MG Sports Cars

engine swaps and other performance upgrades, plus "factory" and Costello V8s

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BlownMGB-V8
Jim Blackwood
9406 Gunpowder Rd., Florence, KY 41042
(6468 posts)

Registered:
10/23/2007 12:59PM

Main British Car:
1971 MGB Blown,Injected,Intercooled Buick 340/AA80E/JagIRS

authors avatar
Re: MGB Roadmaster
Posted by: BlownMGB-V8
Date: March 12, 2014 10:20AM

Thanks Fred. Sorry to say I'd forgotten, and such a generous offer too. I'll see what Carl thinks.

I'm hoping to do the wiring this next weekend. I have a paper cut on my left middle finger that is hampering me a bit but maybe I can work around it. I'd like to see the car back out on tour as soon as possible. Who wants it next? Aside from minor annoyances like window adjustments it's done. (oh and gages of course)

Jim


mowog1
Rick Ingram
Central Illinois
(1523 posts)

Registered:
10/17/2007 09:36PM

Main British Car:
1974.5 MGB/GT 3.9l Rover

authors avatar
Re: MGB Roadmaster
Posted by: mowog1
Date: March 14, 2014 10:31AM

The Roadmaster was promised to Bill Davidson (Kansas City) last summer before it broke down.

It really needs to begin its journey west.


MGBV8
Carl Floyd
Kingsport, TN
(4511 posts)

Registered:
10/23/2007 11:32PM

Main British Car:
1979 MGB Buick 215

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Re: MGB Roadmaster
Posted by: MGBV8
Date: March 14, 2014 06:25PM

I agree, it has already done one Hot Rod Power Tour. It was quite an undertaking with a sizeable team to pull it off. Efforts to move it along its journey westward would be best.


BlownMGB-V8
Jim Blackwood
9406 Gunpowder Rd., Florence, KY 41042
(6468 posts)

Registered:
10/23/2007 12:59PM

Main British Car:
1971 MGB Blown,Injected,Intercooled Buick 340/AA80E/JagIRS

authors avatar
Re: MGB Roadmaster
Posted by: BlownMGB-V8
Date: March 14, 2014 07:41PM

Seems to make sense, and they've been waiting patiently. Odds are the car will get as much or more of the kind of publicity we are looking for by going west too. I'm not sure the power tour did all that much to get the car in front of the new drivers other than the ones who showed up at the events. That little photo that was mis-captioned probably didn't do much for us. Our efforts may pay off better in a new approach, and it seems to me it's worth the effort to try.

Jim


lawnvett
PJ Lenihan
Winston-Salem, NC
(477 posts)

Registered:
04/29/2009 11:37AM

Main British Car:
74 MGB-GT 3.4 V-6 crate, 5 spd

Re: MGB Roadmaster
Posted by: lawnvett
Date: March 15, 2014 08:04AM

as posted above, should RM go to KS for the service for Bill Young then be passed off, subject to schedule considerations I volunteer to shuttle RM from current location to KS


BlownMGB-V8
Jim Blackwood
9406 Gunpowder Rd., Florence, KY 41042
(6468 posts)

Registered:
10/23/2007 12:59PM

Main British Car:
1971 MGB Blown,Injected,Intercooled Buick 340/AA80E/JagIRS

authors avatar
Re: MGB Roadmaster
Posted by: BlownMGB-V8
Date: March 15, 2014 10:55AM

I'll let you know later today how the wiring is going, and if I've had the chance to fire it up and do any tuning. When is the service?

Jim


mowog1
Rick Ingram
Central Illinois
(1523 posts)

Registered:
10/17/2007 09:36PM

Main British Car:
1974.5 MGB/GT 3.9l Rover

authors avatar
Re: MGB Roadmaster
Posted by: mowog1
Date: March 15, 2014 03:26PM

Bill's service is scheduled to be sometime in April. Jenny has yet to name a date.



Dan B
Dan Blackwood
South Charleston, WV
(1007 posts)

Registered:
11/06/2007 01:55PM

Main British Car:
1966 TR4A, 1980 TR7 Multiport EFI MegaSquirt on the TR4A. Lexus V8 pl

authors avatar
Re: MGB Roadmaster
Posted by: Dan B
Date: March 15, 2014 04:05PM

It would be fitting to have the car there.


