Well Bob, see that contact on the top? It's like a buzzer and that controls the power to the coil. So what you have is a constant source of high voltage sparks as long as power is applied, and for the flame throwers that's wonderful. Obviously there's no timing control with it, but that was before anyone knew they wanted that. Jim
Except for its intended use, it is the automotive equivalent of an electric fence charger. It will jump a spark about 1/2 to 3/4 inch.
and for the flame throwers that's wonderful. let me guess ... you use these at night? :moonu: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCGJEBbPOUA Except for its intended use, it is the automotive equivalent of an electric fence charger. It will jump a spark about 1/2 to 3/4 inch. sounds like a function of turns in the ignition coil. do you still use a spark plug with this? if so, i'm envisioning a 555 timer ic + HEI ignition and coil. you could even use parts of the HEI distributor to house the whole system. add an on/off switch and pot and you can get variable spark timing from fractions of a second to minutes. and it would still be a heck of a lot more compact. http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/555timer.htm
Just a reminder, we have an MGB-Roadmaster work weekend coming up one week from today, Jan 16th and 17th at Mantell Motorsports in Sydney, Illinois. This will be in conjunction with the Spurious winter party which Pete is hosting this year. I don't expect many here to know what the Spurious are, but lets just say they enrage the purists at every turn with their outrageous (mis)treatment of fine examples of British craftsmanship, often involving large American engines. Gotta love these guys. Jim
Here is the report on the January work weekend. Jim Re: MGB Roadmaster Posted by: BlownMGB-V8 Date: January 18, 2010 02:39PM We had a good crowd at the combined Spurious winter party and Roadmaster weekend. I'm not too familiar with the newcomers so I will defer to Pete to make their introductions and will instead try to concentrate on giving a decent progress report. The car was up on the rack when Steve and I got there Friday just in time for supper, and much of the evening's work involved discussion of what should be done, the laborious task of processing beer, and inspection of parts. But things really got rolling along well on Saturday and a good bit was accomplished. Rick brought the new seats over and I'm not real sure exactly who was involved in installing them, seemed like at least half of the crew were helping at one time or another, maybe more. They had to modify the seat rails, touch up the paint, drill holes and all that stuff and I think Mike was pretty much leading the charge. While that was going on, another crew led by Steve was installing brake and clutch lines, Rick had another team installing the hatch struts, Carl was completing the modifications to the shifter with welding help from Pete, and I was working up the lower mount for the new Summit aluminum radiator and Camaro dual electric fan package, also with Petes help. So as you can imagine we were crawling all over the car or so it seemed at times. As it stands now, the seats are in, brakes and clutch work, and the radiator is in place, We gave it a rather rakish angle, leaned back by about 20 degrees and it fits in quite nicely with 5-1/2 of ground clearance and a hefty bar below it for protection. The new fenders will need to be fitted up, work done to flare the rears to match, and a new combination slam panel/ radiator and fan top mount bent up and installed. It looks as if we may be able to use the old top radiator hose on the bottom (it fits amazingly well into the space but is a bit small on the radiator end) and the old bottom hose for the top. Does anyone have experience in fitting up light fiberglass fenders? Richard mentioned that warming them in the sun is a common practice to help with fitting. These fenders are not going to just bolt right on so if anyone could make suggestions that would make the job go more smoothly it would certainly help out a lot. Plus, Pete has mentioned that he would like to try his hand at laying up some glass and perhaps in the process create some flares for the rear by taking molds off a car he has access to. This seems to me a good approach, and I think I still have a pair of inner fender sections we can weld in for the wheel wells on the back. As an alternative, I have an English wheel that we can try out if anyone wants to see what they can do with it, and its small enough that I think I can load it in the back of the truck for the next trip to Petes. Wed need some sheet metal to work with. Its the HF unit with some minor reinforcement and the one set of wheels that comes with it. I can bring it along in Feb if anyone wants to try that. There will be some inside trim to reinstall and other detail work but we are real close to our goal for the summer meet. Richard, it turns out is an experienced hand with the quadrajet carb and so was officially dubbed, "The B.A.D.A.S.S. Quadrajet Carb Guru" and we are all much relieved to find we have a solution to our carb tuning worries. I will do my best to get him some Buick specifics