a 1973 tourer car, has been owned by me for over 32 years and I love working on it here in South Korea.

[@AlexPlatacis]

Glad to help. Just sharing the factoids I found as I went through that. One point I think could ho either way was the orientation of the front crank seal. Some say I put mine in backwards.

[@andrewwallace1146]

Excellent work Alex. Just the guidance I needed changing from simplex to duplex. Keep up the fantastic and useful videos.

[@donthuis]

Apart from not centering the cover before tightening these bolts for good, there is also an argument to make about having the sealant only between the cover and the gasket and between gasket and block just grease. This makes shifting the cover for centering purposes even easier. This difference in sides as sealant goes is still my preference on the last job for renewing the balancer under my guidance. BTW for all seals on rotating axles like the crank, the driveshaft pulley or hubs on front and rear axles the springloaded lip should face towards the oil or grease holding cavities and this cover is no exception! PS Sealant types vary a lot and an overview from Permatex exists to make this clear to everyone. Its black Right stuff settles in 5 minutes, while others also know a similar precuring phase to the ttpe mentioned here and therefor need a retorque on bolts and nuts after at least a few hours, or in some cases 24hrs.

[@jeffhildreth9244]

Excellent video minus the seal is backwards.

[@aandjwynn]

really nice you need to keep up this good work!! love it!

[@tartanredmgb]

Great video, except . . . the crankshaft pulley should be put in place prior to tightening the cover. That insures the cover is centered and the seal doesn't leak. And others have commented that the seal needs to go the other way around.

[@AlexPlatacis]

I have seen a few videos since that show the trick about centering. That is a good idea. I am still debating about the seal direction. No leaks so far, so I am guessing it will work either way. Just seemed a more logical way to press it in. There is no flat surface on the opposite side.

[@stooartbabay]

Nice! Exactly what I needed!! :)

[@bobmartin4942]

Tidbit the 1971 cars still had duplex timing chain and gears. I had a 71 bgt and rebuilt the engine back in 1978. It had the duplex timing set when I disassembled it then. It also had fully floating piston pins in it. The engine prefix for it was 18GK.

[@AlexPlatacis]

Excellent info. I had just used that year as a reference to the period. Makes sense though. After they added smog controls in the the early 70s, they realized the size flow issues. So in 74, they came out with larger intake valves. My engine is a composite that takes advantage of all the good parts of a few different revisions. The block is a 77, so 5 bearings, the head has the larger intake valves. And now I have a duplex chain. Thanks for the contribution. It helps

[@mikegordon2840]

Very good video

[@mrblanche]

Would it work to put a little sticky grease on that harmonic balancer lock tab to hold it in place until you get it tightened down? And I'm sure you didn't bend over the tab yet, because you'll want to be able to turn the engine over with that crank bolt during the remaining reassembly.

[@martinpurser8078]

I believe you have put the timing cover seal in backwards. Normally seals are put in with the spring side against the oil pressure. this makes them self adjusting as pressure increases. Sorry to have to tell you this.

[@AlexPlatacis]

I have had a few comments on that. Actually, there are a few tricks to installing the cover I have learned since. When I installed the seal, I was go8ng off I'd a black and white image in the service manual. It was not clear, so it made sense to me to do it the way I did, as there was no flat surface to press on from the opposite side. Does not leak... Yet So I have that go8ng for me

[@PhilGreeleyJR]

Love the video

[@aandjwynn]

have a 62 that went out of time!

[@davidlucas6701]

Great information and camera work,but music for me spoiled an otherwise excellent video!

[@AlexPlatacis]

Thanks for the feedback. Yeah, I have corrected that in newer videos. All the great comments and feedback help me improve the quality of the channel

[@thomasweiss3326]

Seal was installed back wards

[@AlexPlatacis]

I had that comment before. Looks that way but the shaft it is sealing is not the crank, but the pulley. Which is inserted from the other direction. Also, it seemed logical the way I installed it because the pressing surface was the other direction too. No matter unless it leaks which it doesn't (yet) LOL. I may do a follow up video on the things I did "incorrectly" on this build. Thanks for the feedback.

[@bobmartin4942]

You have put the crank seal in backwards. The spring should be on the inside not the outside.

[@AlexPlatacis]

you know... I was thinking that too. but ultimately, I decided that the ability to press in the seal with the larger flat side was better, and the spring side did not have a flat enough surface. and, the geometry of the actual seal is not really different at the point where it touches the Harmonic balancer. figured I would go with it, and see if it leaks. I will let you all know. I don't mind being wrong thanks for the observation though. every bit helps

[@AlexPlatacis]

did some additional searching... my manual shows it going in the way I put it, but I agree, usually the spring faces the oil side. additionally I found this little nugget. about pre-fitting the pully before tightening down the cover bolts. mgb.tips/2019/03/08/aligning-timing-cover-oil-seal/

[@bobmartin4942]

@@AlexPlatacis I'm interested to know which manual it is you have. It's been 40+ years since I did the engine to my B. At the time I had the Bentley workshop manual, which only had line drawings. I think though that I removed the old seal and put the new one right afterwards observing how the old one was and matching it. I don't recall having any problem getting new one seated.

[@roselh1]

Sorry. The seal is in incorrectly, but hopefully it will work for you.

[@gavinkidd5915]

Excellent video. Not so sure the loud music helps or adds to the video especially when you are trying to talk at the same time.

[@PhilGreeleyJR]

Around 32 mins might need sound work with background music

[@AlexPlatacis]

Yeah, I had enough comments on music. I think I was just trying to hard. Going to just focus on the content going forward, and leave the music for the shorts

[@MelbyDK]

Damn music

[@AlexPlatacis]

LOL I know, I was learning. I appreciate the criticism. Really I do. Not butt hurt at all. This is a no snowflake zone.

[@sylvainflecheux1814]

hello , I think you put the seal upside down

[@AlexPlatacis]

Yeah I thought so too, but i re checked my manual, and it looks right from there. The seal makes contact with the harmonic balancer, not the crank. So it looks backwards. In any event, I dont think the oil knows which direction it is going.

[@mrblanche]

@@AlexPlatacis The spring and lip always go toward the oil, so yeah, I think it's backward.

[@davidlucas6701]

Good video apart from the awful music,