BlownMGB-V8
Jim Blackwood
9406 Gunpowder Rd., Florence, KY 41042
(6468 posts)

Registered:
10/23/2007 12:59PM

Main British Car:
1971 MGB Blown,Injected,Intercooled Buick 340/AA80E/JagIRS

authors avatar
Re: MGB Roadmaster
Posted by: BlownMGB-V8
Date: March 15, 2014 09:58PM

I think so too.
I got about half the EDIS wiring done today, tidying up some grounds while I'm doing it, also eliminated a bullet splice in the fan wiring. I think I have two of the correct connectors for the fans so If I can lay my hands on those I'll install them and make those connections more reliable. If someone can find a 2 stage temp switch and connector that has a pipe thread I could install that too and properly finish off the fan control system.

We still need that gas cap. C'mon guys, Steve and I should not be the only ones spending money on this car, especially since we've done most of the work.

I had scheduled tomorrow to work on my car, which has been neglected lately. but I'll probably try to get most of the EDIS wiring done too.

Jim


mowog1
Rick Ingram
Central Illinois
(1523 posts)

Registered:
10/17/2007 09:36PM

Main British Car:
1974.5 MGB/GT 3.9l Rover

authors avatar
Re: MGB Roadmaster
Posted by: mowog1
Date: March 16, 2014 12:28PM

It's currently sporting a Mercedes gas cap....or at least it was.


Dan B
Dan Blackwood
South Charleston, WV
(1007 posts)

Registered:
11/06/2007 01:55PM

Main British Car:
1966 TR4A, 1980 TR7 Multiport EFI MegaSquirt on the TR4A. Lexus V8 pl

authors avatar
Re: MGB Roadmaster
Posted by: Dan B
Date: March 16, 2014 01:13PM

Advance Auto Parts has one that should fit.


Item Description
x Remove

Stant Steel Gas Cap
Part No: 10623
Warranty: 1 YR REPLACEMENT IF DEFECTIVE
Quantity:
Check Vehicle Fit


BlownMGB-V8
Jim Blackwood
9406 Gunpowder Rd., Florence, KY 41042
(6468 posts)

Registered:
10/23/2007 12:59PM

Main British Car:
1971 MGB Blown,Injected,Intercooled Buick 340/AA80E/JagIRS

authors avatar
Re: MGB Roadmaster
Posted by: BlownMGB-V8
Date: March 16, 2014 05:26PM

I now have the EDIS fully installed and wires run inside to the MegaJolt/E which is where the old MSD stuff was installed. No wires hooked up there yet, it needs at least 4 wires. If everything is right, the engine should start and run as it is now but without any advance or timing control. The MJ will take care of that part and it will be pretty easy to do this last plug. Power, ground, PIP and SAW. Plus another for the tach output.

Here's a link to the MJ install manual:
[www.autosportlabs.net]

If you look at that you will see it has some additional capabilities, if anyone wants to add to it. Pretty simple from the looks of it. Has an input for temp for instance and four outputs. I'd expect it'd be possible to run the fan relays with it if someone wanted to. It'll run a shift light. Not sure what else, but I'm just going to get it running.

Here's the Operation Guide:
[www.autosportlabs.net]

I haven't looked at it yet.

Gas cap: Hey, whatever you guys want to do. It can be a "Beater" and I'll go along with it. I'm just another member like everyone else.

Jim


lawnvett
PJ Lenihan
Winston-Salem, NC
(477 posts)

Registered:
04/29/2009 11:37AM

Main British Car:
74 MGB-GT 3.4 V-6 crate, 5 spd

Re: MGB Roadmaster
Posted by: lawnvett
Date: March 19, 2014 10:43AM

Thanks, Jim for all your work on RM.