and put him in touch with Jim Weise to make the job easier for him. Pete had a pot of some really good chili for us that we all enjoyed, and we had a very productive day despite being blinded by Merv's hat and confused by Carl's purse. (Unabridged report available via Spurious e-mail) On to the business meeting. In attendance were Pres, VP, Treasurer, and 4 other members if my memory is correct. Minutes and treasurer's report were approved, business included future plans and ideas for funding. Some items deferred to the summer meet. T-shirt design and color was discussed among other things. This year we are going to see if we can put an actual picture of the car in its present condition on the T-shirt, and it looks like we will be able to put the last remaining shirt from last year in the dinner auction. We currently have about $550 in the treasury. Regrettably our secretary wasn't there to take minutes so this will have to do. Those who were there feel free to add to the report. Meeting was adjourned and after putting away the car, parts, tools and such we all went home with a projected calendar date of the last weekend in Feb for the next meeting. That would be the 27th and 28th so make plans now. Regards, Jim Aka BADASS Boss
More news. Terry Schulte, the guy who is doing the paint for the car (or rather the paint shop of one of his dealerships is doing it, under his supervision) has asked us to send him the car right away. Evidently business is good for him right now. Whatever his reasons, the rush is on to get the rear fender flares completed, mount the 'glass fenders, and fab up the slam panel. So for Febuary's work weekend we have guys bringing in sheet metal tools (English wheel, planishing hammer, etc) 'glass supplies and tools, and the rush is on to do what needs to be done and get the car to Terry. I still need to ask him what condition of tear-down he wants which I plan to do right away but as of now we've shortened out timeline considerably and may very well have the car painted and ready to drive at this summer's meet July 8-10th. I hope some representatives of this board can make an appearance either then or at the Feb. 27-28th work weekend. Jim
We have another weekend coming up, this time the last weekend of this month (Feb). Guys will be arriving as early as Wednesday evening this time around and we will finish up Saturday night. Most will head home then or Sunday morning, as Pete and Rick have to leave to make arrangements for the British V8 meet this summer. We will concentrate on bodywork this weekend. Tin work at the rear to extend the wheelwells outward and form sheet into flares using an english wheel and beading tools, fiberglass at the front, cutting the flared bits off the sebring fenders and bonding them to the OEM style fiberglass fenders which are a good fit on the car, and more tin work around the radiator. Possibly some carb tuning. If we get all of that done, we will make a decision on whether to tear the car down and transport it to Terry's for paint, or complete preparations for the meet and paint afterwards. As always, any of you who can make it are welcome to stop by. Weekend activities can be expected to include a dinner at Hooters as this has become a tradition, and probably a lunch at the local pub as well. JB
Flares are now grafted to the fiberglass front fenders, front sheet metal is complete except for some minor patching, slam panel is bent from stainless and only needs final fitting and attachment at the sides. Rear wheelwells have extender panels fitted and need completion of the welding and attachment of the outer tubs, outer sheet metal panels have been cut and I left Pete my English wheel to see if he can shape them to fit properly. This was the last work weekend before the meet in July but there might be a few opportunities for some to work on the car in the meantime. JB
The BritishV8 meet in Indy finished up yesterday and the MGB-Roadmaster project was a big hit. We conducted a tech session on the English Wheel and had various contributors to the project drive the car around the parking lot, amidst much noise and tire smoke. A couple of videos have been posted on the BritishV8 website so far but they really don't do justice to the spectacle. Amidst the confusion I sliced my thumb pretty good with an angle grinder and zip blade so I've had to struggle a bit to write up a report and if you guys don't mind I'll just paste it on below here. I'll apologize in advance for failing to use the proper nomenclature of "MGB-Roadmaster" and ask your indulgence. So without further adoo, here is my report. More details can be found at the following link: http://forum.britishv8.org/read.php?2,166,page=50 Well, I'm just plumb wore out. I know I'd give a better report while it's fresh in my mind but I'll likely be a little slow on the keyboard for awhile. We all made it back safe and sound and the car is unloaded, though when I tried to fire it up the fuel pump refused to run so it's sitting under the awning. My car is on the lift awaiting engine mounts and steering rack mounts before it can be moved so not much will be done before that but the good news is that I've picked up a piece of 10 