BlownMGB-V8 Jim Blackwood 9406 Gunpowder Rd., Florence, KY 41042 (6468 posts) Registered: 10/23/2007 12:59PM Main British Car: 1971 MGB Blown,Injected,Intercooled Buick 340/AA80E/JagIRS |
Re: Ground clearance
The exhaust is always the problem. If you lower the car 1-2" below CB height it is very difficult to get enough suspension travel to prevent grounding out when touching down after cresting, without making the suspension so stiff it is unbearable to drive. The only solution I was ever able to come up with was to get the exhaust out from under the car. That way you pick up another 2-to 3 inches of travel and everything gets much easier.
Jim |
rficalora Rob Ficalora Willis, TX (2764 posts) Registered: 10/24/2007 02:46PM Main British Car: '76 MGB w/CB front, Sebring rear, early metal dash Ford 302 |
Re: Ground clearance
QUOTE: Rob:
Just measured my clearance tonight and have 4 1/4" from the bottom of the mufflers to the garage floor. The measurement from the floor to the bottom of the front fender (centre of wheels) is 23 3/4". and the rear is 23 1/2". Hmmmm. With my flares, I can't measure to the OEM wheel well opening. I got the following measurements: - 8" garage floor to bottom of the floor board (to the lower part of one of the ribs) - 26" floor to top edge of chrome strip (or to the fold in the body line since I shaved off the chrome strips); measured 7" behind the door opening - 25" floor to top edge of chrome strip/fold in the body line; measured 22" forward of the door opening Anyway, I picked up a used pair of Magnaflow 2.5" in/out 14" body mufflers off craigslist. At 4.25" I'm thinking they'll be ok especially if I can fit them at least 1" closer to the floors. That'd mean at most 3/4" lower than current and only in the middle since they're ovals. If they don't work - or if they're too loud (they're the straight through vs chambered style), I can always resell for what I paid (maybe more as they are in way better shape than I expected - they look almost new). Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/22/2016 10:26PM by rficalora. |
Re: Ground clearance
This is the exhaust I swapped to to gain clearance:
[www.summitracing.com] I welded this on to mate it with the pipe and make it easily removable: [www.summitracing.com] [www.summitracing.com] It sounds good too: |
HealeyRick Rick Neville (489 posts) Registered: 12/19/2007 05:01PM Main British Car: 1963 Austin-Healey 3000 Ford 5.0L |
Re: Ground clearance
Rob,
As much as I looked, I couldn't find anything thinner than the Spintechs and with a Healey, ground clearance is everything. Mine are tucked under the seats pretty tight, but you've got to make sure you've got some good insulation in place if you get your mufflers really close to the floorboards. I bought a self-adhesive product from DEI [www.designengineering.com] to stick between the floorboards and muffler and it's been really effective. Personally, I'm happy with the Spintechs although my exhaust is a bit loud. [www.youtube.com] I think I'm losing a lot of power through my Sunbeam Tiger cast manifolds with a lot of tight turns in the exhaust system. I think I've found some block hugger headers that will work from Summit and may change my exhaust a bit when I install them. I'm thinking of adding some Monza resonator tips to quiet it a bit, but I'm not sure yet Funny how important the sound of our cars is. I have the lumpy idle I want and am very happy with the sound, just don't like losing the power. It's all a compromise between ground clearance, sound.floorboard heat and the amount of power the mufflers steal. Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/31/2016 07:24PM by HealeyRick. |
lawnvett PJ Lenihan Winston-Salem, NC (477 posts) Registered: 04/29/2009 11:37AM Main British Car: 74 MGB-GT 3.4 V-6 crate, 5 spd |
Re: Ground clearance
Rob,
I know this is crazy by some standards, but, I raised my car back to chrome bumper height. It was just not worth the better handling to keep fixing the exhaust. If i was primarily interested in fastest time through the twists i wouldn't have done this. But I had exhaust dragging issues in too many far away places. So 2 years ago when I redid the exhaust the V6 MGBGT was put back to stock height. I still scrape every once in a while, but no longer rip off the muffler which is now in the back of the car. good luck |
BlownMGB-V8 Jim Blackwood 9406 Gunpowder Rd., Florence, KY 41042 (6468 posts) Registered: 10/23/2007 12:59PM Main British Car: 1971 MGB Blown,Injected,Intercooled Buick 340/AA80E/JagIRS |
Re: Ground clearance
Sacrilege PJ! No, but really, as we get older and our priorities change, many of us are raising our cars back up a bit. easier on the joints.
Jim |
MGBV8 Carl Floyd Kingsport, TN (4511 posts) Registered: 10/23/2007 11:32PM Main British Car: 1979 MGB Buick 215 |
Re: Ground clearance
Yeah, realistically, the stock RB height would be easier as we age........But I'm not there yet! ;) Climbing in & out is not as easy as it used to be, but I would not trade the handling for that. And, my MGB sits lower than my Dad's '63 B.
My MG drags some. I haven' lost a muffler yet, so it's still not low enough. :) |
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BlownMGB-V8 Jim Blackwood 9406 Gunpowder Rd., Florence, KY 41042 (6468 posts) Registered: 10/23/2007 12:59PM Main British Car: 1971 MGB Blown,Injected,Intercooled Buick 340/AA80E/JagIRS |
Re: Ground clearance
It's the real reason why I ran the exhaust through the rocker panels. No pipes or mufflers below the bodywork.
Jim |