| THE MG |
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 | | November 3, 2010 - Today was a frustrating day.
I had the day off, so I planned to do lots and lots of work on the MG.
Last night, after chopping the fenders, I was playing with the rear axle and realized it was time to install the driveshaft. First problem: it's too long. At normal ride height, it's fully seated in the transmission with no room to compress. I suspect the Camaro ring and pinion has a slightly longer pinion yoke than the S10 part that was on the car when I made my measurements. Whoops. Well, at least it's easier to shorter a driveshaft than it is to make it longer. I dropped it off at the driveshaft shop to have an inch taken out.
While the driveshaft was in, I also discovered that the fuel line and main power line also rub against the driveshaft slightly. So they'll have to be moved.
Then I went out to my Toyota truck and discovered that it had developed an oddball ailment of trying to run the starter all the time. Of course, today was the day the "for sale" ad for the truck showed up in the paper. So I spent the entire day trying to chase down a weird wiring problem without any wiring diagrams. I haven't found it yet, but I did manage to chew up my entire day.
Like I said, frustrating. Today, entropy won.
entry 423 | | | November 6, 2010 - Progress has been resumed!
The recalcitrant Tundra has been vanquished. The driveshaft is an inch shorter. The fuel line and main power line have been rerouted to give more clearance for the shaft.
They might fight, but they don't win.
entry 424 | | |  | November 7, 2010 - A giant package arrived from the UK.
This is a complete interior for the GT! What makes it special is the fact that it's "biscuit", a color that's not offered for the GT from Moss Motors and thus not from anyone else in the US. I don't know if it was a factory color for the GT or not, but it's what we have (well, it's the color of our seats and the rest of the interior was spray painted to match) and we like it. I bought it off eBay from Chase MG, and it looks really good.
Basically, it will replace every panel below window level including seat upholstery. All for around the price of one seat from Moss. Nice.
entry 425 - tags: interior | | |  | November 7, 2010 - The braking system is all buttoned up.
The Camaro's vacuum line for the brakes was larger than that of the MG, but a 90 degree elbow with a couple of hose barbs took care of that. It's not the prettiest setup, but I'll sort that out later.
You can also see the convoluted rear line routine - out from the rear fitting on the bottom of the master cylinder, around the master, into the brake pressure switch, into the proportioning valve, then up and over the pedal box to disappear under the fender. Convoluted perhaps, but well anchored and it works.
entry 426 - tags: brakes | | |  | November 7, 2010 - With the brakes all plumbed in, it's time to bleed them.
Unfortunately, I still have a mismatch of front brake pads (1994 Miata), brake rotors (1994 Miata) and caliper brackets (1990 Miata, which uses smaller brakes). I have a set of the later brackets on the way, but with Janel available to help me bleed I wanted to do something. Well, the Seven was just sitting there with an engine problem awaiting my attentions, and it uses the 1990 size brakes. So I grabbed the rotors and pads from that car and voila! Front brakes.
I've also cut the rear arches away to clear the tires on full bump. There's a double skin to the body here so some black duct tape was used to seal it up until I weld in an insert to join the gap. It was gratifying to see how clean the metal inside that cut section is. That's a rust spot for the cars, and mine was pristine inside. Was.
Time to bleed the brakes! All the suspension pivots have been torqued up and the springs are in place. Does it seem as if I'm working towards something here? Perhaps.
entry 427 - tags: brakes, suspension, body, fenders | | |  | November 7, 2010 - The brakes proved problematic to bleed.
I think I have one bad flare which will have to be sorted out, and it took forever to get the rears working. But I got them to the point where they'd stop the car, so it was time.
I bolted on the wheels, checked tire pressures, attached the hood and dropped the car to the floor. It's always fun how much smaller they get when they're sitting on their feet. This car's been on jackstands in the garage for a long, long time. The springs are 8" 375 lb in the front and 10" 250 in the rear, mostly because that's what I have. I snugged the spring perches up to the springs at full droop and nailed the ride height almost perfectly.
After a lot of shuffling around and shoving of bits and pieces into handy corners, I was able to free the MG and point it towards freedom.
entry 428 - tags: first drive, brakes, suspension, springs | | |  | November 7, 2010 - The first drive!
You can watch it on YouTube.
Overall, the first drive was a big success. Nothing broke. Nothing (unexpected) leaked. The car worked as expected. Cue the big celebration!
The car does feel very, very powerful and very light. The Miatas with a similar engine feel a bit beefier, possibly due to much fatter tires. The brakes were definitely not up to snuff - you can see me check them as I leave the garage. They were good enough for this little tour though.
The suspension was not noticeable, which means it was working! Obviously, tougher tests will come. No noises, clunks or anything worrisome. The clutch worked well once we both got used to where it engaged - the bigger problem was the gas pedal which is currently sitting much too high. The sound is excellent. The transmission did try to pop out of reverse, which is a trick it had been doing in the Camaro. There, I thought it was a matter of shifter adjustment and I spent some time fine-tuning that. But I was wrong. I'll look into that.
