MG Sports Cars

Jim,
I have two tires mounted on Jag rims in the car. The tires are 215 65 15. Hope they are small enough.

Steve

Sounds good Steve, that will let me get my wheels and tires back, and I'll need them in another week or three.

I've been thinking about how we can raise the money for the alloy heads. Once the new car is up here we can sell off parts from the existing one, starting with the hood and fenders. I'm guessing that the aluminum hood might bring a couple hundred bucks. It'd bring more if it wasn't slightly tweaked at the hinges but the damage is slight. Unfortunately I don't know how we could straighten it without using heat and taking a chance of warping the skin. I'll give some though to that, and if anyone has heard of a procedure for it PLEASE let us know.

How much the fenders might bring on ebay I don't know. As I recall they are in pretty decent shape. After that we can look at other items. Depending on what the bids are we might possibly raise enough that way to buy the heads, or we may need some contributions to make up the difference but it should at least get us close. Then we'll be able to start work on the headers.

Taking into account Steve's buyer for the engine and the sale of parts from the old body, the new GT body is going to come pretty close to costing us nothing and we could possibly even turn a profit on it. The wheels and suspension brought almost $250, around $200 or so for the engine, Steve paid $100 for the axle, plus whatever else we can get out of it. It's looking like we really came out good on this one.

I talked to Mike at TA Performance yesterday. Regrettably he's had to lay off due to the economic downturn and isn't in any position to sponsor us so we will have to pay full price on the bare heads or something very close to it. The price for the bare castings is $1395 + shipping. We will also need to use the TA head bolt or stud kit apparently. The bolts are $145 and the studs are $210. I see no real need to go with studs unless we will be considering a significant horsepower upgrade at some point. (and we will certainly have the heads to support that) So basically we're looking at about $1600. If we want the aluminum valvecovers that's $159 for painted (black or red) , $139 for satin, and an extra $65 to machine them so the raised areas shine. If someone wants to do the detailing for us we could save about $85 on that. I'd also recommend that you guys be watching ebay for a deal on a set. It's pretty clear that we do have the strength to make it happen. What's not clear is how long it'll take us. Between now and the time the car gets here though I'll see if I can get a couple more items on ebay just to keep things moving.

Jim

I just pulled the engine and trans out of the Blue GT. It's been a long time since I have done a junk yard pull. Sure is easy.
I have a buyer for it on Sunday at the car show in Coloumbia, SC. $300.
Now the car is ready for trnasport to KY>

Steve

That's great Steve. I just deposited the $75 check for the front suspension units. Will wait for the car before ebaying body parts but I'll take a look to see what I can sell off.

Jim

i still need a passenger side lower front fender patch panel. I think they run about $50 new; let me know what's fair for that if it's something the project's going to sell.

I sold the engine and trans yesterday. The check is in the mail to deposit the $300.
I have not repaid me for the cost of the BGT yet but I will.
I will be glad when the car in KY and out of my yard, that way we can work on it.

Steve

That's good news Steve. Just as a guess that should put us close to $550 towards the heads. More good news came in the mail today in the form of a check for $400 from Paul and Mary Schills. It seems there was a surplus from the summer V8 meet so they sent us a part of the remainder, with the rest going to the newsletter and next summer's meet. How much went to who I can't say, but I'm certainly thankful for what came our way and just as thankful for the additional support for the newsletter. I think this sets an excellent precedent for disbursement of surplus funds and want to commend Paul and Mary not just for their frugality but also for their insight.

So that means, pending Steve's official tally, that we need to come up with roughly $800 still in order to buy the heads, head bolts, and valve covers. That's not bad at all, and once we're able to decide what surplus parts we can sell I think we'll be really close.

In other news, our Ways and Means committee is hard at work cultivating high level sponsorship deals. It's a little early to give details but a plan is afoot to approach Buick. Obviously should that deal go through we will enter a new realm with our grass roots project, but we'll do everything possible to retain it's current character.

Jim

re: I think this sets an excellent precedent for disbursement of surplus funds and want to commend Paul and Mary not just for their frugality but also for their insight.
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FYI:

Not to take ANYTHING away from the Schils'.....but......

"Excess" funds (after all operating expenses have been paid) have been forwarded on to the next British V8 event for the past several years now. Sometimes it's a good chunk of change.....sometimes it is not.

:

And how much was forwarded on to next year's event I do not know. I do know there was money forwarded. If I were to guess, my own personal imaginary number would be close to what was forwarded from last year, or perhaps more, not knowing what was forwarded in either case. But this much I know for certain, the newsletter has been in dire need of support. To see it get that support in this manner is something I find gratifying, as without it our group loses a great deal of cohesiveness.

Now the other question, should this MGB Roadmaster project have also been supported in this way and in a "similar amount"? Maybe so, maybe not. But when you consider what it has done and continues to do to bring our community closer, I can't see it being a bad thing.

But then that's just my opinion, and I certainly make no claim to represent the majority.

Jim

I've been working on the IRS LCA's triangulated section. Progress has been slow because I'm using the mock-up for my roadster to develop it and had some catching up to do, since Steve and I ditched the duplicate parts in an all out effort to get the GT on it's wheels for the meet. I've also been busily scurrying about repairing storm damage. But I think I'm caught up now and maybe a little more on the IRS, (still some storm damage to go) and am ready to begin polishing down the extended pivot rods. That may be time consuming. I have to get some bolts and other hardware, a set of gears for the roadster (they have to be installed before final assembly, which must be done before the forward mount can be made), and then I can put the finishing touches on it. Realistically, I expect to be done by Thanksgiving. It turns out that the GT and the roadster both use the same 3 degree driveline angle, which is fortunate because it means I can continue to develop both units without tearing down the GT's rear suspension.

