MG Midget Blown Head Gasket

The project car started without much work at all. I had to replace the starter (the gear teeth were worn down and it also wouldn't respond to a direct battery link). I also replaced the wires and plugs, as well as the thermostat and air cleaner. I should have known that something was amiss when there was no water in the system. But being the optimist, I dumped some water in there. Got it running, but it smoked up a storm. Drove it around, constantly checking water levels. Took a compression test and everything looked great. Had two mechanics check it out, and they said it was fine and probably just needed a ring job.

My mistake came when i decided to drive it to work. The trip in was great, but on the way home disaster struck. Smoke all of a sudden started boiling out of the rear of the car, and came up through the transmission tunnel. Pulled off and had the car towed. There was a giant puddle of oil under the car. After I got it home, I found that the whole side of the engine below the head was soaked with oil. Oh well, easy come, easy go, right?

As of this writing, I am planning on pulling the engine over the next couple of weeks and replacing it with the one I've already rebuilt for the other car. Two cars, two engines. While I'm wrestling with the doors on my project car, I could at least be driving the other one. At least that's the theory. I'll keep you posted though, as things develop.