The Bower/Esper MGB Riddle!

[esper]

Originally Posted by terence bower

Now,Now,Esper

Ofcourse I wish(ed) you only the nicest types of MGB they are of ageless beauty . Using your case for me "playing with new MGBeez" I could only go for the very last "megapower" eighties rubberbumpers...............luckily I was more into 2nd hand Alfa bertones those days

[terence]

Originally Posted by esper

If my home was on the Island , Chris would be on my list as well. Do you care how big your engine is if its legal? 1850/70 80???. He will let it fly anyway!!!!!
good point with the weight, important but not an easy one!!!!

If any car has an illeagle engine I wont drive it,whats the point in trying to fool yourself! The weight thing is difficult Esper,at first you wonder where to begin,but after looking around a car ,it soon becomes clear where the weight can be taken from One six hour,there were thirteen Beez in total,I was having quite a scrap with Brian Lambert and put in a lap that was 6tenths quicker than his,now Brian is an open sort of guy and he admitted to me that his was 1950, he couldnt believe the difference in performance from a 1850,he even asked Chris if I was being straight with him.Then he asked what mine weighed,then the mistery was solved. Yes it does take time to remove the weight,but as you see,it is worth it!! Oh ,the result for 6hr,fastest MGB,leading the group of 13..25mins to the end,and my other driver parked it in the wall at Le Raidion

[Peter Mallett]

Are Aluminium wings, Bonnet (hood) and doors homologated for App K?

[esper]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Are Aluminium wings, Bonnet (hood) and doors homologated for App K?

Bonnet was standard in aluminium but wings and doors probably ally on the works cars. can't remember if it was homologated??? the steel door fo an MGB isn't that heavy , most of them have to much filler paint etc on in terms of weight.!!

[terence]

Bonnet and doors were homologated,front wings,dont think so.I can remember some one being chucked out for them.The only problem with the ally doors is the fact that they are made from the wrong material,dural would be soooo much better,much more err,durable.

[Peter Mallett]

I see the ex Adrian Beer car is up for sale.

[terence]

Complete with Mass Engine,but its not very light Peter.It was quick in Addies hands,he was young enough not to get the "What If "factor. He has stared to think more ahead these days though
Whoever buys it will be getting a good car,perhaps you,ll sell the Capri?

[Peter Mallett]

I think I'd need to have surgery to remove the Capri

Still if that car can be made lighter it would be a good buy. At the price it is a pretty good entry into international FIA events.

[esper]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

I think I'd need to have surgery to remove the Capri

Still if that car can be made lighter it would be a good buy. At the price it is a pretty good entry into international FIA events.

making an existing car lighter..............is quite a job , but maybe the real body specialst can have a say I did only 4....................

[terence]

Still possible,it comes out from inside and underneath

[Peter Mallett]

Pulleys are a good place to start, or so someone once told me.

[GORDON STREETER]

You can get rid of a fair bit of weight cheaply for a start after that it isn't very cost effective as I found out when I did the ICS series as it was costing a fortune to get rid of very little weight. I eventually got the Anglebox down to 680 kg ready to race . After that its cheaper to go on a diet !

[terence]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Pulleys are a good place to start, or so someone once told me.

Enlightenment?

[esper]

Originally Posted by terence bower

Still possible,it comes out from inside and underneath

insides of doors,
battery boxes? (allthough some think they add strength)
using correct lenghts in bolts
that totals 10 kilos
so...................

[terence]

Radio speaker housing 2kg,as for losing strength by removing the B,Boxes,they do not remove any strength Esper,they are not attached in anyway to add it originally,The rear baffle plates in the front wings can also come out,while the wings are off its also a good idea to have some holes in the inner wing support panels to minimise the heat build up under the bonnet and channel it down into the sills
Then we go onto the boot lid,dont bother with the alloy skin,it weighs as much as steel,all the boot reinforcing frame can be drilled,the cross member in the Bonnet can be removed,there are lots more tricks,but we must not give too many secrets away,can we?

