http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG Stuffing a big V8 into a poor little MGB. en-us Copyright 2010 Keith Tanner. All Rights Reserved. keith@miata.net (Keith Tanner) keith@miata.net (Keith Tanner) Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:40:30 -0700 Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:40:30 -0700 Keith's RSS generator http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 60 http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/images_sml/RSS.jpg http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG 88 88 http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=307 http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=307 A bit too tight, in fact. When I had the new frame horns and decided to install the rad to show off to Janel what I'd accomplished, I discovered that the radiator outlet was right into the kink in the horn. Argh. So I cut that one off again, chopped 5" off the back end and spliced it into the middle. You can see the ground-down welds in this shot. There still isn't a lot of room for the radiator outlet, but there's enough. That's all I ask.
(more)]]> Sun, 07 Mar 2010 18:36:40 -0700 The MGB GT http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=306 http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=306 Not fully welded - that'll happen when the engine is out - but complete. I'm really happy with this. The end result looks pretty obvious, but it took me a while to come up with it as I kept thinking "no, that's too complicated" and taking another look. This is simple, fairly light and should be decently strong. Might make a good sway bar mounting point in the future as well!
(more)]]> Sun, 07 Mar 2010 18:30:54 -0700 The MGB GT http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=305 http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=305 Of course.
(more)]]> Sun, 07 Mar 2010 08:08:20 -0700 The MGB GT http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=304 http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=304 It really is a monster. I chopped out more of the sheetmetal in the nose and tested to see how high I could put the rad with the hood closed. Had I specified the rad without a filler cap, it would have been a bit higher. Naturally the rad is just wide enough to cause interference with the structure of the hood.
(more)]]> Sun, 07 Mar 2010 08:02:15 -0700 The MGB GT http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=303 http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=303 (more)]]> Sun, 07 Mar 2010 07:57:14 -0700 The MGB GT http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=302 http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=302 This has to pass through a frame crossmember in order to get from front to back, and I realized it would package better if it did so at a 45 degree angle. I picked up some pipe with an ID a bit bigger than the exhaust OD. It's some sort of massive gas pipe, and my poor chop saw had a heck of a time with it!
(more)]]> Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:24:28 -0700 The MGB GT http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=301 http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=301 I've managed to come up with a plan of attack to get me to the First Start of the engine. The exhaust is very high on the list as it's hot and big and determines where many other things go, but before I put the exhaust in I wanted to make sure the driveshaft wouldn't cause a clearance problem with the X pipe.
(more)]]> Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:19:31 -0700 The MGB GT http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=300 http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=300 Most of these have been around for a week or so while I continue to do nothing at all with them. The ball flanges on the right will join my headers to the main pipes, with some room for "oops". The shiny band clamp was also going to perform a similar task, but may be out of a job.
(more)]]> Mon, 01 Mar 2010 23:42:46 -0700 The MGB GT http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=299 http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=299 These are 12" units, and I guess this staggered setup will work. It's either that or one huge 18", and that would put the motor in the worst possible place. Given the fact that there are no heat exchangers (such as intercoolers or AC condensers) in front of the rad and pretty clear airflow, I think even two unshrouded fans like this will do the job. I'm very concerned about the depth of the assembly, as the more I push the rad forward the less hood height I have to play with - and I'm already tempting fate there.]]> Mon, 01 Mar 2010 23:36:15 -0700 The MGB GT http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=298 http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=298 This shipment is from AFCO. Along with some interesting suspension bits for the Targa Miata came this radiator. It's a dual-pass setup for maximum efficiency and it's huge! Seriously, it's the smallest rad I found that I thought would work and it's also the biggest radiator I thought I could fit: 26" wide and 20" tall. There's going to be some serious surgery ahead to make this work, and I think it's going to also entail hood pins. I just hope I can make it fit without hanging it down below the body.
(more)]]> Mon, 01 Mar 2010 23:31:44 -0700 The MGB GT http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=297 http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=297 Del City provided this 10-circuit fuse block. I figure I only need 6, but more can't hurt. The MG only has about 4 and they're all devoted to lighting from what I can tell. If I only need 6 of these 10, I'll integrate the two boxes.
(more)]]> Fri, 26 Feb 2010 23:06:39 -0700 The MGB GT http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=296 http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=296 The two collectors in the picture are a couple from my collection. The grey merge collector on the right is an Edelbrock piece, one that I've used before in another build. I only have one of these.
(more)]]> Sun, 21 Feb 2010 12:50:41 -0700 The MGB GT http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=295 http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=295 You can see it at the lower right of the photo, it hasn't been cleaned up yet. Since the track is now wider than it used to be, this doesn't cause any sort of interference problem with the tires.
(more)]]> Sun, 21 Feb 2010 12:33:23 -0700 The MGB GT http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=294 http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=294 This corner bumped up against my Panhard bar mount and kept me from getting the tank quite snuggled into position. A moment with the grinder solved that problem. You can see that the stock tank is actually crimped together. I was careful to stay clear of that section.
(more)]]> Sat, 20 Feb 2010 19:30:31 -0700 The MGB GT http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=293 http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=293 I'm almost positive they will, but it's time to move the gas tank. This is far less difficult than it sounds. The tank bolts to the bottom of the flat trunk floor. I simply had to drill a number of new holes 3" to the left of the existing ones. The large hole for the filler required a hole saw, but otherwise it was quick and easy work.]]> Sat, 20 Feb 2010 19:28:23 -0700 The MGB GT http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=292 http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=292 Flyin' Miata was moving and a lot of random, outdated parts were being sent to the scrapyard. Well, they're not much good as is. But they do have new stainless steel flex joints in them! So I'll cut those out and use them in the exhaust system. I don't expect the engine to move much, but it can't hurt.
(more)]]> Sat, 20 Feb 2010 19:26:35 -0700 The MGB GT http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=291 http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=291 I've been digging around trying to find recommendations on primary tube length, but to no avail. A diameter of around 1.625" or 1.75" seems to be the one to use, and since the last header I built used the latter I will probably do so again as I have some spare parts - including this collector.
(more)]]> Sat, 20 Feb 2010 19:25:07 -0700 The MGB GT http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=290 http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=290 I'm not really sure why that ended up at the top of the list, but there you go. It could be because the Super Turbo muffler I ordered showed up, and so now I know for sure there's enough room for it to fit.
(more)]]> Sat, 20 Feb 2010 19:18:19 -0700 The MGB GT http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=289 http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=289 The Camaro's T56 uses an electronic sender and the MG has a completely mechanical version.
(more)]]> Tue, 16 Feb 2010 17:35:56 -0700 The MGB GT http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=288 http://www.slowcarfast.com/MG/diary.php?UID=288 Next I had to find a place to stash the enormous ECU. It's huge! Newer ones are smaller - but I don't have a newer one. With the removal of the AC system inside the car, there's some room above the passenger's feet. It would be hard to disguise the big modern heatsinked box though.
(more)]]> Tue, 16 Feb 2010 17:24:03 -0700 The MGB GT