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flitner
John Fenner
Miami Fl
(168 posts)

Registered:
03/11/2010 10:58AM

Main British Car:
1972 MGB 350 CHEVY

Rebuilding my V8 B "Part 2"
Posted by: flitner
Date: February 28, 2011 12:27PM

[forum.britishv8.org]
Link to part 1^^^
After running out of space for pictures in the first segment I was graciosly informed by Jim Stabe and Curtis Jacobson that having a part 2 page of the build is doable, so here goes the final assembly of the project!
Here is what the brake lines consisted of that I had trusted to haul this thing down from excess speeds at times and stopping in day to day driving, Not supposed to use compression unions in brake lines!!!!!!
v8b brakes 006.JPG
A shot of the crossmember and the straightened pinion shaft.
v8b brakes 003.JPG
An attempt at adapting the GM reservoir to the Wilwood tandem master cylinder, the remote reservoirs are too bulky and would mount below the level of the MC and the reservoirs alone on top wound up hitting the hood, so I cut up some pvc adapters on the lathe making them offset the MC is 3 3/8 center and the reservoir is 3 1/4, the pvc wouldnt clamp to the MC so I got some different material to make them from I'll post some of that later.
v8b brakes 004.JPG
Fabbed up the brake lines after cleaning the safety swichless h valve and cutting the flare nuts off of the old lines. Probably could have been a little cleaner but it came out better than the death trap that was in there before.
v8b brakes 008.JPG
v8b brakes 009.JPG
v8b brakes 010.JPG
Thanks to Jim Nichols from the MGE pointing out Mike Cooks' Silver Lady I got the reservoir issue straightened out and built a bulkhead fitting to feed the rear brakes from the front brake reservoir. I also made some brackets to hold the rear hoses in place
v8b 1brakes 001.JPG
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v8b 1brakes 005.JPG
3/6/11
I got the fuel lines run after picking up the regulater from Murrays Speed and Custom, the prices are comparable to everything I searched online,I also got the a/c blower and evaporator in place and the fuel tank mounted.
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v8fuel 008.JPG

3/21/11
After a few nights of wiring and preping the dash for installation and having to test a few things I got it ready to go in, the tach I bought to match the remaining gauges didnt work so I took it apart and resoldered the wire to the needle field and it now works.
v8bwire 003.JPG
v8bwire 014.JPG
I then installed the fuse block to the firewall in the car and proceeded ahead with the fun of wiring the EZ Wire 12 circuit kit is nice and self explanatory for a seasoned mechanic, I'm sure that a novice would have not too much trouble getting it right with some patience.
v8bwire 001.JPG
v8bwire 002.JPG
v8bwire 010.JPG
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I even installed the horns and compressor.
v8bwire 013.JPG
Then I had to make the A/C plenum so I could get the dash installed, good ole pvc pipe, a heat gun and the plastic welder to get that thing set up, thanks to somewhere I read that smooth tubing works better than running the flex hose.
v8bwire 004.JPG
v8bwire 009.JPG

Ok, time for tool gloat!
v8bwire 015.JPG
A good friend had stumbled across this tig welder at a yard sale for $400.00 This thing is like brand new!! probably has a couple of hours on it total, I hooked everything up and it ran a nice bead,,, SWEET!!!!!!
THANK YOU, PAT!!!!
v8b grille.jpg
v8b wheels.jpg
3/29/11, This past Sunday, I blasted the wheels and polished the grille trim and with a few beers and some patience, Jorge and I got the wheels and grille masked off and I sprayed them today while the weather was good. I hope to have the tires mounted back on this week, I have to make the center caps and decals,the ones they sell with the repop wheels are different. Luckily I have two to work with for making a mold and vacuum forming them.