ga. stainless to make the engine mounts for my roadster out of and I have the patterns made already so that job should go rather quickly once I start cutting metal, and then I can put the rack back on and make way for the Roadmaster. We need to discuss scheduling. The first priority is to schedule another Roadmaster weekend. Since we were able to actually fire the car up and take turns playing with it in the parking lot, we did reach one of our goals for the year, but if you will recall we also wanted to have it ready to tear down for paint immediately after the meet. Since we had a bit of slippage and that didn't happen it means we are a little behind schedule and therefore have a bit more work to do in a short time period. I have told all interested persons that I think we can have the car ready to deliver sometime in September and I think we can do that. Here's what I see happening. We schedule a work weekend after school starts, say maybe the first weekend in September and those who can come make plans to do so. On that weekend we plan to remove the interior, engine, etc, finish up details and do what we can to prepare the car for paint and have it ready to transport. Now obviously for that to work I will have to finish up the hood details in advance and also form and probably attach the rear flares, as well as sort out the issue we had with the tires rubbing on the last two runs. (If you recall, our final tire choice is to be at least one size smaller than the current rubber for clearance at the front and that will also help at the rear.) The brackets for the slam panel have to be made and attached, and the hood latch sorted out also. Details of grill mounting, bumper, and air dam attachment could wait if necessary but it'd be better to have the bumper mounts in place before paint if there is time, at least any internal spacers that will be needed. I could use help with the welding and fiberglass work if anyone with those skills could come either for the work weekend or before hand. I feel we should remove the front flares, grind and bond them in place, form a lip at the wheel openings and then if possible do the rough fill work, and also finish the cut edges of the hood opening and form up a pan to go between the carb neck and the underside of the hood for aesthetics and water drainage. Those are rather specialized tasks but if anyone with the needed skills can help we will get done much quicker and with better results. If I have to do it myself we may not be entirely thrilled with the results. Bill Young has made certain that I will have a full set of dies for the English wheel which should make the job easier, and I will look into the possibility of getting a pneumatic planishing hammer for the metal work but my 'glass working tools, skills and supplies are minimal. Guys, the hard part is over. We've built the car. It has amazed everyone who has looked at it and we've all been greatly impressed with how it drives and performs. Now is the time to polish the apple. There is obviously some tuning we can do to improve it in many ways but it is clear to anyone who cared to look that we have done a fantastic job of pulling this one off. I would love to see some comments here from those who drove or rode in the car, giving us your impressions of the experience and I really think we owe that to the community at large. It's not enough for me to report on the spectacle, obviously I'm the project's No.1 cheerleader and my perspective, no matter how terse or concise will be weighted by that fact. So let us know how you felt, what you experienced, your overall reaction to the car, anything that you think might be of interest. We are all hungry for the details. JB
That u-tube video is of the car being driven around the parking lot. Thought you guys might want to see that. JB
The build is complete. Here is the car just prior to tear down for paint, which will begin next weekend. JB
The body has now been transported to Schulte Subaru in Sioux Falls, SD for bodywork and paint. We should get it back some time in the first part of next year. Schulte is very active in customization and restoration work and has produced many trophy winners. Their interior and body work is of the highest possible standards and they do work on domestic vehicles as well as exotics. JB
Bob I'll go out and measure the 340 and the 215 for you but I don't like the cold so I can't say for sure when I'll do it. how about ... now that it's not cold? :idea2: :bla: you also never made any comment about the spacing on the Rover blocks. do the Rover guys actually not have that info? Guys, the hard part is over. We've built the car. congratulations. :beers2:
Now forming the rear wheel wells. heh, those things are huge. you could go with a faux 80s Winston Cup paint scheme and it would look natural. whatcho got on there for rubber? This website needs a "like" button (like Facebook). there's a "Rate Thread" button in one of the tool bars at the top of the page. i don't see it in the reply screen so i'm not sure if you have to be on the first page of the thread or if it's just not available when you're composing a post. you're right though, this thread definitely deserves 5 stars.
