MG
The Classic Marque

Les, any chance of a photo of your setup?

Easier lifting with the engine the right way up.

I use a welded link chain looped under the engine, back and front, and connected with a HT bolt and big washers. Then a hand operated weston differential chain winch hung from a ceiling rsj inserted for the purpose when I built the garage.

Before that upgrade I had one of those ubiquitous nylon stringed Haltrac hoists. But the nylon string was so oil soaked and miserable looking I never qui...

Over 57 years of Sprite ownership I have used the lifting eyes on many A-Series engines, both mine and others, and not experienced any problems using Haltrack, block-n-tackle, or my crane.

Quite right Anamn. People (and this now includes moi) make a big thing about engine removal preparing for weeks in advance. And yet, when this car and I were both a lot younger, I remember setting a stop watch and removing the engune and gearbox in 1hr, 10 minutes. That was from a running car, driven in to the garage to power unit sitting on the floor. And reverse was just over 1hr 20, back to car...

I’ve never seen lifting eyes standard on Midgets - will
they clear the bonnet at the front ? Often on Morris Minors especially with replacement engines.

I’ve never really felt happy lifting on them as with the engine/ box angled there is a lot of twisting applied to relatively small bolts so I usually have a back up strap/ chain.
When I was stripping my restoration wreck I did...

I noticed that my MGB with a 25D distributor started to misfire a bit, slightly intermittently.

Popped the distributor cap off and noticed that the rotor arm has slightly scored part of the inside of the cap. Is that scoring sufficient to cause the misfire?

The rotor arm itself looked fine.

About an inch deep Guy.

But really, you need a 'new' gear.

As annoying as it is, I think you've done all you can to avoid pulling the engine and box.

Heroic effort, but sometimes it doesn't work out.

I know exactly how you feel re too many birthdays too.

You just have to make the decision, and do it. One last time hopefully.

So gather a replace...

I have two sets of the lifting eyes, and the thick washers BUT never made the connection that some cars came with the lifting eyes !

But Les, you do IMO need the thick washers to make a seal

Dave
You are correct about the thick washers. I temporarily discard them to fit the lifting eyes when pulling engines out.