MG Sports Cars

Pretty sure that the BFGoodrich G-Force Comp-2 A/S is what I picked for my dad's Miata. He wanted to be able to drive it year round & it do well in the rain. He likes them. His last set of whatevers were scary in the rain.

I have run directionals backwards once they were worn down about half way.

Running them backwards in the dry, of course, or in a light rain at moderate speeds will not be an issue. Higher speeds with more water on the road can/will cause hydroplaning.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/29/2020 08:53AM by MGBV8.

I have Goodrich G-Force on one end of my car but haven't driven it in the rain yet and haven't really driven it hard either yet. Think I might have Falkens on the other end. I'm not sure they are designed for mileage but as much use as the Roadmaster has been getting lately they may age out first.

Jim

The Continental DWS costs $127.99
The Goodyear G-Force 2A is $113.99
So, a difference of $24. (Tire Rack prices)

The DWS does not appear to be directional but is not perfectly symetrical either.
According to the spider charts the 2A outperforms the DWS in every category. However they are very close in the test results charts, the edge is so slight it could easily be attributed to the tests being run on different days, This is test track data and does not include wear and gas mileage.

The UTQG on the DWS is 560 AA A
on the G-Force it is 400 A A

Kind of a toss up. I think I'd go with the DWS just because of the non-directional tread and being able to rotate the tires. That and the treadwear numbers. But what do you guys think?

JIm

What do you guys think? The Continentals or the G-Force?

Jim

I like the Conti, but it looks directional to me.

Tire Rack sez that the Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06 is not directional and that the g-Force Comp-2 A/S PLUS is directional.

I vote for the Conti.

OK, we got 2 votes for the Conti. Anybody else?

Jim

As previously noted, Conti. They are asymmetrical but not directional as noted on google. Happy Camper!

Conti.

I'm a little late to the party, did all the good looking girls leave?
I'll throw my two bits down on the Conti's.

Hey, great to hear from you Fred!

We put the Conti's on the rear. When we wear out the fronts I suggest we put them on there too.

Jim

We just finished out another Roadmaster Weekend here at Blackwood Labs, and it was a pretty good gathering as we had 9 of us in attendance. Steve D and Dan showed up on Thursday and by Saturday the rest had trickled in. Carl, Mike Moore, Matthew, Rick, Mike Maloney, and Denny. Everyone contributed to the effort and we made a lot of progress.

Aligning the rear axle was the the major item on the agenda but we also had to change the oil and as we discovered on a parts run, re-mount the radiator fan. Luckily it was not seriously damaged in the discovery.

The operation was a success to the satisfaction of all present and we took the axle from a significant toed out condition to a light toe-in. We also set the ride height and put the camber angle to zero, and replaced the delrin bushings in the uprights with timken bearings. I'll test drive it this week after I've had the chance to re-check the lug nut torque.

Rick brought the NOS wheel that was donated and took the worst bent wheel to the tire shop to have the wheel re-mounted and balanced so at this point we have one wheel which we should replace whenever we can find a straight one, and one with a slight bend that we can overlook. We fitted the steel tapered lug nut seats from the bent wheel so that we can use the tapered lug nuts.

Aside from that the car seems to be in good shape, starts easily and runs smoothly. No known issues at this time.

We would like it to appear at the meet in June, and if I have not resolved the tuning issues with my car by then I can certainly drive it if it is still here. Steve D has asked to take it for a couple weeks but we haven't discussed when that will be.

Some of the guys took pictures. If you would be so kind as to share them here it would be appreciated I'm sure. I understand some of them are on facebook and perhaps other social media.

Jim

Would you believe PJ would let a one-armed man drive the Roadmaster at the British V8 meet?
The hitch was, I had to agree to gas it up. Nice trick, PJ.

Can't see the pic John?

Update on the MG-Roadmaster status: After the BritishV8 meet Steve DeGroat and I re-sealed the AC compressor, replaced the condenser, and got the AC system working the best it ever has. (44 degree air at the vent on an 80 degree day) We installed cruise control as well, but the engine developed a noise. Subsequent testing left us all puzzled and befuddled by the symptoms and then the engine would not crank. This week after more diagnostics I have discovered the problem and it looks like we will have to change the head gaskets due to hydrolock. So the car is down until we can schedule another Roadmaster work weekend. This might happen in the middle of September or could be October or later, but at least once that is done we will have good dependable AC and cruise.

Jim

Following the AC repair we developed head gasket issues and the car has sat while re have been sorting out what needs done and how we are to go about it. That is now pretty well settled and scheduled tentatively for next month here at Blackwood Labs.

The engine will come out of the car and go on a stand.
The heads will come off.
The crank will come out.
Pistons and rods will come out.
Crank will go in the lathe and the rear seal journal will be turned and polished to remove the OEM hash marks under the seal. Alternatively we could send it to the shop for that but I don't think it's necessary.
Higher compression pistons will be fitted to the rods.
Reassembly with all new gaskets
Reinstalled in the car.

You may wonder why the gaskets failed. The short answer is because when we went to assemble with the newly acquired aluminum heads we were out of money, as in broke. The engine had not been run with the iron heads and we opted to take a chance on the new head gaskets that had been used when it was assembled with the iron heads. We had a few leakage problems that were band-aided with radiator sealant but after 24K miles the crows came home to roost. So it was no fault of the block or heads and the surfaces should still be good. Lesson learned: Can't do that.

This level of disassembly is an opportunity to upgrade the engine to the pre-smog configuration by installing higher compression pistons.

So last night we began taking up a collection to pay for new pistons and rings. TA Performance has good cast 10:1 pistons with rings on the shelf in the correct oversize for $461 and we are a little past halfway to that goal. Any excess will go into the MG-Roadmaster bank account for future needs. If you would like to contribute you can send money via check or paypal to Rick Ingram at Mowog1@aol.com

Thanks,
Jim

This is a non-profit promoting creativity among our teenagers.

I know I sent some in after this post and suspect some others have as well. What's the latest total Jim?

We'd have to get that from Rick but I do know that the purchase of the pistons and rings are covered. Weight of the pistons may be a little different though and if they are we should probably re-balance the crank. I would expect that to add something like $150 to the cost which I'm sure we can pay but just a few more bucks couldn't hurt. We'll get the total from Rick a week from today. We will weigh the pistons when we do the teardown and I should be able to get the weight spec on the new ones from TA.

Jim

Work party starts today!