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Moderator
Curtis Jacobson
Portland Oregon
(4576 posts)

Registered:
10/12/2007 02:16AM

Main British Car:
71 MGBGT, Buick 215

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Goin' to the Races - Gonna see the GT2 MG!
Posted by: Moderator
Date: April 29, 2011 02:40PM

Every time I hear the news, they're talking about tornadoes yet here I find myself screamin' across Kansas in my MG. Am I tempting fate? Nope, I decided I just couldn't miss the unveiling of Phil's MG RV8 at the Heartland Park. I heard a rumor that Phil recruited a celebrity driver to help break the car in. Exciting! It's been years since I've been to an SCCA event - I've been embarrassingly out of touch - but it will be great fun to catch up with Phil, Robert, Clancy, hopefully Bill Young(!), and of course the Prathers. Anybody else out here?

Phil's RV8 has been built to race in SCCA's GT2 class:
http://www.britishracecar.com/PhilLeonard-MG-RV8/PhilLeonard-MG-RV8-AA.jpg


Bill Young
Bill Young
Kansas City, MO
(1337 posts)

Registered:
10/23/2007 09:23AM

Main British Car:
'73 MG Midget V6 , '59 MGA I6 2.8 GM, 4.0 Jeep

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Re: Goin' to the Races - Gonna see the GT2 MG!
Posted by: Bill Young
Date: April 29, 2011 04:37PM

I'll be there for sure Curtis. On Sunday at noon the Prather's are hosting their annual "Picnic at the Races" for all their friends in the British Car community and the Miata guys. They've been doing this for several years now and it's become a must do event for a lot of us. Unfortunately some of the guys are in Key West for that run so won't be there this year, Bill Davidson for one with his newly completed BGT V6. You guys will see it unveiled in Townsend though.


Phillip G
Phillip Leonard
Kansas City
(395 posts)

Registered:
02/03/2008 04:12PM

Main British Car:
1992 MG RV8 Rover 3.5

Re: Goin' to the Races - Gonna see the GT2 MG!
Posted by: Phillip G
Date: April 29, 2011 09:38PM

Curtis,

Bill,

I spent all day on the road today, too, to & fro Kansas City & Topeka & HPT to prep the V8 MG Rover RV8 SCCA GT2 car at HPT for the 1st SCCA race. It is now sitting in the HPT pits waiting for its very first outing, to roll out onto the track to compete in the "Big Bore" SCCA class.

Wish us luck just to start, race and finish.

So glad you guys are going to be on hand. Amateur SCCA racing takes the efforts of many minds and many dirty hands.

keep them on the track

phillip g


Moderator
Curtis Jacobson
Portland Oregon
(4576 posts)

Registered:
10/12/2007 02:16AM

Main British Car:
71 MGBGT, Buick 215

authors avatar
Re: Goin' to the Races - Gonna see the GT2 MG!
Posted by: Moderator
Date: April 29, 2011 09:53PM

I pulled into the paddock a bit after 4pm, and parked next to the RV8. Pretty quiet paddock today. The only other British car I saw was a Formula Continental. I enjoyed a brief conversation with Jesse (who is paddocked with his Miata's maybe 20 yards away) and later with Tony G who will be racing his one-owner Datsun 240Z in GT2. Beautiful weather, but sooooooo windy! Can't wait for tomorrow.


Phillip G
Phillip Leonard
Kansas City
(395 posts)

Registered:
02/03/2008 04:12PM

Main British Car:
1992 MG RV8 Rover 3.5

Re: Goin' to the Races - Gonna see the GT2 MG!
Posted by: Phillip G
Date: May 01, 2011 09:15PM

Curtis,

So the chief steward of the Heartland Park races calls me on my cell phone while I'm driving home, back from Topeka to KC Saturday evening - to tell me the Rover MG RV8 is 200 lbs under weight at tech after the race.

And he says he and the other stewards can't find the Rover MG RV8 in the SCCA GCR rule book. They never heard of a Rover MG RV8.

I called him back to give them the page number in the GCR for the GT2 Rover MG RV8. He/they said "never mind, we found it - but you are still 200 lbs under wright".

The car is light - actually under 2,000 lbs. All tubing is aircraft chrome molly. But with driver and all fluids aboard, the RV8 is right on the legal weight for the SCCA GT2 class.

I had a long session with the Heartland Park tech inspection people today (Sunday) and they recognized the special allowances for weight reductions made eligible for the RV8 in the GCR. Wheel size and transmission function in the RV8 allows a 139 lb loss of weight in class. The tech inspectors were unaware of the fine print in the GCR.

