MGB Roadmaster

[BlownMGB-V8]

Absolutely! It makes a great comparison. Personally, I think Buick and MG should have teamed up to bring these cars to America. It would have made a tremendous difference for both of them.

Jim

[MGBV8]

I agree. Who needs/wants a Jensen Interceptor when you can have a MG Roadmaster?!

[mowog1]

Did you get my PM, Jim?

[roverman]

Unfortunately, the Intercepter weighed approx double that of the Jensen Healey, although it "did" hold the world record of zero to 100 mph., for a while. I would truly like to see a mid-engine LBC-roadster. Maybe Fred with his soon to be 32 valve Loturover V8 ? Cheers, roverman.

[Moderator]

I mentioned a suggestion to Jim about Roadmaster business cards the other week, and I thought perhaps I should reiterate with a few more details...  In a nutshell, the idea is to have something tangible that can be handed out to enthusiasts who see Roadmaster at shows and events.

It's gotten very cost-effective to print color/photographic two-side business cards.  $99 (shipping included) buys 2500 double-sided color cards.

Ref:  http://www.colorprintingcentral.com/business-card-printing.html

Color photo of Roadmaster on one side.  A brief statement, a few key specifications, and a web address on the other side, possibly leaving a little blank space where a note could be handwritten...

I'd be happy to do the graphic design and arrange the printing if someone else is interested in picking up the printing cost.

Further suggestions? Perhaps we should discuss it in Texas?

[BlownMGB-V8]

I think we should do it even if BADASS has to pick up the tab. In fact, as one of my final acts as Pres, I'll go ahead and authorize it. If someone wants to donate the cost, so much the better.

Jim

[rficalora]

If we don't have anyone in the printing business I can probably get a discount through SnapFish.  Will check while at the meet.

[74ls1tr6]

Brenda and I have found vistaprint.com to have resonable pricing for business cards, magnets etc. The shipping is fast, it keeps your file on the design you produce, can do both sides of a business card, use your own photos, glossy, what ever you want.

http://www.vistaprint.com/vp/ns/default.aspx?GP=5%2f20%2f2012+6%3a51%3a20+AM&GPS=2449458084&GNF=1&GPLSID=

[BlownMGB-V8]

Looks like a good time for my outgoing report as Founding President of BADASS. For those who didn't make it for one reason or another, you have our sympathies. You missed a really good meet. On Tuesday we got a little behind on the schedule and between the Autocross and the Dyno, I didn't get back to the meeting room in time to preside over the annual meeting. Neither did Carl, our VP, but luckily Steve DeGroat, our Treasurer was prepared to step in. Since I was not there I cannot report on the first part of the meeting except to say that we elected new officers and our Founding officers' resignations were accepted. Bill Young is now President of B.A.D.A.S.S., N LLC. Rob Ficalora is VP, and Bill Davidson is our new Treasurer. I do not know if they elected a Secretary. I have full confidence in these gents and complete faith in their ability to take us through the next cycle. (BTW, was a term length set? If not, that is something we might want to consider.) We also approved a motion to make all committees "standing" committees which will survive elections, meaning that if you are on a committee or the chair of one, your only recourse is to continue to serve, or resign. Or I guess a chair could call for an election. At any rate the point is that our committee members do not have to worry about their work being interrupted by the election cycle.

Immediately upon election Bill took the gavel (symbolically speaking) and conducted the meeting, maybe someone can fill in some more of the details.

Now back to the car, at the autocross it was driven by me, Matthew, Dan, and I'm not sure who else, but we thrashed it pretty soundly, (There are video clips.) finding that it does indeed suffer from a fair amount of body roll particularly in the rear, but that its handling is pretty neutral. Dan and Carl seemed to think it plows a bit (What car wouldn't on that gravel surface?) but my experience was that it went exactly where I pointed it at all times, if it was possible for any car to get through the gravel to the pavement to do it. Conclusion? Anti-roll bars would be helpful, but would probably have to be fitted at both ends to retain the handling balance as well as to reduce the roll tendency at the rear. Other than that the car exhibited extremely good control-ability, quite well beyond what we expected to see when the limits were exceeded, and recovery was often possible well after control should have been lost. So on the whole it is a pretty safe car. Carl thought I almost got one wheel off the ground at one point, but the car never felt unsafe at any time.

