MG Car Repair: midget transmission, power curve, speed box

Question
my midget project is comming along nicely, thanks to your many helpful tips.  I an able to drive the car now to test the fitness of my work.
the question is this.  in first gear there is a noise that sounds like a clicking or ticking as i accelerate. the sound is not present in any of the other gears. all of the gears shift smoothly, including reverse. are all these trans. noisy or do i have a problem. it is a 1975/6 mg midget. the tran. is full of fresh 90 wt gear oil. was probably about one third full when i drained it. as an aside. why are these cars geared so low? tach showed 3m rpm at 50 mph.(my max so far) the car had not been driven for seven years when i got.

thanks in advance

jm
kent, oh

Answer
Hi Jim,
If the noise is a rhythmic click it may be a chipped tooth on low gear. The only way to know for sure is to open up the box and examine it.
As far as the RPM for a certain speed you first need to realize that the car was designed for back country two lane roads not expressways and the gearing and power curve was designed for these back roads. If you live on a flat part of the country you can try to locate an overdrive box or even try some other brand of 5 speed box. You too need to check out John's Cars on the net to see if they have a conversion kit for a 5 speed box.
Howard