I've been thinking about what to make the angled brace from. There will be a tube over the pivot shaft extending forward of the stock forward dogbone and the angular brace will be welded to the forward end of this tube and extend back to the point at the outer end of the LCA where the stock forward strut bolted on. This brace will have to be curved in order to clear the battery box under full compression, so a simple tube will not be adequate. I would very much like to be able to take a larger diameter tube and press it into an oval cross section but I'm not at all sure that my hydraulic press is up to the task, even if I do the planned upgrade to it first. I would have to do it a little bit at a time and I'm not at all sure how that would come out. Clearly some experimentation will be in order. Anyway, I won't be able to start on that until the diff is bolted to the crossmember and the final assembly well under way. But if anyone has access to a big press that could flatten about 1-1/2 ft. of tubing at once that'd be a big help.

It seems Pete's delivery date has slipped a bit. Well, that's to be expected when putting the finishing touches on a customer's conversion. Hopefully he will be able to take advantage of the current lower gas prices.

I've heard nothing new from our internet committee but I trust they have been considering our needs and working on a plan.

Rick and Co. (Ways and Means) have cooked up a pretty good plan to contact Buick but I think we need someone to find us a good contact person inside the Buick Division. Then someone can be chosen to approach them whether it be a committee member or one of our officers.

Then we also will need to buy a set of coil-over units so we can finish up the rear suspension. Quite a lot on our plate, but we're moving along nicely.

Jim

Jim,
Sounds like you are making progress.
Pete will pick up the car Oct 29.
I hope to make it up to help in Nov. It was cold last year that time but maybe we can get some work done then.
When the GT gets there, check it out. If it passes inspection, I will pay myself back for the purchace.
I do not know any one with a large press.
Steve

Thanks Steve, I don't think there's any need for my inspection before you're reimbursed, but in a procedural way I can see it making sense. I just hate for you to have your funds tied up so long.

The cold will be much less of a problem this winter. Some of the catching up I've been doing involved pouring a slab on the north side of the lab and installing a propane storage tank, as well as another slab inside the car port and setting the air compressor back into place. Granted I still have to hook up the furnace (and the compressor also) but I plan to have that done before cold weather sets in. This winter we should be just fine, and if all goes well, by summer I may have the heat pump in operation also. Wouldn't that be nice? I'm also repairing tin on the carport and part of that will include installing a garage door. With that installed it won't take much at all to make the carport a usable paint booth. Not that we'll need it for this project, but it could come in very handy for others.

Jim

Money report.
We have $2295.42 in our account, but will have to pay me $1050 for the GT when it passes inspection by Jim.
The GT left my house on 11/4/8 and should be at Jim's on 11/6/8.


Steve

The GT is here and certainly did meet with the approval of all present including Rick, Pete, and myself. It is solid as described and will save us a lot of time. Definitely money well spent, and as noted before in many respects a zero sum switch. Now Steve, write yourself that check! Well done guys!

Willis brought the car up, in the back of a box van. Pete and Rick brought his GT and they headed back, Willis driving his GT and his son driving the van. Rick and Pete stuck around to work on the MGB-Roadmaster, and we got quite a bit accomplished. First we hoisted the old GT up and sat it on a cart, then removed the engine/tranny, and then we dropped the front suspension out, and finally dropped the rear suspension also. We also emptied out the new GT, lifted the seats out, and sat the APC seats in place. The new GT has some pretty decent carpet and sound deadener and where the APC seats were a tight fit in the old GT they are a little more than snug in the new car. Rick said he has a set of Fiero seats we can use for it though and he though it would be best to sell the APC seats and use those. I'm inclined to agree.

The new car has a fiberglass hood so at this point we have many choices. Aluminum, fiberglass, raised fiberglass, and I believe there is a steel hood as well. We need to assess what parts we are going to use and use the ones we are not to generate some cash, so when Steve comes up in early December that's something I hope we can make decisions on. If I understood his report correctly we should have about $1200 after paying for the car and we need to generate about another $500 in order to be able to buy the heads. We should be able to get close to that with parts sales and then we can work on getting the coil-over units and maybe a posi. If anyone can donate a 3 series dana 44 posi we need one, and it really should be installed before the rear suspension goes in the car. Somehow I don't see that happening but it could. Everything is still pretty fluid and we might pick up a posi off ebay, buy the coil overs and wait to buy the heads until we raise more cash. All you guys are my advisors, you have to advise me regarding the best choices to make sometimes or I might go astray. It's your project and I'm just helping move it along.

Anyway, Rick took pictures and I'm hoping those came out and he'll be able to post them here, and maybe he and Pete can report their impressions of the day as well. I know you've all been anxiously awaiting the arrival of this new body, as we have. It's not a raving beauty, there is missing paint, surface rust, and crazed glass, but there is a lot of good material to work with. I think we'll be fine with this one.

Jim

I'll post pictures and my impressions tomorrow (it's been a long day!)

FWIW - Here is the original "ad" for the car that caught my eye...and brought about this MGB/GT's purchase for the Roadmaster project.

[www.mgexperience.net]

In my opinion, we are way ahead of the eight-ball when it comes to time and money invested!!

OK...we "did good" in purchasing this shell. I could not see any structural areas that will need repair/replacement. The sills appear to be solid, the floors appear to be solid..everything is there that we need to progress. Money once earmarked for rust repair can now go to other purchases!

And more....

And more....

And more....

And some more....