I recieved the aluminum tubing for the a/c lines on Friday, I have been cyphering the a/c compressor/alternator bracket configuration and went to a long nose water pump with a set of early model serpentine/vee pulleys. I'll try to get some pics as I go with the build, my digital camera eats AAs like they're candy.
v8b progress 001.JPG
4/6/11 Well during a rain storm yesterday I got the tires mounted and set aside, Friday I also got the parking brake cables run to a bracket in the upper rear of the driveshaft tunnel, I still have to build the lever off of the handle over cause cold roll was too soft.
v8b progress 002.JPG
The dash and column is in and all is working with a test run with a battery charger, headlights, turn signals, 4 way flashers and the horn, of course the gauges havent been terminated to the senders as the engine is'nt in yet.
v8b progress 003.JPG
A shot of some under hood wiring.
v8b progress 004.JPG
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v8b progress 006.JPG
v8b progress 007.JPG
After fighting with the Kia compressor and changing pulleys and clutches, I went back to the compressor rebuilder with a core from Jorge's Tacoma that looked like it would fit but needed 5 grooves instead of 4, and $140.00 later I had what I needed to build the bracketry. This guy is so great he provided me with several manifolds to try and fit the lines with, I have the lines fitted and still have to straighten and mount the alternator, also running an idler pulley under the comp. to achieve a good wrap around the pulleys to hopefully keep the squeals to a minimum.
v8bto 001.JPG
v8bto 002.JPG
A couple of shots with the wheels only hanging, and a quick detail on the paint.
v8bassembled 001.JPG
v8bassembled 006.JPG
v8bassembled 007.JPG
A couple more after getting the top hanging up on the freshly painted bows and the kids fingerprints off of the digital camera lens, I found that I will be stretching this out a lot harder than the vinyl top was, Boy, that was MANY BEERS AGO!!
v8bassembled 002.JPG
v8bassembled 003.JPG
v8bassembled 004.JPG
Looks as if I might be moving the hardware back about a 1/4" on the rear quarter and doing some touchup on the paint after filling holes {:o(
By the way I also have all of the A/C lines fabbed up in exception of the discharge line from the compressor to the fenderwell, and the rollbar has the seatbelt bungs welded in and is painted black along with the seat holes layed out and captured nuts installed. I lost those pics but will take some more>>>>>>>>>>>
v8b top 006.JPG
v8b top 007.JPG
Over the last week I somehow lost Windows and had to repair the system back to 8/10 and lost a bunch of data, thankfully most of the pics are on here and not wasted and lost forever!
Back Up Your HD Frequently!!!!!, I Forget About it all the time!!!!
v8b top 001.JPG
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v8b top 005.JPG
4/24/11Top is now fitted and the carpet going in and the seat backs are covered and dyed black with vinyl/fabric paint, I still have to restrap the seat bottoms and fit the covers.
I also made the clevis for the park brake and have it hooked up.
v8b carpet 003.JPG
5/2/11
I got the idler pulley fabbed up and need to build the alt. adjust bracket
v8b carpet 004.JPG
v8b carpet 005.JPG
v8b carpet 002.JPG
got the shocks and rack/pinion installed and the steering wheel on along with the center console and shifter.
v8b carpet 006.JPG
v8b carpet 007.JPG
And I took the hood prop bracket off the donor hood, wet sanded with 400 and polished the zinc plating and painted the prop rod black,installing it to not have to use my super sweeper to prop the hood up any more.
5/9/11
No pics But after completing the a/c bracket,idler pulley and alt. adjuster, I tore down the small block to see what I had to work with, the heads are not even on a list for the part #s anywhere,but from what i gathered they are 76 cc heads with 194 Int.150 ex.
The bumpstick was 3896962 - Hydraulic Flat Tappet "cut and pasted"
This hydraulic flat tappet is used on the 68-81 L-46 and L-82 Corvette. The duration at lash point in degrees (intake/exhaust) is 312/312; duration at .050" tappet lift (intake/exhaust) is 222/222 and maximum lift with 1.5:1 rocker ratio (intake/exhaust) is 450/460. Valve lash is zero/zero and lobe centerline is 114 degrees.
The block is .30 over with a standard crank mains and rods with cast dish pistons, this thing was set up for Nitrous.
I'll be getting new rod bolts, bearings, rings, gaskets, head bolt washers for the aluminum heads, "L89 set 58cc 194 150 valves with a nice match port and relief, A Comp Extreme energy 268h cam, and staying with the Edelbrock Torker II to keep the low end a little mild so as I dont bake the tires when I romp on it.
The pressure cleaner did a good job cleaning the block and the cylinder bores cleaned up nicely with a hone, no ring ridge as there was still crosshatch in the cyl. walls. All of the bearings looked great, the timing chain was alittle sloppy. I also got all of the hardware and such washed up and sorted, meanwile the pistons are soaking in the bucket to get them clean.