Preform Resources
Dave Craddock
Redford,Michigan
(359 posts)

Registered:
12/20/2008 05:46PM

Main British Car:
72 MGB V6 3.4

Re: MGB Roadmaster
Posted by: Preform Resources
Date: March 22, 2014 06:09AM

RE new Roadmaster hood,,,,,Guys I still need the color codes for the paint, I called someone at Terry shultes place but got no return call.
Dave
313-720-9381 cell(anytime) 313-533-2457 shop

BTW; I can drop ship it to anyone.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/22/2014 06:16AM by Preform Resources.


denvermgb
Brad Carson
Aurora, Colorado
(104 posts)

Registered:
03/10/2008 12:45AM

Main British Car:
1975 MGB 350 SBC bored 0.040 over

authors avatar
Re: MGB Roadmaster
Posted by: denvermgb
Date: March 22, 2014 06:19PM

I can track down a gas cap if one is still needed. Let me know.

Brad



madmax
Max Fulton
Durham, NC
(186 posts)

Registered:
10/19/2008 07:45PM

Main British Car:
1974 1/2 MGB 1972 MGB 1977 V8 project 1972 B r 1860 cc

Re: MGB Roadmaster
Posted by: madmax
Date: March 23, 2014 02:58AM

All:

Our thanks again to Jim for taking on the repairs-- he is carrying too much of the burden, as has (too) often been the case.

I'm going to lay down a little criticism, however, so please accept it as constructive in hopes it will lead to some long term results.

1) I agree the car is overdue for getting out to the West Coast, but I don't think the car is ready. We have not done a thorough job of "sorting" the car and it still seems quite capable of breaking-- something major, even-- so I don't think there is much confidence in its doing 3K miles out to California at the moment. Not without sitting in a driveway for two months. (This is its history-- it can't be denied.)

2) While I whole heartedly agree that "something needed to be done" (re: breaking starters), I'm not in favor of the MegaJolt. I realize this is after the fact, but my objection is purely financial: it feels like tossing good money after bad. RAther than have the distributor curved correctly (for Jim's preferred manifold vacuum) we are now bolting stuff onto the wrong distributor so that it will act like the right one. And adding complexity, to boot.

2-a) Similarly, to TRULY get the programmable system to work, the car needs to go back to the dyno. This is more money. It will ultimately end up working as best as can be, but only if this time and expense is put into it. Otherwise, it's just one more "patch job", and no different than the spark control box (which obviously didn't work). I certainly would NOT leave it programmable for others! That's just something for people to suspect and screw with. It needs to be properly programmed and... like any good timing job... left alone!

3) Which brings us to the current timing: it wasn't working, so WHY? Did anyone actually write down where the curve was (after dynoing)? Except for the static (cranking) setting, which was obviously still wrong (ahem: broken starters!) the rest of the timing presumably gave the best power and, as Jim notes, the economy was pretty good. These settings should be marked and programmed into the MJ, if only as a starting point for driveability.

3-a) I curved that distributor when it was here, and it is a vacuum advance distributor. That is how it's curved. For better idle, it was set up for manifold vacuum. (Jim and others want this, and the big cam seems to require it.) But, wherever that timing ended up, it obviously wasn't correct because we kept breaking starters. I can only assume that when they advanced the timing on the dyno to get a good power curve, they would have given it WAY too much static timing in the process. (Because it has the short mechanical curve of a ported vac distributor, rather than the long mech curve of a manifold one.) Add in some timing being pulled by the manifold during (esp. hot) cranking and you have a @#$%&-ton of static advance. (The car does NOT pull extra timing under cranking if ported vacuum, btw.) This is why starters are breaking: distributor is incorrectly set up for the job at hand.

4) WE are down to the details in the car-- the sorting, shaking down, etc., and fixing of the final minutiae. It's a painstaking process, but it needs to be done. WE all put up with idiosyncrasies in our own cars, but a car for public usage needs to be nearly boring in its operation. Until it is well sorted and reliable, it doesn't seem to be very desired. (PJ and the WEst Coast guys the exception. :) )

4a) This sorting process-- my take, here-- would likely take a good 6 weeks, with changes needing to be done every weekend to keep up with the car. Also, it would likely need a good $1000 in the kitty to be able to deal with any and all issues that come up. (Dyno time, for one. Maybe some carb parts as well, depending on what is found with the mixture after the timing is perfected.) And we definitely need to fix the gauges, once and for all.