[esper]

Originally Posted by terence bower

Radio speaker housing 2kg,as for losing strength by removing the B,Boxes,they do not remove any strength Esper,they are not attached in anyway to add it originally,The rear baffle plates in the front wings can also come out,while the wings are off its also a good idea to have some holes in the inner wing support panels to minimise the heat build up under the bonnet and channel it down into the sills
Then we go onto the boot lid,dont bother with the alloy skin,it weighs as much as steel,all the boot reinforcing frame can be drilled,the cross member in the Bonnet can be removed,there are lots more tricks,but we must not give too many secrets away,can we?

to be very honnest i had most of them, but not all! after all you made King Frizys car the most beautifull we had overhere and it was the lightest then as well!!! (but one thing heat is never going down! so you generate awfull airspeeds up there)

[terence]

The heat will escape Esper,all thats needed is at the back of the engine bay,there are two large holes,cut out another hole on the outside of the wing spport box,make up an alloy box section to run down to the sill,cut into the sill,hey presto instant inner sill drying!There is a small triangular shaped infill in the bottom of the rear wheel arch,cut that out to let the air escape. Mine and Fritzes were the coolest running of four cars we were running at Spa in 03 or 02.I do still have some photos of Fritzes car after it was first built,I also gave him quite a few so he could see what had been done inside the wings.

[esper]

Originally Posted by terence bower

The heat will escape Esper,all thats needed is at the back of the engine bay,there are two large holes,cut out another hole on the outside of the wing spport box,make up an alloy box section to run down to the sill,cut into the sill,hey presto instant inner sill drying!There is a small triangular shaped infill in the bottom of the rear wheel arch,cut that out to let the air escape. Mine and Fritzes were the coolest running of four cars we were running at Spa in 03 or 02.I do still have some photos of Fritzes car after it was first built,I also gave him quite a few so he could see what had been done inside the wings.

I know another car, dutch as well and well known (in gentleman drivers , 6h etc.) , they did the same mods and wern't impressed. So thats why we didn't do it. had my bonnet lifted at the rear one moment , but then I got a good engine and the need was realy gone!!!!

[esper]

The sill stuf to get away hot air might be ok but first mostly important is to get all "intake" air to the radiator . the MGB was not overdesigned in that aspect........ a flimsy radiatorframe. the bonnet high above that, and then a radiator half sticking half behind some chassis box section..........

[terence]

Absbolutly correct Esper,then the problem is to dispose of all that lovely fresh air at the back of the engine.Because of the design of the front scuttle,it has nowhere to go,hence the need for the sill trick.I know it works,we tried it with a fan and smoke,looked quite impressive,a bit like the Saab advert
The MGB has never as you say been very good in this department,[the reason the works shelved the Le Mans long nose],you see all these cars with the radiator cowling fitted,waste of time and effort! The most important thing is have a good radiator in the first place,then you can work around it.

[terence]

Originally Posted by esper

I know another car, dutch as well and well known (in gentleman drivers , 6h etc.) , they did the same mods and wern't impressed. So thats why we didn't do it. had my bonnet lifted at the rear one moment , but then I got a good engine and the need was realy gone!!!!

Would this be a dark blue car,there are so many I,ve worked on I cant remember the names,if so,there were things on that car to thier own design,they were warned that thsome of the ideas would not work.

[esper]

Originally Posted by terence bower

Would this be a dark blue car,there are so many I,ve worked on I cant remember the names,if so,there were things on that car to thier own design,they were warned that thsome of the ideas would not work.

no its not the dark blue car. the dark blue car was the former Gelissen car which I had " head on" in 95. Later it was owned by Pieter Smit , that was the year you worked on it probably. It was a year we expected a lot of...........our car to beat both Pieter and Ed......but after I got 4 broken Jack knight gearboxes my MG love began to fade. only to find out everyone had 4 synchro boxes..........(but I ran FIA)

No it was the Irish blue over OEW car of Cees de Vries which used the sill to take away the heat, you probably know that car but possibly never worked on that.

[terence]

Mainshaft breaking at the detent drilling? I know of someone who is supposed to be having the mainshaft redesigned; not heard anymore about that, but it is supposed to be happening. The de Vries car is another on the list, so is van Gilles. Is the King's car still about, Esper?




[sorry about the mess above, didn't think they had posted. - No problem, now sorted - JT]

[esper]

Originally Posted by terence bower

Mainshaft breaking at the detent drilling? I know of someone who is supposed to be having the mainshaft redesigned; not heard anymore about that, but it is supposed to be happening. The de Vries car is another on the list, so is van Gilles. Is the King's car still about, Esper?
[/B]

I have always wondered that no-one ever did that like they did with the healey gearboxes. Actually without those holes. There were even close ratio kits on the market those days who didn't had the oilholes drilled in the fist gearwheel of the box!!!!!
Don't know where king-Fs car went I thought you knew. I always liked it in the early BRG GN27.

[zefarelly]

I've broken mainshafts in my car before, The Quaife box uses a larger shaft and bearing where it sits in the end of the input shaft, works well.

ALso helps if the props well balanced!