5/31/11
The long weekend didnt prove to be a great deal of progress as I'd hoped but over the past couple weeks I did get the engine built
v8b engine 003.JPG
v8b engine 004.JPG
and was anxious to get it into the car but hit a snag on the Friday before last when I got home and cleaned up the transmixer to change the filter and seals, after pulling the pan there was a generous amount of friction material in the pan so the next step was disassembly and I ordered a master overhaul kit on fleabay on Sat., it should be here on Wed."tommorrow" In the meantime I had to fix the case where a chunk of it had been fractured and running in place for who knows how long.
v8b engine 002.JPG
I also went to the boneyard and found probably the only smallblock center bolt valve covers in the whole 15 acres,
along with another discharge hose to redo the one I overheated welding up the first time and destroying the hose.

The headers have been cleaned up and I added a 1" drop to them to be able to clamp them to the down tubes.
I figured I try something and purged the propellant from a header paint can and dumped it into the spray gun along with the same ceramic microspheres I insulated the tub with, we'll see how it works.

If you note I also fitted and welded the poly mounts to the motor mount then cut and bored a pair of 5/8 bolts to lock everything into the front crossmember studs.
v8b assembly 002.JPG
v8b assembly 003.JPG
v8b assembly 004.JPG
v8b assembly 005.JPG
v8b assembly 006.JPG
v8b assembly 007.JPG
v8b assembly 010.JPG
6/11/11Whoops had to remove the cross brace in the hood to clear the compressor

v8b assembly 008.JPG
v8b assembly 009.JPG
I also had to bang the header relief holes open alittle to get them installed, pics to come.
v8bbassemble 001.JPG
v8bbassemble 002.JPG
A couple shots from the weekend progress.
6/17/11 Running!!!, Broke in cam and a/c is blowing cold, I have to relocate the fuel regulator cause the fuel is getting hot and the idler pulley needs dialing in due to belt squeal but all in all it sounds good!
[youtu.be]
A link to the first run video.

6/19/11 I replaced the header gaskets with the stacked aluminum ones from Mr Gasket I picked up at Advance, I also took care of the belt squeal by trimming a washer in the lathe with a bit of runout and clocking the thinnest part to align the pulley, now its quiet as a mouse. Next is to relocate fuel regulator and fab up the accellerator cable, bracket and return spring and a punchlist of all other goodies.

7/6/11
[www.youtube.com]
[www.youtube.com]
[www.youtube.com]
Got to drive it and assess some little problems, a leaky wheel seal, having to pump the brake pedal to bring it up, and needing to raise it up about an inch in the rear, plus the rest of the new and hopefully last punchlist!
all them 001.JPG
all them 002.JPG
all them 003.JPG
all them 004.JPG
I have built the kick panels and rear quarter panels of the interior as well as the door panels, I used the fiberglass paneling for bathrooms from the Home Despot with the rough side to the body, I have my designs I want to put into the door panels but partys and drinking keep getting in the way!
The front end is sitting an inch or so lower after I cut out a full coil from the springs but it still squats to the left rear, I will address that by cutting a 1/4 coil off the right front till the weight and balance plays nice with my weight in the drivers seat and the wheels balance out.


8/28
Just a little update I took a quarter coil off the right front spring to get the sag out of the left rear and wound the right rear coil spring down a little to get the wedge out she balances just right with the rear jacked up on a fulcrum @ center of track width.
V8BBumpers 010.JPG
The door panels are done and I have to finish building the armrest bolsters and install them, also I am building the window cranks out of stainless just for that hand built finish, as well as the MGGM emblem inlay for the door panel.

Yesterday I got the Weiand 8004 intake blasted and port matched while my friend Kevin tore out the Torker II and got it installed and running in a few hours. Boy howdy this thing woke up it no longer has the low end bog and wraps right up! Who knows it might actually light the tires from a standing start versus having to run it up to 3000 to get it to honk, I have yet to drive it with the new manifold.
I got the camcorder charged and will take a detailed video of the whole car inside and out with a run if the rain passes!
V8BBumpers 002.JPG
V8BBumpers 003.JPG
V8BBumpers 004.JPG
V8BBumpers 006.JPG
V8BBumpers 005.JPG
V8BBumpers 007.JPG
9/6/11 I got the time and design done to fab up the nerf bars and went with the quick jack style, I bartered some valvejob work on some airboat cylinders with the ex boss for the 3/8 plate, made my templates, cut them down on the bandsaw dressed them with flapwheels sanded them with 150,220 and polished them with red rouge then white rouge and a spiral sewn cotton wheel. The fronts just bolt to the frame horns and the rears I sandwiched the bumper mount studs with red loctite after drilling and threading them to 1/2-20.

