MG Sports Cars

Yeah, I think it really will tell us a lot about how much the body shell can handle, and that was one of the original objectives anyway. What it puts me in mind of is the spring hanger connector that guys have been adding. It's a really good idea and adds a lot of stiffness to that area without adding more than a very minimal amount of weight, but is it really necessary? I've seen spring mounting holes wallowed out but I can't say I've ever seen a spring hanger that had been deformed from power. Also the additional spot welding that BMH offers and the extra seam welding that some builders do. I don't doubt that both add stiffness which benefits handling, but are they needed to handle more power? We really don't know. You're right on the money though. How in the world they managed to build such a good body shell when everything else they put in it was either old, poor or abysmal really makes you think. The only thing I can figure is that they were hoping for better times and felt they needed a platform they could use for a long time. At least they got that part of it right.

And Carl, you're right, I was napping. Overworked and underpaid don'tcha know? Hey I do have an excuse though, Gary hasn't been around for awhile.

MG: [www.britishv8.org]
Pantera: [forum.britishv8.org]
(You know Gary, there IS a section marked "Not actually British (But included for a good reason)" in the photo gallery. It'd be a good place for your Pantera if it isn't in the gallery someplace else that I missed.)

JB

One more thing though, I do think that the MGB has the potential to go toe-to-toe with any of the Cobras out there, given comparable funding. Inherently it is a very good platform and can be made better. I wouldn't mind building such a car, but I'm afraid I'm getting a little too old to drive it in anger. Man I hate it when that happens!

Quote: "I wouldn't mind building such a car, but I'm afraid I'm getting a little too old to drive it in anger. Man I hate it when that happens!"

Man, after the go-cart event in Indy, I was hurt for 2 months. My back, my gut, I had to lift my legs and rotate to get out of bed!

... and I didn't feel a bit sorry for you guys!

JB

LOL!

That was some fun reading right there!!!!

Gary, I'm just curious, what engine is your brother running?

JB

Gary, you're not as young and spry as I though you were, my aches and pains didn't last that long after Indy. LOL Better get in shape for 2013, we're planning on some kart time again.
Jim, as if your blown 340 wouldn't be up there in or near that league. I hope you're still ready to at least get a little miffed when you drive that!

Bill I got a bad spot in my back. I hit one of the walls hard at once that knocked the breath out of me.

Jim, he runs a 460 bored and stroked to 605 with aluminum heads and intake. He has worked pretty hard getting lifters to work with such a strong engine; it is the Achilles' heel of rpm. It s the prime reason I chose a low RPM tq engine for the Pantera. I only get 500hp out of my 434 but it is all under 5500rpm making 450ftlbs at 2000rpm. With aluminum heads and intake he is only 100lbs more then the small block. The trade off is durability. The engine is bullet proof and completely streatable with no power adders.

He is pretty amazing with engines. He is light years ahead of anything I do with a crank shaft. Email me and I will tell about some of the other engines he is working on which are very cool.

A machine shop in Owensboro Ky runs the big block Buicks in the engine masters. He may be a source for you. My brother ran his 702 V12 on the dyno down there:

[automachperf.com]

I really can't say enough good things about the work Dale Spooner (Motion Machine) did on this engine, well actually both engines, this one and my 340. I knew about Mike but have not been down there, it's about 2-1/2 hours away I think. Taken as a whole the BritishV8 guys and particularly the Spuriites have been a lot more supportive of the project than the Buick guys. I'll qualify that by saying that the Buick guys did get us going with two engine cores, flywheel, carb and several other parts, but it was Dale who stepped forward and did the machine work as a donation, and then on top of that made another large donation at the V8 meet that year. As good as AM&P is (and by reputation they are very good indeed) from what I can see Dale matched them in the quality of the machine work. So for the forseeable future I have to stand by Dale. In particular he took great pains with the crank and bore centerlines to get everything squared up properly, and then when we changed horses in midstream by buying aluminum head castings he didn't complain in the least about preparing two sets of heads for us. On my engine he also cut o-ring grooves and had quite a challenge producing a straight align bore with the mismatched crank caps that came with the reman engine I used as a core, but when finished it was as near perfect as I could have asked for. So my opinion, if it counts for anything, is that he supported us and we should support him.

