MG Sports Cars

Wow, Jim, MacGyver ain't got nothin' on you!

I'm suitably impressed.
You're taking this new found metal shaping craft seriously.

I'm implressed Jim. I think I'd have tossed it when it looked all wrinkled in the pic above... How long did it take to do that?

I am impressed. Nice work!

Thanks guys, I'm sure you'd have appreciated the work in progress. Aluminum is very nice material to work with, you can push it a very long ways before it complains and I really took it to the limit by pounding down those wrinkles the way I did. As for time, well I figure somewhere between one and two hours spent on making the buck and somewhere between 3 and 4 hours on metal shaping. A good bit of that was going back and forth between checking and adjusting the height, shape of the dome, and size of the center opening and bead. One of the really cool things was that after I had the shape and size I found it was really easy to change the height (drop) and the hole size, so it was no problem to get a perfect fit. I've had no reason to try it, but that suggests to me that with an off the shelf drop base it shouldn't be too hard to change the height, which could be really helpful for hood clearance problems. Also, starting to pound down the bottom earlier would eliminate a ton of the wrinkling and result in a smoother final job. Of course, the air isn't going to care that much, and it's hidden inside the air cleaner so it won't be looked at much. A perfect candidate for a first try.

JB

Here's a first shot of the tray:



That's all I'll get done on it for a few days but not a bad start I think. Probably doing everything in the wrong order. Again. Oh well.

Jim, here are some shots of the fenders:







To get that curve, all I did was bend a 1/4" rod around a rim bead, 16" I think, it had some spring. But it isn't that easy welding sheet metal to the heavier rod.

JB

Thanks for the pictures. The contour look nice, I can't wait to see them blended in and painted.

Jim

I'm back, spent a few days in Florida soaking up the heat.

Ted sent the new rear springs while I was away (Fast Cars) and the epoxy adhesive for the fiberglass work came in also. I'm headed over to Graingers to pick up some 1/8" fiberglass sheet to dress the hood opening with. More work on the tray is scheduled for the next couple of days, then attachment of the other fender flare and some bolt bosses for the bumper bolts.

We need some 1-7/8 x 1-7/8" (outside dimension) square tubing for the bumper supports. About 4 ft of it would do the trick nicely. Wall thickness in the range of about 1/8 to 3/16" would be ideal. If anyone can find a piece of that it's probably one of the last pieces of raw materials we are going to need. But it isn't a real common size.

Scheduling: OK this is where I do poorly, and I've been on vacation for a few days so at this point I'm thoroughly confused and won't be right for several days. (If you can call my normal state "right" which is highly doubtful) Several of you have expressed an interest in coming to help work on the car and we have a couple of weekends scheduled. Some time in the next few days I'll attempt to add some clarity to the picture, that's about all I can promise. But the good news is that we are ahead of schedule.

JB

New springs are installed and the ride height adjusted. I think it has a pretty good stance but I'm not entirely happy with the mismatch between front and rear flares. There's only so much I can do though.



More work on the air cleaner pan. The hood will now close on it and it's far enough along to start fiberglass work.







Obviously the edges need trimmed and shaped and the whole thing needs painted, probably semi-gloss black. Anyway, it's back to the flares next. I can't wait to get this all done so I can clean up the shop, but no point in wasting effort on that while I'm still generating great horrendous messes!

JB

Jim, I wish I were closer & could come help out. You've taken a ton of hours from your car & it would probably be on the road again if more of us could make it out there. I guess the good news is there's light at the end of the tunnel & its looking great.

Short of shaving the fiberglass front wings, what can be done to make them appear more like the rear flares (which look GREAT).

Speaking of which, the rear flares are done.







Have to weld a 4 bolt reinforcements to the "Tusks" for the bumper mounts and then I think all the welding is done.

I think the second flare came out a little better (as is usually the case), at least I had a lot less shrinking needed on it and I think the lines are slightly cleaner. But don't worry it'll take a close comparison to see the difference, and it's in keeping with the old panel beater's tradition anyway. Like I said before I started, what you get may not be what you had in mind. It is what it is, and it'll be fine. Very solid.

I guess that leaves the fiberglass. Can't put it off any longer.

By the way, I really need some 1-7/8" square tubing. The front of the car will definitely not look right without the bumper, due to that godawfulbig radiator.

JB

I expect some of you have been wondering about the progress, well it's finished. The fiberglass work is done, the air cleaner tray is done, and we're ready to start stripping down the car. We really should install the hood struts before it goes to paint but afaik the struts are still sitting on the shelf at Mantell Motorsports so they'll have to get here for that to happen. Here are some photos.







Graham is coming down to work on the car next Friday and Saturday, Dave Kirkman will be here the following Friday and Saturday, and then Steve D will be coming in the Thursday after Labor Day to finish up and transport the car. Right on schedule guys!