We're in ! The door is now open for MGB GT V8's and Rover MG RV8's to race in the SCCA in the GT2 class. Racing with the Vipers and Vetts is a gas!

keep them on the track,

phillip g


Bill Young
Bill Young
Kansas City, MO
(1337 posts)

Registered:
10/23/2007 09:23AM

Main British Car:
'73 MG Midget V6 , '59 MGA I6 2.8 GM, 4.0 Jeep

authors avatar
Re: Goin' to the Races - Gonna see the GT2 MG!
Posted by: Bill Young
Date: May 01, 2011 11:20PM

I was there on Saturday to help Phil as part of his pit crew. The car did an awsome job considering it was the first time racing. Jessie Prather is a great driver, stepped into the car for the first time and was turning laps in the 1 minute 50 second range after just a couple of warm up laps. very good for Heartland Park. The car is right on the weight limit as Phil said and that was with an almost full tank of fuel, we'll probably add some ballast between the axles and reduce the fuel load to have a weight cushion and improve the handling a bit. We had some oiling issues, see the post in the engine section on that, but overall it was a pretty good day. We got a lot of good feedback from Jessie (never hurts to have a three time SCCA national champion check out your car) Great to see Curtis, although I didn't have a lot of time to talk to him as we were busy with the car and he was chasing down articles for the newsletter. We've got a list of things to do now on the car before the next time out. Most are pretty simple detail type stuff, improve the Accusump cable arrangement, may add a rear sway bar to reduce understeer, and increas the rear spring rate a bit. That along with the new brake discs Phil already has but hadn't had time to install should sort out the chassis pretty well and leave the engine as the only hurdle. This one is only a "mule" to get the chassis sorted, Phil is looking for one of the 4 bolt main Rover blocks to build the next true race motor around.
IMG_0340.jpg
IMG_0337.jpg


Moderator
Curtis Jacobson
Portland Oregon
(4576 posts)

Registered:
10/12/2007 02:16AM

Main British Car:
71 MGBGT, Buick 215

authors avatar
Re: Goin' to the Races - Gonna see the GT2 MG!
Posted by: Moderator
Date: May 02, 2011 07:27PM

Congratulations Phil! Your dream is coming true. Your MG RV8 has now raced in GT2, and it will quickly start gaining ground on established competitors in the class. It was very exciting to be at Heartland Park and to document the beginning of a new chapter in MG racing history! No MG ever raced in a GT class before. There will be toothing pains with any racecar. Despite a few small hiccups, it was very impressive to see the RV8 get off to such a strong start. And what a nice bunch of people working on this project too!

I just downloaded my camera. Looks like I got about 110 photos of the RV8 this weekend. I'll post some teaser photos soon. I've already started writing up a whale of a How It Was Done article.



roverman
Art Gertz
Winchester, CA.
(3188 posts)

Registered:
04/24/2009 11:02AM

Main British Car:
74' Jensen Healy, 79 Huff. GT 1, 74 MGB Lotus 907,2L

Re: Goin' to the Races - Gonna see the GT2 MG!
Posted by: roverman
Date: May 02, 2011 08:39PM

This IS impressive ! Get all the feed-back from Jessie, you can, thinks like, gear ratio spread,in the trans, turn-in/exit speed etc. How much slower on laps versus the top competitors, in class ? Clan, this is HISTORY, in the making ! Good Luck, roverman.


Phillip G
Phillip Leonard
Kansas City
(395 posts)

Registered:
02/03/2008 04:12PM

Main British Car:
1992 MG RV8 Rover 3.5

Re: Goin' to the Races - Gonna see the GT2 MG!
Posted by: Phillip G
Date: May 03, 2011 07:48PM

Roverman,

You are right on about the gear spread in the transmission and the turn-in/exit speed. First thing Jesse Prather told me after the first (ever) practice/qualifying session - was that the 3.90 final drive was not right with the gear spread in the transmission. He suggests a 3.50 final drive. He ran only with 3rd. & 4th gears - 5th was just not appropriate with our 3.90 final drive gear at the end of the longest straight away at Heartland Park.

He still managed to turn several 1.50 minute lap times - after only 4 laps in the very first practice & qualifying session. Look it up, for this is a very respectable lap time at Heartland Park.