I understand what you mean about durability, I think that will be one of the strong suits of the Roadmaster. That engine is SO understressed. I swear, I don't know how we're ever going to put enough of a load on it to get the rings to fully seat in. We could have installed a mild stock camshaft in it and that would have been just fine. In fact I sort of wish we had. Not that this one is any sort of a problem, but just having this kind of torque along with a dead smooth idle would be kind of a kick.

JB

There is enough written about the engines he has done for the Engine Masters it may be worth seeing what he has done; not that your going to change anything now.

Got the choke fixed. Anyone know how to turn on the radio?

JB

Dim the headlights, sprinkle a few transistors on the seats, strip some wire.
What radio wouldn't be turned on?

Might take a little more than that Fred. I think the heater blower isn't working either and I'm wondering about the radiator fans. Oh well. Tom Kruer, a local friend of mine is coming over tomorrow to help with the ignition modules so maybe we'll get a chance to look at it.

I advanced the timing a little today, that made the idle speed increase and it seems to run a little smoother. I also yanked the spring off of the choke cable. It doesn't need it and it wanted to pull the cable back in so now that's gone.

We definitely need to balance the driveshaft, but I'm not sure we have the money we need to send it out. It doesn't shake real bad, but it does shake. Also the rear end whines so we need to be saving up for a new center housing.

Still no speedo or tach, which makes driving it sort of interesting, but mostly I've just run with traffic.

JB

Did you ever get Edith that GPS? If you did, borrow it so you can monitor your speed. Is your new phone and Android? If it is, you can download a speedo app and turn on the gps in it, but it sucks the battery dry. I did that with my TR7 when the cable was broken. Short term fixes to keep you from getting into trouble with the boys in blue.

As for the other electrical problems, with all the non-british parts, I would bet that you are running short on Lucas Smoke. Probably needs and injection

We got a lot done today. I think everything on the modules is hooked up and ready to go and we moved the compressor to the rear (for the air suspension) which will allow using a larger compressor later on. There is just one wire for the alternator to hook up yet, the sense wire to the battery, but we installed a relay for that wire. The voltage seemed to be dropping off a bit so I figured that would help. The way it works is that the resistance of the wires is taken into account by running a separate wire to the battery, The charge has to go back to the battery on the heavy wire and there is a voltage drop. Then it has to go back forward on the sense wire and there is another voltage drop. So the alternator charges enough to compensate for both of those drops instead of accounting for neither one if it is just hooked into system power. Routing of the wires may be less than perfect, but then all the interior was already in the car.

JB

Yeah, but does the radio work? ;)

No!!!
I even found the manual, looked up the right button, and pushed it! Nada, zip, nothing. No lights.

On the plus side, the heater blower was working... but the wipers weren't.

Didn't see any glowing lights on the fuses either.

I don't think this is a "very delightful thing" right here, you know? I mean, how can you drive without radio and wipers? Hmmm... wipers were working, I drove it in the rain. Maybe they only work if it's raining? After all, there ARE still bullet connectors in the wiring...

JB

So... "The Lucas is strong in this one"....
Possibly the electricals just need some tea , biscuits and a proper introduction.

Dan's right, You need a jar full of Lucas Smoke for the radio to work! LOL

re: I don't think this is a "very delightful thing" right here, you know? I mean, how can you drive without radio and wipers? Hmmm... wipers were working, I drove it in the rain. Maybe they only work if it's raining? After all, there ARE still bullet connectors in the wiring...

Very easily...I've done it in the 69 MGC since 2003. Lots of Rain-X...and the exhaust note suffice as my tunes.