MG Car Repair: MGB White Smoke, head gasket, white smoke

Question
My 1979 MBG put out white smoke (when I could get it started).  It now is in 10 year of storage. It has 40,000 miles.

What to do to get this running and what is the fix for the white smoke?

Tom

Answer
Hi Tom.  White smoke is steam, which usually means the head gasket has failed.  However, after standing for 10 years in storage, it might just be condensation and it may clear if you run the engine for a while.  If it doesn't clear, then I would do a compression test to confirm the problem.

Even if the gasket has gone, it isn't as bad as all that.  Changing a head gasket on an MGB is only a couple of hours work.