9/24/11 Small fire extinguisher bottles are what I used for the catch can and washer bottle, I just turned the threads out of the neck on the washer bottle and fabbed up a plug with an oring with a dipstick to keep it from coming out. Then turned up and welded in a plug for the overflow, welded in a tube to the bottom for the siphon and a vent up high that returns downward to drain.
washerovverflow 001.JPG
washerovverflow 002.JPG
washerovverflow 003.JPG
washerovverflow 004.JPG

12/08/2011 Not much going on lately I have put the car on the back burner for a bit to catch up on the other projects I put on stop while building this, I am currently rebuilding an airboat that I built back in 89-90 for a friend of my dads that passed away and left it to his son, this old workhose had a direct drive 400 SBC that was designed to run at 3000 rpm tops and get there in a snap, but you can only overhaul them so many times, we went with a runout TSIO-520 Continental that I pulled the 7:1 648044 slugs out and put in a set of 8.5:1 648013 pistons which should wake this thing up, being the turbocharger was no longer with it, I would post some pics but i dont want to go off topic.

Insurance is really my holdup for driving the car and the punchlist is consisting of stereo/speakers, wheel center caps, door panel trim and paint touch up/polishing.

5/29/12
I finally got insurance and a tag on it and have been doing some shakedown runs, working out the bugs, fouled plug, speedometer calibration etc. it runs good and smooth on the Turnpike, temp seems stable at speed and doesnt climb in traffic unless the A/C is on but I have a higher CFM fan to cure that hopefully. I still have to address the final punchlist but I decided that it was time to reap the fruits of my labor and enjoy running the toys I have built, I just finished rebuilding my airboat and took my patient wife fishing Sunday and enjoyed a few hours away from the house, kids and bills. I hope to have a video and some pictures by next week as we are going to take the B to its first show on Saturday.

8/9/12
Nothing much going on I did change the electric fan to a unit out of an Escalade and machined the thermostat housing to cure a weep but still chasing a small one which I suspect is a very small void in the weld of the cap reciever, pics of after a washing and while mowing the yard the race boat was set behind it in the parkway, figured a cool pic to share, and a pic of it when parked at work one Friday when I decided to drive it, as I leave early on Fridays and wont wake up the neighbors rolling in @ 12:30 am.
0616121803.jpg
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0608121918.jpg

Been to a couple shows recently, the car does get attention and positive compliments, most of the little quirks have shown up and I hope that soon I'll be able to tackle the whole lot of little odds and ends, the turn signal switch broke, right door paddle broke, I need to complete the interior hoping to get some real seat covers made up as well, these were temporary at best. While apart I hope to build the hard top as well before I have to touch up the paint on some needed refinements and repairs.
I am currently building replacement panels for a friend's bobtailed Model A Ford Roadster that he drove in High School back in '59. Neat metalshaping project, it will have the same Y-block 292 that he pulled out of it to power the family's station wagon once he settled into marriage. I hope to post some pics but haven't yet tried from this phone.
Nope, must figure how to compress them a bit.

[www.mgexp.com]
6/13/13 figured I'd share why I haven't been posting much progress on the car lately, been working on the other toys for now since I finished my buddy's model A, although I will be burning in his frame boxing plates this weekend.

12/6/13
Broke down and got the center caps, gonna detail the wheels and go to a show with caps and 5 lug nuts finally, starting the details, might have to think of selling it soon, not wanting to but, being sole income and really no light at the tunnel, she might have to go on the block. :-(

Thank you Curtis!!!! for allowing me to start a second page!!!!!

Thanks for looking!!!!!



Edited 39 time(s). Last edit at 12/06/2013 01:55AM by flitner.


Moderator
Curtis Jacobson
Portland Oregon
(4576 posts)

Registered:
10/12/2007 02:16AM

Main British Car:
71 MGBGT, Buick 215

authors avatar
Re: Rebuilding my V8 B "Part 2"
Posted by: Moderator
Date: March 22, 2018 02:05AM

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