The Californian (or "There and Back Again")

If you get the reference, respect.

After the epic saga of Alice's engine refresh-turned-rebuild, I put a few hundred miles of joy on the odometer.  She ran great and I had no problems of any kind.  That, and the under-100-degree weather that blessed us in late September, led me to the conclusion that I could cross something off my bucket list - I would drive Alice to Carlsbad, CA and back.  I have a friend with a place out there and a group of us do Stupid Guy Things for a weekend every year.  this year was gonna be a lot of fun, and even more so since I got to drive a 50-year-old sports car.

I stoked up on supplies, including tools, coolant, water, an emergency fan belt, silicon hose mending tape, and a tire inflator and repair kit.  Early Friday morning, I gassed up and headed west, top down and ready to roll.

I got to a bit north of Casa Grande, AZ before I ran into a bit of rain passing by.  At 70 miles per hour, the rain washed over me and it was glorious.  It lasted about 15 minutes and dried up.  I was fortunate - that was the weekend the Valley got 2+ inches of rain.  I stopped in Case Grande and wiped things down, namely the inside of the windscreen.  And then I was off again.

What a wonderful experience!  Alice cruises at 75 in overdrive.  The seats are comfy and the jam is pumping.  I drove to Yuma, stopped for gas, then drove straight through to Carlsbad.

It got a little chilly in the mountains east of the CA coast, so I turned up the heat a little bit.  It turns out that I should not have done that.

I got to Carlsbad and pulled into the local supermarket parking lot, and I noticed that Alice was running a bit lumpily.  I shut her off and opened the bonnet...and was greeted by a blast of hot steam issuing from the heater control valve.  Coolant was leaking down onto the distributor and causing a short.  I shut the valve, but it did not stop leaking.  I got the radiator cap off (safely) and there was no coolant visible.

I think I was very fortunate to have made it to Carlsbad.  I did not see the temperature change at all, but I think I was on the edge of overheating.

So out came the tools!  I couldn't do anything about the valve itself, but I got that silicone host tape out and wrapped the valve to stop the dripping.  It worked.  I was able to refill with coolant and water (that I brought with me).  I ran without the radiator cap installed so the system didn't build pressure.  Since it was 70 degrees, I didn't worry about overheating.

I spent the next couple of hours thinking of how to do an in field repair, or block off the valve... I came up with a plan, but rejected it as iffy (to block the header valve at the block and the hose at the heater).  I ended up calling a friend, who was able to overnight a used valve to me.  Thank you George!

Saturday was awesome.  60 miles of open water jetskiing.  I was sore afterward.  Enough said.

I changed the heater valve in the parking lot of my hotel Sunday morning.  I bought a drip pan, and with a 7/16" wrench, a screwdriver and a razor blade I was able to save the gasket and swap the valve.  I wired it closed, refilled the system and started her up.  No leaks!

Here she is, enjoying the day.

The drive home was without incident.  I had the hood up (top to us Yanks) as it was a bit cool, and I wasn't going to use the heat.  It was a great drive - I was no more sore when I got home than when I got in the car in Carlsbad.

The MGB really is a great touring car with overdrive installed.  It handles well, is very comfortable, drives easily and gets decent mileage (27 MPG highway) to boot.  I'd do this drive again.  I probably will.

But let's talk about the aftermath.

I took the failed heater valve apart, and I saw this.

The diaphragm ripped crossways, and there was no way coolant was going to stay inside.

This is honestly a terrible design, the materials are of inferior quality, and the failure mode is to vent coolant.  These valves are notorious for failing even when nearly new - but mine really was new.  I did not expect this problem, but at least I was prepared.

So I said to myself, "Self... there has to be a better way."  And there is.  I found posts on the MG experience about adapting a ball valve (which even if it fails open, will not leak coolant).  I decided I was going to build one.  This is How I Did It.

First, I needed a valve.  The valve I used is a Four Seasons 74648 as recommended.  It is oriented similarly to the OEM valve, with one exception (that I will address later).  I found it on Amazon.

The valve has a threaded fitting where it will attach to the block, which meant I needed a base for it to thread into.  The OEM valve I had was useless now, so I cut off the flange and tapped it for the valve.  I used a 3/8" NPT pipe thread.  I had to grind down the threads where they protruded, but otherwise it was a perfect fit.

That part was easy!  The valve was correctly oriented to accept the cable and the output heater hose.  However, the valve actually opens the "wrong way" for a post-1974 MGB.  What is open should be closed and vice versa, so the control would operate backward.  The valve also would require a loop around the control instead of a cable stop. I wasn't going to let that slide.

I made an adapter out of 16 gauge sheet metal.  It attaches to the valve by virtue of the original attachment post and fingers to grab the little arm that moves the ball valve.  Here's a drawing of the shape and how to fold it to its final form.  Your mileage may vary - I am neither a machinist nor a draftsman.  The concept is valid, though.

The end result is that the cable attaches to the 'other end' of the valve with a cable stop, which now opens when I want it open and closes when I want it closed.  The throw on the valve is enough to get close to fully open and closed on the control in the dashboard.  It works.

Here it is, installed.

This valve should last a lifetime.