That is MY take on the situation. I take nothing away from Jim-- the existence of the car itself is a tribute to his genius. But it's time to "up the expectations" once again: the car can no longer "just go" to fulfill its mission. It needs to be crisp (it's not-- carb?), user friendly (ahem-- gauges!), and reliable. (oh, insert anything here: starters, exhaust, blah blah) to truly achieve its Greatness.

So... do we suck it up and finally get the car RIGHT-- or keep sending it down the road like some Circus Freak? Curious, but never quite desirable...

My opinion only. :-)

M


mowog1
Rick Ingram
Central Illinois
(1523 posts)

Registered:
10/17/2007 09:36PM

Main British Car:
1974.5 MGB/GT 3.9l Rover

authors avatar
Re: MGB Roadmaster
Posted by: mowog1
Date: March 23, 2014 02:46PM

Well stated, Max. Thank you.


BlownMGB-V8
Jim Blackwood
9406 Gunpowder Rd., Florence, KY 41042
(6468 posts)

Registered:
10/23/2007 12:59PM

Main British Car:
1971 MGB Blown,Injected,Intercooled Buick 340/AA80E/JagIRS

authors avatar
Re: MGB Roadmaster
Posted by: BlownMGB-V8
Date: March 23, 2014 08:37PM

I owe you guys an update. The EDIS system is installed and appears to work flawlessly. I started the car yesterday for the first time with the new ignition and it fired right up without even a hint of any kickback. This is without the advance signal so it is in "Limp Home" mode. I put a timing light on it and it was showing 18 degrees of advance as it was idling. The MegaJolt is also now wired but has not been tested yet as I have to download the software to my tuning laptop first, but it does power up correctly. As for the rest I'll know more later, can't really say exactly when at this point but I'd think sooner than later.

Brad, if you'll send that gas cap to me as soon as you can I'll get it on the car.

On the gages, I just figured after it gets to LA maybe someone more familiar with them can get them working. They sure won't keep it from getting there.

Max is right of course there are a number of minor issues like the door glass and key lock. I replaced the shifter knob but the steering column is still in the back. Once it's ready for test drives I'll stop by the local automotive paint store and see if they can take a reading on the paint to get some color codes. That may be as close as we are going to get. You guys can take care of the rest.

Anyway, assuming the MJ works correctly we can set the advance for cranking independently of idle advance, dial in the idle for smoothest and best operation with a smooth transition off idle, bring in enough RPM based advance to get good power on acceleration, and then bring up the MAP based advance for cruising. It shouldn't be that difficult. If anyone wants to use a dyno to do that they are more than welcome. This system is WAY more flexible than the old distributor and it's pretty easy to advance or retard the timing a little out on the road in spots on the timing map where it needs it.

I even hooked up a coolant temp sensor while I was at it. There is a provision for changing the timing based on engine temperature if we want to use it, but more importantly it can be used to turn on the radiator fan relays and should be better than the existing switch that has too much hysteresis (either does not come on early enough or stays on long after the car is parked). As it stands that requires only re-routing a couple of wires inside the car, but I want to see that the ouput indicators in the software come on first.

Finally, maybe someone real familiar with clutch systems could be thinking about how to lighten the pedal pressure a bit.

Are we starting to get picky? Yeah, maybe. But after all, it *IS* such a NICE car.

Jim


madmax
Max Fulton
Durham, NC
(186 posts)

Registered:
10/19/2008 07:45PM

Main British Car:
1974 1/2 MGB 1972 MGB 1977 V8 project 1972 B r 1860 cc

Re: MGB Roadmaster
Posted by: madmax
Date: March 24, 2014 01:17PM

JIm/Bill:

I was recently asked in a private message, so can we post here again where and to whom Donations to the Roadmaster are sent? Thx.

M


mowog1
Rick Ingram
Central Illinois
(1523 posts)

Registered:
10/17/2007 09:36PM

Main British Car:
1974.5 MGB/GT 3.9l Rover

authors avatar
Re: MGB Roadmaster
Posted by: mowog1
Date: March 24, 2014 08:41PM

Donations to the Roadmaster Project can be made to:

Bill Davidson, Treasurer
7208 W 54th Terrace
Overland Park, KS 66202

913 677-0884
Bill74mgb@yahoo.com

Checks should be made out to:

British American Deviant Automotive Sportscar Society
or
BADASS
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