Now as for the dyno runs, it might be tempting to feel disappointed with the numbers, but when you consider our original goals there isn't any excuse for that, and in fact there is ample reason for satisfaction with a job well done. I'd be the first to admit that we allowed ourselves to get excited about possible theoretical results with numbers around 500/500 flying around, well, who would be able to resist that? But the reality is that those kind of results were never a part of our plan. Proving the car could be done in the first place was the goal, and numbers closer to a stock engine have always been more realistic. The only reason this engine might do better was because of some aftermarket parts, and we never had the budget to properly match those parts, but had to take what we were given or could buy dirt cheap. The results were entirely predictable, but we were too excited and blinded by big number fever to try to do that. So what were these predictable results? At the end of the session we had 275 rear wheel horsepower and 340 torque. Certainly not the power kings of the meet, but not far off the factory stock 350 flywheel horsepower. (Factory torque was 510 and that drop off can be attributed to our parts selection.) The real bright spot was the fact that our tune going in was only 12 hp and 0 torque below final, meaning we were within a couple degrees of optimal on the timing. Also on our last few pulls our air/fuel ratio was at 13.5, about as close as you could hope to get to ideal. So the jetting on the carb is also right on the money.

It has been suggested that a stock cam would be a good idea. I am entirely in agreement with that sentiment and the only reason we don't have one in the engine is because we didn't have the money to buy one when we assembled it. Regardless, the engine runs just fine, the car is a joy to drive as many who drove it during the meet will attest, and we can always change it out later so there is no hurry.

Our arrangements have been finalized to participate in the Power Tour and we can expect a lot of good publicity from that effort. Another wonderful development is that PJ Lenihan is going to join us and provide an extremely good service in occasionally being able to help us transport the car from place to place. So overall the future looks very bright.

Jim

[mowog1]

The position of Secretary was eliminated....but Jim, you may be able to confirm that we can do this and stay compliant with the guidelines of the N-LLC requirements. (Illinois requires 3 officers("president", "secretary", and "treasurer", along with 3 additional directors...I'm not sure what Ohio/Kentucky requires). If we need to name a secretary to be compliant, so be it.

Bill Young, Rob Ficalora, and Bill Davidson are well qualified to keep BADASS coffers in the black and the car out in the public's eye.

[BlownMGB-V8]

I don't think we're required to have a secretary, might have to do some digging to find out.

Anyway, Jim Watson brought the car up today. he reports that it runs smoother and starts easier after the dyno tune. We put it in the Lab and after a short visit he headed for home.

I'm planning to change the oil and look at a few things before heading north for the power tour. Already replaced the lighter socket so your GPS will have power. The fuel pump may need some attention. I want to get a timing spec too for future tune ups. Have to call Mike Moore to coordinate the trip. More later.

Jim

[mowog1]

What pump/pressure are we currently running and what are the symptoms experienced???

[Dan B]

It is really noisy.

[BlownMGB-V8]

And it sometimes leaks for no known reason. Don't have a clue as to flow and pressure.

Jim

[BlownMGB-V8]

-I've got the car on the lift and the oil drained. Bought some Castrol 20w50 and will add a bottle of ZDDP.

-Also adjusted the rear shocks up 5 turns. After setting it back down I'll see if that brings it up to where it needs to be.

-The fuel pump leaks from the cover plate and/or bolts when it is running. Some disassembly required.

-The rear hubs appear to have about the right level of oil.

-Steve DeGroat will be pleased to hear I have found the mysterious rubbing on the right side. At full compression the u-joint yoke hits the side of the exhaust pipe. Hoping for an easy fix.

-The fan relay is not right and it is not the heat. I switched the car on for about 30 seconds to reposition it for the lift. The fan came on and stayed on until I pulled the relay. No clue why. We may just have to pull the relay every time we park it.

I talked to Mike Moor and left a voice mail for Mike Maloney. Looks like we're set.

Back to work.

Jim

[BlownMGB-V8]

The fuel pump cover gasket is bad. It is rubber and I can't get another one in time so I'm going to slap in one of these generic pumps I have on the recycled parts shelf and hope for the best. Don't know if it'll meet the demands of this motor, but it's the best I can do on short notice unless someone has a better idea.

