MG Sports Cars

There I was....stranded in Florence, Ky. TR4A fuel injection conversion project 95% complete (actually mechanically 100%) including custom Blackwood Labs conversion parts. We were struggling with getting it to actually run, having worked an intense weekend on the conversion. I already had two days vacation invested, and need to get back to WV to work today, so Jim says, "Take the B, I think she'll make the trip. She overheats a little, but you can stop and let it cool off and add antifreeze. It'll probably make it." Famous last words!
So I took the B, and what a trip! Before I got to the interstate I already had two people hollering at me, "What kind of car is that?" On the highway, a big diesel pickup pulled up beside me and motioned for me to get on it, so I punched a little to make some noise. He grinned from ear to ear.
I exited the freeway to the AA highway, and several traffic lights and hills, keeping an eye on the temperature. I stopped at a little covered bridge off the road to let it cool, and added coolant, the proceeded to the next town, Maysville, where I stopped at Walmart to get more coolant, and a cold vitamin water. I decided to go ahead and top off the coolant, and added a half gallon. Several people including the checkout guy at Walmart made comments about the car. One guy asked, "Is that a Porche?"
She ran cool to the next stop at Vanceburg, where I got gas, an ice cream cone, and added coolant. A guy getting milk stood there admiring the engine, and asked me about old hot rods. He has a 40 Ford.
Then the hills. Babying the car along, I watched the guage go up and down, depending on if I was ascending or descending a hill. It was doing just what Jim told me it would. Finally, I made it to the interstate, I-64 at Grayson, Ky. I thought, now I'm home free. Not to be
As the guage climbed, I looked for a good shady place to pull off. I found a spot, stopped the car, popped the hood and called Jim to report a miss she had developed. We discussed the coolant, checked the oil, etc. When it was cool enough, I added more coolant, hung up the phone and started out.
As a gap came in traffic, I hit the gas (starting out in 2nd on Jim's transmission, going downhill) pulled on the road and BOOM!

There I was....stranded in Greenup, Kentucky........

So obviously this tale is only half over. What happened to the B? It all goes back to a British car meet at Edgewater a number of years back where I blew a head gasket drag racing. That was followed by double helicoiled head studs and copper head gaskets that never entirely sealed properly, just prior to the first Townsend meet. First indication was that it began to run warm at the end of the return trip. Since then it had gradually gotten worse, and obviously was even worst than I thought it was. Just a matter of time and it looks like the time is now. My guess? A melted piston. Unfortunately the 340 is not yet ready, but I do have a usable 215 spare, so an engine swap is in the cards. It won't be in time for Townsend-III but we may be able to come anyway if the logistics pan out. Hopefully I'll get the help I need to make that happen.

The TR4-A EFI is a one-off design using a modified GM intake of unknown origin. We would like help in identifying it.






Obviously an I-4 of some type, it sold on ebay new, reported to be a 1.8L engine but since GM didn't apparently have such an engine that's a dubious claim.
Can anyone identify it?

Jim



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/19/2008 12:39PM by BlownMGB-V8.

OK my first is still my favorite kill story this was before the new stroker engine and upgraded Nitrous system and still with the MGB 3.91:1 rear.

NJ Garden State Parkway toll plaza, a BMW M (240 HP version) Roadster and Amy's MGB V8 (Me driving) exit the toll at the same time, we both get on it but the M3 didn't stand a chance as I was at least 3 car lengths ahead by the time we hit 100 mph, I backed off and looked over as they did a "ricer" flyby without even looking my way. It was even a bigger thrill in how they wouldn't acknowledge my victory over them then actually beating them in the race.

Since the new engine I have many more stories.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/20/2008 11:11AM by MSDMGBV8.

Slalom in a SUB is a good story Jim. You are the first. I think David's name is David Dash.

OK I got one for you. Bear in mind this comes from a lawless age when traffic regulations were openly flaunted and taxes were routinely ignored and if not caught, it never happened.

