MG Car Repair: Starts, but ends with smoke., roadster factory, radiator fluid

Question
QUESTION: I just purchased an MG Midget to fix up and it does run.  The issue I'm having is the compartment off to the left of the engine begins to smoke.  There is what appears to be gas in it.  The engine is not overheating at all and it is drive-able.  I am not familiar with old British cars, nor are my friends, so we could not figure out what exactly the chamber was or whether it should have gas in it.  We know for sure it should not be smoking.  Some on did say it smelt like radiator fluid.  Any ideas?

ANSWER: Hi Brendan,
You will have to describe what you are talking about a little better, as there are no compartments under the hood.

Go on the net and look up either Moss Motors or The Roadster Factory and look in their catalogs for what you are talking about and send me the page and item number from their catalog. Then maybe I can help.
Howard

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I looked through the engine parts and could not find the exact name of the part.  I did mean to mention earlier that it is connected to the carburettor.  Looking through Moss Motors I also found that it is shown on the emissions page but the name is not marked.  Here is the link to the page:
http://www.mossmotors.com/Shop/ViewProducts.aspx?PlateIndexID=29286
It's the part just under 87.  Looking at this site also made me realize the car may be missing a few parts/hoses, perhaps that could be the issue?

Answer
Brendan, that is the air filter and it should neither have gas in it nor smoke. Your best option is to look in your local yellow pages for a British car specialist shop. It is dangerous to drive if it has gas in the air filter canister and is smoking. That condition could be caused by many different things none of which are easy to fix without some automotive experience.
Howard