It wasn't a long drive, just a proof of function. And it did just that!
entry 429 - tags: first drive, video | | |  | November 7, 2010 - Well, you have to don't you?
I gave the car a bit of throttle and both rear tires immediately lit on fire. They're not great tires - Azenis 215s from 2006 or so - but it was still pretty spectacular. I don't have the rear seat in the car or the panel that covers the old battery boxes, so the inside of the car immediately filled with blue smoke. Very entertaining.
We did not get this on video, unfortunately. And we'd attracted enough attention the first time! There will be opportunity enough in the future.
entry 430 - tags: burnout, first drive | | |  | November 7, 2010 - Finally, a chance to take a few steps back and see how the car looks.
Well, it'll look a lot better with the fender flares on it. Right now, it looks as if someone went after the fenders with a Sawzall. But the overall stance is good, the ride height is where I wanted it and the mufflers are nicely tucked into place. We'll call this a success.
I should note that it's been almost exactly two years since we bought the Camaro that provided the drivetrain, and the MG came apart two weeks after that. So this is the culmination of a long, long process. I suspect some people doubted it would ever more.
entry 431 - tags: first drive | | |  | November 7, 2010 - Without any grille on the front or any lower bodywork, you can really see how ridiculously oversize the radiator is!
It'll all be covered once the MG Special Tuning front air dam is installed, and the chrome on the bumper and grille will finish off the car well. I may fog the radiator with black paint to make it a bit more subtle.
It doesn't look much like an MG here, but it does still somehow manage to look British.
entry 432 - tags: first drive, radiator, body | | |  | November 8, 2010 - I posted about the first drive on a few forums, and the responses have been interesting.
A few people who didn't understand that it was a first drive of an unfinished car and who had comments on the cut fenders. Not everyone can look at a project in process and see the final result! A few votes for the factory Sebring fender flares, but they just don't suit the style of the body to my eyes. Maybe if I'd grown up watching MGs duke it out on the race circuit. I personally think the stock Pininfarina body is beautiful, and the Sebring flares just look like slapped-on blobs. It's going to be a challenge to fit the Rabbit flares gracefully (and symmetrically!) but their overall shape complements the car to me.
One of the most common comments was about how low the radiator sits. Granted, when the car is viewed from the front with no bodywork it's an imposing piece! But it's still 5" off the ground, which is about the same as the oil pan on a Miata. Also, as you can see in the picture, it's not unprotected. That bar underneath is 1"x2" with a fairly hefty wall thickness, supported by an extension of the frame rails. I could probably use it to jack up the car.
But it does have me thinking. Flyin' Miata recently came out with a much smaller radiator for the V8 Miatas. It's got all the correct fittings on it and there's even a high-quality shroud and fan kit available that I could just drop in. I'd have to buy new fans for this one anyhow. I might grab the dimensions and see what making the change would imply. I would like to have the option to run the stock nose instead of the Special Tuning airdam. Hmm.
entry 433 - tags: radiator, first drive, protection | | |  | November 8, 2010 - Before moving the MG back into the build area to continue work, I had to spend some time cleaning out the garage.
The two "front" cars got moved out so I had room to bustle about. This left me with an all-British garage, a first! Well, mostly British. The Seven runs a Miata drivetrain and we all know what's hidden inside that black thing.
What struck me is how close the MG is in size to the Seven. When I think about it, they both use the track width of the Miata so their overall width (defined by the wheels in both cases!) is identical. The wheelbase of the MG is about 1" shorter but it has more bodywork on each end. Still, it was surprising.
entry 434 - tags: other cars, size | | |  | November 8, 2010 - Before moving the MG back into its home - I use a moving dolly under each wheel so I can easily slide it into place - I decided to drop it on the scales again.
No surprise, it's gained weight since last time. It's up to 2168 lbs, but it's pretty close to fully loaded at this point. A few pieces of front bodywork, the dashboard and other interior parts and, well, that's about it. Last time I estimated the final weight at 2400 lbs. I think that's a pessimistic number, but we'll see what happens. It's no wonder it felt lively on the test drive, it's currently over 400 lbs lighter than most V8 Miatas.
The car is nose-heavy right now, though. It has about 54% of the weight on the nose. Not terrible, but I'll have to see if there's any way I can shuffle a bit more weight back. Throwing the spare in the trunk will help.
entry 435 - tags: weight | | |  | November 8, 2010 - Amongst all the excitement of the first drive, the new tach showed up.
I'll wire this into the car in the next couple of days and hopefully have a functioning tach. Fingers crossed!
It's in excellent shape, can't complain there.
entry 436 - tags: tach | | |  | November 10, 2010 - One step forward, one step back.
