MG Car Repair: Clutch Replacement on 74 Midget, clutch replacement, clutch assembly

Question
Hello Howard,
I am in the midst of selling my '74 midget.  It has been in storage for the
past 5 months.  This past weekend, I was going to start cleaning it, I tried to
put it in gear, and it would only grind.  
I had it towed to my mechanic.  He advised me that in order to replace the
clutch, he was going to have to remove the engine to get to the parts that had
broken.  Can you direct me to any place on the web that gives me the
diagram of the clutch assembly for a 74 Midget?  I don't know the first thing
about them, but for some reason, it seems crazy that the engine needs to be
removed in order to repair.  Any info you have would be greatly appreciated.
Best,
Ray

Answer
Hi Ray,
While it is true that all MG Midgets require that you remove the engine to access any part of the clutch. The reason is that the car is so compact that it is impossible to get the clutch out by removing the transmission. However, if the clutch was working ok when it was parked, I question if the clutch is really bad and needs replacing.
There are two things that can happen to a clutch to make it not release when you push on the pedal and are very possible when let sit for 5 months.
One is that the pressure plate and or the flywheel rusted and stick the disk to them, thus not releasing when the pedal is depressed. An indication of this is that the pedal feels normal when depressed. Meaning you feel a good amount of spring pressure as you depress the pedal. When I worked in dealerships we had this often when cars were stored in the winter and only brought out in the summer.
I was able to get the disk unstuck in about 50% of these without removing the engine. However, it would be dangerous and difficult to do if you were not skilled and chose the wrong place to try it.
I was on a straight highway and had no stop lights or stop signs in one direction leaving the dealership. I would first warm the engine up, then shut it off and put the lever in 1st gear. (nothing in front of me and no traffic coming. I would start the car in 1st gear and pull out on to the road and accelerate up to the speed that I normally shift into second and level off at that speed. This allows you to shift into neutral. Then set the RPM at about what 2nd gear would be for the speed you are moving and pull the lever into 2nd. If you gauge it correctly there will only be a slight jerk in the car (forward or aft) Then you do the same into third and speed up level off and shift to neutral and then set the RPM down to what it would be for 3rd at that speed and on to 4th the same way. Once you are in 4th gear speed up to about 3500 RPM and hold the clutch pedal on the floor while you accelerate hard on and off repeatedly. The reason it is necessary to get into 4th gear to do this is because the max load on any clutch is in the highest gear and the reason for the 3500 RPM is that is a high for torque on most British cars.

The second possible is that the clutch hydraulic system has leaked down and will not release the clutch. This is easy to identify by how the pedal feels soft with little resistance to the pedal. In this case you just need to first try to bleed the clutch and / or rebuild the master cylinder and slave cylinder.

I learned the first trick working on British motorcycles as their clutch would stick often. I applied it to cars and it worked almost as well. Don't even think of trying it unless you have a long straight road with no stops and not much traffic to try it on. If you are lucky enough to find a local British car repair shop that have British motorcycle experience they probably know how to do it.

Good luck, let me know.
Howard