The Rover MG RV8 can race competitively in the SCCA GT2 class.

keep them on the track,

phillip g


roverman
Art Gertz
Winchester, CA.
(3188 posts)

Registered:
04/24/2009 11:02AM

Main British Car:
74' Jensen Healy, 79 Huff. GT 1, 74 MGB Lotus 907,2L

Re: Goin' to the Races - Gonna see the GT2 MG!
Posted by: roverman
Date: May 04, 2011 12:15PM

Phillip, low vehicle weight,and the engine being somewhat torkey ,is a big plus here. You need to know ALL the foward ratios in you current T5. Real race transmissions usually have "modular" gears, so ratios are changed/optimized for each circuit. In leiu of that, you can change to closer ratios(Liberty gears) in your trans. Tremec makes a good value 5 speed, with 2.87/1st and .82/5th. Changing the final drive ratio will SLOW car accelleration, through ALL the gears,(food for thought). Having gears ,you can't use on the track, is just dead weight and drag. Good Luck, roverman.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/2011 12:18PM by roverman.


Bill Young
Bill Young
Kansas City, MO
(1337 posts)

Registered:
10/23/2007 09:23AM

Main British Car:
'73 MG Midget V6 , '59 MGA I6 2.8 GM, 4.0 Jeep

authors avatar
Re: Goin' to the Races - Gonna see the GT2 MG!
Posted by: Bill Young
Date: May 04, 2011 03:01PM

I haven't spoken to Jessie about how the overall gearing felt, but I did recommend to Phil that we stay near the 3.9 ratio for now even with the new 8" Ford housing he's planning on installing soon. If the car is running fine and in the proper RPM range at the end of the main straight then 4th gear is where we want to be. With the shift pattern of the T5 down shifting from 5th to 4th isn't as precise as from 4th to 3rd and we'd still have the 5th gear for tracks with longer straights where the extra gearing would be of use. In that case the driver would only have one 5th to 4th downshift per lap so that would be quite managable.


Moderator
Curtis Jacobson
Portland Oregon
(4576 posts)

Registered:
10/12/2007 02:16AM

Main British Car:
71 MGBGT, Buick 215

authors avatar
Re: Goin' to the Races - Gonna see the GT2 MG!
Posted by: Moderator
Date: May 04, 2011 03:14PM

You won't get far off base if you try to keep an eye on what Les Gonda and Jerry Richards are doing - they have a lot of developmet time and experience! Les' "T5z" spans from 2.95:1 first-gear to 0.80:1 fifth, and he changes between 3.9:1 or 4.1:1 rear based on the track. Jerry likes carefully set-up Muncie four speeds, geared so the use first on slow turns.


roverman
Art Gertz
Winchester, CA.
(3188 posts)

Registered:
04/24/2009 11:02AM

Main British Car:
74' Jensen Healy, 79 Huff. GT 1, 74 MGB Lotus 907,2L

Re: Goin' to the Races - Gonna see the GT2 MG!
Posted by: roverman
Date: May 05, 2011 12:37PM

If a "quick change" is allowed, final drive ratio change takes 20 min.? I like like the de-camber potential. roverman.


Moderator
Curtis Jacobson
Portland Oregon
(4576 posts)

Registered:
10/12/2007 02:16AM

Main British Car:
71 MGBGT, Buick 215

authors avatar
Re: Goin' to the Races - Gonna see the GT2 MG!
Posted by: Moderator
Date: May 05, 2011 01:41PM

Here's a couple favorites:

http://www.britishracecar.com/PhilLeonard-MG-RV8/PhilLeonard-MG-RV8-FM.jpg

http://www.britishracecar.com/PhilLeonard-MG-RV8/PhilLeonard-MG-RV8-AA2.jpg

http://www.britishracecar.com/PhilLeonard-MG-RV8/PhilLeonard-MG-RV8-FR.jpg


roverman
Art Gertz
Winchester, CA.
(3188 posts)

Registered:
04/24/2009 11:02AM

Main British Car:
74' Jensen Healy, 79 Huff. GT 1, 74 MGB Lotus 907,2L

Re: Goin' to the Races - Gonna see the GT2 MG!/close ratio ?
Posted by: roverman
Date: May 13, 2011 06:02PM

Phillip and clan, I suggest considering the "G-Force", spur gear/dog ring conversion for the T5 trans, not cheap, but neither is winning. Ratios of 2.94,1.94,1.34, 1.0 and .90 fifth.Their rating is approx 600hp and 500 ft/lbs.Spur gears are stronger and have less drag(noisy). Close ratios will tend to shift faster,(in same design), as a function of ratio spread. Good luck, roverman.



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