My First 7

[Dennis Nicholas]

Buy an MGB and you'll have plenty of fun with it - your wife will be happy and you'll easily cope with modern road conditions.

A Reliant Scimitar is a better bet.....much cheaper, much faster ( mine happy at 120 mph and has done more than that), more economical, very strong glass fibre body (so less rust) Very comfortable, simple to maintain, excellent club with much detailed knowledge/advice/spares easily available, 4 aeats, choice of the smaller  GTE SE5 estate, slightly larger SE6/6a/6b estate and open GTC SE8. GTE = estate: GTC = convertible....all versions transmission available - manual with and without overdrive (most with overdrive) and automatic.

Slowness of a 7 can be a bit daunting in modern traffic.  Tuned will make it somewhat better.....wife's Ruby (2 bearing crank) would cruise happily at 60.  My Nippy special 80++ (But we won't go into how  )

Dennis

[Bob Culver]

Post war Zeniths were 1/2 inch UNF, so fittings are not rare. Branded as a bodge by some but the 12mm is very near same pitch and taps out easily to 1/2 inch for a cheap, neat and sound repair.

[WJPez]

Excellent, good to hear that it is just a carb problem. you at least know what you are dealing with.
My banjo bolt also leaked. The thread into the carb is often worn and has little strength. It can be helicoiled with care as the surround can split.
New fibre washers help as old ones are often hard and don't seal well. They are standard fibre washers, I got my last ones in one of the multipacks you buy in Aldi etc.
I used some gel type loctite threadlocker (as Simon says, not bearing fit as you won't get it apart again without heat), on the thread and then some araldite around the washer and has held well for about 5 years now with no further leaks.  

good luck
Andy

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Thanks Andy. Thank you to everybody who offered advice. I am going to join my local club tonight. I'm hoping they have some washers for the bamjo bolt in their spares supply.

Wayne

[James Anderson]

One of the key spares to always carry is some garden wire. In 1994, travelled the length of France with an SU carb. fuel bowl held on with the stuff. It might be useful fitting a glass type fuel filter between the pump and the carb. too to trap any possible crud that may have collected in the fuel tank over 80 or so years. I find it takes about 3-6 months to get to really know the foibles of any old car and not to despair with the occasional hiccup.

[WJPez]

One of the key spares to always carry is some garden wire. In 1994, travelled the length of France with an SU carb. fuel bowl held on with the stuff. It might be useful fitting a glass type fuel filter between the pump and the carb. too to trap any possible crud that may have collected in the fuel tank over 80 or so years. I find it takes about 3-6 months to get to really know the foibles of any old car and not to despair with the occasional hiccup.

Thanks for the advice James.

Wayne