SO THERE I WAS headed to work down I-5 in morning traffic (sound familiar Bill?) and the standard pattern was, clump of cars doing 75, big space, clump of cars, space, etc. Rarely a CHP. Making time meant busting through the clump as quickly as possible then putting 'er down in between. If you came up on them by surprise lots of times you'd be past them before they ever knew you were there, but if not, well then you got to wait for a hole to open up as you got in line and followed the hot shoes through the clump. This was pre-V8 btw, so the in-betweens really did mean putting 'er down, and sometimes you just couldn't reach that magic number where you could cleanly slip through. So I come up on a clump of cars, doing all she'll do and there's one on my left coming up and one ahead and it'll be smooth sailing if I can only slip between them. Should have been no problem but the driver on the left sees me coming and floors it. With the cars we drive now, still no problem but I've got this little 1800 maxed out and this jerk is closing the gap on me as I watch. He's not going to be able to catch me but what he can do is make me hit the brakes hard and then I'll just have to get in line, so he's basically just messing with me.

However, with the supreme confidence of being 10 ft tall and bullet proof, I dished up a change of pace that he could never have expected. Running headlong directly at the rear of the car in my lane, at the last possible instant I cleared Lefty's front bumper and at that precise point cranked the B's wheel over hard and fast to the left, putting the B into a 4 wheel slide almost dead sideways to traffic flow. Then in the same fluid motion I reversed the wheel, just as hard and fast to the right, going into a 4 wheel slide in the opposite direction which put me back straight in line with traffic. Brought the wheel back straight, foot still on the floor, and away I went, now in front of Lefty and pulling away. He never even saw it coming.

Since then I've had reason to suspect that maybe, just maybe, I might not be bullet proof. Or I might not be 10 ft tall. And I've had occasion to view my own mortality. I've driven autocrosses where the rim has slipped out of my hands and given me a nasty rug burn on the wrist. You LOSE CONTROL when that happens. Loss of control in the above maneuver most likely would have meant death. So I don't drive like that any more. It's just not safe.

Jim

Jim,
RE: "......So I don't drive like that any more. It's just not safe......."

So who was that driving your car on the Dragon in 2006?

What, that little grocery run? That was nothing to get excited about, seems like you were doing a fine job of keeping up. Just a stroll in the park really...

Jim
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

My apologies folks.

Perhaps if I phrased it as--- Have any of you done auto cross with your v8s what class and what kind of other autos do you run against What modifications make the biggest improvement to your times. besides a rev limiter

Mike Moore it may have only been 5000 rpm really! Mike chastised me when I told him about the rpm when returning the car. He has never asked me for new valve springs.

Who am I? Just a moron that fools with british cars Best thing Winner of 2005 Missouri indurance ralley with Mark Shetley

Thanks Jim B

Hi David, congratulations on the Endurance Ralley win. That's a tough one as I've heard from Rob Camblin who's gone over a couple of times to run it.
As far as autocrossing, I don't know which of the guys does this routinely, but it seems that at the yearly British V8 meets it's Carl that usually has the quick car and times so hopefully he'll chime in. You might check out the section in the Pub on this year's meet in Wisconsin. The times for all the cars was posted there and might give you some idea. From what I saw it really seemed to boil down to the basics no matter what the engine was as there was a 4 cylinder MGB that was nearly as fast as Carl in his V8. The best addition seemed to be sticky tires. Carl was running some real soft compound rubber and it showed. I think he almost wore them out on the trip up and back and said in the rain it got a little scary.
For my Midget, I built it with autocross in mind and according to the rules at that time (95). Because of the engine swap I wound up in E Modifed according to SCCA Solo rules and would be running against some very race only type cars. I knew I wouldn't be competitive, but wanted to comply with the safety requirements so I could at least have some fun. I would think that if you had a Rover V8 then you might be able to still run in a stock class, but with a Ford or Chevy or V6 you're definitely in modified. I ran the auto cross at the Spridget 50 this summer at Lake of the Ozarks and was in the same class as a tube frame Mazda rotary powered car with a blower. Needless to say I finished second in class and he finished next to last, some 10 seconds faster than my time. ;-) Still I had fun, didn't hit any cones, and didn't get lost so I was happy.
Hope to see you at one of the regional shows soon. I can't make the St. Louis show, will be on vacation. Are you planning on coming over to KC for the All British on Labor Day weekend?