Jim

[BlownMGB-V8]

Think we'll be OK on the pump, but I can put an identical spare in the boot, I think. Got gas, the car runs very smooth. Air cleaner is a pain and needs work. Oil pressure is VERY good. 20w50 summer, 10w40 winter I think.
Need more turns on the springs, probably 5 more. Yes it sagged that much. 300 lb hypercoils, you be the judge. Could have used some help. Should be leaving tomorrow mid-afternoon.

Jim

[rficalora]

Quote:  The fan came on and stayed on until I pulled the relay. No clue why. We may just have to pull the relay every time we park it.

Try another relay.  I had one where the trigger pin slid up some.  So when it made contact it was on the lead instead of the contact.  Net, after a few months of triggering it finally fused in the triggered position.  Fried my passenger door solenoid.  Only way I knew was when I saw smoke coming off the relay - luckily I was there when it happened.

[BlownMGB-V8]

Thanks. Installed another relay. One pin was pushed in some. Test it tomorrow. Adjusted springs again, should be good.Need to reattach map pocket and make a new hood pin then tweak the air cleaner some. The car is pretty much ready. Oh,  guess I should check the timing too. Hope I don't run out of time.

Jim

Ps: those may be 350 or possibly even 375 lb springs. Pretty sure they aren't 300.

[rficalora]

You might try this spring rate calculator (or I'll do the calcs while I have the car after the PowerTour).  http://www.hypercoils.com/spring-rate-calculator/

I came to the conclusion my springs were too soft during BV8.  Used that calculator & separately called QA1.  The two came up with the same spring rate recommendation so I'm guessing the calculator is a pretty good guide.. Hardest part is estimating sprung vs. un-sprung weight - unless the parts were weighed before installing the IRS.

[BlownMGB-V8]

Biggest thing is wheel and tire weight. I am pretty sure the component weights are in this thread and/or the 340 thread including those but it will take some searching.

Jim

[BlownMGB-V8]

Not a bad relay.

Started the car this morning to move it. Didn't even get warm enough to come off the fast idle. Only moved it 30 ft.

Radiator fan came on and stayed on until I pulled the relay. Switching relays does not help.

There was a delay before it turned on. The other fan did not run.

I guess we'll just have to run on one fan.

Jim

[danmas]

Jim,

Did you try adjusting the temp switch?  Try adjusting it down to see if the other fan works. Maybe the other fan has blown a fuse and the temp switch is set too low. Both fans are triggered by the same wire from the temp switch.

When Jim and I wired in the new relay, we tested the circuit and it worked fine. It's hard to imagine any way the wiring could have changed in the meantime.

[BlownMGB-V8]

Dan,  we replaced the cigar lighter fuse and then the fan started behaving itself. I 'm not sure why that makes sense but it seems to work.

Jim

[BlownMGB-V8]

Just a few quick notes on the Hot Rod Power Tour,  more later from my laptop. Mike and I had great success the first day as did Rick and Pete today. We hope to get some good press as Mike Finnegan from Hot Rod took photos of the car yesterday and got contact info for a follow up. There are also rumors of TV coverage at some point but maybe Rick has some info on that. Apparently he has had an offer for a set of tires as well. Also some speculation about some newspaper coverage is in the wind..

Now none of these things has actually produced any real publicity yet,  but they certainly are fantastic prospects and for that we should be thankful. As we continue along this pathway perhaps a healthy and friendly competitionwill develop between us to see who can find the latest publicity or promotion. We have certainly gotten the ball rolling in a very good way.

The car is performing well and is getting decent mileage, though still going through some oil so we must watch that very closely. It is now a proven crowd pleaser. We could easily spend all of our time just answering questions about it.

It has been a big crowd. Our registration number is over 2000 and Mike's number for his car was over 6000 so it is easy to get lost in the crowd. But folks are talking about the MG with the 455 Buick,  and as the tour goes on we will become more well known. Our drivers are doing a fine job of representing us to the public andthe media and we have every prospect of reaching our publicity goals. I can't think of a single thing we could have done that could have given us this much good coverage. Kudos to our President, Bill Young for making this happen! There can be no doubt that we elected the right man for the job.

Jim