Good news - the new tach works! Well, it works once you remember to actually connect the GM tach wire to the MG harness. Interestingly, it seems to read accurately. I didn't have an OBD-II scanner plugged in to read the exact engine speed to confirm, but the car seemed to be idling right around 1000 rpm cold and that's reasonable. I checked the idle at right around 900 after the drive the other day. Interesting - I'd heard the LS engines put out a "four-cylinder" signal, but I figured that was just because a lot of new fours use a waste-spark ignition and thus look more like an 8. Regardless, I'm not going to complain about it! That was easy.
I also spent some time on the brakes. A bit of fooling around and I managed to get rid of a big air bubble in the front of the master cylinder. Voila, a hard pedal! Nice and hard. But the front fitting on the master was still leaking. This will not do. So I pulled it off and yup, the flare looks deformed.
I figured this was probably the case on Sunday when I was bleeding the brakes, but I was hoping that tightening the joint would solve the problem. Of course it didn't, and in doing this I also damaged the seat in the master cylinder - that's it in the picture. No surprise here. Luckily, the seats can be removed so I'll just call Wilwood and order a replacement.
At the same time, I noticed that the master had a big F and R on the outlets. Now, from my understanding, there shouldn't be any difference between them. I did read a blurb in Hot Rod or Car Craft a while back claiming there was and that swapping the F and R lines around solved a soft pedal problem. I still don't understand how - but since I had to rebuild one of the lines to fix that flare anyhow, I figured I'd swap them. This means new lines for both the front and rear outlet, both pretty short but relatively complex. So now I'm back to no brakes at all. Still, I have a clear vision of the way ahead.
entry 437 - tags: brakes, tach, wiring | | | November 10, 2010 - I just got off the phone with Wilwood.
That little tapered seat that is damaged? You can't buy it separately. What an idiotic decision. I know there are giant bins full of them at Wilwood (or wherever this particular master is actually produced), but mere mortals cannot obtain one. Instead, I have to pay for a brand new master cylinder.
Most of Wilwood's masters are just fitted with a 1/8" NPT fitting, and you screw in the adapter you need. If the seat gets damaged, you screw in a different $3 adapter. Not this one, of course.
That is a very poor choice on Wilwood's part. I'll get my replacement, put the current one on the shelf for if/when the master ever needs rebuilding, and look elsewhere for my master cylinders in the future.
entry 438 - tags: brakes | | |  | November 10, 2010 - I've been thinking about the radiator.
My current one is huge - 20" high and 26" wide. It was the smallest one AFCO had that would work for me without going to a miniature Scirocco setup. I managed to squeeze it into the car, obviously, and it does still have 5" of ground clearance. But it came at a cost. The air intake is up against the top of the radiator and I'm having trouble figuring out how to mount a fan shroud that will sit far enough away from the core to be useful. Since it sits so low, I'll have to run the Special Tuning air dam instead of the original MG nose. That's probably a good thing for high-speed stability, but I'd prefer to have the choice.
Meanwhile, Flyin' Miata just came out with a radiator intended for Miatas with LS3 engines. It has the correct fittings on the correct sides of the rad. It's 25" wide by 15.5" high. The core design is more efficient than my current radiator so it will cool better, and there's a bolt-on fan kit available. I'll be able to mount it so that the bottom of the radiator is higher, the top of the radiator is lower and I might even gain a bit of room for an overflow tank.
It'll add to the cost - I need to buy fans anyhow, but I already have a radiator of course - and I'm going to tweak a couple of fittings on it, but I think the end result will work better.
entry 439 - tags: radiator | | | November 10, 2010 - There's a new master cylinder on the way here.
I probably could fix the existing seats, especially if I had access to a lathe. But a new master is the safest way to go. Sigh.
The brake lines are bent and my new caliper brackets arrived today, so the brake system will be complete as soon as the master arrives. One more item off the list. Now all I have to do is figure out how to make the emergency brake work!
I also ran into a little problem with the PCV system. A 90 degree elbow rotted away on me. I'll see if I can pick up a generic replacement at the auto parts store.
The current giant rad may have a new home already in a Subaru-engined VW camper. Excellent. I'm looking forward to the new one, I'll be able to drop the top of the rad down by 1" and lift the bottom by 2.5". Better fitment all around.
entry 440 - tags: radiator, brakes | | |  | November 11, 2010 - Wow, the new caliper brackets sure are shiny!
I've never seen a brand new set before, and I'm pretty sure new Miatas don't have that sheen to them. You can see the extra height in the new one, that gives clearance for the larger brake rotors. Usually people source these off a junk Miata, but we're all out at Flyin' Miata and it's not clear when we're going to see more. So I took the easy way out and just ordered these shiny ones. I did have to transfer two rubber seals from each old bracket though.
I did find out why the master cylinder has the F and R ports. There are two pistons inside, and the one closest to the pushrod pressurizes before the second one starts to move. So the first piston should be used on the front brakes. Interesting!
entry 441 - tags: brakes | | |  | November 11, 2010 - While poking around the engine bay, I decided to trace this joint connector back.
It was originally up at the front of the engine after running up along one of the fuel injector legs of the harness. Weird, there's no reason for it to do that. I'll shorten things up.
entry 442 - tags: wiring | | |
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