JB

Looks great Jim. I didn't hear any more about the steel you wanted for the buper mounts, figure you found something else for that. I'll send a check to help with the transportation expense after the first of the month.

Thanks Bill. I'm still looking for the 1-7/8" square tubing and expect to keep looking until I find it. I've found one large supplier who makes it but hope to avoid minimum quantity charges. We should have plenty of time on that, as the bumper will slip in and be secured with two bolts.

Let’s take a moment to look back on our accomplishments and think about what we have done.

We’ve created a whole new way to build a car that, to my knowledge has never been done before. No small feat in today’s world. Couldn’t say if it’ll ever happen that way again, but we did do it.

We created a fledgling charitable non-profit organization. How long it will last and what it will accomplish is still uncertain but it is “our” charity.

We created a focal point to pull the brotherhood together, and I think it has worked. (Not meaning to exclude female owners here, I just couldn't think of a better, more inclusive word) Certainly we know each other better and are a more cohesive group than when we started. We are stronger and have members previously unknown.

And then there is the car itself. Although it pales in comparison to the above accomplishments, it is a powerful statement in its own right. The first street driven MGB to have a big block engine, we managed to do it and make it look almost stock. Were it not for the fender flares and the air cleaner, once the car is painted and assembled no one would be the wiser. We could have easily built it without the flares, and we could have built an intake that let us keep the stock hood, if that had been the intent. Under the hood it looks as if the Buick 455 grew there.

At the same time we developed an entirely new IRS rear suspension that as a unit can be bolted in place of the stock rear suspension and has significant advantages over the commercially available units.

In addition to this there have been a notable number of smaller but still quite significant accomplishments. A completely new type of exhaust system. A completely new ultra high capacity cooling system, custom seats, custom brakes, custom gages, hood and hatch struts, and more. And of course there is the paint.

I’d love to be able to go through the entire list of contributors and give credit where it is due, and by the time the car is completed I hope to do just that, creating at the same time a sort of press release that can be displayed with the car. For now, we are pretty familiar with those who have contributed, especially the major items. I don’t want to leave anyone off but it’s just impossible to find the right place to draw the line and I’m not going to list everyone right here, so that will have to come later. Despite that, we all know that practically every one of our traditional BritishV8 vendors have found some way to contribute to the cause and have helped make this project possible. If I was a little less frazzled from the end of the build maybe I could do a better job of representing them here as well as all the smaller contributors but have no fear, I’m bouncing back and will be back in top form before long. Our list of contributors is 45 members long and there are many others who have made anonymous donations.

I just want to give a big “Thank You” to you all. Give yourself a pat on the back, have a Bass Ale and celebrate! You deserve it.

JB



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/14/2010 10:38AM by BlownMGB-V8.

Just to add perspective I added a bit of rattle-can paint.

JB

Perhaps I should post a retraction. NOT the first street driven big block. Perhaps the first street driven only, most likely the first street driven only BBB, but definitely not the first street driven big block. My humble apologies to those who have gone before.

JB

Congratulations on producing a working big block MGB! It also looks like the rear flares came out really nice.

Now that the Roadmaster is finished, how much has it been driven? I know that the people building the car were very experienced, but this car stretched the bounds of technology. Therefore, I think it would be a good idea to drive the car enough to make sure it is working properly and is free of annoying traits before it is painted. Once painted, making changes becomes much more difficult or impossible. Even a car that has been restored to stock condition usually has some issues, especially if it was not running before the restoration.

Normally I'd agree with you Larry, (and thanks for the compliments btw) but in this case the advantages of driving the car are counterbalanced by other factors. We have no plates yet. We are now working on getting insurance for the car and this may take some time. Terry is in a bit of a hurry to get the paint done, and finally we really want quite badly to have the car together for next summer's meet if at all possible.

I really don't foresee any issues that would impact on the bodywork or paint, other than the need to go one size smaller on the tires, an issue that we recognized a year ago. And in the worst case, if we have to repaint a panel or two due to repairs or modification we can do that, at least that way we can stay on schedule.

I think most of the mods, taken individually, are pretty conventional and well proven so I have no concerns about that. Possibly we could run into trouble where they combine, or in the final assembly with items such as the cooling system surge tank, so if anyone has spotted a potential problem area please point it out. Other than that, as much as I do appreciate the suggestion and agree wholeheartedly in principle, I think by this point we are all more concerned about seeing the car put into operation than with making it perfect. If I've made a false assumption there, of course I'd like to be corrected.

The bottom line is, we could drive it. But in doing so we will delay the project one more year. And I'm not saying it would happen, Terry's a stand up guy and is good for his word, but risking the loss of the paint to me just doesn't seem worth it and you never know what tomorrow might bring. I think we need to make hay while the sun shines.

JB

"make hay while the sun shines".... just like my pappy used to say. ;)